Zomgondo

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"If you can't eat their food, drink their booze, screw their women and then vote against them, you have no business being up here." --Jesse Unruh, California politician

getting rid of zero- tolerance punishment (need for fair treatment and punishment if a kid is retaliating to bullying rather that a harsher punishment)

I'm really glad you mentioned this. When I was in school back in the 80s there was no such thing as "zero tolerance," everything was handled on a case-by-case basis... which basically meant that if you wound up having to kick someone's ass for bullying you, you might have to pick up trash after school. Most of the time you'd just get the old "I don't want to see you in here for this again" lecture from whoever you'd been sent to and that was it. Either way you felt like it was worth it to not have to deal with some asshole pushing you around when the adults weren't looking.

And it's not like schools in the 80s didn't have problems like they do now, my grade was massively overcrowded and the schools were understaffed... but the teachers and administrators had broad discretion in determining what punishment (if any) was needed and by and large they exercised that discretion very well.

Now, unfortunately, I think most kids think "fighting back" = "automatic suspension / expulsion / whatever" and aren't willing to risk it. And unfortunately I think some of those kids get to a point where they realize that if they're going to get fucked over by the administration for fighting back, they may as well go big, rather than just fighting back enough to earn themselves garbage duty... which, as I said, is totally worth it.

As a former Scout, my Scoutmaster was a complete asshole who gave my friend shit for being a Jew and once got up in my face and DEMANDED that I admit that there is a God. I was 10. I don't know about the rest of the Scouts but my troop was basically the Hitler Youth... fuck them.

STOP SAYING THAT!