Third, just because we decide to declare zero tolerance for the mistakes of childhood, doesn't mean that nature will accommodate us by producing mistake-proof children. These factors have produced an ever growing rogue's gallery of zero tolerance horror stories. Students have also been suspended under anti-drug regulations for using or sharing such noxious substances as cough drops and candy. Now, I don't doubt that the students in these cases did violate school rules, at least in a technical sense, and that some response was needed. They probably deserved a stiff talking to, perhaps even some modest form of punishment.
Proportionality is, after all, one of the essential elements of any just punishment.
The funny thing is, though, that when I think back about the cracker affair, I really believe that I learned more from the break I received than I would have learned from any punishment. And I responded accordingly. That is, of course, the wonderful thing about giving a child a break. Like any act of faith, obviously, it can be a gamble.