Real Name: Thomas Martinez Gender: male Date of Birth: May 17, 1968 Member Since: March 01, 2008 Last Signed In: November 14, 2008 Profile Views: 228 Blog Views: 1094 The great comics survey Quiet before the storm Are newspapers objective? Death of newspapers? Nah How to cover a community? Race and the media A brother's suicide My love of newspapers Out of the comfort zone A special night March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 
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Zero tolerance
A couple of days ago, we ran a story in the Advocate about rival girl gangs in Calhoun County. Police arrested members of one of the gangs, a mother and grandmother when things escalated.
A reader posted a comment to that story about zero tolerance at schools, and how maybe zero tolerance has hampered educators in their dealings with some students. That reader's post was interesting and well thought out. Though I'm not sure I agree with it, it did get me thinking about zero tolerance. I was working at a newspaper in Colorado when the Columbine shootings happened. Eric Harris and his sissy friend Dylan Klebold gunned down 12 students and one teacher and wounded 22 others before killing themselves. Cowards. Anyway, a lot of the current zero tolerance policies were born out of the Columbine shootings. Does it always work. No, but nothing's 100 percent. A few years back, a newspaper I worked at told the story of a young kid who got expelled because he had a plastic knife in his backpack. If I remember correctly, he had mistakingly put the plastic knife in his lunch sack. That expulsion definitely didn't fit the crime. But zero tolerance probably does more good than harm. In the case of Calhoun County, it probably worked because a heated exchange between gangs -- even wannabe gangs -- could have easily escalated into an out-of-control chaos that hurt other students or teachers. What's your take on zero tolerance? Please comment here or click the link above and comment on the original story. Thanks for reading. 7 comments from 5 users
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posted by
Riverboat
on Mar 11, 2008 at 12:15 AM
I assure you, zero tolerance policies were not entirely borne out of the Columbine shootings. The ZT policy was adopted in this district long before that catastrophic day. The reason it was brought up is because teachers were fed up with administrators who treated offenders without stern consequences.
posted by
justmerighthere
on Mar 11, 2008 at 06:47 AM
The zero tolerance policy is laid out pretty simple.
What we want is for students, teachers and parents to know that we will not accept certain types of behavior. If a student placed a knife, plastic or not, where it did not belong... someone may have felt threatened. One of the comments that is becoming more and more popular with all of the school shootings is that "They would have never expected it from that student." So don't tell me that zero tolerance is not fair. The straight A student should be just as accountable as the wanna-be gangster for committing offenses. Parents need to understand that as well and stop bailing their kids out of punishments. It's time for both students and parents to grow up and accept consequences. Parents need to stop being friends to their children.... once they are grown and off to college is when you become their friend and stop trying to rule their lives... if they continue at that age... that's when the kids push their parents out of their lives. posted by
darlins64
on Mar 11, 2008 at 06:55 AM
Zero Tolerance?? Mr. Martinez, could I tell you some stories about the selective ways Zero Tolerance is applied throughout VISD! The parents are frustrated, the teachers are fed up! And the students don't respect themselves, the teachers or the administrators. In the incident at CHS, I was shocked to hear about the PARENTS up there not backing the school! But what a fresh surprise.... the school didn't back down and handled the problem the way it should have been handled! Our administrators wouldn't have done that -- they are too afraid to to anything that might bring down the wrath of the School Board or the Superintendent. I challenge any reader to walk thru the halls at Patti Welder on any given day and count the dress code violations and see how many fights occur. And follow the consequences, if any, for the offenders..... you'd be SHOCKED at how inconsequential! Walk the 1st floor of the Sr. Campus - count the dress code violations, the PDA violations, the fights, the gang attire, listen to language that would embarrass the most seasoned of sailors.... visit a classroom during instruction and see how rude and disrespectful t he kids are to the teachers, and the teachers aren't allowed to send them OUT? Go by Love Street at any time of the day and see how many kids are standing over there smoking cigarettes (or perhaps worse). See if you can find a security guard when you need one.... Read the student handbook and code of conduct. Find out what the consequences are for testing positive for drugs and ask yourself: Are these REALLY consequences? posted by
ThomasRMartinez
on Mar 11, 2008 at 08:40 AM
Riverboat, thanks for commenting. No, zero tolerance wasn't entirely borne out of Columbine, but those unfortunate shootings did bring it to the national stage. I actually like zero tolerance. I did edit my blog entry because I had a line in there that said it did more harm than good. I actually meant that the other way around. I think it does more good than harm!
posted by
ThomasRMartinez
on Mar 11, 2008 at 09:56 AM
Justme,You're right, all too often parents nowadays bail out there kids from every little mess. Kids learn no accountability. True story, my niece stole my truck when she was 14. My sister had been watching it for me while I was on vacation. My niece stole it and crashed it, totaling the front end. My sister bailed her out of all the consequences. It was an unbelievable process to watch. posted by
ThomasRMartinez
on Mar 11, 2008 at 09:59 AM
Darlins64,Well, if indeed what you say is true about VISD, it needs to be checked out. And you're right. As I said in my previous comment, it's time kids learn consequences and parents do some parenting. Thanks for reading. posted by
CollegeGirl
on Mar 11, 2008 at 04:32 PM
Darlins64 is absolutely correct. I do not have any kids but do carpool with someone who had 2 kids in VISD in the last 2 years. One of them was a senior in high school and feared using the restrooms. These kids are not being punished here in Victoria and continue to get away with things. The dress code has never been followed. I graduated 12 years ago from VHS and always saw dress code violations and the teachers and administrators just let it slide all the time. I do agree you can never get it 100% but they are trying to improve things.
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