Seven high school students in Decatur, Ill., were suspended from Eisenhower High for two years when a fist fight broke out at a football game.

No weapons were involved, and the fisticuffs have been described as fairly routine bad behavior undeserving of the draconian response they have received.

The boys’ punishment has since been reduced to one year’s expulsion, and they have been given the option of continuing their education immediately in an alternative learning center for troubled students.

Regardless of the scaled-back sentence, the punishment is still being viewed as excessive in the extreme by members of the local community and the Reverend Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH coalition, who have mounted a protest in Decatur.

To further inflame tensions in the already troubled community, the Macon County State’s Attorney, Larry Fichter, is charging four of the students with mob action.

This is a felony charge, which carries a punishment of three years in prison. However, in a surprising act of generosity, Fichter stated that if the students were found guilty, they would likely only receive probation.

Of course, another question has been raised since Fichter waited two months to file the charges until such time as it seemed politically convenient. This act of selective prosecution is merely an attempt to make the situation seem more serious than it is.

Decatur School Superintendent Kenneth Arndt met with Jackson yesterday to try and resolve the issue, but no solution is forthcoming other than Arndt refused to modify his position.

Everyone is concerned with violence in our nation’s schools.

Few of us can honestly say we are not surprised by the extreme nature of crime in schools, which should be a safe haven for learning.

We are all eagerly looking for an easy solution to a problem that is endemic and resistant to quick and dirty fixes.

This schoolyard fight in Decatur seems to be a litmus test for reactionaries to see how harshly they can respond when the need arises — as if throwing the book at a few rabble-rousers now will help avoid the kind of nightmarish violence that has cropped up around the United States in the most unexpected of locations.

But the truth is this situation has gotten blown completely out of proportion. This is a weak attempt to maintain control in an environment that is resistant to control.

Over-punishing students whose behavior is not particularly out of the norm will not stop the next gun-wielding sociopath from wrecking havoc. It will only unfairly punish the antics of otherwise normal boys and possibly push them into lives of desperation without opportunities.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas and Carrie Tett.