They have changed the laws in Texas to ease up and give some discretion to site principals because of some over the top cases.
In one instance, an honors kid, who'd never been in any trouble was called out of class because she had a "weapon" in her car. Turns out it was a "prop sword" that her brother, who participated in theater arts, and was appearing at the Renaissance Fair, had left in the car after the weekend. She was suspended, sent to a district alternative education center, and prosecuted by the DA for a Class 3 felony, eventually it was dropped.
Another case: One former Katy, Texas, high school student says he understands that administrators are trying to create a safe environment, but that they are going too far. A sophomore in 2001, he was late to biology class one day and his teacher sent him to the office for a tardy slip. While he was gone, he says, she asked the class to turn in their spiral notebooks - but no one told him to turn in his notebook when he returned, and his grade dropped from a B to a C.
So he scribbled her name on a piece of paper labeled "permanent list of people who piss me off" - a joke, he says. He then tore up the paper and threw it in the wastebasket. But by day's end, he was in handcuffs. He spent the night in juvenile hall, having been declared a "terrorist threat," and spent eight weeks in an alternative school.
Here's a website that lists the most amazing ones nationwide:
http://www.the-eggman.com/writings/zerostup.html
some highlights: A third-grader has a brother serving in the Army in Afghanistan. The proud third-grader draws a picture of his brother. The drawing shows his brother with a gun. Suspended
"Terrorist threat" criminal charges were filed against two 8-year-olds in Irvington, N.J., for "playing cops and robbers with a paper gun."
A young boy is suspended from elementary school for pointing his finger at someone and saying "Bang." It seems the school's Zero Tolerance rule extends to "Pretend" guns, including fingers.
Another school will let kids point fingers, but only if they have a "Permit."
Pretty crazy stuff.