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This rant's about a subject a little more controversial than spoilers in previews. I'll admit that up front. You've been warned.

There has been a lot of violence perpetrated on kids in the last few years, and more than ever before, it's been by other kids. That sucks, no doubt about it. However, it's also shown that there's apparently some inert genetic trait that every human has, only activating when that person has kids. I call this particular bit of DNA coding the Overreacting Code, and it's a bigger threat to kids than any number of automatic weapons.

The Overreacting Code forces parents to put pressure on educators. The educators then come up with something as inane as "Zero Tolerance." This means that the school system will tolerate no potential threats of any kind. Sounds okay at first blush, maybe, but think about it a bit more. Little Billy isn't exactly like the other kids. He's picked on sometimes, and that makes him angry. Suddenly, Little Billy looks like a Columbine killer, so Little Billy is kicked out of school.

Zero Tolerance means that if you fit a certain profile, you are a potential murder suspect, whether there's been a murder or not. This is a profile consisting of some of these characteristics: smart, picked on, non-conformist, computer-user. Different.

I am a successful member of my chosen profession. I'm married, own my own home, and have no criminal record. Most people would consider me an upstanding member of society. If I were a high school student, I would be Enemy Number One.

As online columnist Bill Bickel put it in a piece called "Zero Tolerance Must End Now," "Outrages aren't anecdotal anymore: They're epidemic." Shortly after Columbine, a teacher asked her class what they were feeling about the incident. After many kids said that they were scared or sad, one boy got up and said that he was also scared and sad, but could understand how the perpetrators felt, because it's so horrible to be picked on and ridiculed. This boy was suspended immediately for sharing these feelings.

Two boys in Florida were expelled (and cops -- in flak jackets -- were summoned to the scene) for talking about the Columbine incident in school. Kids have been expelled and turned over to the police for doodling missiles in their notebooks. A third-grader from Ohio, participating in a school fortune-cookie-writing project, was suspended from school for writing the words "You will die an honorable death." A 7-year-old Cincinnati girl was expelled from school for holding a cap gun on school bus. A 7-year-old girl.

And some examples hit even closer to home. A school principal learned that a group of kids was playing D&D. He called the kids into his office and told them that they had two choices: Quit playing the game and get counseling, or be expelled. That's right, playing D&D -- along with video games with violence, listening to heavy metal, and wearing black clothing -- is part of the Education System's new profile for dangerous students. This profile comes straight from the FBI, no less. (How whacked is that: The FBI is meddling in all this now?)

As if things weren't bad enough for these kids already. Let's face it, school can really suck when you're on the outside, you're different, you're smart, and you're not all that athletic. Nobody seems to be suggesting that we help these kids cope with their problems or learn to fit in, or -- heaven forbid -- actually suggest that nonconformity is a good thing. No, they want the friggin' FBI to watch these kids, because we're all supposed to assume that they're killers. That genetic Overreacting Code hasn't activated in me yet. I'm not willing to give up my civil rights and the civil rights (and well-being) of others, all in the name of "making things safe for my kids!"

I'm even a little leery of writing this rant, because there's a chance some kid will be looking at my site while at school, and he could get in trouble for reading this.

Oh, and the Overreacting Code doesn't stop there, either -- it'll put pressure on the government to regulate violence in the media (from movies to TV to games), mark my words. While I'm not a big fan of graphic violence in movies myself, the Overreacting Code hasn't forced my brain to forget the First Amendment. But I suppose that's actually Another Rant!