Death of Common Sense: More School Episodes
Yes, our zealous educational bureaucrats are at it again. This time, yet another school in Texas imposed a bizarre, one-week suspension on an elementary school student. Her offense? Possession of a Jolly Rancher’s candy that a friend had given her. It seems the healthy food police insist that possession of such evil contraband was a blatant violation of the rules and could not go unpunished.
Now, I love Texas. My wife and I lived in the state for 14 years in the 1970s and 1980s, and we plan to have our primary retirement home there. But after this latest incident, I was beginning to wonder if there was something in the water supply that was causing Texans to lose all semblance of good judgment. (It could also explain why they inflicted both Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush on the nation.)
It soon became apparent, though, that the loss of common sense is not unique to Texas schools. School administrators in Georgia suspended an autistic student for drawing a stick figure gun with a caption that implied he would like to shoot his teacher. Not only did he receive a suspension, he now faces possible felony charges. Although the child is 14 years old, his parents and others insist that he has the mental capacity of a third grader. Nice way to show compassion and a sense of proportion, Georgia bureaucrats.