Two weeks ago, Ian's class sat down in a circle for reading time. The new boy, John, sat in Ian's chair. Ian was ticked off. He pointed two fingers at the boy and curled around the other two. He formed a gun, looked down the site, and made a gun sound, which had been perfected by hours of video games. John jumped up and hit Ian in the stomach. Ian hit him back.

Letters were sent home. Ian got in more trouble for making the fake gun with his fingers, than John did who actually hit Ian. We were told that schools no longer tolerate that sort of behavior, and that he would never be mainstreamed if he formed imaginary guns. Ian was scared straight and doesn't fake shoot his classmates any more.

Steve and I were plenty steamed about this and sent a volley of e-mails back to the school telling them that they were overreacting. At home, we told Ian that he had to knock it off. This hyper-vigilance is part of our post-Columbine, post-911 world, and our e-mails, no matter how rationally argued, weren't going to change that reality.

There's been a big media storm over the first grade kid who brought a camping cutlery set to school and was suspended. Ian's case of the imaginary gun is even more extreme.

In Federalist Paper #10, Madison wondered how to protect a nation from the danger of factions, groups that had the aim of destroying the democracy. He first considers eliminating the causes of factions, freedom and inequality. If you want to eliminate dangerous groups like the KKK, you can take away freedom or make everyone have the same opinions. Both options were impossible, he said, so instead we have to live with the fact that there are dangers out there and create a system that made it very difficult for factions to put their plans into effect.

These school boards are dealing with the dangers of Columbine killers by taking away freedoms and by making all children the same. Someone should hand them my tattered copy of the Federalist Papers.