eee the OVERALL oxidation state of a COMPOUND is 0. that doesnt mean the elements IN the compound also have 0 as the oxidation number...
for SO2...
Oxygen has a fixed oxidation number, but not sulfur, so first we determine the oxidation number of O2 = (-2*2+ = -4
now as i told previously, the OVERALL oxidation state of a COMPOUND has to be 0
so S has to be +4 to make the overall oxidation no. of SO2 = 0
this way -4+4 = 0