I noted the story of the accused terrorist who was let out of prison because he was depressed. It was a story of tolerance run amok.
Here’s another item:
A cop enters the classroom and takes away two boys, aged 9 and 10, in handcuffs. Just another story of gangs moving into the schools?
No, it’s the saga of ZERO tolerance run amok. The boys were taken into custody because they had drawn stick figures that portrayed cruelty to a third student.
I can’t help but notice the irony that the kids were treated like terrorists, while the terrorist was treated like a kid who doesn’t deserve to be grounded for some minor offense because, well, he’s depressed.
As ifeminist reports:
“There was no act of violence, no weaponry. According to news reports, the arrested children had no prior history of threatening the student depicted in the drawing. The parents were not advised or consulted. The school’s immediate response was to call the police and level charges ’of making a written threat to kill or harm another person.’
“The incident was not an aberration but one of three similar occurrences in the Florida school system during the same week. In another case, a 6-year-old was led away in handcuffs by police. And those three incidents are only the ones that managed to attract media attention.”
“Arresting young children for a crayon drawing, not unlike the games of hangman we once all played, is the ultimate meaning and logic of Zero Tolerance.
“Zero tolerance involves the application of law in an extreme and uncompromising manner to any activity, violent or not, that is deemed to be anti-social.
“Zero tolerance has spread through society largely due to the reasonable fear with which people have responded to the school shootings at Columbine and the still-stunning tragedy of Sept. 11. The fear is reasonable. But the ongoing response is not.”
Why is society so inclined to be lenient with those from whom we have much to fear and so harsh with a couple of kids from whom we have little to fear?