Have Schools Gone Too Far With Their No Tolerance Policy? Education Families.com

Many schools, especially high schools, have enforced a policy they call “No Tolerance.” Basically, it states that anyone involved in a fight is suspended. In many schools, a fight consists of both physical altercations as well as verbal. Often times, the police are called out to make a report. I have to say, while I understand their point of wanting to crack down on violence and threats, I am not sure I am a big fan of this policy. Let me explain.

I have a student who is a high school senior. He happens to have just turned 18 as many seniors have. He was in a small scuffle at the beginning of the school year, nothing big. Because my school has a “No Tolerance Policy”, both students were suspended for three days. Two weeks ago, this same student was walking by two boys who happen to dislike him. They all started exchanging words and before you knew it, they were all suspended again. These boys really dislike my student and would have done anything to get him kicked out of school, arrested, or banned from graduation. Well, their plan just might have worked.

Last week, they devised a plan to jump my student during PE class. They knew that since they weren’t seniors, their graduation wasn’t in jeopardy like it was for my student. They figured it would be worth it. During PE, they both jumped my student causing some pretty bad damage. They kicked his head several times causing some huge bumps and bruises. My student never had the chance to throw a punch. He was only able to defend himself and since they jumped him from behind, he wasn’t able to do a good job at that. In the end, all students were suspended but the damage had already been done. Now, my student may not get to graduate with his class and may get kicked out of school.

In another case, my friend’s son went to an elementary school which had this same policy. Her son was jumped at the bus stop and chose to defend himself. Although he didn’t start the fight, he didn’t allow himself to get beat up by three other students without at least getting a few good punches in himself. They were all suspended. My friend was so mad that she immediately went down to the school and gave them a piece of her mind. It didn’t work. Apparently, some schools believe it is better to just lie there and take it and hope they don’t kill you. What kind of policy is that?

As a parent, I teach my children that fighting should never be an option. I say “should never” because there are times when fighting back may be their only option. They are, under no circumstances, ever allowed to start a fight; however, if someone else fights them, they have every right to defend themselves. I don’t expect schools to ever condone fighting but I do think they need to do more to protect those students who didn’t start it. In the end, they are the victims and yet they are among those punished. Something just doesn’t seem right with that.