Pop Tart Bandits

I don't know what it is about these toaster pastries but boys seem to be drawn to playing with them while they are eating.  I just gave my 2 1/2-year-old a PopTart and in the short period of time that it takes to consume the treat it has been several things.  First, it was an airplane and it was zooming through the air and into his mouth.  Then it was a car.  I also watched as it became a sock.

Why is this a post worth writing?
Well, I can recall a news story about a little boy who was eating a PopTart and made the treat into the shape of a gun.  His school has a zero tolerance policy and so because it was a gun he was suspended from school.  I believe that it is important that we actually understand the development of children before we take policies and make them one size fits all.  I am arguing that we consider the development of our students especially our young males of minority populations.  We have to really get inside of their hands and ask ourselves why?  Why are they doing this?  It could be that it is something in the nature of the children.  It could be environmental.  It could be anything but we will not know until we start to question ourselves.