A six-year-old in Colorado Springs pointed his finger at a classmate and said, “You’re dead.” For that, the school’s zero tolerance policy kicked in and the first grader was suspended. The boy’s father, Austin Thurston told the local television channel, “I know they have zero tolerance, but more of a maybe no recess. Going as far as a one-day suspension is a little extreme for a six-year-old in a first-grade class.” Thurston continued, “We just told him there’s a time and a place for everything, and we told him school is never a place for that. We let him know that the guns in the wrong hands will be very dangerous. He knows the difference between really doing that, and just putting your finger up and saying, ‘boom you’re dead.’ We made sure he understands the severity of what he said.” As a follow up, Thurston and his wife are making the boy write a letter of apology. Not even mentioning the school’s gun phobia, this event is another reason to do away with zero tolerance policies – especially in the lower grades. Parents know their children the best. Zero tolerance supersedes any punishment the parents may try to mete out. More…