From The Orlando Sentinel we hear this piece of refreshing news:

Gov. Rick Scott today signed into law a bill that says students cannot get into trouble for ‘brandishing a partially consumed pastry’ or other harmless items meant to simulate a gun. The ‘Pop-Tart’ bill aims to stop students from getting in trouble for play that involves obviously pretend guns. Students shouldn’t face discipline, for example, for drawing a picture of a gun or pretending a pencil or their finger was a firearm.

You can view/download a copy of this bill here.

The bill is similar to legislation first proposed in Maryland, after a 7-year-old boy was suspended from his Baltimore school for chewing a Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun. That case was widely viewed as an example of zero-tolerance policies gone too far.

State lawmakers have, in recent years, worked to dial back Florida’s zero-tolerance policies, fearful hard-line enforcement had led to students being suspended for relatively minor infractions. Advocates for reforming school discipline policies have been in favor of such moves.

Note: this change was not pushed by men’s and boys’ advocates, but by the gun rights lobby. This is firsthand proof of my belief that help for men and boys will come unlooked-for from a variety of places. Society is gradually moving away from the insane administrative policies hatched in the late 20th century. Today common sense is just a little more common.

And that, my friends, is good news.