Our zero-tolerance schools have gotten so punitive, they now punish students for saving lives. Please sign the petition at http://www.SchoolBusHero.com to support a punished life-saver.
If you haven't heard, a high school student in Florida wrestled a pistol away from a gunman and saved at least one life. And the school suspended the hero.
The reason they gave for suspending him: “the student was involved in an incident on the bus in which a weapon was present.” In other words, they punished him for getting involved rather than standing aside and letting the assailant shoot his would-be victim. This is zero-tolerance taken to the most loony extreme.
After the public learned about this, the school changed their story, now claiming he was suspended for failing to cooperate during their interrogation of him. (If I were questioned by people as hostile as these school administrators have proven to be, I wouldn't be too eager to answer their questions, either. And I don't have to fear for my life, as this student trapped in this crime-ridden school does.)
The good news: the National Youth Rights Association is standing up for this young hero, and others are, too.
You can join in standing up for him by signing NYRA's petition at http://www.SchoolBusHero.com asking that the school apologize to their heroic student and remove this suspension from his record. It doesn't seem like too much to ask.