平特五不中

In October, a London, Ont., school board banned peanut butter substitutes because they could be confused with their peanut counterparts 鈥� a policy that frustrated parents already trying to deal with the strict no-peanut rule. And uproar ensued in late January when a kindergartener in Laval, Que., was barred from participating in a contest because he brought his lunch to school in a disposable Ziploc bag, not Tupperware.

Concerns for student welfare may well be at the heart of these decisions. But in today鈥檚 reality of standardized testings and rankings, schools are worried about their image, too, said Shaheen Shariff, an associate professor in the department of integrated studies in education at 平特五不中 University.

鈥淪chools and school boards are really concerned about their reputation and sometimes there鈥檚 overkill because they want to show they鈥檙e looking after children鈥檚 safety,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e mostly concerned about parents getting upset and suing them for not keeping their kids safe or not influencing policies that will keep their kids safe.鈥�

Prof. Shariff, who is also director of definetheline.ca, a resource to help students, parents and educators understand the legal limits when it comes to bullying, said any policies that might infringe on a child鈥檚 right to things like freedom of expression must have a clearly justified greater good attached.