I remember when I was in junior high (middle school) and high school teachers would throw stuff, wack and break metre sticks (3 foot wooden rulers) across desks and even break thick textbooks in half across desks.

I had one teacher who received a metal metre stick as a gift from his students after breaking two wooden ones. That thing was all bent and wavy but it still did the job.

I had teachers who made fun of students, I had teachers who joked around with us, they would throw chalk at us if we were being stupid and all sorts of stuff. No one ever got angry or mad, we all just laughed it off. No one ever threatened anybody, nobody brought guns to school or knives or anything.

Life was good!

By the way, this was no more than 10 to 12 years ago

 

When I went to high school, many people carried pocket knives. They also still allowed smoking and many had lighters. But I don't recall a single stabbing or fire (except in the chemistry lab).

Yes, society is all screwed up when it comes to child-rearing. I blame it on all the drugs used by their parents in the '60s and '70s. But zero tolerance rules don't work. We have to be intelligent enough to know that exceptions must be made.

 

I blame it on the idea that everybody knows what is best for eveybody else. Who am I to say that what works for me will work for you and yours? Why should I impose my rules onto your family? When people begin to realize that there are different views and different opinions out there and none of them are neccesarily wrong, then we will continue to have this problem. I don't agree with all the stupid rules and regulations that come out every year just so a small minority can feel like they are saving the world from falling apart.