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"Zero tolerance" in our schools sounds great to parents looking for someone else to be responsible for raising their children. But it's an unreasonable standard that few adults themselves could tolerate, and sends the wrong message.

Why do we demand that our children be mistake-free? How many of us never drank a beer, or smoked a cigarette or a joint in our teens? If we expel students for drinking a beer, do we shoot them when they hit a teacher or bring a real gun to school? We need rules that penalize bad behavior to its own level, and penalize repeated bad behavior with ever-escalating levels of punishment.

Teens today live under constant threat of lockers being searched, licenses being revoked, or explusion for what were minor offenses years ago. It must be hard for them to understand why they are expected to be perfect, especially by parents who grew up in the '60s or '70s. Yet we wonder why they are alienated and angry.

We should stay close and pick our children up when they fail, but we should show our love as parents, not with zero tolerance, but by giving kids the respect and space they need and deserve.

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Daveweb's Zero Tolerance born on 12/16/00.
Last updated on 5/18/01 by David Younker.