In what seems to be another case of the “Zero Tolerance” policy going to far, an 8-year-old boy has been suspended for sniffing a Sharpie.
Ethan Harris was originally suspended from a Colorado elementary school for three days for his participation in an incident that involved the sniffing of a Sharpie. The principal of said school reduced his sentence to one day after receiving complaints from the child’s parents.
Harris used the black marker to color a small area on the sleeve of his shirt, which he then proceeded to “huff”. When a teacher noticed this action she immediately sent him the the principals office.
His motive was the enticing aroma of the marker:
“It smelled good,” Harris said. “They told me that’s wrong.”
Principal Chris Benisch believes that Harris’ suspension was the correct thing to do because it sends a message to the children about substance abuse.
The suspension, however, seems to have been made on ill informed grounds. In the letter that the Harris family received notifying them of the boy’s actions, Benisch claimed that inhaling the fumes could have caused the boy to become intoxicated.
Au contraire Mr. Benisch. Sharpies, despite their strong smell, are non-toxic making it impossible for the boy to become high.
The principal, however, seemed to be unmoved by this revelation:
“Principals make hundreds of decisions everyday based on our best judgment. And in that time, smelling that marker, I felt like, ‘Wow, that’s a very serious marker,’” Benisch said.
He has even gone to such lengths as removing all markers from the school to prevent future instances of children sniffing non-toxic things that smell good. Perhaps he should also ban flowers from the building.
After serving his time, the boy returned to school saying he was happy to be back. He did, however, reveal that he was worried that the disciplinary action might one day hurt his chances of becoming a professional football player.
