(written by Mischa R., Tramaine T. and Aaron T., 10-7-03)

    The policy of zero tolerance was put into effect for several reasons. After the Columbine High massacre, zero tolerance seemed to be the way to keep aggression and violent behavior from coming into school and becoming a serious problem. Even before that incident, violence and the possession of drugs were on the rise in the nation. Zero tolerance promised to lower the levels of drug possession and weapon possession in high schools and middle schools. Although it does seem to be doing this, several unfortunate side effects include as much as a 30 per cent increase in the suspensions in high schools and middle schools across the nation. These statistics also say that the section of the student body that is feeling the effects of zero tolerance the most is the black males. They didn't say why this was, however.

    As our group studied the various printouts that we had, we discovered that a good number of zero tolerance cases were very debatable and sometimes laughable. There were several examples of students in middle schools and even elementary schools that were suspended for such minute discrepancies as handing out lemon flavored candy drops to their fellow students, or brandishing a butter knife for their lunch, even after they had asked permission to do so. Many of the zero tolerance cases went overboard on the ruling, and some of them were changed. However, many students are still being unfairly suspended and slapped with other harsh penalties, even if they had never had any problems in the past and the one that they were in trouble for was very small.

    Zero tolerance policies seem to be overruling the 'no child left behind' policies more and more often. Many schools have reduced the levels of violence present, but it is never stated by exactly how much. Our group isn't sure if the 40 per cent increase in suspensions is worth the minimal decline in violence, especially when so many children are being unfairly punished by policies that are enforced by administrators of individual schools.

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