The Thought Police are alive and well in Arizona (and it has nothing to do with immigration).

For those who haven’t thought much about the implications of “hate crime” legislation in the past, here is yet more evidence that those in power wish to control not only your actions, but your thoughts as well.

by Michael Naragon

In a CBS news story that likely will not receive the coverage it deserves, a kindergartner was suspended on May 19 for almost bringing a knife to school.  Almost.

Five-year-old Josh Bejerano and his friends were on their way to school on Thursday morning when they found a pocket knife under a bush.  Like all young boys–I have three myself and know how mine would have reacted–Josh excitedly put the knife in his backpack.  Then, he apparently remembered that knives do not belong at school, and he took the blade out of his backpack and put it down.  This is where the story gets interesting.

Josh arrived at school, having done the right thing.  His friends, who witnessed the events, talked to others about what had happened on their way to school, and word got back to the principal.  Josh was called to the office and, of course, suspended.  Not for bringing a knife to school.  For thinking about bringing a knife to school.

So, in a decision that would be expected in a totalitarian society, a boy was punished for having a thought that ran contrary to the public good.  Josh did not injure anyone.  He didn’t threaten anyone.  He almost brought a knife to school.  He made a good decision and was sent home for it.  And to add insult, he would be suspended for his kindergarten graduation on Friday.

Not surprisingly, the principal of Harmon Elementary, Chris Lineberry, was unrepentant when contacted by the boy’s parents.  When the local CBS affiliate learned about the story and reported on Josh’s suspension, the administration of the school suddenly had a change of heart and decided to allow him to attend his graduation from kindergarten.  Lineberry apologized, not because he had made a decision to suspend based on the thoughts of a five-year-old child, but because he didn’t realize it was Josh’s graduation on Friday.  Had this taken place earlier in the year, therefore, there would have been no apology.

This case disturbed me for two reasons.  The first, more obvious, problem is that the school system–of which Harmon Elementary is a typical example–would act against a kindergartner because he thought about bringing a knife to school.  The idea of “zero tolerance” is a shield to protect those bereft of common sense.  It would have been far more appropriate to have called Josh into the office, asked him about the incident, warned him about the danger of knives and other sharp objects, and praised him for his good thinking.

In one of my world history classes recently, we were discussing Nicholas II’s reforms to try to avert revolution in Russia.  One of the things he granted to the people was freedom of thought.  I turned to the class and asked why this indicated potential arrogance on the part of the czar.

“Because the government can’t grant freedom of thought,” one student answered.  “What you think is your own.”  Unfortunately for Josh and those purged by the Communists in Russia over the years, your thoughts are only your own as long as you share them with no one, which brings me to my second major concern with this incident.  The principal suspended Josh on the hearsay of other students.  Josh apparently told Lineberry the details of the story when asked, but, even if he had denied it, the kindergartner likely would have met the same fate, having witnesses against him.  What, then, is to stop students from singling out someone they don’t particularly like, cooking up a simple story about that student finding a weapon or some other contraband, and going to the principal with their “information”?  The short answer is that nothing would stop them from doing so.

Now before the school defenders start rolling out the tired, old excuses, let me say one more thing.  If this had involved older children, and a student had expressed thoughts about killing another student or a staff member, then we’re discussing an entirely different issue.  Overt threats are far different from making the decision to put a pocket knife in a backpack, then thinking better of it.  What was done at Harmon Elementary, in the interest of “zero tolerance” in kindergarten, was the typical overreaction and over-control of our school system and, upon extrapolation, our government.