Opening a Door Gets Student Suspended

A Virginia middle school student was suspended last week for the egregious offense of opening an exterior door for a visitor. No, it wasn’t a dangerous or unauthorized visitor—it was someone the student knew, who had her hands full. But the school has had a strict policy against opening doors ever since it installed its new security system, Tidewater News explains. Visitors must buzz in and look into a security camera before the doors are unlocked.

The student was reportedly given a one-day out-of-school suspension. “Students are not allowed to open doors, and if anyone does, they will be suspended,” said the school’s executive director of administration and personnel. “You have a system, and that system has to be consistent.” Lenore Skenazy of the Free-Range Kids blog is outraged. “What the school fails to understand is that the student was an even BETTER security system!” she writes. “The student has a heart, a brain, and hands. This incredible carbon-based security system can open the door when that makes sense!” (More middle school stories.)