Let me start by saying that if someone killed someone I loved, I’d probably want that person to fry. Likewise, if a kid threatened or harmed my child, I’d be first in line to take the little monster down. And so I begin my musings about the similarities between capital punishment and a zero tolerance policy on bullying.
In theory, I’m against both. Frankly, killing a person seems to be a pretty dumb way to teach people not to kill. Likewise, it doesn’t seem productive to remove a difficult child from their social situation if, ultimately, you want them to develop into a decent (social) human being. Life in prison is an alternative to the death penalty. What, if anything, is the alternative to a zero tolerance policy for bullying?
Of course, I’m not talking about the run-of-the-mill nastiness that goes on between kids. Hopefully, teachers and parents have the ability (and the will) to get proactive about that kind of bullying. Those are the incidences where you pull someone aside and talk about unacceptable behavior and consequences. If you add real programs to teach kindness, the little injustices can probably be reduced. But what about the big things—guns in school, beatings, cyber or other attacks that do real damage? Suspension has been the zero tolerance option. Should that be permanent suspension? Does that achieve anything? I suppose suspension removes the offender from the immediate situation (and consequently provides relief for the victim). But I suspect that ultimately the abuser gets shipped off to another school or else sits around watching TV until he or she is old enough to go out and do some real damage.
When the discussion turns to prisoners, the debate often boils down to rehabilitation vs. warehousing vs. killing. If I apply those alternatives to bullying (with “killing” being zero tolerance) I definitely vote for rehabilitation. Schools need programs that that go beyond having a school psychiatrist meet with the student and parents. Perhaps these could be district-wide, citywide, or even statewide programs. I envision the kind of “camp” that is usually only available to rich parents with severely troubled children. The programs need to embrace, not isolate the children. Very big problems require very big solutions.
In the meantime, we deal with the minor offenders who will never been truly menacing but may, very likely, grow up to be the kind of people you don’t want to have over for dinner. I’d like to see a program that would address bullying (or kindness) nationally. Many years ago, some Bostonians were sporting a bumper sticker that read, “A little kindness won’t kill you.” Not a bad slogan to resurrect.
