> I just wish we weren't in this insane system of zero tolerance where poor judgement by children in their teens--where ultimately nobody was hurt--can result in their lives being ruined forever.

And here you see the other problem with zero-tolerance policy. If someone does something dangerously stupid - like this here lady with her drano bomb in a crowded environment, you don't want Drano splash in your eye - you just cannot come down on the offender in an appropiate way. You can either drop the ten-ton weight of the zero-tolerance policy, now matter how inappropiate, or you hush the matter up. And that often isn't a good alternative.