Ten in every thousand public school students were arrested in Florida schools last year, and the vast majority are for misdemeanor offenses. Things like "disorderly conduct", which can include talking back to teachers. A policy that was meant to keep students safe has turned misbehaving at school into a criminal offense. Behavior that once meant a trip to the principal’s office could now mean a trip to a holding cell.
Malcolm Calvert was in the 7th grade when he got into an argument with his 6th grade friend on a school bus - and hit him with a lollipop. Malcolm was handcuffed, and charged with misdemeanor battery.
Malcolm's attorney, Shannan Holder, says the boy Malcolm hit with a tootsie pop and the boy’s dad had to go to court.
In the 90's the state wanted to send a message that schools would not tolerate bad behavior. But too many students were being arrested. So a couple years ago lawmakers relaxed the state's zero tolerance policy. They encouraged schools not to arrest students for misdemeanors - like minor fights. But it wasn't a mandate. And last year, more than 9,000 students were still arrested for misdemeanors.
About 65% of all the student arrest cases were either dropped or moved out of the criminal justice system through things like therapy or community service. So, many students were arrested even though they hadn't actually violated any law.
But 14-year-old Evan Paulk says everything else about being arrested is very real. Like when he went in for his mug shot.
“I just didn't feel comfortable there. I um, sigh. I can't explain it. It was, scary”, said Paulk. “Staring into the camera, I wasn't sure what to do. Not somewhere I ever want to go again.”
Evan was arrested a week after he got in a school fight. He was standing up to a student who was bullying his friend. But he says he wasn't trying to fight.
“I mean I've seen fights where both guys are going at it and both of them want to fight. I feel like more discipline should be done to them than what should have been done to me”, Paulk said.
Evan is an honors student at Pensacola High School. His principal, David Williams, says he's an outstanding kid.
“I have nothing but good things to say about him. He made a mistake”, Williams said.
But Williams says he doesn't tolerate any violence.
“He got arrested because he was willing to fight”, Williams explained. “There's always an alternative to fighting.”
In the end, Evan just had write an apology letter to his school. But Gordon Weeks, a Public Defender for the Juvenile Division in Broward County, says arrests stay on your record forever.
“And the use of some better judgment when a child behaves like a child is probably the more appropriate remedy than using zero tolerance which is easy”, Weeks said.
And some principals are more likely to use that approach than others, says Secretary for the Florida Department for Juvenile Justice, Wansley Walters.
“I assure you that for every child that's arrested for any arrest in a school, there is another child in another school that wasn't arrested for the same thing”, Walters said.
When students apply to jobs , or to college, they have to acknowledge they've been arrested. Juvenile records are supposed to be kept private. But public information laws in Florida allow companies and individuals to request all arrest records. And what you see are the words battery and assault not "throwing a lollipop."