Zero Tolerance Policies

On March 4, 2002, L.D. Bell High School Principal Jim Short expelled 16-year-old junior Taylor Hess (Mendoza, 2002, p. 1). Short stated that he had to expel Hess under the school district's zero tolerance policy for violence because Taylor carried a knife onto school property, which violated the school district's Student Code of Conduct that both Taylor and his mother, Gay Hess, had signed (Mendoza, 2002, p. 1). The Code prohibits students from bringing weapons onto school grounds.

After officials found the knife, they held a three-hour hearing attended by Taylor, his parents, three school administrators and a Hurst police officer. After the meeting, school officials told Taylor that his action posed a threat to his f

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pick-up. He was helping his father, taking part in a family activity. He was even helping donate to charity, an activity that should be encouraged. Surely the school's reaction to a simple oversight did not take into account Taylor's true character. Another public policy at jeopardy in this case was students' trust in their school systems. Students should be able to trust that if they are good students who demonstrate good character in their activities, then that will stand for something. Schools, after all, are meant to teach good character and they should reward it. Here, however, Taylor was practically punished for performing a good deed with his father on the weekend. In fact, during the hearing, school officials agreed they had no reason to believe that Taylor was lying. Principal Short called Taylor an "an exemplary student" and said the expulsion was a difficult decision (Mendoza, 2002, p. 1). In describing the zero tolerance policy, Short said that it "makes you feel you lose your judgment you might otherwise be able to afford" (Mendoza, 2002, p. 1). However, he also noted that the public policy behind the no weapons policy is the protection of students' safety. In the hearing, school official argued that students' saf
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Approximate Word count = 1655
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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