No expulsion for student who turned in knife at Fox Chapel football game

[ditchdigger]

Originally Posted by zip95

Hopes, your advocating a world where it's ok to flagrantly break the rules as long as you do whatever the "right thing in your own mind" is.

I think you need to go to the dictionary and look up the definition of "flagrantly", and then compare it to the definition of "inadvertently"....

[Kippy]

There was a story in the news recently about an elementary student who was suspended because he took bites out of his Pop Tart in such a way that it crudely resembled the shape of a handgun.
School rules against Md. second-grader suspended for gun-shaped Pop-Tart - Washington Times

There was another story about a kindergartener, here in PA, who was suspended because she was talking about a Hello Kitty bubble gun, which blew soap bubbles, while waiting at a bus stop. She was not on school property, nor was she on the school bus; she was standing on a curb somewhere talking about the equivalent of an automated bubble wand.
Pennsylvania girl, 5, suspended for talk of 'shooting' a Hello Kitty 'bubble gun' - CNN.com

I have seen other stories about young kids being suspended for making the shape of a gun with their fingers and playing the equivalent of cops and robbers at recess.
Bang! You're suspended: Maryland children punished for making gun gestures | Fox News

[gg]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Children sometimes make mistakes, that's part of growing up.

Adults make mistakes and sometimes the mistakes are so huge they end up in jail for years.

It is hilarious how blown out of proportion this thing is on this thread. Who cares about such a little thing like this? If people IN the district don't like the no weapons policy, then change it. If not, there was only one thing to do. Enforce the rule, but kindly give the kid a break and not record it. Seems like a great compromise and I would imagine the kid and parents are happy with the outcome. Nothing to see here. Goodness, now people are talking about guns and all kinds of hyped up crap for the pathetic media that we deal with. It really has gotten so silly.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Kippy

There was a story in the news recently about an elementary student who was suspended because he took bites out of his Pop Tart in such a way that it crudely resembled the shape of a handgun.
School rules against Md. second-grader suspended for gun-shaped Pop-Tart - Washington Times

There was another story about a kindergartener, here in PA, who was suspended because she was talking about a Hello Kitty bubble gun, which blew soap bubbles, while waiting at a bus stop. She was not on school property, nor was she on the school bus; she was standing on a curb somewhere talking about the equivalent of an automated bubble wand.
Pennsylvania girl, 5, suspended for talk of 'shooting' a Hello Kitty 'bubble gun' - CNN.com

I have seen other stories about young kids being suspended for making the shape of a gun with their fingers and playing the equivalent of cops and robbers at recess.
Bang! You're suspended: Maryland children punished for making gun gestures | Fox News

Just imagine what it does to a young children's minds when faced with the police in the principals office talking terrorist threat charges to elementary school students over simple innocent stuff like that. It happens, and it's sad. The end result is children growing up afraid the police will show up and arrest for simply saying or drawing something. And then it can lead to being afraid of being arrested for just thinking something. I hope every parent whose child is a victim of inappropriately applied zero tolerance makes sure they get their children in counseling immediately after it happens. By the time they realize how badly it harmed the children psychologically, it's almost impossible to overcome.

[okaydorothy]

It really depends on how the school and parents handle it. When my son that I mentioned above was in 6th grade, he was at a parochial school. He leant on the sink in the bathroom, it came off the wall, he turned and caught it and sent for help. He was suspended immediately, no meeting with teachers or anything. We were distraught,met with the principal which turned into a shouting match. She admitted to making an example of my son who actually never had a demerit, note home or anything.
He struggled thru 6th and 7th grade hating that school but knowing we were moving. He felt that there was a bulls eye on him. In 7th grade a teacher accused him of having a knife- it was two pencils in his pocket and the teacher refused to apologize.
When he was suspended last year, the principal and all the teachers apologized to him, helped him understand why the punishment, complimented him for his behsviour and helped him when he returned. He has the worst luck but learns from it. He is not perfect but he learns from his mistakes and we don't run to lawyers for everytjing