Alex Pennace
February 18, 2006

Politically Incorrect Doodles

13-year-old Tyler Hirsch of Uxbridge was "caught" by his French teacher on February 7, 2006 doodling pictures of various guns. Although these pictures did not depict violence, Tyler was sent to the principal's office. At the office, school officials rifled through his bag and discovered a book of matches inadvertantly left over from a Boy Scout event.

But in an example of "zero-tolerance" becoming intolerable, school officials decided that Tyler's artistic expression is coverable under a zero-tolerance policy. Tyler has been suspended, pending evaluation by a psychologist, for his harmless doodles.

Source: Telegram & Gazette, February 14, 2006, B1, Dianne Williamson's column "Caught in the crossfire"