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Dave Kopel on NRO posted an interesting article on “Zero Tolerance” in our schools. He has some ironic comments about the “art” of some explicitly violent music compared with drawings of soldiers by elementary students.

Everytime I read an article like this, I think back to childhood with brothers who were into things military (they were the guys reading Tom Clancy as sophomores in high school) and it seemed that on every scrap piece of paper were drawing some sort of military plane, or M16, or tank, (most of the time several of these shooting at each other!) or some such. They were pretty darn good sketches too. Or I consider the hangman’s nooses drawn on the notes my friends and passed between class (which could be considered much more inflammatory than some random soldier).

My brothers don’t own guns, I don’t think either of them has ever shot a gun (maybe never even held a gun). None of us would ever consider hurting a soul, but if we went to school within 10 years of graduation from high school, we would all be majorly violating “Zero Tolerance” rules.

Yes, I understand that we went to school pre-Columbine and the other school shootings, and that because of those happenings that things are different now. But, it seems to me that something is out of control here.

Anyway, I think one of the best paragraphs of Kopel’s article is as follows:

Today’s restrictions go by the name of “zero tolerance,” and for once, this is a government program aptly named. To have “zero tolerance” is the same as to have “no tolerance,” which is the same as being “intolerant” or “bigoted” — the precise opposite of “celebrating diversity” or “embracing tolerance.” And just as we might expect as much from programs that revel in intolerance, “zero tolerance” is used by an increasing number of so-called “educators” to suppress the behavior of students who deviate from today’s politically correct norm.

I had never thought of it that way, but Kopel makes a lot of sense.

Go read the rest of the article “Zero Good Sense.” Interesting stuff.