First Grader Suspended From School For 2-Inch Plastic Squirt Gun

[matcom]

<snip>

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri mother is angry that her first-grader was suspended from school over a plastic toy gun.

"I asked her, 'You're going to suspend my son for 10 days for this? He cannot harm a soul with this,'" said Danielle Womack, whose son, Tawann Caskey, was suspended from Milton Moore Elementary School in Kansas City.

Tawann was suspended over a 2-inch plastic squirt gun.

"She told me it's a weapon, a little girl saw it and reported to a teacher that he had a weapon," Womack said.

According to Kansas City, Mo., School District policy, the squirt gun is a simulated weapon and a class IV, which is the most serious school offense. Principals claim to have no discretion in cases like Tawaan's. It is an automatic 10-day suspension.

"We ask our principals for safety of students and staff, and we do follow the code of conduct and do not give exceptions to Class IV offenses. We take it very seriously," the school district's Phyllis Budesheim said.

The incident will stay on Tawann's permanent school record. But Womack said her son does not understand why he's not in school.

"I think this could have been resolved in a different way. It's wrong to bring it school, but come on, he's 6 years old. This would not hurt a soul," Womack said.

The school district said it is all policy -- one that the school told students and parents about at the start of the year.

"We regret that this happened. My feeling is that by not giving any exceptions, this young man will not bring a toy gun to school again," Budesheim said.

The school district said that the incident should be a reminder to parents to check their children's backpacks before they go to school.

Womack will state her case before a school district hearing Wednesday morning.

http://www.wftv.com/education/9891863/detail.html

[ThomCat]

1. I hate zero-tolerance rules.

x(

[Zavulon]

2. A buddy's twin boys were suspended for

carrying letter openers that they bought in the school store.

If I had kids, I'd homeschool them.

[ThomCat]

4. That should have been an open and shut lawsuit.

x(

[Zavulon]

7. That was my first response, but the parents wouldn't do it.

Brace yourself for the reason: "we're new in the community and don't want to make waves."

You can't make this stuff up, folks.

[Hugin]

3. Yeah, I would've gotten suspended for waving my squirt gun at school too.

Them's the rules.

[Lance_Boyle]

5. Zero tolerance, zero sense.

"'We regret that this happened. My feeling is that by not giving any exceptions, this young man will not bring a toy gun to school again,' Budesheim said."

Right. Raise this kid up under that authoritarian bootheel long enough and he'll come back to school in his later years with a real gun.

[nickgutierrez]

6. "Policy" = Excuse for stupidity?

Plastic water gun. Plastic.

I could see if this was one of those semi-realistic looking water guns, but I'm picturing one of those greenish tinted clear plastic guns, with the cheap plastic trigger and very obvious tubes carrying water from the tank out through the front. This does not justify a 10-day suspension - it barely merits a talk with the prinicpal. The fallback on "policy" is beyond lame, the call for parents to check their children's backpacks beyond absurd.

[Radical Activist]

8. Hey, the kid is in first grade

Its not his fault if his squirt gun is only two inches.

[Odin2005]

9. The whole "zero-tolerance" crap is BS

It's the same BS logic people use to bash 1st-Person Shooter games like Doom. This BS is the modern version of the "rock music will make your kids go bad" crap in the 50's.

[Xipe Totec]

10. Malicious compliance

The best way to get rid of a stupid rule, is to follow it to the letter.

This may not be as brainless as it seems....

[pinniped]

11. This is like the security morans confiscating GI Joe's rifle....

at the airport.

On the brighter side, I guess GI Joe was lucky he still got to board his flight, minus his rifle.

FN morans.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2173150.stm

[rug]

12. This was in GD the other day.

These hypocrites will be sending this boy's name to the military recruiters in a few years. They can shove their zero tolerance gun policy up their asses.

[hickman]

13. In a country ruled by elitists and theocrats,

everything is black and white. There is no room for common sense. I'm a hugh supporter of public school teachers. That said, they are no longer in control. If the kid had accidentally turned and hit another kid with the toy, the law suit would have been about a six year old smacking another kid with a potential weapon. Before a judge ever ruled, law suits would ensue with the teachers, of course, at fault. Easy targets.