Schools have recently enacted a “Zero tolerance policy” which makes punishments for student very severe. The smallest bit of rule breaking can lead to a week of suspension, if not more.

Schools tend to enforce strict rules upon students although it is not the rules that are extreme. The punishments that come from breaking a rule is on a whole other level. According to aboutourkids.org, a teenager was suspended for ten days for accidentally bringing a butter knife to school. She used the knife earlier in the day to pry money out of her piggy bank for school lunch.

This punishment is light compared to some others. Kindergarteners were suspended for three days for pointing fingers at each other while playing the game “cops and robbers.” To suspend kindergarteners is severe, as they are in the main learning stages of life, and sending them from school is not the way to punish them.

Above all those, however, a fourth grade student was forced to undergo a phyological test. All because he said he was going to shoot a fellow classmate with a wad of paper on a rubber band. You should not force a student to undergo something that serious. Sit down with the student and talk face to face with them.

Schools should learn to only use the zero tolerance policy on students who have caused problems before. The first time offense, especially a harmless one, should just be talked out with the student. You need to explain to the student as to why what they said or did was offensive or hurtful in any way. Be calm and patient with the student as well.