Newspapers around the nation are dotted with such stories. A student gives a fellow student an aspirin and is treated like a drug dealer. A high-school student is suspended for having a small nail file. Another student is suspended for having a box cutter in his car that never even made it into the school. A yardstick is a club.
Oil paint is poison.
It's hard to see how punishing a student for carrying a concealed telescope can lead to anything but useless shame and ostracization of innocent children. Zero tolerance doesn't mean that school administrators have to think hard about the safety of their students. It means they can simply react capriciously. They don't have to think at all. Thus, in the spirit of giving during this holiday season, I'd like to offer my help to any teacher who wants to set up a judicial challenge to zero tolerance.