The newest item in the dangerous weapon category … earrings?
Earring gets 8th graders expelled from Clinton Middle School
Updated 22 November 2004: Expulsion overruled. Info at bottom of post.
Updated 18 Nov: Actual ZT policy found. Linked and excerpted at bottom of post.
Clinton Middle School expelled three eighth grade boys for violating their zero tolerance policy on dangerous weapons. On Tuesday Alan Vanhuss put in an earring during school with the assistance of two friends. The ear was already pierced but Vanhuss was worried that the hole might have been closing up.
“He just hadn’t been wearing an earring in that one ear and checked it yesterday for some reason at school to see if was growed up,” Teresa Vanhuss said.
Harold Jackson and another student helped. All three have now been expelled for one calendar year, the minimum punishment for violating Anderson County Schools zero tolerance policy.
“I came over to make sure it was all the way through and I touched it to make sure it was all the way through and she caught us and whatever,” Jackson said.
The boys’ science teacher saw them and sent them to the principal’s office.
The principal at Clinton Middle couldn’t talk about the specific case or punishment but told 6 News the policy on weapons includes anything that can inflict injury, even a pen, pencil or earring.
Expelled for a year for putting in an earring. Expelled for a year for checking to see if your friend’s earring is placed correctly.
Anything that can cause an injury is now a dangerous weapon? Oh. My. Word. I challenge anybody to think of any item commonly found in a school that cannot cause an injury. They have classified the world and everything in it as dangerous and set the penalty for using any item as a minimum one year expulsion. If they actually follow their own rules the school will be empty within a week.
UPDATE
I’ve located the actual policy and it is exactly as bad as I feared:
I. Weapons
Students shall not possess, handle, transmit, use or attempt to use any dangerous weapon.
�Dangerous weapon� or �weapon� means any dangerous instrument or substance, which is capable of inflicting any injury on any person.
Students found to be in violation of this policy shall be expelled for not less than one (1) calendar year. [ Gun Free Schools Act 1994, Section 1401 (1) (2); TCA 49-6-4202; TCA 39-17-1309; TCA49-6-3401; TCA 49-6-4202].
The use of any item that can possibly cause an injury carries a mandatory punishment of one year expulsion.
UPDATE
Eighth graders allowed back to school after earring expulsion
The three boys will be forced to attend alternative school until January. They will then be allowed to return to their regular school. How did the board arrive at this decision? I haven’t the slightest idea but I take it as yet more evidence of their ivory tower mentality and complete disregard for common sense and the welfare of their students.
Somehow they arrived at the conclusion that earrings are not dangerous weapons yet still concluded that putting one in your ear (or checking to see that a friend put it in his ear correctly) is an offense punishable by an extended stay at a juvenile delinquent education facility.
(Tip credit to Chiara)
According to the article, the Principal said, “the policy on weapons includes anything that can inflict injury, even a pen, pencil or earring”.
The policy says “Students shall not possess, handle, transmit, use or attempt to use any dangerous weapon”.
Therefore, anyone who possesses a pen, pencil, or earring shall be expelled for not less than one (1) calendar year.
Flaming @$$holes. And I don’t mean the kids.
This school board should be laughed out of the county, but of course, it won’t. Parents figure they’re paying taxes to send their kids to this school so they won’t bother to find a saner place for their kids to go to school. They’ll just hold their breath and hope they don’t get that phone call and have to deal with the ensuing idiocy.
Lovely, it is now illegal for these kids to use a pen or pencil. This, ironically, allows for selective enforcement of the rules. Since *everybody* is breaking the rules, they can’t simply expel everybody for using a pen in school. However, they CAN expel a few of them for whatever reason they want, using the guise of “weapons violation for using a pen.”
One hopes that the parents have already hired a lawyer.
Seems to me that you could do great bodily harm with any large book, in addition to pens and pencils. Perhaps the school should just expell the whole student body and close down.
I’m beginning to think that we need to work toward a policy holding individual administrators personally liable for such egregious failures of judgement.
How about the most dangerous item of all - the Principal’s office. (When a flaming idiot is in residence.)
The principle that decided to expel those boys for doing what school-kids used to do back when I was in school, should be ‘fired’ ASAP! Is that school run by a bunch of MORONS?
Sadly it seems like more and more of these power-hungry jackasses are getting into positions of authority. Unwitting parents vote them in because they think it’ll clean up the schools. These are the same who scream the loudest when their kid is expelled for bringing a lunch knife to school.
The use of any item that can possibly cause an injury carries a mandatory punishment of one year expulsion.
Almost ANY THING “can possibly cause an injury,” so using anything carries a mandatory punishment of one year expulsion. I can kick with a shoe, bludgeon with a baseball bat or a stone or a book, stab with a pencil or a knife, choke with a rope or a scarf or a belt.
Pick any thing you like, and I’d bet I could quickly devise some way that thing could be used to cause an injury. So everything is dangerous and justifies expulsion for a year.
How does anyone in this school system avoid expulsion? Can’t the people who wrote this rule see how ridiculous it is?
I continue to be amazed by ZT. I think this story about earrings sets a new high in disbelief and outrage.
Either this story has more to it, or American schools are sinking into insanity.
Do these nitwit administrators have any idea how foolish they look to the public when they do stuff like this? Don’t they ever try to look at the issue from the outside?
I remember having harm dont to my hand by 3 ring binders that were required when I when to school. Can I expell the staff that required them?
One would think that public ridicule would shame these people into correcting their mistakes, but they never do. Either being a school principal turns ordinary people into power-hungry despots, or only the power-hungry aspire to such jobs. I cannot think of any other business that could survive with leaders like this.
A boycott of all “dangerous weapons” by the students would be interesting.
“OK, turn to page —where are your books?”
“They could be used as dangerous weapons and are prohibited.”
“OK, then write —you don’t have a pencil. You don’t even have a sheet of paper!”
“Yup, you could do major damage to someone with a pencil, and you could give someone a paper cut or even scratch their eye with a sheet of paper. They’re also dangerous weapons and are prohibited.”
Be interesting to know if how well these kids do on their high-stakes tests. You know, the tests that determine whether school officials or teachers will have jobs.
I’ve heard of school districts “pushing out” kids that don’t do well.
Just a thought.
Update: “Eighth graders allowed back to school after earring expulsion” at http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=2591780
They still have to go to an “alternative school” for the rest of the semester, though.
Sheesh.
OMG!
Jim Peacock at Zero Intelligence has found the dumbest ZT policy in the world.I. Weapons Students shall not possess, handle, transmit, use or attempt to use any dangerous weapon. �Dangerous weapon� or �weapon� means any dangerous instrument or substanc…
How does their ZT policy allow that? Either they had a dangerous weapon and must be expelled for not less than one (1) calendar year or they did not and no punishment is needed. What they did is compromise to save face, but what they also did is weaken the policy for the next student, whether he really has a weapon or not. So now everybody knows that “for not less than one (1) calendar year” can mean something else. It’s not ZT anymore.
Excellent point Bettina. That would be interesting to find out.
another example of liberals at work there was no need to expel the student