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FEBRUARY 22, 2010 12:52AM
Zero Tolerance Out of Control?
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42
Doodling on her desk got Alexa hauled out of school in handcuffs. She did the perp walk in front of her school friends and teachers. Alexa went directly to
Zero tolerance policies in some schools seems to have gone wild, like a steroid enhanced version of the original purpose, losing all common sense in the process. Kids are paying a high personal price with this over zealous (and righteous) adherence to a code of conduct that goes way beyond safety and well being.
Alexa Gonzalez will pay the emotional price of her pen and ink crime long beyond the actual event. What is the matter with the adults in her school? Have they no ability to differentiate between dangerous actions and a kid being a kid?
As a parent of a doodling child, I shudder to think what might have befallen the girl had these policies been in place. My daughter's entire 4th grade year was spent doodling on the desk. Every night the patient janitor would wipe it clean. She began to doodle just for the janitor's entertainment, hoping he would appreciate the gesture before wiping it clean. Little did he know he was wiping away the artwork of a future artist whose works hang all over the globe.
As a toddler sized doodler, she began her vocation by using the industrial sized jar of Vaseline, painting it onto the walls, floors, her infant sister (who remained asleep) and every stick of furniture in their room. Nap time apparently had a different sort of meaning to her.
We went through crayon, markers, chalk, ink, paint, and my favorite, spaghetti sauce through those early years.
She doodled her way into early cartooning and one Sunday morning while reading the paper I noticed a familiar set of ink lines. A kindergarten teacher had sent in a cartoon doodle to the newspaper and they published it. It was an early self portrait - she is walking a dog on a leash. The head of the dog is clearly her little sister.
And that describes their relationship in pen and ink.
In 5th grade she did another self portrait. Black ink. Think early Kahlo meets Picasso. We were summoned to the school to reassure a nervous counselor that the child was pretty well adjusted. However, they did send us a thank you note when we moved to another coast a short time later.
All this was just the practice run for her real life. One can only imagine the darkness that would have befallen her career as an artist had she been perp-walked away as a young teen, in handcuffs like Alexa Gonzalez.
Ms. Gonzalez deserves not only an apology, but some new ink pens.
Zero tolerance gone awry?
Indeed.
Comments
Do we really want a
black and white world? Zero is not neutral is it? Doesn't leave wiggle
room for a -1 or a +2 in a 'situation' that might lneed some special
consideration. What if Alexa was a 'special needs' student? Zero?
Really? Good observations.
I cannot believe this.
This bullshit PC culture is becoming so viciously destructive. It is
disgusting. Thank you for this post.
Rated.
Rated.
I would have been in
SUCH trouble all through high school. But the most I ever heard about
my compulsive scribbling on desks and tables was "Do not do that,
please." Okay, I heard them, and did not draw on the desks in Science
Lab. Or at least, I stopped doodling on THOSE desks.
The response to what the poor child did was insanely out of line. This is what happens when people making laws have only minimal contact with and no understanding of kids as soon as they stop being one. Has graphite become a deadly weapon?? It's just insane.
The response to what the poor child did was insanely out of line. This is what happens when people making laws have only minimal contact with and no understanding of kids as soon as they stop being one. Has graphite become a deadly weapon?? It's just insane.
Rated. "Zero tolerance"
means "no thinking", no possibility of looking at the circumstances, no
opening for use of judgment.
A few years back, my son got detention in junior high school. I phoned the principal who explained there had been a fight at recess. Nobody was hurt. The reporting teacher did not see the fight start. Nobody could say which of the boys, if either, started the fight, or whether one of them might have been defending himself, or even if one boy might have been a passive victim. It didn't matter: the school had a zero tolerance policy for fighting, and my son had been "involved" in a fight. The life lesson: blindly applying a rule is easier for the authorities than trying to be fair and insightful.
A few years back, my son got detention in junior high school. I phoned the principal who explained there had been a fight at recess. Nobody was hurt. The reporting teacher did not see the fight start. Nobody could say which of the boys, if either, started the fight, or whether one of them might have been defending himself, or even if one boy might have been a passive victim. It didn't matter: the school had a zero tolerance policy for fighting, and my son had been "involved" in a fight. The life lesson: blindly applying a rule is easier for the authorities than trying to be fair and insightful.
I'd love to see some of
your doodling daughters work, Lisa. A perp walk for graffiti does seem
extreme.
I'm glad the NYPD was
able to focus on real crime that day.
Your daughter's artwork
is really cool :)
(I always include this statement when I sign the annual sheet that says I've read and agree with the school handbook: "I object to zero tolerance policies and prefer that supervising adults practice judiciousness in evaluating behavior.")
(I always include this statement when I sign the annual sheet that says I've read and agree with the school handbook: "I object to zero tolerance policies and prefer that supervising adults practice judiciousness in evaluating behavior.")
Applying common sense
takes work, and it means risk -- of making the wrong decision and
getting into trouble. Easier to see everything that sticks up as a
nail, hammer it down, and if there's any fallout, just say you were
following the rules. I read about this over the weekend, and like you, I
was thinking it could have been my daughter, who is also an artist.
Toth, this has nothing
to do with PC culture, this is total right wing mentality of absolutes.
What is amazing with zero tolerance is that it is most often applied to minority children with a collective gusto.
What is amazing with zero tolerance is that it is most often applied to minority children with a collective gusto.
BRAVO! This post is one
that hits so close to home with me that I literally felt my stomach
clench into a ball of nerves as I was reading it. The inane
zero-tolerance policy is alive and well in Texas schools and has wreaked
havoc in the lives of countless children and parents.
Thank you for drawing attention to this huge problem that just won't go away.
~R~
Thank you for drawing attention to this huge problem that just won't go away.
~R~
BRAVO! This post is one
that hits so close to home with me that I literally felt my stomach
clench into a ball of nerves as I was reading it. The inane
zero-tolerance policy is alive and well in Texas schools and has wreaked
havoc in the lives of countless children and parents.
Thank you for drawing attention to this huge problem that just won't go away.
~R~
Thank you for drawing attention to this huge problem that just won't go away.
~R~
Stellaa, "right wing
mentality"?
Your ignorance is astounding.
Your ignorance is astounding.
The legal system is
makig them do this, that and a total overreaction to columbine.
unbelievable but then
again it just reminds me of other incidents like the second grader that
got expelled for pointing his chicken nugget at a teacher (she thought
he was using it as a "gun"). what is wrong with people? they should be
applying all that energy and effort to actually improving graduation
rates and reading scores.
It baffles me that
people, especially teachers, have no ability to use common sense in
these cases. If it was a matter of the student disobeying the teacher's
rule not to write on the desk, the teacher, if she had any authority,
could have given an appropriate consequence. Just the words criminal
doodling is laughable.
The child should have
been punished for the act (cleaning the desk after school, IMHO, should
have been sufficient). However, the arrest (heck, even sending to the
principal) was overkill.
Yes, I saw that story
in the news the other day and I was appalled. If this was how they
handled misbehavior in my day, I would have been handcuffed a few times.
Whatever happened to common sense?
Whatever happened to common sense?
for crying out loud.
rated. xx a
If they busted me
everytime I doodled in school I'd have a rap sheet longer than some
hardcore criminals.
Not that it should matter, but was she doodling stuff like "Kill the Teacher"? Probably every student has doodled something similarly in their scholastic life.
Not that it should matter, but was she doodling stuff like "Kill the Teacher"? Probably every student has doodled something similarly in their scholastic life.
Whatever happened to
having to stay after school and wash all the desks as punishment for
drawing on them?
Morons.
Morons.
That's why there aren't
any Van Goghs left. Pity.
R
R
I suspect you already
know what I think about this.
I would LOVE to see your daughter's work - I love the description of the dog with her sister's head, although it is undoubtedly a sign of some sort of murderous inclinations. ;)
I would LOVE to see your daughter's work - I love the description of the dog with her sister's head, although it is undoubtedly a sign of some sort of murderous inclinations. ;)
It's crazy I mean.
you must realize that
creative expression involves a level of intellectual and emotional
involvement that just is not tolerated here
I shook my head when the 6-yr-old with the Cub Scout knife was sent to juvenile detention. I thought the kid who almost got arrested for a 2" toy plastic gun was excessive, I was baffled by the chicken nugget episode.
Drawing? Handcuffs? A 12-yr-old committing the crime of drawing is such a threat to NYPD she needs to be bound?
And yes, it is a right-wing sentiment. Fascism believes in the total adherence to the laws of the state, regardless of circumstance.
I shook my head when the 6-yr-old with the Cub Scout knife was sent to juvenile detention. I thought the kid who almost got arrested for a 2" toy plastic gun was excessive, I was baffled by the chicken nugget episode.
Drawing? Handcuffs? A 12-yr-old committing the crime of drawing is such a threat to NYPD she needs to be bound?
And yes, it is a right-wing sentiment. Fascism believes in the total adherence to the laws of the state, regardless of circumstance.
Gabby - Alexa was just
your ordinary bored kid. I think the NCYD and the NYC schools have some
work to do, although the out of control zero tolerance programs are not
limited to them.
Thoth - Hopefully the lawsuit will force some common sense changes.
Shiral - My kid comes by it naturally. I doodled. Everywhere.
Bart - That must have been very frustrating. So much overkill and not much common sense on the part of the school.
Kathy - google Myrtle Von Damitz. And nope, not her birth name!
Sheepy - click on the ACLU link. The number of NYP that are assigned to school safety is staggering.
lumina - Thank you. And yes, the comments were stunning. Judgmental beyond reason. Myrtle, the artist comes by it honestly. She was born that way. Her early work is merely a testing ground for her latest stuff. Her grandfathers, both were artists, but she took the last name of a relative, a 19th century primitive artist, Ernst Von Damitz.
Lainey - Thank you. I love that you sign the form that way. If only more parents did exactly that.
Bell - Love the hammer analogy. What kind of artist is she? And were we separated at birth? Dogs, kids, food....
Stellaa - You always see right to the heart of the matter. You are probably quite right about the minority student part. I tend to think that it is beyond any one political pull, right or left. I think it is an overreaction on the part of scared school boards.
Unbreakable - Thank you. I hope that zero tolerance gets another look with the lawsuit, but hard to say how it will turn out. It is a broken system for sure.
Black - I don't agree that is right wing politics or left wing politics more than it is a reflection of local school boards and how they interpret what zero tolerance means and how they will apply it. But everyone can have an opinion.
Don - They are local policies established by school districts. The ACLU class action suit is to bring a change in the policies that protect, yet don't harm students by carrying them out to the strictest interpretation.
Ann - Yeah, that would be nice! My favorites are the boy scout with the swiss army spork and the kids throwing spit balls.
Karin - I think you hit it on the head when you said, if she had any authority. I suspect that the local teacher authority has been circumvented with some of these districts and they must report it (if they see it) or lose their jobs. Just a guess, but I cannot imagine all of these incidents would happen because of that many clueless teachers. Too many.
perd - Agreed!
Cranky -I'd still be in doodling jail.
Akopsa - Truly!
Nick - Thanks for coming by. Me too. I'd probably still be locked up for my smart ass mouth, let alone the doodling. And nope. She was writing something inane. Click on the link - it tells you what she did. Not even a tiny swear word! And in erasable marker.
Leeandra - Exactly!
Thoth - Hopefully the lawsuit will force some common sense changes.
Shiral - My kid comes by it naturally. I doodled. Everywhere.
Bart - That must have been very frustrating. So much overkill and not much common sense on the part of the school.
Kathy - google Myrtle Von Damitz. And nope, not her birth name!
Sheepy - click on the ACLU link. The number of NYP that are assigned to school safety is staggering.
lumina - Thank you. And yes, the comments were stunning. Judgmental beyond reason. Myrtle, the artist comes by it honestly. She was born that way. Her early work is merely a testing ground for her latest stuff. Her grandfathers, both were artists, but she took the last name of a relative, a 19th century primitive artist, Ernst Von Damitz.
Lainey - Thank you. I love that you sign the form that way. If only more parents did exactly that.
Bell - Love the hammer analogy. What kind of artist is she? And were we separated at birth? Dogs, kids, food....
Stellaa - You always see right to the heart of the matter. You are probably quite right about the minority student part. I tend to think that it is beyond any one political pull, right or left. I think it is an overreaction on the part of scared school boards.
Unbreakable - Thank you. I hope that zero tolerance gets another look with the lawsuit, but hard to say how it will turn out. It is a broken system for sure.
Black - I don't agree that is right wing politics or left wing politics more than it is a reflection of local school boards and how they interpret what zero tolerance means and how they will apply it. But everyone can have an opinion.
Don - They are local policies established by school districts. The ACLU class action suit is to bring a change in the policies that protect, yet don't harm students by carrying them out to the strictest interpretation.
Ann - Yeah, that would be nice! My favorites are the boy scout with the swiss army spork and the kids throwing spit balls.
Karin - I think you hit it on the head when you said, if she had any authority. I suspect that the local teacher authority has been circumvented with some of these districts and they must report it (if they see it) or lose their jobs. Just a guess, but I cannot imagine all of these incidents would happen because of that many clueless teachers. Too many.
perd - Agreed!
Cranky -I'd still be in doodling jail.
Akopsa - Truly!
Nick - Thanks for coming by. Me too. I'd probably still be locked up for my smart ass mouth, let alone the doodling. And nope. She was writing something inane. Click on the link - it tells you what she did. Not even a tiny swear word! And in erasable marker.
Leeandra - Exactly!
Yup. Zero tolerance run
amok. I would never have survived, because I would read during class.
Just open a paperback under my desk and read away.
Sadly, punishment for
doodling doesn't even reach mid levels of the stupidity of Zero
Tolerance.
You can't really argue that doodling might save lives.
An elementary school girl (first or second grade) was expelled for bringing a gun on school grounds. Now, normally, this would be a bad thing.
The problem is the gun was discarded at the school bus stop in front of the school, and kindergarten children where playing with it. She got the gun from their possession, and then sought out the nearest adult and turned the gun over.
You'd expect such clear thinking from such a young person would be rewarded, but all the school cared about what a gun was "brought" onto the campus.
You can't really argue that doodling might save lives.
An elementary school girl (first or second grade) was expelled for bringing a gun on school grounds. Now, normally, this would be a bad thing.
The problem is the gun was discarded at the school bus stop in front of the school, and kindergarten children where playing with it. She got the gun from their possession, and then sought out the nearest adult and turned the gun over.
You'd expect such clear thinking from such a young person would be rewarded, but all the school cared about what a gun was "brought" onto the campus.
John - But there are
some great taggers...
Ann - I can guess! That was my all time favorite cartoon. You can google her - Myrtle Von Damitz. There is a link above, too. Fortunately she lived in a time when doodling on the desk was not a crime or I suspect I'd be baking her cakes with little ink pens stuck inside and sending them off to some state prison.
pantomime - Yes, it is.
Occam - It does tend to stifle creativity and free expression. I think it might be wider than just right wing thinking. I am pretty sure it encompasses general stupidity which both right and left wing leadership has demonstrated. And since the policies are pervasive everywhere, it has to be linked more to school board reactive mentality than one political side or the other. Perhaps.
Ann - I can guess! That was my all time favorite cartoon. You can google her - Myrtle Von Damitz. There is a link above, too. Fortunately she lived in a time when doodling on the desk was not a crime or I suspect I'd be baking her cakes with little ink pens stuck inside and sending them off to some state prison.
pantomime - Yes, it is.
Occam - It does tend to stifle creativity and free expression. I think it might be wider than just right wing thinking. I am pretty sure it encompasses general stupidity which both right and left wing leadership has demonstrated. And since the policies are pervasive everywhere, it has to be linked more to school board reactive mentality than one political side or the other. Perhaps.
Makes sense to me. The
teachers haven't had any real control in the classrooms for about a
quarter of a century. The pendulum swings. And your daughter's
"doodling" doesn't sound so charming to me. What, you think school
janitors have nothing better to do? It's someone else's property! Oh,
wait, it could have been YOUR kid? Oh, well, I'm sure that makes it all
okay.
The girl in question will have a story to tell someday.
The girl in question will have a story to tell someday.
It seems some old
fashioned type punishment could have been meted out. Like having Alexa
stay after school and clean desks for a week.
Jeesh. I think some
detention, maybe a punishment of cleaning desks for a week might be in
order.
Handcuffs??? Get real. I think if I were the officer, I would have fined the principal for inappropriate use of police resources.
Handcuffs??? Get real. I think if I were the officer, I would have fined the principal for inappropriate use of police resources.
There's zero tolerance
for doodling, but plenty for students who can't read or write, but
graduate anyway.
I didn't believe this
blog post when I read it and so looked it up. According to the report I
read, the police said "discretion (should be) used in deciding whether
handcuffs or arrest are necessary". WTF? Why wasn't a police officer who
handcuffed A CHILD disciplined automatically?
This is just wrong and
more than that, its really shows how out of line the priorities of the
school are.
On one hand kids will
be kids, but part of school is kids learning to be adults. Adult 101 is
respect other's property. Should the bored child feel free to draw on
school no they shouldn't.
Things have changed.
When I was in school if you doodled on school property, (nothing has changed in 45 years) you recieved a bucket and soap and had to wash off the desk in front of the class. You were instructed that school property needed to be respected. It was simple, straight forward, and the punishment fit the crime.
Things have changed.
When I was in school if you doodled on school property, (nothing has changed in 45 years) you recieved a bucket and soap and had to wash off the desk in front of the class. You were instructed that school property needed to be respected. It was simple, straight forward, and the punishment fit the crime.
Yup--out of control. I
can tell how proud you are of your daughter . . . how wonderful! My son
did the Vaseline thing, too, the same year he cut his own hair and poked
holes in the drop ceiling with an umbrella. No artistic talent noted to
date (he's 16 now).
Sigh, this sort of
thing makes me nuts. It reminds me of the "thinking" that must of
occurred when the poor girl in AZ who was strip searched for an Advil.
wow, your kid is a
fabulous artist!!
Great post! Horrible
story. Stop the world. I want off of this MF'er!
Writing on a desk.
Someone call Homeland security.
Ash - I'm sure reading
would have been a crime, sad to say.
Daniel - What an awful story. That poor kid.
Havlin - Free speech and all that. I don't think I said I condoned her doodling on the desk. Second, it could be anyone's kid and it still would be wrong. For how the school behaved and for the kid for not using something not her property.
Christine - That would have made sense.
froggy - agreed.
Jeff - So very true. And sad.
Madam - Yep. Perp walked. Someone's really stupid idea of deterrence?
LadyM - It is sad.
M Todd - That makes the consequence fit the action at least.
Hells - Thanks. I do love the umbrella as a tool - that is funny (now) I bet.
sue - taken to extremes zero tolerance looks awfully paranoid.
Julie - Thanks!
Bill - Yeah, sometimes I'd like to do that too.
Noirville - Ha. Don't think they wouldn't given the message from the doodler....
Daniel - What an awful story. That poor kid.
Havlin - Free speech and all that. I don't think I said I condoned her doodling on the desk. Second, it could be anyone's kid and it still would be wrong. For how the school behaved and for the kid for not using something not her property.
Christine - That would have made sense.
froggy - agreed.
Jeff - So very true. And sad.
Madam - Yep. Perp walked. Someone's really stupid idea of deterrence?
LadyM - It is sad.
M Todd - That makes the consequence fit the action at least.
Hells - Thanks. I do love the umbrella as a tool - that is funny (now) I bet.
sue - taken to extremes zero tolerance looks awfully paranoid.
Julie - Thanks!
Bill - Yeah, sometimes I'd like to do that too.
Noirville - Ha. Don't think they wouldn't given the message from the doodler....
Great post. There is a
huge over reaction going on in this country for a number of things in an
effort to assert control. Seems that some people need control. There is
some bad, destructive behavior out there, however, this is not the
case. As with all of these things, I am sure that some of you wish you
could slap the person who did this to the child up side the head.....but
since we are not supposed to be that out of control, we have to watch
them act like monkeys. There are some real bizarre punishments going on
right now that are over the top for some of the crimes... some sexting
cases come to mind. Right wing or not, I think it is a question of
common sense. Must be fresh out.............
Ralph Waldo Emerson was
worried about the advent of the "new" education system, the system we
find ourselves in now. His worry was that the school system would
become an intolerant system not equipped to educate, but designed simply
to discipline the children and to teach conformity.
Seems we’ve lived to see his worries come true.
Seems we’ve lived to see his worries come true.
Zero tolerance policies
are a way for school board idiots to prevent teachers and principals
from exercising judgement in situations of student discipline. One more
reason why we right-wingers have grown to hate public education.
No problem with the
story, except...the author turns it into a link to the artwork of a
different artist than the actual subject of the article.
If your links went to the artwork of Alexa, this would be a different matter.
Self-promotion all the way. You can't snow the snowman.
I would guess you are related to the person you linked?
If your links went to the artwork of Alexa, this would be a different matter.
Self-promotion all the way. You can't snow the snowman.
I would guess you are related to the person you linked?
Lulu, That is the
point, either way is wrong. But, in some segments in this society we
have become a nation of extremes. Either there are no consequences for
actions or they are totally overboard.
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