Grand ol' perspective

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

By Joseph Schloss

This has been an interesting week. Three incidents have been brought to my attention that cry out for introspection and reflection.  

A 9-year-old boy was rescued by a 26-year-old illegal alien on Thanksgiving after the mother’s car crashed into a canyon after losing control in the southern Arizona desert. The boy crawled out of the wreck and was found about two hours later by Jesus Manuel Cordova. Cordova attempted to extricate the mother, but she was pinned inside the vehicle with life-threatening injuries. He built a bonfire and gave the youth his jacket in an attempt to keep the boy warm. He stayed with the boy throughout the night, providing comfort until the group was found by hunters in the morning.

The hunters contacted the authorities, which took both the boy and Cordova into custody. The boy was held for safe keeping, and Cordova was to be turned over to the United States Border Patrol for deportation. During the night, the mother had died of her injuries and the boy, whose father had died two months earlier, was now an orphan.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am against illegal entry into the United States. However, Cordova in his single act of humanitarian heroism exemplified the qualities that we look for and hope to find in our citizens. I would hope that our government sees fit to facilitate a legal reentry into the United States for Cordova. Mr. Cordova, my hat is off to you for your unselfish act of kindness and for doing the right thing regardless of the consequences.

CBS News reports that the Pentagon is demanding that a soldier wounded in Iraq return $3,000 of his $10,000 recruitment bonus. It seems that Jordan Fox, 23, was blinded in one eye and suffered back injuries when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Fox, whose injuries prevented him from completing his active duty tour, violated his recruitment contract by not serving his remaining three months.

Where is common sense?  To his credit, Pennsylvania Democrat Jason Altmire has introduced legislation in congress guaranteeing soldiers full recruitment bonuses in the event of injury in the line of duty. I hope that my fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives join Rep. Altmire (D) in a bipartisan solution to this outrage.

Demarcus Blackwell’s 4-year-old son, Christopher, was suspended last year from pre-school in Waco, Texas for sexual harassment of his female school aide. It seems that young Christopher gave his school aide a hug and his face and head pressed against the aide’s bosom. Think this is an isolated incident? Guess again!  In Ohio, 74 first graders were suspended for “unwelcome sexual conduct.” In Virginia, 13 kindergartners have been suspended every year for the last three years for similar offenses. Nationwide, many of our public schools have taken a zero tolerance position on hugs. Zero tolerance means automatic suspension. The problem with zero tolerance is that it removes discretion and common sense from the equation.

Teachers, by their very nature, are educators, and part of educating is proper use of common sense. Does a 4-year-old understand sexual harassment? At that tender age can a young child comprehend what constitutes sexual misconduct? I think not. A typical 4-year old is constantly being hugged by his mother, father, siblings and extended family. It only stands to reason that hugs become a societal expression of love, acceptance and approval.  So who really gets hurt here? The teacher who often represents a motherly figure in the mind of the child, or the child? 

Suspension seems like a very harsh way of dealing with the problem. Suspension brings with it a stigma. A suspension goes into the child’s permanent school record and in this case labels that child a sexual harasser, one who uses unwelcome sexual advances, or in some cases a sexual deviant. All over a hug?  As I said, “Where is common sense?”  

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