Public schools having zero tolerance policies towards anything that has to do with weapons, be it a drawing of a gun or friends talking about going paintball shooting over the weekend or even eating one's pastries into the shape of a gun, is hardly a new thing, but in recent times such policies have really gotten out of hand.

Back in May 1999 at age fourteen in middle school (eighth grade) during art class, I was talking with a friend about the new Star Wars movie that had just come out, and we were making plans to get together over the weekend to go see it at a local movie theater. You don't have to be a Star Wars fan to know those movies were not known for being overly violent or gorey, and that most of the prop weapons looked ridiculously fake. Yet somehow the talk over a PG-rated movie resulted in me getting sent to the principal's office, and the principal informed me that most likely the State Police were going to be getting involved as another student had claimed that I made a threat to bring an Uzi into school the next day and shoot the place up. To say I was shocked over that accusation would have been putting it mildly, and I dared not imagine what my parents were going to think about that.

Long story short... after school my parents were called in to have a talk with the Principal and also the kid that was accusing me of making terroristic threats also was there with his parents, as I had denied said accusation and was asking for proof that I had made such threats, and after talking things out with the Principal it was determined there was no actual threats ever made and thankfully the police did not need to get involved. I wasn't served detention or suspended, but was asked by the Principal to just stay home the next day (which I took to be a suspension), as word had traveled fast around the school and supposedly many kids were upset over the threat rumor, and keep in mind Columbine had occured about a month earlier. The next day when I stayed home, at the start of the school day the Principal made a special announcement putting everyone's mind at rest over the ordeal, and that there was never any credible threat issued.

Although the ending to that story could have been far worse for me (would have been worse if that happened nowadays), you can see how extreme the public schools have become with their zero tolerance policies, and that was nearly 25 years ago and they were already becoming rather PC progressive where any mention of contraband was concerned. It's only gotten worse since I graduated and got out of the public education system. I truly feel sorry for kids stuck in there nowadays, especially kids like the infamous Pop Tart pastry gun incident. Here's the article that prompted me to share that story...

What is it that makes a little boy, practically straight out of the womb, take an interest in weapons and emulate gun-toting, swash-buckling heroes? Even doctors aren’t sure. As one pediatrician told me about my then 16-month-old son who turned every stick into a sword, “We don’t know why. They just do it.”

If you’ve raised a little boy, you know what I’m talking about. And the only thing more predictable than them being fascinated with weapons is them eventually doodling one in class. An alien with a laser gun. An elf with a sword. Rambo with a machine gun.

When they do, they’ll encounter a host of school polices banning images of weapons, ostensibly to prevent school shootings and other violence. Some make exceptions for historical context (such as a Revolutionary War soldier with a bayonet).

Others don’t. Who can forget the infamous Pop-Tart gun of 2016? The 7-year-old was suspended.-
[thefederalist.com]