Zero Tolerance- Extremism In the Defense of Who Knows What
I can certainly understand some of the original thinking behind "Zero Tolerance" school policies. In this post-Columbine era when we all want to keep our children safe in school, revisionism and fear replace common sense.

One I came across last weekend was a story out of Portsmouth, RI, High School. One of the seniors who has become interested in Medieval armor and history is being told he can't use a senior picture in the yearbook showing him in chain mail armor and holding a fake sword. He is part of the Society for Creative Anachronism which supports hobbyist who do re-enactments and the like. The school says they have a "zero tolerance" policy as far as weapons go and that's that.

Needless to say the family is suing the school.

But one statement got me to thinking. His mother said that this could, if you think about it, lead the school to ban things like Shakespeare's "Macbeth," which depicts a fatal stabbing.

And how about the history books with those weapons that were used by the pioneers, the Native Americans, the soldiers in the Civil War, the infantrymen in WW II. Will we now have to ban those pictures because they go against the "zero tolerance" policy?

Then there are movies that might be shown in English or some other class. History teachers better not show Saving Private Ryan, for example. (They probably wouldn't anyway because of the language. After all, the fear of the FCC kept some TV stations from broadcasting it. This is really complicated, isn't it.) And God forbid that we should show a Roadrunner cartoon. That Wile E. Coyote is a danger to all good people even as the hero gets away and the Coyote crashes.

I am not a conservative pundit who often finds this whole zero tolerance BS a liberal idea. Fortunately the ACLU is helping in this suit. Every good thinking liberal should be speaking out on this. Zero tolerance is a "Black-and-White" thinking process. It has one purpose- to make everyone think the same. Yes, there are serious issues in our schools. But the dangers are overblown in these post-Columbine days. Schools remain safe places. It's just that when there is a problem, it gets BIG press.

Let's regain our sense of balance. Let's recognize that we can't hide our children - our ourselves - from the scary things. But we can teach them the differences between balance and "either-or" attitudes.

Next they will ban Romeo and Juliet because they commit suicide and someone might just decide to emulate the star-crossed lovers.

Let's get life back.