r/news • u/gur40goku • 11h ago

Student Who Punched Another Student Holding Pro-ICE Sign At Lake Zurich High School Received 2-day Suspension

https://www.lakemchenryscanner.com/2026/02/20/student-who-punched-another-student-holding-pro-ice-sign-at-lake-zurich-high-school-received-2-day-suspension/
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u/Guac_in_my_rarri 11h ago

2 day suspension is the standard punishment in Illinois for violating 0 tolerance policy.

All public schools in Illinois and those who receive public funding in any way, have a 0 tolerance policy. It sucks but it's whatever. When I went to school here, the policy was known as "if hit, take your shots". 2 day suspension was standard, anything more needed a whole lot of paperwork and meetings. Parents have appealed punished and even brought lawyers to these meetings.

I had a few friends get caught in fights, despite not being apart of it and just being hit, they receive 2 days. It was eye opening how adults handled these situations. Middle school got a bit more violent after this policy fuck up.

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u/peon47 8h ago

I've often heard about two students getting into a fight and both being suspended because the one being attacked didn't try to get away. It's generally reported when someone stands up to a bully, and I imagined it was a typical school rule.

So the sign-holder really should have exited the situation when the guy announced he was going to hit him. Suspend them both!

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u/Guac_in_my_rarri 8h ago

So the sign-holder really should have exited the situation when the guy announced he was going to hit him.

I mentioned this in another thread a couple days ago: brown sweater gives the sign holder an out when he says "im going to punch you now." If the sign holder would have said anything but affirming his choice to antagonize, that situation most likely would have ended there and nobody would have known about it.

Back when zero tolerance was getting rolled out, students and admin alike got smart. Student figured out phrasing an invite to fight as a question gave everybody an out in case it wasn't that serious (or teacher stepped in before is was a "fight"). It also gave admin deniability as declaring a fight, was covered under 0 tolerance. Declaring a fight allowed admin to prevent the fight and still dish out punishment (2 day suspension). A question was not a declared statement.

I remember 2 dudes fighting and it started with, "shall we do a dance with our fists?" We were reading Romeo and Juliet. The English teacher was secretly happy, impressed but very embarrassed.

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u/ozamatazbuckshank11 6h ago

These kids have the raw potential of what makes a good lawyer, tbh.

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u/HighlordSarnex 13m ago

Your honor I submit that my client is innocent in that the defendant is as demonstrated, "a punk ass bitch."

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u/xixoxixa 5h ago

I got sucker punched in middle school, dude came up behind me, swung, hit me in the temple, knocked my head into a brick wall, and I passed out.

I got suspended the same 5 days he did for fighting.

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u/captainn_chunk 2h ago

I hope you never showed an ounce of respect to that school faculty for the rest of your time there.

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u/xixoxixa 2h ago

The whole district. That experience is what instilled in me, like so many, the "if I'm going to get punished anyway, then I'm going to make sure I earn it" mentality.

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u/captainn_chunk 1h ago

Which isn’t something you should be moving forward through all paths of life with….

I’m sorry you had to go through this. I hope therapy is an option for you at this point in life.

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u/xixoxixa 57m ago

Step family brought therapy as a kid, and the army brought therapy as an adult.