The War on Kids

After watching the war on kids i was intrigued as to how closely some of the gruesome examples of the zero tolerance paralleled my school experience in Tampa. Growing up using the public schooling system i was a first hand witness to the terrible overkill seen by the advocacy of the zero tolerance policy.  Also i had the opportunity to be "jailed" for the first 12 years of my schooling. The strongest parallel between the movie and schooling i witnessed was at chamberlain high school. Located 2 hours away from Rollins I saw numerous people tasered, expelled and arrested for various child like mistakes. The problem was the kids were being treated as adults. A fight resulted in arrest, something that permanently affects you, having a plastic knife results in suspension and potential expulsion and worst off gereal child like mischief resulted in direct conference with authorities. No one ever saw the principal. Personally i almost saw my brother charged with the felony account of use of a deadly missile when he threw an apple at someone. I saw a pregnant girl get tasered, numerous friends arrested for traffiking when they were caught smoking pot and other such overkill. The events no doubt warrented punishment but nothing of the caliber that was earned. The saddest part is i never realized anything was wrong. I just thought that i had no room for mistakes. The jail like presence that engulfed the school had numbed me into a belief that all is well and normal. After watching the war on kids on the other hand i realized how problematic the situation is. Kids no longer are being taught that honesty is the best rout, they are being taught to distrust authoritative figures and worst of all have been given no chance to succeed because of the horrible repercussions of punishment.
        Recently in chamberlain four seniors in the mentally challenged wing were expelled because of the possession of protective weapons. These four students were in the mentally challenged wing because of post dramatic stress that was a result of a protection issue. Three of the four girls were carrying pepper spray for their protection, one a knife. The girl who yielded the knife had recently been raped and only felt safe when carrying the protective weapon with her.  All four girls despite their condition were expelled for their lack of adherence to the school policies. Such events enrage me.
      The war on kids through its use of directing did a great job instilling the feeling of remorse and anger that is proper for these situations. It makes the viewer want to do something. The well peiced together movie calls to individuals to help in a situation where help is direly needed. Without the good editing and use of factual material, the movie would have no such affect. The movie opened my eyes to how wrong my school was and how change is needed.