Cumberland County District Attorney Skip Ebert pointed to the assault of three administrators at Big Spring High School Tuesday to support his position that zero tolerance policies are needed to maintain discipline and deter violence. But Dickinson Law School Professor Gary Gildin said the case of an armed teen-ager returning to a school in Arizona from which he had withdrawn shows zero tolerance doesn't deter anything. Ebert and Gildin were invited to make their arguments about zero tolerance to alumni of Leadership Carlisle during its annual breakfast at Dickinson College this week. We're giving you a free education. All you have to do is behave.
Education requires discipline, there's no question about it.
He cited numerous examples in Pennsylvania in which he contended such policies have required local districts to impose a punishment that does not fit the offense. He thought he erased the words, but a student using the same calculator later on saw the phrase and reported it to school officials, Gildin said. He cited another case in which a kindergarten student was suspended for possession of a weapon because he came to school wearing a firefighter costume with a plastic fire ax. However, Ebert pointed out that in the wake of Columbine and numerous other school shootings, what may appear on the surface to be an innocent prank must be treated a lot more seriously than before. Ebert said while statistics suggest crime is falling, it's the calm before the storm.