Zero-tolerance laws (much like Three-Strike Laws, and any other kind of law that can be described as a basic blanket statement) don't really make much sense to me. Why? Because they punish all violators as equals, even if the crimes committed are not in any way equal in terms of intention, motivation, or execution.
Case in point, a 6-year-old in Delaware has been suspended by his local school district because he brought a three-piece camping utensil into school with him. Zachary Christie was apparently "so excited about recently joining the Cub Scouts" that he wanted to eat lunch with his new camping thingy (perhaps this counts as a "Splayd"?).
Does it make sense to treat little Zachary like the re-incarnation of Dylan Klebold? Probably not, but that's not going to stop the Christina School District from throwing the book at him because the school's code of conduct clearly states that "knives are banned, regardless of the possessor's intent".
On the plus side, at least this ridiculous suspension is getting Delaware to take another look at these absurd laws. Last year, Delaware lawmakers decided that it's not okay to expel kids over these types of incidents after this happened:
"...a third-grade girl was expelled for a year because her grandmother had sent a birthday cake to school, along with a knife to cut it. The teacher called the principal — but not before using the knife to cut and serve the cake."
Zachary and his parents continue to fight this suspension while they homeschool him temporarily. Here's to hoping the Delaware legislature (and other states too) comes to it's senses soon.
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