Robert David Sullivan 2

Just say no to shivs!

A school district in Delaware has wisely bounced a 6-year-old troublemaker who's probably got some fierce-looking tats under that Crips shirt. From the New York Times:

Zachary’s offense? Taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon to school. He was so excited about recently joining the Cub Scouts that he wanted to use it at lunch. School officials concluded that he had violated their zero-tolerance policy on weapons, and Zachary was suspended and now faces 45 days in the district’s reform school.

Next: the confiscation of boys' belts and shoelaces to fight the epidemic of garrotings in the 2nd grade.

No hugging!

The New York Times reports on a supposed trend of hugging among high school students. A thin story, but it's always amusing to read the cameo appearances by administrators determined to produce another generation of fearful, sexually repressed Americans:

Comforting as the hug may be, principals across the country have clamped down. “Touching and physical contact is very dangerous territory,” said Noreen Hajinlian, the principal of George G. White School, a junior high school in Hillsdale, N.J., who banned hugging two years ago. “It was needless hugging — they are in the hallways before they go to class. It wasn’t a greeting. It was happening all day.”

Schools that have limited hugging invoked longstanding rules against public displays of affection, meant to maintain an atmosphere of academic seriousness and prevent unwanted touching, or even groping.