This has no place here except to be sure we all know that "zero tolerance" is a stupid policy for stupid people. It specifically excludes thinking and judgment and punishes acting on thinking and judgment.

From last year's news: Sweden's Ice Hotel told to get fire alarms:

[Link: thelocal.se]

I think you meant to type judged, not judge

Too much government.

I wish that we all agreed on this one!

I agree!!

I saw this recently on reddit:

Teacher told my daughter, who has severe skin problems (and teacher knows it), that she could not have lotion in the classroom because lotion is not a medicine. Later she came down hard on my daughter for not having her itching under control.

Zero tolerance is, by definition of not allowing thinking, stupid.

The girl should have asked the teacher to define 'medicine'.

Probably would have been expelled.

I don't know details about what they require as far as fire alarms, meaning is it smoke detectors, pull stations, horns/strobes, etc.; but I will say that even building made of frozen water can and will spread smoke if shit catches on fire.
Also, occupants need a clear way to exit, something strobes and exit signs (part of fire system) usually supply.

agree, I think a sprinkler system might be ridiculous (wouldn't it freeze), but I don't see anything wrong with other fire prevention stuff (like alarms). I don't know about Sweden but there is one near Quebec city that I have been to. And yes there are things that can burn in every room and there is fire as well


if the reason he thinks it is stupid is that if there is a fire the melting walls and roof will put it out immediately and so is no danger, he is completely off on that assumption.

This reminds me of when my teenage son was skipping school! He was skipping a lot so I decided I couldn't allow him to take the bus anymore and needed to drive him myself. (His bus picked up after I head into work)

Even though I physically dropped him at school, he would walk right off of campus.

Long story short, I had to meet with the Vice Principal because of it. The VP said that he has skipped too many days and the school needs to take disciplinary actions!

I replied, "Great"!!!

He said, "Your son is expelled for 4 days"!

I asked him how he considered this a punishment for a child that doesn't want to go to school? I also told him that I was a single dad and that he was actually punishing me because I have to go to work while my son stays at home doing who knows what!

I understand that they can no longer give swats in school, but NO ISS or Detention??? This is stupid!

Straitjackets for kids cutting classes.

My Nephew, who is in middle school, got a zero tolerance suspension for defending himself in a fight this year. It didn't matter that the other kid was teasing him relentlessly, or that the other kid swung first.

When i was in school (Chicago)...even if the fight took place off of school grounds before or after school...if the teachers/principal became aware of the fight they would suspend everyone involved. How the hell do you get suspended from school for a fight that took place at the park hours after school ended?

Good question, Mac!


The contemptible thing here about zero tolerance is that it teaches that right and wrong do not matter. There are two needs here but only one is being addressed.

Whoever is in authority must be able to quash fights RIGHT NOW, so zero tolerance to fighting is a good thing. But the other issue is teaching right and wrong, and if both offender and defender are punished, it is taught that right and wrong do not matter or that there is no right and wrong. The defender can logically deduce that if someone throws a punch at him, he might as well go whole hog crazy-ass on the guy and put him in the hospital. After all, if you're going to get in trouble for trying to keep from getting hurt any more, you might as well teach the entire friggin' school that nobody should EVER mess with you again.

...which then brings up the fact that the person being picked on is rarely able or willing to go on the offense, and so just ends up feeling like a loser.