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The school didn't ignore it. The found the list and investigated. Their investigation found that there was no threat to anyone. However, they punished the child the same as if she had actually done something wrong. I wonder why they bothered to investigate at all.
Wait you think if a child has a list of people they intend to kill the school suspends them?
I am here to tell you they would be expelled or placed out of school immediately.
So they did not punish her as if she had intended to kill people. They punished her as if she wrote a list of people to kill.
They did take into account her intent, which is why she was not expelled.
But intent does not completely mitigate consequences, nor should it.
If a child breaks the neighbors window the consequences for intentionally breaking it are different than unintentionally breaking it but there are still consequences. With the accidental breaking of the window maybe the child has to do extra chores help pay the neighbor back, or something along those lines. But if you have ZERO consequences for accidents, than kids learn nothing from their actions.
Same here, being suspended for breaking school rules about making threats is small potatoes to what would have happened if they thought she meant intentional harm.
Okay, I can buy this BUT then the question that the OP asked regarding the severity of the consequences comes into play.
Do the consequences IN THIS SITUATION fit the action? I do not believe so. I believe they are extremely harsh and severe.
But you know, the "rules" and all. They are way more important that anything else. Even real judges get to use judgment in deciding sentencing, but we can't do that in fake school "courtrooms". SMH
Are you really that out of touch with school punishments?
They did use judgement.
If they thought she was actually going to kill anyone they would have expelled her.
The fact that she was suspended is using judgement that they accept that they only thing she did was make threats. And make no mistake, she did make threats, and she used their real names. Make threats in and of itself is against the rules AND IT SHOULD BE.
No one should be threatening anyone in school. Her punishment reflects THAT not that the administrators think she is actually going to kill anyone.
Upon reading the rest of the thread, I do think the year long effect is excessive. In minecraft, it's considered a fun and very intricate thing to design in order to "kill" the other players. There are sites devoted to all the different ways. (kind of like killing your sims character...lol)
So knowing this, I can see how she wrote it. I can also see how the school views it and I think the 2 day punishment is warranted. But I do think keeping off the honor roll and taking away the year end trip is excessive. If I couldn't remove the latter two, I would move my child to another school. Especially a child that has never gotten in trouble and gets great grades. The 2 day suspension probably shocked her to the core being exposed to it for the first time. I think that is punishment enough. OP, good luck to you and hope you can overturn the rest of the punishment satisfactorily.
Okay, I can buy this BUT then the question that the OP asked regarding the severity of the consequences comes into play.
Do the consequences IN THIS SITUATION fit the action? I do not believe so. I believe they are extremely harsh and severe.
Who cares what you believe?
There is a school handbook where it states what they punishments are. Most school handbooks include terminology that explains that for making threats, students will be barred from certain school activities. I know my kids school as well as everyone I have worked on had student handbooks.
The suspension was completely appropriate for writing a list titled "people to kill". The school is also completely within their rights to bar her from school activities due to that as well. I also think she is completely within her rights to ask for leniency with regard to the school trip if as the school year progresses she shows better judgement.
But as a parent you have an obligation to ask yourself what message am I sending my child by telling her that she shouldn't have been punished. I think the OP is an extremely responsible parents for being aware of the importance of striking the right note of supporting the schools actions and teaching her how to appropriately ask for an exception to made regarding the school trip.
But if all you do is talk about how your child was wronged you are teaching them that they can break rules and expect someone to save them from the consequences.
Are you really that out of touch with school punishments?
They did use judgement.
If they thought she was actually going to kill anyone they would have expelled her.
The fact that she was suspended is using judgement that they accept that they only thing she did was make threats. And make no mistake, she did make threats, and she used their real names. Make threats in and of itself is against the rules AND IT SHOULD BE.
No one should be threatening anyone in school. Her punishment reflects THAT not that the administrators think she is actually going to kill anyone.
She did not threaten her classmates, she made no threats to anyone. Explain to me how this was a threat to their physical well being and safety. Heck, explain to me how this was a threat in any way except to their online character in a video game.
It was a list for a GAME. A GAME that she plays with all of the kids on the list.
Are you really that out of touch with school punishments?
They did use judgement.
If they thought she was actually going to kill anyone they would have expelled her.
The fact that she was suspended is using judgement that they accept that they only thing she did was make threats. And make no mistake, she did make threats, and she used their real names. Make threats in and of itself is against the rules AND IT SHOULD BE.
No one should be threatening anyone in school. Her punishment reflects THAT not that the administrators think she is actually going to kill anyone.
She didn't "make threats".
She didn't even show it to the other kids.
She was trying to keep the screen names straight, remember who was who.
I am familiar with school punishments. I think reactions like this are excessive. That's why I'm complaining about it.
She was not fantasizing about killing someone. She was not "making threats". SHE WAS JUST TRYING TO KEEP VIDEO GAMES NAMES STRAIGHT.
Punishing her for a year is way too much. Should she be more aware of her surroundings? Perhaps. BUT SHE'S ELEVEN YEARS OLD. For goodness sake! What in the world? Is all this necessary to "teach her a lesson?". Do we think she's going to go on a student threatening spree unless we spend a year with our foot on her back? Jeebus.
Not to mention that now, there could be a whisper campaign as word spreads around, and other parents and kids could become sacred of her. So now we have an otherwise good kid, well adjusted, honor student, not a trouble maker having to deal with a whole lot of crap over a simple misunderstanding. If this kid gets stressed out and experiences anxiety, then I suppose we've "taught her a lesson!"
Or we could have just told her to knock it off and she wouldn't have done it again. Even made her sit home from school for a day if you want to be strict about it. BUT NO! THE RULES! THE BOOK SAYS SO!!!
Maybe its time to rethink the rules for non-psychopaths. Because, you know, the actual psychopaths aren't going to care about suspensions anyway. Perhaps the rules should be written with the kids in mind and not the adult's need to feel like they can stop school shootings by doling out suspensions and denying honor roles and school trips to kids who weren't going to shoot up the school anyway.
There is a school handbook where it states what they punishments are. Most school handbooks include terminology that explains that for making threats, students will be barred from certain school activities. I know my kids school as well as everyone I have worked on had student handbooks.
The suspension was completely appropriate for writing a list titled "people to kill". The school is also completely within their rights to bar her from school activities due to that as well. I also think she is completely within her rights to ask for leniency with regard to the school trip if as the school year progresses she shows better judgement.
But as a parent you have an obligation to ask yourself what message am I sending my child by telling her that she shouldn't have been punished. I think the OP is an extremely responsible parents for being aware of the importance of striking the right note of supporting the schools actions and teaching her how to appropriately ask for an exception to made regarding the school trip.
But if all you do is talk about how your child was wronged you are teaching them that they can break rules and expect someone to save them from the consequences.
The first bolded was uncalled for. Why have a discussion forum if one cannot express their thoughts? You believe one thing, I believe another.
The second bolded. I never said there should not be consequences but my idea of consequences are obviously very different from yours. As I have said, I do not believe that blindly allowing a school to dictate what I deem to be severe and unreasonable measures is sending my child the right message. I think my kids need to know that we are not sheep and that sometimes errors are made and it is reasonable to question them.
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