Elliot Golan / Roundup
Earlier this month, a 12-year-old girl was arrested in New York after she wrote on a classroom desk.
In green marker, she wrote, “I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)”
Handcuffs followed.
This is nothing short of ridiculous.
Close your eyes. Think of a young girl you know. It could be your daughter, your sister, or a friends sister or daughter.
Imagine her in handcuffs.
You rush to the police station and ask for an explanation.
Police say that she has defaced school property. The officer you’re speaking to reads you what she wrote.
How do you respond?
You get to the girl and she is crying.
She describes the looks on all of her classmates faces as New York’s “finest” walk her across the street to the station, hands behind her back.
Yeah, okay, she did make a mistake.
What happened to the punishment fitting the crime?
In what reeks of an effort to smooth over this abomination, the girl no longer faces any disciplinary action.
But the damage has been done. Ethical lines have been crossed.
The zero tolerance policies have become more prevalent in recent years. From Columbine to shootings in Alabama just last week, school violence is a major issue.
Zero tolerance?
Laws are like statues. Stalwart and immobile.
Why can’t we evolve a little bit?
Is common sense really that elusive of an ability?
Yes I said ability. Often times it seems closer to a spell cast in a game Dungeons & Dragons by a high level player as opposed to the simple, overlooked trait it should be.
It is time for our legal system to grow. It’s time for us to understand circumstance and stop being slaves to inflexible laws.
Something horrible has transpired. Who is to blame?
The police? The girl? The law? The principal of the school?
I’m going to go with the last.
Now imagine being the principal.
A teacher reports this poor girl and you call the police?
I hope there are no mirrors in your house, because If I were you, I wouldn’t be able to look at one for a long, long time.