Suspended for this?!?!? WTH!!!
Danny_Boy13
Posts: 2,094 Member
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/boy-10-suspended-imaginary-bow-arrow-article-1.1544627
A fifth-grader in Pennsylvania was suspended from school for using an imaginary bow and arrow.
Johnny Jones, 10, fell prey to South Eastern Middle School’s zero-tolerance weapons policy when he used a No. 2 pencil to engage in a playful back-and-forth with a classmate. His parents are now pressuring the school to remove all traces of the incident from their child’s permanent record.
The incident occurred during the week of Oct. 14. Jones asked his teacher for a pencil and got up from his seat to pick it up from the front of the class. While walking back, another student turned a notebook into an imaginary gun and “fired” at Jones. The child responded by using his hands to draw back the bowstrings of an imaginary bow and “shoot.”
The interaction lasted a few seconds and neither of the boys made a sound, according to the parents’ lawyers at The Rutherford Institute.
“They were just two friends goofing around,” John Whitehead, the institute’s president, told The News.
A female student in the class who saw the exchange immediately told the teacher. The teacher pulled the two boys out of class and lectured them about being disruptive. The teacher sent a referral to principal John Horton, who told mom Beverly Jones that her son’s behavior was a serious offense. He gave both boys a one day in-office suspension.
When she asked why, the principal reportedly told her that her son had made a “threat” in class.
The South Eastern Middle School did not respond to The News’ requests for comment.
The school’s policy prohibits the possession of any “replica” or “look-alike” weapon, according to Whitehead. But since Johnny never produced physical evidence of a weapon, Whitehead said the principal’s actions were an “overreaction.”
“Focus on the majors, not the minors,” Whitehead said. “If a kid intends to bring a real weapon to campus, deal with that.”
The Rutherford Institute sent a letter to district superintendent Rona Kaufmann, asking her to rescind the suspension and wipe Jones’ record clean.
“If it goes on his record as a weapons violation, it will follow him for the rest of his life,” Whitehead said. “In some cases I’ve seen, the kids have trouble getting into college.”
The school has until Dec. 13 to reply before Jones’ parents look into the possibility of filing a legal claim.
A fifth-grader in Pennsylvania was suspended from school for using an imaginary bow and arrow.
Johnny Jones, 10, fell prey to South Eastern Middle School’s zero-tolerance weapons policy when he used a No. 2 pencil to engage in a playful back-and-forth with a classmate. His parents are now pressuring the school to remove all traces of the incident from their child’s permanent record.
The incident occurred during the week of Oct. 14. Jones asked his teacher for a pencil and got up from his seat to pick it up from the front of the class. While walking back, another student turned a notebook into an imaginary gun and “fired” at Jones. The child responded by using his hands to draw back the bowstrings of an imaginary bow and “shoot.”
The interaction lasted a few seconds and neither of the boys made a sound, according to the parents’ lawyers at The Rutherford Institute.
“They were just two friends goofing around,” John Whitehead, the institute’s president, told The News.
A female student in the class who saw the exchange immediately told the teacher. The teacher pulled the two boys out of class and lectured them about being disruptive. The teacher sent a referral to principal John Horton, who told mom Beverly Jones that her son’s behavior was a serious offense. He gave both boys a one day in-office suspension.
When she asked why, the principal reportedly told her that her son had made a “threat” in class.
The South Eastern Middle School did not respond to The News’ requests for comment.
The school’s policy prohibits the possession of any “replica” or “look-alike” weapon, according to Whitehead. But since Johnny never produced physical evidence of a weapon, Whitehead said the principal’s actions were an “overreaction.”
“Focus on the majors, not the minors,” Whitehead said. “If a kid intends to bring a real weapon to campus, deal with that.”
The Rutherford Institute sent a letter to district superintendent Rona Kaufmann, asking her to rescind the suspension and wipe Jones’ record clean.
“If it goes on his record as a weapons violation, it will follow him for the rest of his life,” Whitehead said. “In some cases I’ve seen, the kids have trouble getting into college.”
The school has until Dec. 13 to reply before Jones’ parents look into the possibility of filing a legal claim.
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Replies
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*throws papers* I'm out!0
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:sad: Again, I'm never going to make it though school with my son and he hasn't even made it to kindergarten yet. This is BS!0
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*rolls eyes*
That is completely ridiculous. Seriously. People are taking things way too far.0 -
Imagination is serious business.0
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:noway: That's not cool. If school was like this when I was a kid I never would have made it through.0
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Imagination is serious business.
And that's just it.
Kids aren't allowed to be kids any more. I bet that now days a kid could get suspended for playing cowboys and Indians on the playground because they'd be "miming" the weapons.
It is absolutely ridiculous.0 -
Wow, I'm glad I'm English. My 4 year old son is in reception class at school. If we were in the US I'm fairly sure he'd have been excluded by now!
It's so ridiculous.
I'm a secondary school teacher. A few years ago a boy, age 14, said something to his friend about raping me. He got a day in isolation, and a talking to by the schools police liaisons officer. I don't think that was punishment enough, but what's happening in the US with all these kids getting suspended is way over the top.0 -
Imagination is serious business.
And that's just it.
Kids aren't allowed to be kids any more. I bet that now days a kid could get suspended for playing cowboys and Indians on the playground because they'd be "miming" the weapons.
It is absolutely ridiculous.
Not to mention the ghastly non-PC name of the game. It should be "Cowpeople and Native Americans" and really, they shouldn't shoot at each other. They should sit down and explain their differences in such a way that no one gets their feelings hurt and everyone can understand each other. And forget the peace pipe. That thing caused cancer in laboratory rats!!!0 -
I remember playing cops and robbers and cowboys and indians on the school grounds, when I was young, using our fingers for guns, nothing happen to us!! :noway:
So thankful our kids are home schooled!!!
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And this is relevant to a health and fitness site because....?0
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Dang it! My son will get suspended for sure for pretending to be a spy. Ugh. Things to look forward to.0
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And this is relevant to a health and fitness site because....?
You're in the "Chit-Chat, Fun, and Games" section. Don't like it? Don't read it. :huh:0 -
And this is relevant to a health and fitness site because....?
Uuummm...this chit chat fun and games!!!
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And this is relevant to a health and fitness site because....?
cht chat, fun and games topic0 -
The school system has lost their minds. I would rip that principal to shreds if this happened to my boy. Now last year, right after Sandy Hook, one of the kids in my religion class made a finger pistol at another girl. The girl got really upset, so we had a talk about it. That's different, and if the behavior continued, it would have needed to be addressed. But seriously, two kids goofing off... I'm fired up and this story has absolutely nothing to do with me!0
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... my girls would both have been expelled in that environment.
Luckily the few "run ins" we had with teachers on topics like this (e.g. my eldest was not allowed to put 'knife' down on a christmas letter to santa one year), were all resolved in our favour and the teachers involved advised to relax.0 -
I remember playing cops and robbers and cowboys and indians on the school grounds, when I was young, using our fingers for guns, nothing happen to us!! :noway:
So thankful our kids are home schooled!!!
Back in 1999 when I was in 3rd/4th grade we had this game called Pine Cone Wars. Essentially, two gangs of like 20 kids each would throw pine cones at each other during recess and create mass chaos. Nobody got suspended, but they did need to shut down recess for a week because some kid got cut up pretty badly. I wasn't in any gang, I worked as a mercenary. LOL!
I think that was around the time when Columbine happened and schools started to get edgy about violence.0 -
Good thing they nipped this in the bud. That's how Hawkeye and Green Arrow both started and everyone hates those guys.0
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And this is relevant to a health and fitness site because....?
^^^^^ This is the "chit chat" board?!?!? Stuff other than health & fitness can be discussed here.0 -
Good thing they nipped this in the bud. That's how Hawkeye and Green Arrow both started and everyone hates those guys.
I hear they are going to go back and take Legolas out of the LOTR films because he is too violent with his bow.0 -
HAHAHA
fkkn terrorist0 -
When my son gets old enough to play with imaginary weapons, i'm going to teach him to pretend to lock them up in an imaginary cabinet so his friends can feel safe from being pretend hurted.0
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*rolls eyes*
That is completely ridiculous. Seriously. People are taking things way too far.
Don't know, parent groups pressured schools to create these policies, so in fact, that means these are the policies the parents want.
Otherwise, they'd have had them fixed years ago. No?
ETA - Never an excuse for the ignorant and childish fetishization and fear mongering of weapons of any sort. It's immature and a sign of underlying deviant behaviors. That administration should have a full psych eval and investigation.0 -
Yup, this kind of thing sheds some light on how my "hyperactive" (read "normal") child with "behavioural issues" (read "creative, imaginative, independent, curious") got straight Ds on her first grade one report card. Yes, grade ONE. She's SIX. What a way to encourage and support a kind, bright, amazing little girl.0
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When my son gets old enough to play with imaginary weapons, i'm going to teach him to pretend to lock them up in an imaginary cabinet so his friends can feel safe from being pretend hurted.
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And this is relevant to a health and fitness site because....?
You're in the "Chit-Chat, Fun, and Games" section. Don't like it? Don't read it. :huh:
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Someone got put on blast. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:0 -
Good thing they nipped this in the bud. That's how Hawkeye and Green Arrow both started and everyone hates those guys.
I hear they are going to go back and take Legolas out of the LOTR films because he is too violent with his bow.
Violence against is oliphants is not a laughing matter. They're so endangered that I've never even seen ONE.0 -
And this is relevant to a health and fitness site because....?
I use bows and arrows to hunt food. Someone not being allowed to simulate that isn't right, because what if they don't like hunting after this?0 -
What's next? Kindergartener getting suspended for saying "Oh YEAH? Well my dad can beat up YOUR dad!!!"0
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