Enlarge By Steve Ruark, AP Debbie Christie, mother of Zachary Christie, the 6-year-old suspended for bringing a camping untensil to school, attends a school district meeting Oct. 13 with fiance Lee Irving. Parents and elected officials across the USA are demanding that schools slacken zero-tolerance policies that are meant to reduce violence because strict adherence has lead to some students being forced out of school for bringing items such as eyebrow trimmers and a Cub Scout's camping tool to campus. The most recent high-profile case involved Zachary Christie, a 6-year-old who was suspended for five days on Sept. 29 after he brought a camping utensil that was part knife, fork and spoon to Downes Elementary in Newark, Del. School officials considered it a dangerous instrument and suspended the boy, adding that he couldn't return to Downes until he completed at least 45 days at an alternative school. "I think it's crazy that they don't use common sense," says Debbie Christie, Zachary's mother and the school's PTA co-president. As news of Zachary's case spread, the school began to receive hundreds of calls protesting its decision. "It's almost like taking a jaywalker and throwing him into a maximum-security prison," says Fred Hink of Katy, Texas, who founded Texas Zero Tolerance, a parents group that urges school administrators to use common sense in disciplinary cases. Charlie Kyte, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, says strict and consistent policies are needed to create a safe environment for students, especially in big cities. "We're starting to see gangs of young men that are more violent than they were many years ago," Kyte says. "We have to make sure that kind of behavior doesn't have weapons involved in our schools." Second look Lawmakers and parents in several communities across the nation have decided that the policies can go too far: •In New Castle County, Del., the school board tweaked the policy that required Zachary Christie be suspended. The policy change — a three- to five-day suspension — applies only to kindergartners and first-graders, says David Resler, vice president of the Christina Board of Education. Resler defended Zachary's suspension, saying the tool had a blade that qualified as a dangerous weapon, and he worried that the policy change could backfire. "I'm sure we've got many other devious kids in the district who are trying to figure out how to duct tape a spoon and fork to their switchblades right now," Resler said. •In Texas, state lawmakers this summer required school officials to consider intent, self-defense, past disciplinary history and whether the child has special needs before acting on cases where a student can be expelled or suspended. •In Florida last spring, the state Legislature ordered school boards to ensure that students who are expelled or referred to law enforcement pose a serious threat and are not expelled or arrested for petty misconduct. An evolution of policies Zero-tolerance policies were born from the Gun Free Schools Act passed by Congress in 1994, which required a one-year expulsion for any student who brings a firearm to school. After the Columbine massacre of 1999, states and school districts tightened their policies further, in some cases adding drugs, fighting and anything that can be used as a "dangerous weapon" to offences that carry a mandatory suspension or expulsion. Even defenders of the policies, however, say zero-tolerance wouldn't stop another Columbine. "Could a kid smuggle a gun into school tomorrow? Probably so," Kyte says. "But schools didn't make these policies on their own. Parents came at the school (demanding), 'Make these places safe.' " The ACLU of Michigan faulted the state's zero-tolerance expulsion law, saying it creates "a school-to-prison pipeline" because expelled students often do not return to school, and 68% of Michigan prisoners are high school dropouts. Suspensions also disproportionately affect minorities, according to the report. Ronnie Casella, who studies school violence and discipline at Central Connecticut State University, says there is no evidence zero-tolerance policies make schools safer. In cities where school violence had been a problem in the 1980s, "schools started seeing a decline (in violence) before zero-tolerance was ever implemented," he says. Kyte says strict discipline evenly applied sends a message to the entire school. "If you treat it as not a big deal, then the mind-set of the students in the school becomes one of, 'They're not really going to have a weapons policy,' " Kyte says. Contributing: The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. 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