Taking it Too Far?

Yesterday I read an article on www.wtkr.com  regarding the use of pepper spray on students at Granby High School in Norfolk.  They say it's being used as a means to an end, if the security guards can't break up a fight or students are getting out of line, they can spray them.  So not only do they have metal detectors in the schools, now they need to pepper spray kids as well?  Am I the only one that thinks this is totally uncalled for and dangerous?  I've never been pepper sprayed myself but my boyfriend has (in the military he says they get sprayed to make sure they can still fight and do their duty) so he knows exactly what he feels like.  He said it burns like hell, your eyes feel like their on fire, and it leaves them red and raw for about an hour.  Why would you want to put any child through that?  And what if they have allergies, or some kind of medical illiness, shouldn't you find that information out before spraying them?  Has the situation gotten so bad that we need to not only search children and their belongings, but also subject them to stinging eyes and pain? 

I understand that situations sometimes call for drastic measures, but I have to say I'm surprsied that members of the school board would approve such a thing.  I'm sure some of them have children, and I would bet they wouldn't want their kids subjected to being sprayed.  And I don't want to say it's a racial thing, but it seems like things like this only happen in the black schools in the poorer neighborhoods, at least in this area.  I can't imagine being pepper-sprayed, or having my bag searched, or having to walk through a metal detector at the school I attended.  But then again, that was in a nice middle class neighborhood made up of predominantly white students, a completely different setting.  Maybe it's just me, but I believe that there should be other ways to deal with a situation, even if it's a violent situation than resorting to pepper spray.  Violence only begets more violence after all.  If you spray someone with a substance like that, the outcome will be anything but pleasant.   Anyway, I don't want to ramble on and I do have to get back to work.  What do you think ladies?  Should security officers be allowed to pepper spray students?