Did Charlie Dillon deserve to get expelled?
A friend of mine was caught cheating on an American history test (we were in grade 11 at the time and this was in a Catholic high school in Canada). He received a mark of zero on the test in question and his parents were called to the school principal's office, but he was let off with a warning and eventually managed to pass the course in question. I personally think that students deserve a second chance in situations like that. I wonder whether school policies with regard to cheating/plagiarism tended to be stricter in the past (could depend on the specific country examined). Cheating is generally severely punished at the university level, but seems not to be as heavily penalized at the high school or middle school level.
Have there been any cases of students being expelled for non-serial cheating while in high school?
Also, I wonder whether David could have let Dillon off the hook... This could have eventually led to the two protagonists' reconciliation (and a happier ending to the film).