Student suspended after finger gun incident

[puma guy]

I used to shoot rubber bands off my finger and my hand was in the deadly finger gun position. I never knew I was a terrorist!

[seniorshooteress]

Some teachers and/or schools are really going over the edge when it comes to the no tolerance for violence policy. If it were a senior in high school dressed like a gang member (banger) it might be cause for alarm if he/she pointed a finger to represent a gun and said "bang, you're dead" that could be taken as a terroristic threat and in danger of my life, situation. Not kindergarden or younger kids. New school rule: No finger pointing permitted. What has happened to common sense?

[buffalo_speedway_tx]

seniorshooteress, I agree where is the common sense? This zero tolerance stuff needs to be eliminated and replaced with rules that don't make "bad kids" out of "kids just being kids".

You have to wonder if the kid would have used the middle finger they would have considered it threatening the teacher with a "dagger"...........or "something". In fact it reminds me that I use to have a nun in Catholic grade school who used her middle finger to point to things on the black board.

[puma guy]

seniorshooteress, I agree where is the common sense? This zero tolerance stuff needs to be eliminated and replaced with rules that don't make "bad kids" out of "kids just being kids".

You have to wonder if the kid would have used the middle finger they would have considered it threatening the teacher with a "dagger"...........or "something". In fact it reminds me that I use to have a nun in Catholic grade school who used her middle finger to point to things on the black board.

The middle finger is protected by the First Amendment. Had that been the case the ACLU would be on it like a duck on a junebug!

[suthdj]

Always assume a finger is loaded.

Most fingers usually are...at least the pull my fingers.

That would be a terrorist action as a biological attack.

[SQLGeek]

I once blew my best friend away with an imaginary plasma rifle during recess in 4th grade. A teacher saw it and I got put in time out for the remainder of the recess. I never found out if it was for pretending to blow my friend up or because I used too much firepower.

[frazzled]

seniorshooteress, I agree where is the common sense? This zero tolerance stuff needs to be eliminated and replaced with rules that don't make "bad kids" out of "kids just being kids".

You have to wonder if the kid would have used the middle finger they would have considered it threatening the teacher with a "dagger"...........or "something". In fact it reminds me that I use to have a nun in Catholic grade school who used her middle finger to point to things on the black board.

The difficulty of course is that school situations have changed. Schools are now constantly being sued or under the threat of a lawsuit. The only protection they really have is following an absolute (and admittedly not sane) standard. Deviate from it and the teacher/principal/school opens themselves up to more liability.

[Doug.38PR]

Excellent example of why children need to be withdrawn from the public schools. Close them. Home school them or private school them.

[AJ80]

Excellent example of why children need to be withdrawn from the public schools. Close them. Home school them or private school them.

I agree!

If I ever find a wife and have kids, they will definitely be home schooled(The kids, not the wife).

[Kevinf2349]

I find the scariest part of all this is that those teachers are teaching our kids!

Maybe it is time for some parents to go down the school and metaphorically kick some sense into those who presume to know what is best for our kids?

Until a few of them hit the unemployment line, this will continue.....and get worse.

I am just waiting for the time they suspend someone who has their hands in their pockets for concealing a potentially life threatening 'deadly' weapon without a licence.

Time to take back the schools, the courts and start to install some darn common sense.

Apart from that I have no views on this!

[chabouk]

Gah. It seems like the only solution is to scrap the whole public education system and start over.

Thanks for the hat-tip, kind Sir. There are many of us who support the separation of School and State.

[Papacub]

This incident illustrates a quandry I have. In many cases it appears teachers and administrators have no effective means to control students --they have to watch out for the little darlin's self-esteem so no red pens to grade papers, they can't swat them on the butt (except in Temple, TX, apparently), and so on. Yet when they do exercise some authority, it is in such a mind-bogglingly absurd, stupid, oppressive manner, it is clear that not only should they not have greater authority, they shouldn't be anywhere near children. Gah. It seems like the only solution is to scrap the whole public education system and start over. My hat is off to home-schoolers who can do it.

EL BINGO!

Or Homeschool!!!

[quidni]

When our son Thane was a sophomore in High School, we had a go-round with the principal about her concern over our son's "mental stability."

Her concerns:
He was a minority - anglo in a mostly hispanic school.
He was a member of the school's JROTC.
He was on the JROTC air-rifle team (and a pretty good shot).
He enjoyed talking about guns and hunting with his JROTC instructors.
He was enrolled in the martial arts, and doing well in Tae-Kwon-Do.
He was a Christian, and spent his lunch time alone, studying or reading his bible instead of hanging out with the other students. He was also outspoken about his beliefs in class.
- (he said he wasn't interested in the usual "guy chatter" that happened during lunch. "The friends I have, boy and girl, are like me - they want to study and get good grades instead of dating.")

The problem:
Several of the boys decided our son was a prime target for taunting, and were making his school days rather unpleasant.

Her solution? she wanted to send Thane to counseling to make sure he didn't "go Columbine" on his tormentors. She said she "couldn't do anything" about or to the bullies until they "actually did something physical."

We said no on the counseling.

Well, eventually the bullies decided it would be fun to start tossing rocks in his general direction, trying to spook him. He did his best to ignore them until one of them did actually hit him in the face right above his eye. His reaction? He picked up the offending rock, stood and glared through the blood at the bullies until they backed down, pocketed the rock and walked off without having said a word. IIRC, he didn't have too many problems with them afterward. He later graduated near the top of his class without "going Columbine" on his classmates, or even being in an actual fight.

That particular principal moved on sometime before Thane graduated. Last I heard, she was in admin at the local university where she didn't interact much with the actual students. And the high school did much better without her, with fewer "disciplinary problems."

Back to the OP - finger guns? a teacher "in fear" of a "terroristic threat" due to a finger gun???? Someone has no sense of perspective.

There is a thing that puzzles me.
I often wonder why
We label this thing "Common Sense"
When it's in such short supply?

[blue]

Is there not some way to control the schools ?

Why should the child have a permanent mark on their record for simply being a kid ?
Should the TEACHER get marks on her record? (BAD MARKS.)

----Shouldn't the school admin fear for their jobs for such stupid actions ?----

Had this same thing happened except instead of "teacher" it was a:
-LEO
-Scout Leader
-Church Leader
-etc.
It would be not be a problem.

Would love to see that "teacher"/"admin" try to explain, in a COURT OF LAW -how she would reasonably be 'in fear for her life' from a finger being pointed at her!

------------
Grrrrr!
( From that old song-- "Teach your children well"...)

Homeschool GOOD!

[Doug.38PR]

But these are educrats. How dare you suggest that they don't know what's best. In fact you should be listening to them and make dang sure that your children listen to them (over you)