Students suspended, facing expulsion, for possession of a laser pointer.
Teens Suspended From Hastings High School
The cops didn’t get called. That’s the sole bright spot in this particular tale. A 14 year-old and a 17 year-old at Hastings High School have been suspended for playing with a laser pointer in school. They now face expulsion hearings.
A teacher saw a red dot in the hallway and suspected a laser pointer. The teacher later saw that the pointer looked like a derringer — a small pistol — and brought the boys to the principal’s office.
The school has a zero-tolerance policy that extends to replica weapons.
I’m in quite a quandary. We are still very early in the school year and I already feel like a broken record. What more is there to say about this besides expressing my indignation and continuing shock at the stupidity of these school administrators?
So anything that looks like a gun is a gun and will be punished the same as if it was an actual loaded firearm. No matter how obviously fake it looks.
STUPID !!! STUPID !!! STUPID !!!
What else can one say.
Hey now. Laser pointers are a gateway weapon. The pointer may eventually lead these kids to develop a doomsday ray that will wipe out life as we know it.
Ok, I’ll give them the point about replica weapons. But once again, what about detention? What about community service at a trauma center for replica gunshot victims?
No. Not stupid. What if this kid was playing with a gun-looking laser pointer around cops? They might shoot him before asking questions since a laser sight and a gun together usually ask those who are carrying legal firearms to “SHOOT ME”.
You guys are missing the point here. The use of a firearm is to intimidate people into handing over their money! Dead victims are not very useful. Intimidated victims who are scared and will do as ordered, thinking they might get shot is the goal of the criminal. It is NOT appropriate to have a gun, real or fake, in school! Why would this kid think it is OK to bring a gun-like laser pointer to school? What was his purpose? Sometimes society is better off without this type of kid in school. He should be expelled.
barry
Barry, I honestly can’t believe you are advocating expulsions for toys. The logic leap from 2 inch laser pointer shaped like a gun to a pistol with a laser sight is a massive one.
This was not a firearm. It was not used to intimidate people. These kids aren’t criminals - they’re kids playing with a cool toy.
I can very easily agree that it is innapropriate to bring a toy gun to school. However, there is an appropriate response to that innapropriate action. Expulsion is absolutely not an appropriate response.
You are saying that they should be expelled because somebody COULD use a toy gun to intimidate somebody. A kid COULD confuse a cop with a toy gun. You want to punish them because they created an opportunity for mishief that was not realized.
Every single male student (and teacher for that matter) of that high school brings all of the equipment necessary to rape a girl to school every single day. Should they all be expelled? But they COULD do it!
Suspended yes expeled no way. I dont know where you are from Barry, but when I was growing up we played with toy guns often. It is natural. yes they need to be punished for breaking the rules but expulsion should be a last resort. Only in extream cases should it be the first punishment.
One more thing to address: “Why would this kid think it is OK to bring a gun-like laser pointer to school? What was his purpose?”
Because it is a cool toy. That’s all there is to it. There doesn’t need to be an ulterior motive. I’m 35 years old and I still get a kick out of playing with laser pointers.
Also, unlike the adminstrators at the school, the kid understands the difference between a toy and the real thing.
Let’s not forget the benighted administrators in Pawtucket, RI who suspended a young boy for drawing a picture of a gun…a violation of their zero tolerance policy! Check the back issues of the Providence Journal for details, it was a few years ago.
Next to the RI idiocy, the rest of these cases pale by comparison!
Thank God Barry is not an elected official.
Hey now! No need to bludegon Barry! Barry has a differing viewpoint, but he comes from the other side of the fence. Even if I don’t agree with him on all things, I’m glad he’s here to express a view from the inside.
While we’re all adults and have common sense, perhaps it would do us well to remember that a high school full of kids is not full of common sense. The teachers are outnumbered greatly by students and must keep a handle on the crowd. We’ve all been in a classroom when a substitute teacher failed to maintain control.
My point is this — we’re seeing the worst abuses of a system that needs fixing, but Barry’s viewpoint is legitimate. It is not a slippery slope for things to get from ‘bad’ to ‘out-of-control’ in a hurry. Teachers spend a lot of time performing crowd control. It is very easy to get high school kids riled up.
That said, zero tolerance policies are poor and administrators should be making decisions on a case-by-case basis.
This comment has been edited by me. This is not the place for personal attacks. Discuss, even argue, about other people’s opinions - that is perfectly fine. Namecalling is right out.
I do not want to see this site devolve into the type of one sided antagonistic forum that litters the internet.
-Jim Peacock