Zero Tolerance is Extremes Beyond Common Sense - Destroys Two More Student's Lives

One involved an explosive science project gone bad, and the other is a student that absent-mindedly left his gun in his vehicle. . .

Zero Tolerance Watch: Teen Faces Felony Charges for Science Experiment

Meet Kiera Wilmot, a 16-year-old student in Bartow, Florida. Before last week, Bartow High School Principal Ron Pritchard tells WTSP-TV, she had "never been in trouble before. Ever." But then, the station reports, she mix[ed] household chemicals in a tiny 8-ounce water bottle, causing the top to pop off, followed by billowing smoke in [a] small explosion.

Wilmot's friends and classmates said it was "a science project gone bad, that she never meant to hurt anyone."

Even the teen's principal said, "She made a bad choice. Honestly, I don't think she meant to ever hurt anyone. She wanted to see what would happen [when the chemicals mixed] and was shocked by what it did. Her mother is shocked too."

The explosion happened around 7 a.m. Monday morning on school property, and no one was hurt. Staff, along with the school resource officer, acted quickly.

The principal told 10 News, "She told us everything and was very honest. She didn't run or try to hide the truth. We had a long conversation with her."

So: No one was hurt. There's no sign that Wilmot was up to something malevolent. The kid's own principal thinks this wasn't anything more than an experiment, and he says she didn't try to cover up what she had done. What punishment do you think she received? A stern talking-to? A day or two of after-school detention? Maybe she'll have to help clean up the lab for a week?

Nope. The budding chemist has been kicked out of school and charged with a couple of felonies

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STUDENT PUNISHED, CHARGED WITH A FELONY AFTER HE ‘TRIED TO DO THE RIGHT THING’ WHEN HE FORGOT HIS SHOTGUN WAS IN HIS TRUCK

UPDATE: Liberty University Offers Scholarship to N.C. High School Student Arrested for Accidentally Leaving Gun in His Truck

David “Cole” Withrow was a senior ready to graduate with honors from Princeton High School in Johnston, N.C. He is an Eagle Scout, did his senior class project on gun safety and was even looking forward to college in the fall.

This is why when he realized he forgot his shotgun in the back of his truck after going skeet shooting over the weekend, he debated between driving back home and being counted as tardy and calling his mom from school to collect the gun.

David “Cole” Withrow has to attend an alternative schooling option and received a felony charge for accidentally leaving his shotgun in his truck at school and calling his mother to come pick it up when he realized the mistake. (Photo via “Free Cole”/Facebook)

Deciding to call his mother from the school’s front office to come get the gun, the 18-year-old’s conversation was overheard, according to Todd Starnes.

“He was overheard in a private conversation with his mother explaining what happened,” Kimberly Boykin, a friend of the Withrow family told Starnes. “He could have told a story, but he told the truth.”

“I think it’s an injustice for this young man,” she said. “He’s a good guy. He’s loved by his classmates and his teachers. You don’t become an Eagle Scout by being a bad seed.”

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary