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If the school district has a zero tolerance policy, then they have to stick with it. (not that I agree with zero tolerance...) Where I'm from, students have to check OTC meds in with the school nurse, which prevents them from giving them to their friends.
I totaly disagree with you, its not that simple. I feel that they should have talked with her about it first and if it happens again then she would suffer the consequences as you stated. She didn't know that she was doing anything wrong and if anyone should be in trouble it should be her mother for giving it to her in the first place.
I agree, it's a bit over the top but our society had made schools make these decisions so they are not liable. Reminds me of the student that drove the family van to school. His little brother had a water pistol (i believe it was florescent orange) in the front seat and the student was expelled. Someone walking by the van reported it. No guns of any type on school property.
It's just ridiculous.
Our school has rules about that. Many OTC things can be dangerous, so no student is allowed to give anything to another student.
Here, if she broke the rules, she suffers the consequences.
That simple....
When a rule has been broken the consequences should be proportional to the offense. In this case the consequences are far out of whack with the rule that was broken.
Your granddaughter was suspended because some school administrators and school boards are incapable of objectively looking at facts and making common sense decisions based on the totality of the circumstances.
This is why I hate zero tolerance policies. I think that if a child is going to be suspended it should be about serious matters, not just things like this.
My school does have a rule that only herbal cough drops are allowed, you aren't allowed to bring anything with a medicine in it.
I think a suspension in middle school over a cough drop carries zero weight on her long-term record, so she should enjoy her day(s) off and not even sweat it.
A suspension is silly, yes. However, in this day and age, who doesn't already know that you can't send your kids to school with ANYTHING!?!
As someone else said, chances are, it's in the handbook. We get one every year at the beginning of the school year. And yes, I do actually read it to avoid stupidness like this (the rule, that is).
When a rule has been broken the consequences should be proportional to the offense. In this case the consequences are far out of whack with the rule that was broken.
I agree with you. However, as long as angry parents are allowed to sue the school for everything under the sun, we will see this trickle down of ridiculous precautions designed to minimize the risk of lawsuits. It's a two-way street. If we don't want schools (and other public entities) to behave in such a paranoid manner, then we as a society have to push to change the laws and stop rewarding overly litigious behavior.
I agree with you. However, as long as angry parents are allowed to sue the school for everything under the sun, we will see this trickle down of ridiculous precautions designed to minimize the risk of lawsuits. It's a two-way street. If we don't want schools (and other public entities) to behave in such a paranoid manner, then we as a society have to push to change the laws and stop rewarding overly litigious behavior.
I have to think that there will be someone who will sue over the overzealous punishments. At some point people will get tired of having to defend their kids against stupidity like this. That is the only thing that will stop this sort of ridiculous behavior by the adults who are supposed to be in charge.
I have to think that there will be someone who will sue over the overzealous punishments. At some point people will get tired of having to defend their kids against stupidity like this. That is the only thing that will stop this sort of ridiculous behavior by the adults who are supposed to be in charge.
You're missing my point. These overly zealous precautions have been put in place after ridiculous lawsuits against school districts. A child brings Tylenol to school with their parents' permission. They either give some to a friend or someone takes it from their backpack when they aren't looking. Maybe the kid has a bad reaction to Tylenol. Maybe they purposefully overdose. The second kid dies and their parents are heartbroken. They sue the school for failing to provide a safe environment and win. Who pays up? The taxpayers. The settlement money ultimately comes out of the same pot the district would have used on our kids.
What we need to be tired of is people thinking every one of life's misfortunes is an opportunity to cash in. Nowadays you can't have accidents. You can't have rotten luck. You can't have a kid coming across something they shouldn't or making a tragic mistake. It's all about finding someone to blame and suing their butt off. Until we as a society get past that and learn to recognize the difference between actually being harmed by someone else's extreme negligence and the tragedy of a terrible accident, we will continue to see public entities going to extremes to lessen risk. If we don't like that as a society, we need to work to change the laws.
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