The ultimate nonsense in this country is the knee-jerky school bullshit called “zero tolerance.”  A few weeks ago the Redhead told me that the policy in his school prohibiting the kids from carrying backpacks to class has partially to do with the fact that weapons can be hidden in there.

WTF?

Never mind that sometimes the load of books kids have to carry is absolutely huge and overwhelming!  No, they can’t carry them in a backpack, because there might be a gun hidden in there.  And never mind we’ve not had a firearms problem at that school.

Kids around the country have been booted out of school for drawing guns, for pretending to have guns and fake guns, for having gun-shaped objects and even for carrying a butter knife!  All because of this retarded “zero tolerance” policy.

And now, this.

He’s an Eagle Scout, on the honor roll, taking
Advanced Placement classes, and never been in trouble with the law. 
He’s received commendations from the City of Troy and the Boy Scouts of
America for saving a woman’s life, and this past summer, he completed
Army basic training.  All of it was accomplished before the age of 17.

“I’m just trying to do what I can while I can,” Matthew says.

His goal is to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a dream since he was in grade school.

“I
have a first-grade yearbook that says I want to be driving tanks in the
Army,” Matthew says.  “I mean, this is something that I know I’ve
always wanted to do.”

But the dream could be in jeopardy,
thanks to a two-inch pocket knife that officials at Lansingburgh Senior
High School found in Matthew’s locked car last month.  The pocket knife
was a gift from his grandfather, Robert Whalen, who’s the Hoosick Falls
Police Chief.  Matthew says he kept the knife in a side compartment and
never tried showing it off or threatening anyone with it.  Instead it
was a part of the survival kit that was his car.

So the kid is basically a parent’s wet dream!  Smart, dedicated, committed, intelligent and possessing a fair amount of common sense.  And his life could be ruined.  Why?

The Lansingburgh Central School District has a
zero-tolerance policy on weapons.  According to the district’s Codes of
Conduct, students are not allowed to have “a weapon of any kind” on
school grounds.  Even though a pocket knife is not considered a weapon
under New York State penal code, the district also prohibits students
from possessing anything “that reasonably can be considered a weapon.”

According
to Matthew, the school suspended him for five days, during which time a
Superintendent’s hearing was held to determine the extent of his
punishment.  Matthew’s family contends only the high school’s principal
and athletic director were present, not the Superintendent or the
assistant principal who initially suspended Matthew.  And despite a
letter from Matthew’s Scout Master explaining how a pocket knife is a
common tool for scouts to have, the district suspended Matthew for
another 15 days.  The Whalens say they received no explanation as to
why, and they claim there was no opportunity to ask.

You want to know why the new generation sprouting up in this nation is a bunch of whiny, self entitled wusses?  This is part of the reason why!  There’s no common sense in today’s public schools.  There is no effort to apply the principles of sound judgment and rationality.  There’s merely this blind drive to “do something” to keep schools safe – without any kind of rhyme or reason.  They’re told pacifism is the way to go.  They’re taught not to protect themselves from bullies, but rather just run and tell a teacher or administrator.  They’re taught that their hurt widdle offended feelings are more important than anything else, and that makes for adults who think their oh-so-hard lives justify any sort of atrocity, including the shooting up of public places by disenfranchised malcontents.

Enough is enough!  Stop ruining good kids’ lives with this sort of nonsense, and start teaching kids self-reliance, personal responsibility and self worth the right way – through achievement!

If you continue to foster weakness, self-entitlement and fake self worth that teaches kids they don’t need to earn respect, earn good grades and succeed in order to feel good about themselves…  If you continue to teach them that self-reliance is to be punished and rational thought doesn’t belong in decisions, but feelings do… you’ll get another shitsack shooting up a school, and feeling justified in doing so, because some bully teased him on the playground.