Saturday, July 03, 2004
Teenager disciplined for taking Motrin
If you are a soft libertarian and really want to get your juices flowing, you have to read ZeroIntelligence.Net regularly. It chronicles the extent to which the monopoly public schools, fearful of safety-Nazi moms and trial lawyers and in thrall to small-minded assistant principals, are taking the joy out of childhood and teaching their students to leave scared, cramped, rule-following lives. If this keeps up, we'll end up like the Swiss, only without the competence (can you imagine anything worse?).
In any case, here's a story of a school with a "zero tolerance" policy as it relates to drugs, any drugs. A 15-year old girl with menstrual cramps took some Motrin, and faces a three-week suspension. Here's the "hearing officer":
What? Taking Motrin? A 15-year old girl can lawfully purchase, possess and self-administer Motrin, all according to the United States Food and Drug Administration. Under what conceivable theory of the universe is doing the same within the walls of a school such a "severe" offense that it warrants 15 days in the A-school? And these people are teaching the future citizens of America the meaning of right and wrong? John Ashcroft has nothing on these fools.
In any case, here's a story of a school with a "zero tolerance" policy as it relates to drugs, any drugs. A 15-year old girl with menstrual cramps took some Motrin, and faces a three-week suspension. Here's the "hearing officer":
"Because of the severity of having possession of drugs, I did not consider community service in this case," Hill said.
What? Taking Motrin? A 15-year old girl can lawfully purchase, possess and self-administer Motrin, all according to the United States Food and Drug Administration. Under what conceivable theory of the universe is doing the same within the walls of a school such a "severe" offense that it warrants 15 days in the A-school? And these people are teaching the future citizens of America the meaning of right and wrong? John Ashcroft has nothing on these fools.
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