« Far Too Cool | Main | Shafting the Innocents? »
February 9, 2006
Zero Intelligence Policies
Can a six year old commit sexual harassment? A crime of intent — making someone sexually uncomfortable, in this case — would seem to be predicated on intent, and thus on knowledge of the effects of the crime (otherwise, how could one intend to cause those consequences?). But never let that stop a school from suspending a six year old for sexual harassment. (hat tip: Planet Moron) What immediately occurs to me is the image of explaining to my not-quite six year old, or one of my former six year olds, what sexual harassment is and why they were suspended from school. It would probably start with, "Well, dear, teachers and other bureaucrats are generally idiots...." Of course, since we homeschool, it's not actually an issue for us.
(And of course, how long will it be before the laws forcing "sexual predators" to register for life are extended to sexual harassment committed under any circumstances at any age? And when people stop taking sexual crimes very seriously because of this watering down, causing victims of real sexual crimes to lose protections they would otherwise have, who will take the responsibility? Like most bureaucratic nightmares, no one.)
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.caerdroia.org/MT/mt-tb.cgi/835
Comments
It isn't just idiocy Jeff; it is idiocy coupled with malice acting on the advice of an attorney.
Zero tolerance policies were originally enacted because of state legislative pressure that culminated as a result of public unhappiness with school administrators who refused to enforce sensible discipline standards - particularly where gang violence, weapons and drugs were concerned.
In the 1970's and 1980's sweeping problems under the rug - and this included felonies - was standard school administrator practice and the main reason why urban schools became dangerous places of mayhem.
Some of this resultant zero tolerance lunacy are actually resentful attempts to intentionally undermine a rule that forces principals to deal with students who have real behavior problems. Much of the rest comes from the lawyer's logic of school board's hiring law firms who take the view that not enforcing zero tolerance in a ridiculous manner will someday cause them to lose a cut and dried case on due process grounds.
Posted by: mark safranski at February 9, 2006 11:43 PM