Here's the amazing story of teacher stupidity and what should be the final nail in the coffin of zero tolerance policies. We need adults to be adults, making grown-up decisions based on lifes experiences. God help us.
AP: Christan Morales said her son just wanted to honor American troops when he wore a hat to school decorated with an American flag and small plastic Army figures. But the school banned the hat because it ran afoul of the district's zero-tolerance weapons policy. Why? The toy soldiers were carrying tiny guns.
Earlier this week … the principal at the Tiogue School in Coventry told the family that the hat would be fine if David replaced the Army men holding weapons with ones that didn't have any … Lt. Gen. Reginald Centracchio said, "The American soldier is armed. That's why they're called the armed forces," he said. "If you're going to portray it any other way, you miss the point."
Unfortunately, updating the zero tolerance policy had more to do with "patriotism and military support" than sound common sense logic. UPDATEd June 19 (AP) - The superintendent of a Rhode Island school district that banned a second-grader's homemade hat because it displayed toy soldiers with tiny guns said Saturday he will work to change the policy to allow such apparel.
Ken Di Pietro said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the no-weapons policy shouldn't limit student expression, especially when students are depicting "tools of a profession or service," such as the military or police.
"The event exposed how a policy meant to ensure safe environments for students can become restrictive and can present an image counter to the work of our schools to promote patriotism and democracy," Di Pietro said.
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