Read the three scenarios below that ACTUALLY occurred in February and March, 2007 within the Christina School District and see if you can match them with the three ACTUAL outcomes listed here:
A. Zero Tolerance applied. Child expelled for ONE full year. Three Felony charges filed.
B. Zero Tolerance not applied. NOTHING was done.
C. Zero Tolerance applied. Child expelled for ONE full year. Two felony charges filed. Student assigned to Douglas alternative school for children with disciplinary and behavioral problems.
The Scenarios:
1. March 6, 2007: A 16 year old boy at Hodgson Vo-Tech got into an argument with another student. He pulled out a utility knife and attacked the other student. Fortunately the other boy only received minor injuries. This child had INTENT to cause harm.
2. A 12 year old girl at Shue Medill, assigned to build a paper building, used a utility blade (no handle) in an attempt to cut windows out of the structure. The scissors that were provided to the class did not work. This child had NO INTENT to cause harm to anyone.
3. A 12 year old girl was accosted in the hallway at Shue Medill by a group of children with a history of bullying her and her friends. She was shoved against the wall, called names, and threatened with having her hair cut off and her eyes cut out with a razor. The boy who made the threat claimed to have a weapon. At least one teacher was present. This child, indeed all of the children in the gang, had INTENT to cause harm.
The Answers:
1. A 16 year old boy at Hodgson Vo-Tech got into an argument …The answer is A.
Zero Tolerance did nothing to prevent this incident from occuring. This child clearly had intent to harm another and was a danger to other students and faculty. We don’t know what his disciplinary record is or if he had behavioral problems prior to this incident. We can assume that he was assigned to an alternative school. He was charged with second-degree assault, carrying a concealed deadly weapon and possession of a weapon in a Safe School zone. Note: Unlike the other incidents listed here, we did not speak to the boy or his parents and have no first hand knowledge of the event. This information is based on an article that appeared in the Wilmington News Journal
2. A 12 year old girl at Shue Medill, assigned to build a paper building …The answer is C.
This child used the utility blade on art projects outside of school including scrap booking (which she learned in a class she was assigned at school). She had forgotten that the item was in her possession until the day of the assignment. The mother of this child agreed that her daughter should receive at least some consequence for her lack of judgment but felt that expulsion and felony charges were extreme in that this child clearly had no intent to harm anyone. In addition, her daughter had no disciplinary record or behavioral problems preceding the incident. The felony charges were "exceptionally cleared as prosecution declined by the Attorney General’s Office". The mother refused to allow her child to attend the alternative school for fear that her daughter would be in danger. Her daughter is now being home schooled.
3. A 12 year old girl was accosted in the hallway at Shue Medill…The answer is B – NOTHING was done.
The victim was able to borrow a cell phone and sneak into a bathroom to call her mother, who came to the school immediately. They identified to the Assistant Principal the boy who had made the threat to “cut her eyes out”. The boy was permitted to leave school without ever being questioned or searched for the weapon which he claimed to have. The mother was told that she should REMOVE HER CHILD from school while the incident was investigated. THREE DAYS after this incident nobody from the school had contacted the girl’s mother. When she contacted the school she was advised that video from the day of the incident was insufficient (“too blurry”). The teacher that was present at the time of the incident and “broke it up” claims to have seen and heard nothing. The gang involved, to the best of our knowledge, is attending Shue Medill again this year. The girl’s mother pulled her daughter from public school and is now home schooling her.
Home