Some Boston school administrators would have you believe that last week's news headlines should have read: Alert school officials narrowly avert chain-saw massacre.

The story, in case you missed it, was that Boston Latin Academy teacher Shital Shah told her class to write a suspenseful, shocking short story. High school junior Charles Carithers submitted a graphic work that, among other grisly elements, had a student killing his English teacher with a chain saw.

The teacher took offense and claimed Carithers had threatened her with bodily harm. The student was suspended for three days.

There's a lot that's wrong about this case, not least of which is the punishment given to Carithers himself.

Let's assume for the moment that Boston Latin School administrators really thought that Carithers was going to kill his teacher.

Surely you would think the matter would have been referred to the district attorney.

Nope.

Well then, how about expelling the student?

How about committing him to McLean Hospital?

How about a restraining order, keeping Carithers away from his English teacher?

No on all counts.

Apparently at Boston Latin the punishment for attempted murder is a three-day suspension.

Now, I know Massachusetts has a reputation for being soft on crime, but isn't this a little ridiculous?

Of course it is, and it's ridiculous because no one credibly believed that Carithers intended his teacher any harm.

He hadn't been in trouble before. He hadn't been out making threats. By all accounts he was a good, smart kid.

Carithers' real problem? Teachers and administrators at Boston Latin were offended by his thinking.

Stephen King, R.L. Stine and Anne Rice, take note. You're no longer welcome in the Boston Public Schools.

The Boston Latin case has been widely reported and has provoked laughter across the country. But Boston is not alone in its silliness.

A New Jersey school recently suspended kindergartners for pointing their fingers at each other cops-and-robbers style.

Another school punished a 9-year-old for bringing a manicure kit to school.

In Georgia, an elementary school suspended students for saying they wanted to harm Barney, the purple dinosaur. (And who doesn't, I might ask?)

The cause of all this, of course, was a spate a widely publicized crimes in America's schools, the most notable of which was the Columbine massacre of only a year ago.

Boston School Superintendent Tom Payzant acknowledges as much.  "Four years ago," he says, "(Carithers) probably wouldn't have been suspended."

Not today, however. Now, students are afraid to go to school, parents are afraid to send them, and teachers, apparently, are afraid to have them show up.

One small problem, however: The paranoia that has beset the school system is based on a myth.

The myth is that schools are getting more dangerous. They aren't. They're actually getting safer.

The juvenile crime rate is now at a 20-year low, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. And just two weeks ago, an extensive analysis prepared by the Justice Policy Institute concluded that there is overwhelming evidence that violent crime by young people is declining inside and out of schools.

That's true nationwide. That's true in Boston as well.

Luckily, Boston has an opportunity to undo this foolishness.

On May 12, the school department will hear Carithers' appeal of his suspension.

Payzant, a sensible educator who has rightly made quality education the focus of his tenure so far, can fix this embarrassment.

Here's what he should insist on:

First, dope-slap those responsible for Carithers suspension (memo to Latin School officials: please don't arrest me; I use "dope-slap" figuratively).

Educators, of all people, should know that fiction is not reality and that thoughts are not deeds.

And instead of punishing creativity, even creepy creativity, our schools should be encouraging it.

Second, make the Latin School administration take a remedial course on the U.S. Constitution, with particular emphasis on the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

That's the amendment that protects free speech for all citizens and students, by the way, are citizens as well.

Finally, reverse the suspension. The school department should apologize to Carithers, his family, and, of course, to avid readers of horror fiction everywhere.

Come back Stephen King, R.L. Stine and Anne Rice. All is forgiven.

Tom Keane writes regularly for the Boston Herald. He can be reached at tomkeane@tomkeane.com.