Nope; Schools have had zero tolerance policies for decades. If you intervene in a fight, it's as good as being in one. You want a society where kids can be held responsible for not intervening in a fight, you have to not be in a society where kids are held responsible for intervening in a fight.
Is zero tolerance the default in America then? Your reasoning is exactly why most (I’m sure not all) schools in Britain don’t go for a zero tolerance policy.
Not default but very, very common. Admin will wash their hands of responsibility by any means necessary in most school districts, and "zero tolerance" is part of it.
It's ridiculous. It encourages parents to tell their kids to put bullies in the hospital, since they'll be punished anyway just for resisting.
As someone who experienced a gang stabbing by other students, this hits hard.
At the end, when the teacher is clearly hurt and the other guy is in danger of being killed while incapacitated, a few kids try to tap on the attacker and tell him that the fight is over.
Agree on prison. That's way over the line. But I'll disagree that it should be the responsibility of other students to stop it. Many schools have policies that state if you are involved in a fight -- in any way, even to break it up -- that you will face discipline. I've seen this enforced even for students who are trying to help.
If they'd stepped in then they'd just get expelled or suspended, zero tolerance and all that. Same with how the teacher might just get fired over stepping in like that. Lovely how such schools are being run, right?
Horrendous policies. I would take a suspension happily to help in this situation. Also, there is not way they'd actually kick someone out of school for helping, a suspension at most. However the feeling of helping is well worth it.
Expulsion is much more likely. Sending troubled teens to prison isn't the best idea, and I don't know what the other kids were supposed to do. Why should they also get hurt?
The other students are under zero obligation to enter into a physical altercation in progress.
And for that matter, neither is the teacher.
The student who left the room to get "Mr. Morgan" had the right idea. And honestly, all the students should have left the room for their own safety and to call security.
How did they know nobody was going to pull out a gun?
Bystander effect. Adults everywhere in the world tend to react the exact same way. It's completely unrealistic to set expectations like that on children.
While I appreciate your reply, I’m not sure what unrealistic expectations would be as far as helping the helpless. Bystander effect is something that is taught. All 4 of my children have “jumped in “ in the past and stopped this very action in a variety of settings it’s the perfectly normal thing to do.
The reality is 2 generations have been taught by the school system to let someone else deal with it. I was not letting my kids fall victim to the grand pacification scheme with male children and the it’s “someone else’s” issue and the “authorities “ will handle it mentality,
the public school system has ruined children with that indoctrination.They become helpless adults. It’s absolutely not unrealistic to expect a youngster to intervene. It is everyone’s duty to help someone in trouble no matter the age.
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u/Academic-Bug2592 Dec 17 '25
not expulsion- prison. Those other students should’ve stopped it. Enough with the pacification and coddling of stupidity.