Tampa School Bans the Band
Rubber bands have been banned from Young Middle Magnet School of Mathematics, Science & Technology in Tampa, Florida. It seems some kids have been hurt by the projectiles kids with rubber bands naturally set loose. I can commiserate the problems the school must be facing what with lawsuits over the slightest of injuries and all but isn’t this going a little too far?
I guess what is most troubling to me about this is that when I was in school I used rubber bands to construct all sorts of neat things and not all of them were weapons. By banning rubber bands the school has taken away a simple construction material that can inspire all sorts of creativity other than launching a paperwad toward another student. Shouldn’t schools be promoting and directing this sort of creativity?
I’m not going to jump on to this the way I do a lot of the “zero tolerance” news that I comment on here but if you ask me this school is making a mistake in the way they are handling their problem.
Education, Society | Larry D. Burton | 27 December 2004 |
