The courts have gone crazy. Judges, who are not stupid people, are creating havoc with the law. This is the latest from a judge:

“Ordinary tools, such as pliers, screwdrivers and wrenches, are ‘weapons’ and so a Chicago school was correct to punish a teacher who brought them to class for a visual aid, according to a new court decision.

“The ruling from a federal court in Illinois technically dismissed a lawsuit brought on behalf of teacher Douglas Bartlett. He had been suspended without pay for four days ‘on the grounds that his use of the tools as visual aids endangered his students, despite the fact that all potentially hazardous items were kept out of the students’ reach.’”

The claim that tools are weapons is now part of the legal record that can be cited in future cases. Given this type of “logic,” everything is a weapon.

I can kill somebody with a pen or pencil. In fact, I still have some pencil “lead” in my leg from someone who stabbed me.

People have been beaten to death with a shoe. Hands and feet are lethal weapons. There are numerous stories where victims have been choked or kicked to death.

I threw the shot put in high school. It’s a 12-pound iron ball. I could have done a lot of damage with it. I also threw the javelin. Talk about a deadly weapon. There wasn’t a single news report of somebody being beaten to death with a shot put or intentionally impaled with a javelin, and yet they are on school property. People have been accidentally killed by an errant shot put throw. Hammer thrower Ed Burke nearly killed his wife when a throw of his went off course and plummeted through the windshield of his car where his wife was sitting.

Let’s force the logic of the school and judge in the tools as weapons case and argue that water should be banned since (1) people drown in it and (2) it has been used as a murder weapon. Andrea Yates confessed to drowning her five children. “Laurel Michelle Schlemmer, 40, of McCandless, Pa., was arrested for drowning her 3-year-old son Luke and critically injuring his 6-year-old brother Daniel.”

Susan Smith was sentenced to life in prison for drowning her two sons.

Water is very dangerous stuff. Given the logic of the school and judge, it should be outlawed or at least put under lock and key. All water drinking should only be done in full view of an adult.

It all sounds crazy until you start reading stories about some guy who used a potato shaped like a gun in a robbery. He was chased off with a baseball bat by the manager. When this story gets out, It won’t be too long before schools and courts mandate that all potato products served in the school cafeteria must be mashed.

Then there’s the problem of bats used for softball and baseball. This will not do. Wiffle Ball is the logical substitute. Or maybe air baseball where everybody just pretends to be using a bat.

What’s happened in our schools is not the potential of weaponized tools; it’s how young people are raised and the inability of government schools to deal with students who are potential trouble makers.

Our moral culture is disintegrating. While kids are taught not to cheat on tests and not to bully, there’s no basis for even this type of moral instruction. Says who? Says you? Well, not for me. They are taught on a daily basis that they are evolved animals, so why not be consistent and act like them. There’s no God to condemn a person for his or her actions. God is out, and if you try to put Him in, you’ll get your pants sued off.

There’s also the broader culture where “Might makes right,” “I’m my own law,” “You can’t tell me what to do,” “My parents will sue you,” “I’ll get you fired,” and any number of threats from students and willing accomplice parents.

So don’t be surprised if one day unsupervised visits to the water fountain is outlawed.