I have zero tolerance for zero tolerance — which is to say, you should always allow for reasonable people to extend loopholes and exceptions dependent on circumstances. A zero tolerance policy is a sign of failure, either on the part of those responsible for enforcing the rules (because they apparently don't have the capacity to judge a situation on their own) or those setting the rules (because they didn't hire an enforcer with the capacity to judge a situation).

"Zero Tolerance" is a work of fiction that pretty perfectly mirrors real life: Nobody's completely in the right, nobody's complete in the wrong. Everyone makes mistakes, and the way we live is to work through them and try to prevent them from happening again. This book provides a great lesson for people of all ages. ( )

I have zero tolerance for zero tolerance — which is to say, you should always allow for reasonable people to extend loopholes and exceptions dependent on circumstances. A zero tolerance policy is a sign of failure, either on the part of those responsible for enforcing the rules (because they apparently don't have the capacity to judge a situation on their own) or those setting the rules (because they didn't hire an enforcer with the capacity to judge a situation).

"Zero Tolerance" is a work of fiction that pretty perfectly mirrors real life: Nobody's completely in the right, nobody's complete in the wrong. Everyone makes mistakes, and the way we live is to work through them and try to prevent them from happening again. This book provides a great lesson for people of all ages. ( )

This is an excellent look at America's flawed public education system. Specifically that system's obsession with ridiculous zero tolerance policies. It makes the excellent point that common sense and human decency are rare qualities in this day and age, rarer still in our public schools. ( )

'Zero Tolerance" is a book that once you start reading you can't put it down! This wonderful book shows students that sometimes exceptions need to be made and second chances should be given. One reason I liked this book was because of the believe able characters. In every school you always have the "good girl" that is the outstanding student and then you always have the "trouble maker" which is typically a guy. The story really played on this and developed the characters but showed the readers how sometimes there roles can be switched. I also liked how it was such a complex topic such as "zero tolerance" but the author did a great job breaking it down and making it kid friendly. The students are really able to see the big picture behind this concept. The author did this by explaining the policy in kid friendly language and making it simplistic. Lastly, this would be such an amazing story for discussion. I would love to hear my student's opinions on zero tolerance and if they would have done the same in the story or handled it differently. ( )

A middle school honor student accidently brings her mother's lunch instead of her own - and finds that it contains a paring knife. Turning the knife in, she finds herself subject to the school's zero tolerance policy about weapons. Her week of in-school suspension leading up to her hearing changes her viewpoint about the school, the administrators and her fellow students. ( )