Zero Tolerance For Stupidity

JACKSON — A 16-year-old student who used pepper spray when two girls started a fight with her Thursday will face an expulsion hearing.

The two other students, a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old, involved in the fight have been suspended but will not face expulsion, said Jackson Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Ben Pack and T.A. Wilson Academy Principal Deven Moore.

"A fight in school is one thing. ... The law is another," Moore said of the girl who used the pepper spray. "She should not have possessed that in the first place, let alone used it."

Moore said the two students accused of fighting are not being charged with assault. The fight started over issues at school between the three girls.

Is this how we protect kids from bullying? Two girls attack one, they are both older, and she defends herself. There is no logic that allows for them to be suspended while the victim faces a far worse punishment.

Weapon free? Okay, but protect the kids while they're there, dammit. Otherwise, how can parents possibly send their kids to school and feel okay about it? What about kids who walk home? Pepper spray isn't a knife. You can't kill someone with it, and it would make sense for a concerned parent to give their kids something to use in case they feel threatened. As long as it isn't used against an innocent person, pepper spray (at least in my opinion) is an alternative to a weapon, a compromise that lets everyone feel safer without fearing a fatal or devastating outcome.

You know, like when two people gang up on a girl with the intent to do physical harm.