Zero tolerance punishes hero

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Home: Topics: Government Schools:

Zero tolerance punishes hero

(5/3/98) In Mount Airy, MD, sixth grader Christine Rhodes was reprimanded for saving another student, who was suffering from an asthma attack. The incident occurred on a bus on the way home from school. While the bus driver called for help, Rhodes lent her inhaler to the victim. Though considered a hero by the victim's mother, school officials treated her like a drug trafficker and added the offense to her record.

The victim's mother is outraged by the way the government is treating Rhodes. "This is what makes people not want to help other people," she said.

The government's schools are controlled by intolerant administrators who are as ruthless as third-world dictators. These administrators won't let you leave school grounds to have lunch, won't let you get tattoos, and now won't even let you help your fellow students. When you turn 18, strike back at your intolerant principals by voting Libertarian.

Feedback from a Libertarian Rock Visitor

In your recent newsletter you featured an article in which a student was reprimanded for saving a life due to lending her asthma inhaler to another girl. I think it is unfortunate that drug trafficking was placed on her record however what if the girl had an allergic reaction to the inhaler and died...Shouldn't it be pointed out that drug trafficking is a lot less lenient than manslaughter....(D.Bulka)

Libertarian Rock Response

Drug trafficking is better than manslaughter but the problem is not the form of punishment. The problem is that the government punished the girl who provided the inhaler. If not for the girl's willingness to take action, the other girl might have died from an asthma attack. It was an emergency situation that demanded immediate action. If the inhaler had killed rather than saved the girl, then the hero would have been prosecuted for manslaughter.

The hero was punished because the school administrators want people to rely on the government rather than themselves or each other. The school administrators are indirectly saying that only medical professionals licensed by the government should be allowed to provide an inhaler to a suffering girl on a school bus. Does this mean that students also can't share a bottle of Pepto-Bismol or give someone a band-aid?



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