The zero tolerance policies that have often been put into place in order to safeguard against lawsuits from repeated transgressions are one of the clearest examples of the unfairness of things in the current climate. The story of the six-year-old suspended for brining her grandfather's pocket knife to show and tell is proof positive that the humanity has been litigated out of education. Again, safety is paramount, and it is more than understandable that a school would want to ban weapons from its grounds. At the same time, however, the teacher that suspended this student must certainly have felt a great deal of fear regarding her job and the possibility of other legal issues had she failed to strictly apply her school's standards.
Fear seems to be the dominant motivator for many actions in the climate of litigation that permeates the public education sector. More than anything else, this is what is behind both the policies of the school and the teachers who must attempt behaviors and reactions that are entirely uniform to every student and in every situation, which is antithetical to the real education process. There has to be a real human connection between educator and students, and between and amongst...
Instead, there is personal fear on the part of the teachers and a notable sense of resignation on the part of administrators when it comes to truly trying to weed out and address problems in a specific, case-by-case manner instead of bowing to pressures from parents who have become overly willing to resort to legal avenues when they aren't getting their way, or believe that they are acting in the best interests of their child even at the cost of other children's education.
It is actually somewhat alarming that more educators aren't pushing for larger changes, but are willing to accept and even desirous of only modifications to the current system. Though there should certainly be methods for parents to address the issues they perceive in the children's educational environment, the court system should not be able to intervene quite so easily in the conducting of day-to-day affairs in public schools. This draws attention and resources away from instances of serious abuse when they occur, and has larger detrimental effects on the overall education process and experience that far outweigh any additional protection such measures provide.
