Village adopts zero tolerance policy even as they know better
The Utica Observer Dispatch reports on the nearby village of Ilion’s decision to establish a zero tolerance policy toward threatening language. I’ve emailed the prinicipal and vice principal of the school to see if I can get the text of a letter sent to parents describing the policy.
In the meantime, I’m amazed that they would suggest instituting a zero tolerance policy. “Threatening language” is incredibly vague. What exactly they will do in response to a threat is unclear, but the article suggests it could include closing the school while the threat is assessed. I would think they would be amazed at themselves, too, since these quotes from the article suggest they should know better:
Ilion Parent Rebecca Laymon said the question of what constitutes a serious threat was complicated. “The sad thing of it is it’s a gray area,” she said. “If you take every little thing as a threat, you’ll be sending letters home constantly. There’s got to be a happy medium between something minute and something major.”…
Ilion School Superintendent Robert Service said the question of whether to release information relating to the threat had been a complex one. “It’s not cut and dried,” he said….
Ilion Police Chief Timothy Parisi said there was no “cookie-cutter answer” to determine what constitutes a real threat when it came to students….
Let’s sum up: one of the two quoted parents, the school superintendent, and the police chief all go on record saying that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, then the village institutes a zero tolerance policy, the epitome of one-size-fits-all solutions. How incredibly puzzling.
I like how they admit that it’s not cut and dry”, nor is there a “cook-cutter answer” to what constitutes a threat. “Threats” are defined in most state’s penal code, as a kind of assault. And, it certainly belongs there. Without it, all sorts of crimes could be committed, for example, a rapist threatens to kill a woman if she doesn’t consent: he can’t argue as a defense in court that it was consensual sex, simply because she didn’t disregard the gun that was in her face!
Yet, in reality, actual threatening situations are hard to discern, and require weighing in the context of what else was going on, the defendant’s demeanor, whether he was joking or not, prior history, etc. Saying an obvious “I WILL KILL YOU NOW!” can be easily dismissed as non-threat if clearly the speaker was joking, while the innocently and sweetly spoken “do you want to sleep with the fishes?” could be the most seriously threatening, and last, words that a person will ever hear.
So, identifying actual threats requires subjectivity, careful weighing of the facts and context, and understanding of legal precedents. All this subtleness, though, is thrown at the window with zero tolerance definitions and little legal training in the hands of school administrators. It becomes more of a whim than any solid legal standing when a student suddenly finds himself kicked out of school for the randomest remarks. Yet bullies get away with never being punished, because they learn to never speak in obviously threatening language, yet through their body talk and other actions become a real, serious fear factor at schools.
I say school administrators need to back off whenever they investigate a serious “threat”, and defer to a DA if they still think there’s a case.
Wow, I never thought I’d hear about my own local area on this site… I went to a different HS in the area, but went to BOCES with a lot of people from Ilion and spent a lot of time there…
Yet again I’m glad I’m out of high school.
Hey there Aaron,
I don’t get ’round often and this prolly isn’t the best (off-topic) place to post a reply to the other thread of comments, but…
I had a very similar opinion to you and Jim at one time. My world-view, at least concerning education, was probably very similar. I write software for a living and I’m a very logical guy. Instituting policies that do not seem to be good for the public or the students doesn’t make sense!
Then I married a teacher and got a better look at how this machine works from the inside. A big part of the problem is this: it isn’t logical. Just like on Capitol Hill there are lobbies that are pushing for legislation that may or may not be in your (or my) best interest, so it is with education at the state level. Most state legislators are not educational bureaucrats and are trying to ‘do the right thing’, but professional spin artists are very good at their jobs and when you don’t know how the machine works on the inside, unintended consequences can be severe. There is a vast divide between the teachers and the administration and never shall the twain meet. Think of it like an auto-plant with white collar management and blue collar floor workers. It is literally that wide of a gulf. Everyone on the top end is scrambling to avoid lawsuits at any cost, make their school look good at any cost, appease parents at any cost, and avoid any career damaging blame at any cost… even if it means sacrificing the odd teacher or student. Oh… and some administrators are little Napeoleans. Some are nice folks, too. All have a job to do and if they’ll suffer if they blow it. Teachers have no recourse if the Administration is unhappy. Life can suck. Administrators regularly overturn a teacher’s call on something to appease an upset parent (even if it is not in the best interest of the student). Teachers have a rough time because they take it from all sides - students who know how to game the system, parents, administrators, the public, and well meaning legislatures. Oh… and some teachers suck, to boot. Figuring out which ones is not an easy task and right now they’re using kids’ test scores to do that. It would suck hard if your job performance was measured by using metrics of people who were disinterested in you and disinterested in what you were doing and if they knew that the tests they were taking could influence your job would probably fail them intentionally. That’s how it is.
Now, on to Zero-Tolerance. Most teachers would like to handle problem kids with common sense.
Problem one: Teachers get busted for sending kids to the office too often. (ridiculous)
Problem two: Some Parents side with the child and fight it. “My child did NOT cuss out this teacher!”
Problem three: Some parents still feel upset about how they were treated in high school and do not want any action taken against their precious little muffin by the big bad school….. ever.
Problem four: Administrators fear lawsuits. They would rather err on the side of bringing in Johnny Law than get a lawsuit.
Problem Five: A counter-suit is easier to explain away than a lawsuit with your name on it. Blameless.
My opinion –
The biggest problem overall is the liberal influence of the nanny state for schools. The machine is broken and Zero Tolerance is a symptom of the problem rather than the problem itself. I have a solution and one day if I’m elected Benevolent Dictator For Life, perhaps I can fix the broken machine.
If I haven’t worn you out and you’re curious, let me know… I’ll tell you about my Education Solution.
g
[…] I mentioned in a previous post, I’d requested the text of a letter sent to parents of children attending Ilion Junior-Senior […]
No matter what the threat, they still need to study the circumstances that was the catalyst for it and the individual writing it. Is this a troubled person, to they have a history of problems that need to be addressed. What circumstances occured that might have brought a person to the point of being pushed to vent in such a manner. What is the age and maturity of the person? Does this person have access to the means that would allow them to do something violent.
Tell your kids never ever to put anything down on paper where it can take on a life of its own. If they do hava a journal, keep it in your possession or a safe place at home under lock and key.
Psychologists recommend writing it down so you can step back and distance yourself enough from the situation to see it more rationally. You cannot allow anyone from a school to see angry thoughts from your child. It will be taken as a threat, no matter how emotionally mature it is.