From: matus [matus@snet.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 11:33 PM
To: matus@snet.net
Subject: MFD List - Schools ban cops and robbers games

(More shinning examples of 'Zero Tolerance' - Mike)

Schools ban cops and robbers games
----------
CNS
   Across the U.S., public schools are banning the children's game
   of "cops and robbers" and threatening students with expulsion.
   They base their actions on fears that even imaginary weapons pose
   a threat. (03/20/02)
http://www.free-market.net/rd/204849632.html

http://www.cnsnews.com/Culture/archive/200203/CUL20020320b.html

Cops and Robbers? Not On This Playground
By Matt Pyeatt
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
March 20, 2002

(CNSNews.com) - From California to New Jersey, public schools are banning
the children's game of "cops and robbers" and threatening students with
expulsion out of a fear that even imaginary weapons pose a threat.

For example, at Lewis Elementary School in Fort Irwin, Calif., one father
removed his 9-year-old son from class after the school principal threatened
to expel the boy if he didn't stop playing cops and robbers on the
playground.

In Sayreville, N.J., a 5-year-old boy was suspended for playing the game at
recess. The Rutherford Institute, an international legal and educational
organization, is representing the boy, arguing that school-administered
punishment has changed for the worse.

Public schools have adopted a zero tolerance policy that allows school
officials to suspend first and ask questions later, John Whitehead,
president of the Rutherford Institute, said.

"This has been going on since the mid-90s, but has really been increasing
over the last several years. The zero tolerance, phenomenon is anything that
can be perceived as a weapon. In this case, they perceived [the New Jersey
boy's] finger to be a weapon," Whitehead said.

At Lewis Elementary School in Fort Irwin, Calif., Dan Pecaro removed his
9-year-old son, Justin, after the school's principal, Brian Soukup,
threatened expulsion for the same game of "cops and robbers," according to
the Associated Press.

Soukup also told the AP that district policy prevented him from speaking
about the case. He said the school was working with the Pecaro family to
resolve the situation.

The Silver Valley Unified School District encompasses the elementary school.
District Superintendent Gary Thomas did not return phone calls to
CNSNews.com Monday or Tuesday.

"[We have] suspended play when they're using imaginary weapons until the
guidelines can be developed to help the staff differentiate between
dangerous and imaginary play," Thomas told the Associated Press.

Whitehead said the Rutherford Institute has found dozens of cases all over
the country similar to those in Sayreville and Fort Irwin. He mentioned an
example of a boy who was suspended for threatening to shoot a rubber band at
a classmate.

"He was suspended for an alleged shooting incident and the police came to
his house that night and woke his parents up," Whitehead said. "They told
the parents they were investigating a shooting incident.

"I think the schools are paranoid and we are in a whole new paradigm. It is
the total control paradigm that schools are in now, and one reason schools
believe zero tolerance is a good thing is because it is a bureaucrat's
dream," according to Whitehead.

"In other words, anything that looks like violence, they suspend the kid.
There is no teacher-student meetings, and most of them are done without even
talking to the parents," he added.

Whitehead said the zero tolerance policy is flawed because it fails to take
into account the child's intentions and often results in school
administrators suspending a child even before telling the parents about the
problem. "If you just look at intent in these cases, none of these kids
would be guilty of anything," he said.

Whitehead said the boy in New Jersey was so distraught after being expelled
from school that he doesn't even want to return after his suspension. "This
kid had [said] his lifelong dream was to become a policeman, and now he
doesn't even want to go back to school," Whitehead said.

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