It's hard being a kid in the United States these days. What was once considered to be youthful misbehavior is now treated as a serious crime.
Playground rough-housing is no longer horseplay. In Texas, police are issuing tickets as high as US$500 to children as young as six.
In one New Jersey middle school, students must submit to mandatory pee tests before they can participate in sports or other activities.
Zero tolerance policies have been taken too far. A New Jersey school once suspended a student for taking over-the-counter allergy medicine to school.
In North Carolina, an honors student was recently suspended for taking a paring knife to school. She had accidentally switched lunch boxes with her dad.
In Oklahoma, doodling on a desk led to the arrest of a 13-year-old boy.
What effect will these punishments have on children? Putting children through an adult justice system could be preparing them for a life of crime.
