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By Molly Snyder Edler OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Molly Snyder Edler

Published Nov. 4, 2007 at 5:21 a.m.

Tags: mps, marijuana, 4-year-old, burdick elementary school, expelled

Last week, a teacher at Burdick Elementary School found a bag of marijuana in a 4-year-old boy's backpack. The boy's mother admitted the weed was hers, and police arrested her after finding more pot in the family's West Side home.

Milwaukee Public Schools has a zero-tolerance policy for drugs, so technically, the boy could get expelled for bringing a controlled substance to school. But what do you think, should the boy get expelled? Share your opinion by using the talkback feature.

No way. A 4-year-old has no idea what marijuana is, nor does he understand the implications of bringing it to school. Protective services already removed the kid from his home, so losing his school too would be even more traumatizing. Despite the "zero tolerance" policy, the district must recognize this is not the fault of the 4-year-old and he should not be punished any more than he already has been.

Yes. Unfortunately, in order to ensure "zero tolerance," the boy has to be expelled otherwise it could open the door to other situations that are potentially more harmful. The boy needs to learn the lesson that drugs are wrong and unlawful, and do not belong in a home or a school.

7 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by mitchgat on Nov. 5, 2007 at 12:35 p.m. (report)

Of course not! Common sense would dictate that a 4 year old child can't be held accountable for his parents irresponsible actions.

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Posted by T15 on Nov. 5, 2007 at 12:03 a.m. (report)

Bust the mom, not the kid. Legalize it, first but still bust the mom for letting the kid get anywhere near it in the first place.

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Posted by leprechaunshawn on Nov. 4, 2007 at 6:59 p.m. (report)

Of course he should be expelled. How anyone can say he shouldn't is ridiculous. The article clearly states that the MPS has a zero tolerance policy. As far as I know, zero tolerance means no exceptions for age, gender, race or any other situation.

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Posted by liontigerbear on Nov. 4, 2007 at 3:54 p.m. (report)

no. i did that when i was a kid. i stole my mom's weed because i knew it was something special but i had no idea what it was. i didn't bring it to school but i took it to someone's house and they confronted my mom and she told them the truth but the police weren't called. this was 1976. for those of you thinkin my mom was cool, as it turns out, she's converted from a jimmy carter votin' wannabe hippie to a bill o'reilly lovin republican. and for those who want to know how i turned out, i'm the only college graduate in my imediate family and i 've owned my own business and real estate investments for over 10 years. i will still vote to leagalize pot, gay marriage, non-violence, clean air/water and to pay more taxes in order to help those in need. i know, im a freak and proud of it :)

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Posted by dnass on Nov. 4, 2007 at 2:27 p.m. (report)

Absolutly not! Why are you going to punish a 4 year old for something his mom did. The child more than likely didn't know what pot even was. So now they want to expel a child and deprive him of an education. I think that whoever thought of this needs their heads examined.

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Show me the other 2 Talkbacks

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