Preschooler carries pot in bookbag: preschool bans... bookbags?
Does this make sense?
A 4-year-old brings his brother's pot to the Tamarac Preschool in a bookbag and brags about it, and the pre-school responds by banning bookbags?
Our reporter, Sallie James, saw the sign herself today. It read: "We no longer allow backpacks or bookbags." It's the kind of response that normally cries out for an explanation. Unfortunately, no one at the school was commenting on the article today, so curious minds are left to speculate.
Are pre-schoolers supposed to carry their crayons in clear, cellophane bags? Oh, wait, they use that to carry marijuana, too. Forget that idea.
Was the backpack really the problem here? Isn't this like keeping toothpaste off airplanes out of fear that MacGuyver has joined al-Qaeda? It's good to see officials responding when something happens, but sometimes the response is so disconnected from the offense that it creates more problems than it solves. Why should parents and children who've done nothing wrong have to change their innocent and harmless use of bookbags just because of what a 4-year-old did?
I shudder to think of what the school would have done if the kid had pulled the marijuana out of his pants pocket!
If there's a reasonable explanation for banning the bookbags, I'd sure love to hear it.
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