In a classic example of Zero Tolerance run amuck, an 11-year-old-boy in Virginia was suspended for not immediately reporting that a fellow student had brought a bullet to class. According to Tim Anderson, the family’s attorney, the boy was shown the bullet just before a test. So he took the test, and then told the teacher about the student with the bullet as soon as the test finished. The boy received the same two day suspension as the child who brought the bullet to school.

Snitching on someone who is presumably a friend isn’t an easy thing to do. It’s not always easy to tattle, even if the other child wasn’t a friend. It is normal for any child (or most adults for that matter) to mull things over and contemplate the best course of action, even if there weren’t a test to be taken. So when children do the right thing, and yet we punish them for not doing it quickly enough, we’re holding kids to an unrealistic standard that even adults wouldn’t meet.

See also…Gun Safety