Toys are real according to Maine school zero tolerance policy
A student at Van Buren Middle School did something very foolish. He brought a toy gun to school and pretended to shoot it at people. He has been expelled for violating the school’s zero tolerance weapon policy.
Superintendent Clayton Belanger said the student made believe he was shooting other students. He also aimed the gun at passing cars, according to complaints received by school officials.
“It scared a lot of students,” Belanger said. “Our policy does not differentiate between real guns and toy guns, and it is a zero-tolerance policy.”
What the boy did was stupid and foolish but the only person possibly endangered by his actions was himself. Although he should definitely be disciplined there is no excuse to discipline him as if he was actually carrying a real gun. To classify a toy as a firearm is just plain wrong. It devalues the real danger of firearms by making them equivalent to toys and destroys the credibility of the administration by making toys equivalent to firearms.
Most toy guns look like toy guns these days, so, it should not be treated like a real gun. I have a problem with kids who throw snowballs at passing cars though, so a teen intentionally pretending to shoot cars is quite a bit different than pretending at school. I suspect the kid has a problem with authority since this is intentional and the extreme action of removing the child from the public view means the child’s experience will never be known. If the school administrator thinks the problem is ‘a toy is a real gun’, then I have to assume the child’s problem with authority was a result of the system. So let’s investigate the system and determine if they actually done a fair and reasonable job of dealing with this kid in the past, including the opinion of the kid’s parents. Let’s also fire the incompetent administrators, and punish the kid for threatening behavior.
Once again — Columbine changed everything. It is not appropriate to bring a real gun nor a play gun to school. Those guys at Columbine didn’t bring real guns to school until the day they killed all those people. We don’t know if the boy had access to a gun. But why would he point the toy at people and pretent to shoot them and at cars? This kid needs help and is sick. He shouldn’t be in school
So absolutely no difference should be made between a toy and a live firearm then?
What I find so interesting about the comments that always have Columbine changed all that is you would think with all these extra rules another Columbine would never happen but I think that has been provin as a false hope.
Of course now anyone that ever grew up playinf cops and robber or army or cowboys and indians according to Barry is sick and needs help. I know that when I played the idea was to point yout “toy gun” at each other and yell bang.
I won’t even tell you what game we used to play with squirt guns in High School.
The punishment is extreme, but some (much, much lighter) punishment is in order, assuming the toy looked realistic enough to fool anyone. He pointed the toy at passing cars, who may or may not have been able to determine if it was a toy or a firearm. For all I know, the school found out because a driver called the police.
My verdict: require the kid to complete a gun safety course and do a research paper on why this sort of policy is in place. His actions indicate that he doesn’t understand the policy or why the schools have it around. I say take it as an opportunity to educate him.
Sorry. I agree with the authorities on this one. The kid knew what he was doing. Others didn’t know it was a toy until after the event. It would appear the kid wanted to create havoc..He did and he was punished for it.
Well if you knew half of the story then you would understand the rest of it. I know what really happened at the Van Buren High School cuz the boy with the toy gun is my boyfriend. I’m on his side,too. But I’m against him,too for one reason.
At first when he said he didn’t bring the toy gun to school but then I started thinking about it and what he said to me. He lied to me face when he told me that I then relized that he did bring the toy gun to school. But really I think it was a cry for help and attetion is what he really wanted. Then again if he didn’t bring the gu to school then why was he expelled for something he didn’t even do? That’s my question for you to think about right there. But I really think it was a cry for help mostly and if you knew him you would like him and wanna get to know him too.
You’re right he does have a problem with athority and never did like them either ok. He told me every thing about him and you would like him and that’s all I can say now
Perosnally I am 15 and have entered high school. I feel as a youth using firearms I have agreee with Barry. A kid has a toy and he thought it would be funny to bring it in and act as if it was real. He didn’t shoot anyone and probably did it(like his gf said) out of desperation or out of the lack of knowledge about the severity of what he was doing. He needs to know what he has done and why it is wrong, not just the fact that it is wrong. The school hates him and he hates them. So the principal thought thAT THIS WOULD BE A GREAT WAY TO GET RID OF HIM! So now he got his wish by being a crooked son of a bitch. The kid needs help and needs to know why what he did is wrong, not how wrong it is.
Well he paid in lawyer to get him kicked out of school and he told me so much of what really happened. He didn’t mean to bring the toy gun and he forgot about the toy gun in his coat pocket.. Now he really wants to go back to school and he misses school, but he knows he can’t go back and its really hard for him now. This is from his girlfriend again. So really all of you are wrong about him. Hes a sweet boy and hes sorry for what he did and you know what the school doesn’t hate him either, so ha ha.