KOLD News in Tuscon, Arizona reports on a 13-year-old Queen Creek boy who was suspended from Payne Junior High School after he drew guns on some papers. The school district filed paperwork saying the boy was drawing guns on his homework. School administrators say they will suspend anyone accused of threatening a teacher and/or student.
That’s right - DRAWING a gun - like with a pencil ya know? Reports like this just amaze me.
The crime rate in my neck of the woods has skyrocketed with 80% of the violent offenders 18 years old and under. That’s right - under 18 with an average age of 15. And the guns these kids are drawing certainly are not on paper.
Our schools, educational institutions, are to EDUCATE. I know I was taught to express myself in NON-VIOLENT ways. We were encouraged to write, draw - yes draw, sing, whatever you felt comfortable with doing. It hurts my head when I try to rationalize these “educators” policies and enforcements. They have lost their vision (if they ever had any at all). They are not seeing the trees for the forest.
Ask yourself, what did this teach this child? Let’s see - it taught him to be very careful when expressing his creativity; it taught him that one little doodle drawn in just the right place will get him a three day vacation. What 13 year old wouldn’t relish in three days at home, alone (because both parents work), to play his Xbox at will? C’mon. This is clearly a violation of his consitutional rights. What does this teach him about respect? I’m willing to bet he’s is more than a little confused in that area. Hopefully his parents will take this unpleasant experience and use it as a learning tool for a civics lesson. I know if it was my child, that’s what I would do.
Zero tolerance - zero tolerance indeed. Time for some zero tolerance on people who have no common sense.
Two Mohave County students suspended for bringing mercury to school
The Fort Mohave Elementary in the Mohave Valley School District has a peculiar method of hazardous material handling. First, hold students in a contaminated area, then suspend students, finally quarantine the contaminated area.
On January 12th, 25 sixth graders were contained in a classroom after being exposed to mercury. Fire and law enforcement authorities responded to the incident.
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It’s not clear where the boys got the mercury or how it got to school.
The sixth graders returned to the classroom after it was under quarantine for six days.
The boys were suspended and faced a hearing for further punishment. If the mercury was so dangerous (dangerous enough to suspend and possibly expel 6th graders for possessing it and dangerous enough to warrant quarantining the room for six days), why were students contained within the contaminated room? I wonder if there will be any hearings over that grossly dangerous action.
(Tip credit to Jason Guth)
Students’ fun with helium no lightweight prank
Two Gilbert students ran afoul of District policy while setting up for a school dance. They took some of the helium filled balloons and sucked in the gas to talk funny. The drug abusing teens were suspended for five days (later reduced to one day).
District spokeswoman Dianne Bowers said that school principals have the option to suspend students pending further investigation.
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District policy prohibits non-medical use of drugs, including inhalants.
Helium is a drug? And these students were given unmonitored access to it? The school administrators should be up on charges of endangering, corrupting and contributing to the delinquency of these minors. They went so far as to supply this inhalant drug in pressurized delivery devices. Talk about facilitating drug abuse!
In related news, Gilbert Police have declared the town park clean and safe after the arrest of notorious helium balloon pusher “Bubbles” the Clown. Bubbles and his helium supplier were taken down in a massive tri-county sting operation.
(Tip credit to Jack Mitcham)
Student’s refusal to adjust cap leads to arrest, controversy
Updated March 16, 2004: School system investigating school official and police officer actions.
Updated March 29, 2004: Students, National Action Network, march in protest of ‘racist’ Saguaro policies
Marlon Morgan is a junior at Saguaro High School. His mother is a teacher and he was nominated for Youth of the Year last year. He’s also black.
Recently, Marlon was arrested for wearing his baseball cap sideways.
Marlon was sitting in the school cafeteria when Saguaro security guards asked him to turn his hat around and he refused saying he felt singled out.
It is against school policy to wear hats sideways because it can be a sign of disrespect for authority, the police report said, but Marlon, who is Black, said that the rule is enforced selectively. According to a police report, he pointed to several White students whose hats were on sideways.
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Bullying bill fails to address root cause
Representative John Allen (Republican - Phoenix District 10) was the sole holdout against new legislation that criminalized bullying and assigned harsh penalties to offenders. Why? Doesn’t he care about bullying? Wasn’t he moved by the testimony of two mothers that lost their children due to incessant bullying? Yes, he does, and that is why he voted against the bill.
To make it [bullying] stop we have to understand what has changed. What is different today that makes it necessary to add a law against it? There have always been bullies who have preyed on the weak; that hasn’t changed.
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What have changed are the schools.
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It used to be that schools were an extension of our parental authority and safety. Far too often we now see the schools pushing children to challenge what they learn at home, and we see faculty bend over backward to avoid judging any action or behavior as unacceptable.
Almost all the things that happened to these two poor children were against school policy and much of it was clearly criminal, but the schools did little to stop it. Not because there is not enough law to stop it, but because the culture of our schools says the tolerance of the individual outweighs the right of the group to have structure, order and discipline.
You may ask, “So doesn’t this bill help change our schools?” I say no. It deals with bullying after the fact.
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