Boy Suspended For 4-Inch Toy Gun At School

[Teresa]

Zero tolerance at its finest ..   
( Makes me so mad I can't even comment without going totally off the wall.     )


http://www.kptv.com/education/22499047/detail.html

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A Portland school has suspended an 8-year-old boy after he was found to have a 4-inch plastic toy gun built for an action figure, KPTV-TV in Portland, Ore., reported.

The third-grade student at Duniway Elementary School received a one-day suspension. Aron Anderson, the boy's father, said his son forgot he had the toy in his pocket after playing with it the previous night.

He said his son showed the small toy to a friend at school and another student reported it to staff.

"He didn't point it at anybody. He didn't act like it was real," Anderson said. "I'm really frustrated with the district that they would go that far with something so little like that."

School officials said the principal followed protocol after she determined the toy gun was a simulated weapon. According to district policy, punishment can range from suspension to expulsion.

"There's got to be some common sense that says, 'I see what it is and there's no reason to sound the alarm,'" Anderson said.

The region administrator for the school sent Anderson a letter that said the district intends to uphold the principal's decision.

Anderson hopes the school district will consider changing its policy.

"Kids have scissors at schools and pencils. That's more dangerous than that," he said.

The boy's suspension will be on his permanent school record, but Anderson said he intends to speak with the school board about the situation.

[Varmit]

Not that surprising really, just another fine example of our public school system at work.  Tell me again why we need these idiotic institutions...

[Diane Amberg]

So why did the other student tell on him?

[srkruzich]

So why did the other student tell on him?

Because their indoctrinated to tell.  Started with the Dare program where they got kids to rat out parents and friends if they had a joint or something like that.   You see the program is designed to gain access to your home by indirectly recruiting your kids to snitch you out if your doing something like smoking a joint or something. When the kiddos report it, that gives them probable cause to get a warrant to search your home.  Otherwise they couldn't possibly get a judge to sign off on that

The reason you have zero tolerance is that school officials do not want to have to make decisions.  They can hide behind the zero tolerance policy no matter how stupid it is.  That was one of the worst things to happen in education.  Essentially it says that adults taht are supposed to be teaching our kids are too stupid to make a decision so the government must make it for them.

[Diane Amberg]

So if it had been a real gun, that would have been alright?

[srkruzich]

So if it had been a real gun, that would have been alright?

That depends.  I used to take my gun to school.  worked hard polishing my dads shoes every week and would buy a brick of 22 rounds and take it and my gun to school.  Would go out and target practice after school.  Now 8 year old i would say no its not alright, but i let my kids go hunting rabbits when they were 9 or 10 by themselves.

It all depends on the maturity level of the kid. 

[Teresa]

So if it had been a real gun, that would have been alright?

What if?? What IF wasn't in this situation.......
The point is Diane.. It wasn't a real gun..
I mean this crap makes me so mad....
CAN NO ONE IN GOV"T SCHOOLS THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX??
Pencils are used to write ransom notes and can be sharpened to the point of being a lethal weapon also......  should  they take them away from kids, too? And what about forks... my god.. they cause obesity and can also be used as a weapon..
I mean....come on~~~~~~~~
This Zero Tolerance Rules is BS. It's for the ignorant who are too lazy to think...and COWARDS WHO REFUSE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for themselves.
This "Zero tolerance" which they obviously just get orgasmic over....still should mean you can still use your brain to handle a situation.
How about saying... if you saw a real gun you should ..
1. Stop
2. Don't touch
3. Walk away
4. Tell a grown up.
Isn't that what a good educator and someone who cared about kids would do?

I'd really like to see someone with 'Standing' sue the crap out of the school systems and win!

Here is another incident about a "2" ""TOY"" gun..

An irate Staten Island mom blasted a grade school principal Wednesday for treating her son like a pint-sized Plaxico Burress after he brought a 2-inch-long toy gun to school.

"This principal is a bully and a coward, and needs to be held accountable," said Laura Timoney, 44, after her teary fourth-grader was nearly suspended for playing with the tiny toy at lunch.

"The school should be embarrassed. This is a common-sense issue."

Patrick Timoney, 9, was terrified when he was yanked into the principal's office to discuss the teeny-weeny plastic "weapon."

"The gun was so little," the boy said. "I don't understand why the principal got so upset. I was a little nervous. They made me sign a statement."

Patrick and a friend were playing with Lego figures in the school cafeteria on Tuesday when he pulled out the faux machine gun and stuck it in the hands of his plastic police officer.

Boom! Trouble ensued, with Patrick's mom getting a phone call from Public School 52 Principal Evelyn Mastroianni saying her son had somehow gone from straight A's to the NRA.

"I was in disbelief," the still-fuming mother said. "Why didn't anyone step up with an ounce of common sense and put an end to the harassment of my child?"

Timoney said her boy loved the toy figure because her husband is a retired police officer.

The elder Patrick Timoney, a former 72nd Precinct cop, couldn't believe his son was nearly busted over something so obviously inauthentic.

"It's a 2-inch gun," he said. "She went overboard. She should have said, 'Put the toys away,' and that would have been the end of it."

After a meeting between the principal and the parents, the boy was spared any disciplinary action. City school officials said Patrick agreed to leave the "gun" at home.

"I'm never bringing a toy to school again," said Patrick, whose favorite subject is math.

Laura Timoney remained upset. Her son, a typically eager student, asked to stay home yesterday because he thought the principal was mad at him.

The mother said she expects an apology and may sue.

"The toy gun is not the issue," she said. "A lack of common sense is the issue."

Several parents at the school felt the principal overreacted, including Kim O'Rieley - whose son was playing with Patrick in the cafeteria.

Her boy's Lego man was toting a tiny ax, which the principal deemed less threatening.

"It's ridiculous," said O'Rieley, 36. "He felt so bad for his friend. They're taking things way too far ... No one is saying guns are okay.

"Come on, it's a Lego."



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/02/04/2010-02-04_big_trouble_over_this_tiny_toy_mom_fuming_at_a_lack_of_common_sense_as_son_buste.html#ixzz0enfZAyfR

Wow....That sure looks like a lethal weapon to me..  Anybody think that they might get this mixed up with a 'real "gun? 
Its embarrassing that there are people with this mentality who walk among us.. What morons.....

[srkruzich]

Like i said before Teresa, they don't want to think for themselves and use common sense. The government
does it for them.

What if?? What IF wasn't in this situation.......
The point is Diane.. It wasn't a real gun..
I mean this crap makes me so mad....
CAN NO ONE IN GOV"T SCHOOLS THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX??
Pencils are used to write ransom notes and can be sharpened to the point of being a lethal weapon also......  should  they take them away from kids, too? And what about forks... my god.. they cause obesity and can also be used as a weapon..
I mean....come on~~~~~~~~
This Zero Tolerance Rules is BS. It's for the ignorant who are too lazy to think...and COWARDS WHO REFUSE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for themselves.
This "Zero tolerance" which they obviously just get orgasmic over....still should mean you can still use your brain to handle a situation.
How about saying... if you saw a real gun you should ..
1. Stop
2. Don't touch
3. Walk away
4. Tell a grown up.
Isn't that what a good educator and someone who cared about kids would do?

I'd really like to see someone with 'Standing' sue the crap out of the school systems and win!

Here is another incident about a "2" ""TOY"" gun..




Wow....That sure looks like a lethal weapon to me..  Anybody think that they might get this mixed up with a 'real "gun? 
Its embarrassing that there are people with this mentality who walk among us.. What morons.....

[Diane Amberg]

But do you see my point?  Steve says he did take a real gun to school.  A 15 year old who holds up a bank with a toy gun that looks real is still guilty of bank robbery. You can't turn around later and say,"What's the matter, can't you take a joke?" While I agree some times poor judgement is used on both sides, shouldn't schools be able to have  some control over what kids do or don't bring to school? Should I be able to prevent a child from drinking a beer at lunch?  Is the parent allowed to tell me the child's lunch is none of my business?  School and home are two different places!  Can a kids write profanity all over the halls and have the parent defend it as free speech.  Not all victimless crimes are harmless.  X rated magazines for 5th graders?  Can I stop it or not?  Some parents would be upset and some would defend their child's "rights?"  Not all parents want their kids exposed to toy guns or real guns either. Not every town is small town Kansas. I wish it were so, but it's not. People in authority tend to make decisions based on the atmosphere in which they live. Pencils and rulers and such can be used as weapons, it's true, but they also have other uses in school.  What other use does a toy gun have in school?  In the spring we used to have squirt gun problems. Not everybody appreciates being squirted. The kids were told to leave them at home or they would be taken by the teacher, kept and not returned until a parent came to school to collect it.  Perhaps it should still be the same for toy guns, if they are obviously toys. They could be kept in the office until a parent comes to claim it. As I have said before ,some of the fakes kid get hold of are very real looking, I have one myself...used it in EMT class. If a school has a no toy gun rule, why can't they have that rule just because it's the way they want it?  I had a "no permanent marker" rule in my classroom. I had my own reasons and frankly, I didn't care if anyone agreed or not....my room, my rules.

[Teresa]

In this case ( the 2" gun")....... stupid lack of common sense... from stupid people.