The Scoop: Peanut butter ban is one step too far
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One of the aspects I love about vacation, aside from the obvious benefit of sitting around and doing nothing, is the fact that during my travels I have the luxury of reading dozens of different newspapers. This is the sort of weird thing that means nothing to most folks but somehow excites newspaper editors like me.
As I journeyed from Tennessee to Virginia to Maryland to North Carolina and then back home again, I realized the problems we have here aren’t so bad after all. In fact, now they seem pretty palatable.
At least we seem to be doing better than Pensacola, Florida where a teacher who came to school high on cocaine will remain a school system employee. This comes after a judge ruled teacher Robert Sites III was fired unjustly – even though tests showed he came to school with 50 times the cocaine in his system needed to register a positive test. Now, because of the judge’s ruling, the Escambia County School Board is forced to rehire him.
I guess this means zero tolerance only applies to students. Teachers are more than welcome to use drugs.
In other school-related news, I read a front-page story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution that talked about another school safety hazard – the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Apparently this childhood lunchbox favorite isn’t as harmless as it may look.
The story indicated all elementary school teachers in Cobb County, Georgia will confiscate peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter cups, and anything else containing peanuts this year. The reason: Some children are so allergic to peanuts, even a whiff of peanut dust could trigger a life-threatening allergic reaction.
My take: I certainly wouldn’t want to endanger any child’s life, but this peanut ban seems harsh. If some judge will force a school board to rehire a known drug user, there has to be a judge who will toss this peanut rule out the window.
I speak for all the avid peanut butter eaters in this country when I say this ban is a violation of our rights. If we let them take peanut butter out of schools, it won’t be long before they take it off store shelves. Eventually it could disappear completely.
Just look what’s happened by taking God out of schools. Now some folks are crying to rewrite the Pledge of Allegiance and moral values are being tossed in the trash. We can’t let this same fate befall peanut butter.
In other odds and ends, I noticed the news out of Montana is the female governor is begging lawmakers to settle their differences and find a way to balance the state budget. Despite her plea, lawmakers began a special session with bickering and name calling. Hmmm. Sounds familiar.
In Jackson, Mississippi, a candidate for sheriff was arrested for paying people to vote for him. The sad part is the man, Steven Thompson, still lost anyway. He literally couldn’t pay people to vote for him.
And I’d like to end on an uplifting note by bringing you the story of an Iowa farmer who hated taxes. The man, Dewey Byars, disliked taxes so much he arranged for his entire 310-acre farm, livestock and equipment to be sold at auction. The money from the auction will be placed in a trust fund with its annual income used to reduce everyone’s property taxes in Des Moines County.
It’s that sort of generosity and spirit of giving that makes me proud to be an American. If some wealthy Warren countian could do the same thing here, it would be even better. And that can be considered a hint.
(James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)