Snoops. (Making a Difference).
The Cherry Creek school district in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, has a "zero tolerance" conduct code that bars students from engaging in "violent and aggressive behavior." On March 22nd, a playground monitor noticed seven fourth graders at Dry Creek Elementary School in Centennial pointing their fingers like guns during some army-and-aliens horseplay. The youngsters were promptly marched to the principal's office, where Principal Darci Mickle reprimanded them. Mrs. Mickle also contacted their parents and asked them to pick up the supposedly violent and aggressive finger-pointers, who, without delay, were denied recess privileges for a week.Before the parents arrived, however, Principal Mickle quizzed the kids about any guns their moms and dads might have at home. The family-invasive interrogation placed at least one of the youngsters in an agonizing position. The father of Connor Andrew, 10, had once worked as a licensed hunting guide. As reported in the May 13th Washington Times, Andrew "had been warned not to discuss his father's firearms in front of other children lest they become curious and ask to see them." Tom between obeying his dad and obeying the principal, "he chose his parents."
When Mr. Andrew later asked his son about the incident, the boy "started to cry, and he told me he lied to Mrs. Mickle and answered 'no' " because he "was afraid he would get in more trouble, and that [the family] would get in trouble." Mr. Andrew told Times reporter Valerie Richardson that "it's none of her business. If she wants to know that, she needs to ask me, not Connor."
Initially, the district backed Mrs. Mickle, claiming that her actions were "well within the boundaries of district policy and common sense." Some parents vigorously complained. Their outcry was bolstered when the Denver Post awarded a "Doofus of the Month" award to the district, and the Rocky Mountain News editorialized that "absent a genuine threat, it is simply none of a principal's business whether a family owns guns," and "nothing we've heard about the game of army-and-aliens at Dry Creek school suggests it could pose any risk at all to anyone."
In the wake of such scolding, district officials partially backed down. While declining (at least for now) to modify the ludicrous "zero tolerance" policy, they gave parents a meaningful victory by reversing the district stance on family-intrusive questioning.
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| Author: | Lee, Robert W. |
|---|---|
| Publication: | The New American |
| Article Type: | Brief Article |
| Geographic Code: | 1USA |
| Date: | Aug 12, 2002 |
| Words: | 389 |
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