Let's finish the song. "And here I am, stuck in the middle with you."

I don't like clowns. I never ever have. But now I want to see a thousand of these "Bozos" marching up and down the streets of America.Recent scary clown behavior in wooded areas and on neighborhood streets had caused such a ruckus that many towns and cities across the country banned clown costumes for Halloween. Stores removed them from their shelves. Schools were locked down upon clown sightings. Arrests have been made of clowns jumping out to frighten children.Because of these recent happenings, the largest seller of fast food has removed pictures of its famous clown, Ronald McDonald, from all of their restaurants. What a shame. I actually like this clown because he brings smiles to children with cancer.Our society just doesn't get it. We seem to give in to the minority of troublemakers who try to get attention - and attention is what they get when we put them on TV and report their antics in the newspapers. The end result is that everyone is punished because of the behavior of a few.So because of a few idiots, the real clowns, who have been delighting audiences for hundreds of years, may now become extinct.Schools often foster this kind of irrational cause and effect. The fourth-grade class is told that if they are quiet during the spelling test, they will be rewarded with extra recess time.Little Johnny likes attention, even when he misbehaves, so he talks during the test. Rather than disciplining only Johnny, the teacher punishes the entire class with no recess.Two kids act up on the bus. Everyone's seat is changed. Bobby hits Sara in the head with the kickball in gym class. No more kickball for anyone. On and on and on.As the saying goes, one bad apple spoils the barrel. According to Kathryn A. Patterson, in her article titled "Group Punishment and Why It Fails to Discipline," writes that children who behave properly and get punished because of someone else's actions only learn how unfairly they are treated. Some even think they might as well join in with the few who misbehave if they're going to be punished anyway.Patterson points out that when a person backs into a parked car, we don't ban the driving of automobiles, or if someone loses a library book, they don't close the library.A few years ago, I was a victim of identity theft in which someone bought $7,000 worth of electronics with my credit card number. While reporting this to the fraud department of a major department store, I asked if they were going to try to catch the culprit to recoup the stolen goods."Oh, we'll check a few things out," said the department head, "but it's unlikely we'll find him." I then asked the question for which I already knew the answer."Does the store just take the hit on the stolen merchandise?""Of course not," he said. "The price of the merchandise will now go up so people like you and me will pay for the stolen goods."There it is again. Punish all for one.The legal system gets involved with the all for one cause and effect, too. Years ago, a woman put her cat into her microwave oven to dry it off after it got wet in the rain. The cat imploded. She sued the manufacturer and was awarded compensation. Microwave companies now have to include the sentence, "Do not put pets or living things in the microwave oven" in their instruction booklet.Throughout all this nonsense, hypocrisy is everywhere.Jason Pierre-Paul, a defensive end of the New York Giants, lost two of his fingers in a fireworks accident, so why don't we ban all fireworks? Dogs bite people every day. Why don't we make a law that no one can own a dog?A family in Kansas loses their home in a tornado. Shouldn't we close the state and tell everyone to move?So now, all clowns are under scrutiny, especially if the few costumed goofballs in the woods or streets are not apprehended. Patterson explains it all in terms of the school environment. If the misbehaving child cannot be identified, it becomes a choice to punish everyone or not. She says punish no one.Let clowns be.Like I said, I don't like them, but if I ever see one at a county fair, I'm going to go out of my way to shake his hand.Rich Strack can be reached at

katehep11@gmail.com.