It's Come to This

Calling the police on a playful 6-year-old

SIX-YEAR-OLD Randy Castro playfully smacks little Katherine DeLeon on the bottom twice (copying another tyke who had done the same and elicited giggles), and the next thing you know, he's treated like one of those potential sex offenders on MSNBC's creepy show "To Catch a Predator." Katherine complained to a teacher. Randy was marched to the principal's office at Potomac View Elementary School. He was told that what he did was inappropriate. A report of the November episode was written up. The "Incident Code(s) for this perpetrator" was "SX2" or "Sexual Touching Against Student, Offensive." What's offensive is that the police were called and that this blot will be a permanent part of Randy's student record. At least the police had the sense to drop the matter.

Ever since two Supreme Court rulings in the 1990s allowing lawsuits against schools that don't stop sexual harassment and giving a green light to zero-tolerance policies for middle and high school students, some school districts seemingly have been scared into treating every alleged incident like a crime. As a result, hundreds of young children in the Washington metropolitan area have been suspended on charges of sexual harassment or inappropriate sexual contact.

Perhaps Randy's principal was acting out of excessive caution. As Post writer Brigid Schulte reported yesterday, just days before Randy's transgression, district officials were reminded to report threats and assaults to police. What's unclear is whether they were also instructed to use common sense. According to a district spokesperson, the code of behavior stipulates that police may be called for "offenses involving weapons, alcohol/drugs, intentional injury, and other serious violations." Um, call us crazy, but what Randy did doesn't meet that test. Katherine's mother says her daughter has forgotten about the whole thing. Randy's mom says he's now calling himself a "bad boy." Maybe Potomac View and other local schools need to offer a course called Common Sense 101 -- for their leaders.