Story Archive

Zero Tolerance for Childhood

There was a problem at William P. Tatem Elementary School in Collingswood, N.J., at the school’s end-of-the-year class party. A 9-year-old boy saw there were brownies being served. While it wasn’t reported exactly what he said about the brownies, another student claimed the remark was “racist” and the school called the police. “He said they were talking about brownies,” says the third-grader’s mother, Stacy dos Santos. “Who exactly did he offend?” The case, such as it is, has been forwarded to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency. School Superintendent Scott Oswald admits police have been called to district schools, which have only 1,875 students, about five times a day in recent weeks, and parents are calling on prosecutors to “stop mandated criminal investigation of elementary school students.” Wait: “mandated”? Yep: school officials and the police say they’ve been ordered by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office to report any incidents that “could be considered criminal.” Police Chief Kevin Carey says that includes anything “as minor as a simple name-calling incident that the school would typically handle internally.” (RC/Philadelphia Inquirer) ...Childhood: now a criminal matter in Camden County.