Kid suspended for drawing a gun

[LSPoorEeyorick]

To be fair, though, we don't know if the child had a history, and we can't know because they don't release their information. Had he made threatening remarks to a teacher or a classmate? Had he lashed out violently before?

And then I suppose it begs the question-- if someone makes a threat ("I'm going to get a gun and shoot you," for instance) and then takes passive-agressive action (say, drawing a gun on an assignment) is it still thoughtcrime? Or a valid reason to talk to and perhaps punish a child?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

To be fair, though, we don't know if the child had a history, and we can't know because they don't release their information. Had he made threatening remarks to a teacher or a classmate? Had he lashed out violently before?

Very true, but it's still an interesting hypothetical question. Assuming an ideal kid, or even semi-ideal (not a perfect angel, but never done anything that deserved more than an occasional talking to or lunch detention). Would suspension be the right reaction if that kid did this?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

We don't know the history of this kid. You seem to be designing one.

I'm not talking about this particular kid, because I don't know his history. I guess I didn't get this across. GD said it well -

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Very true, but it's still an interesting hypothetical question. Assuming an ideal kid, or even semi-ideal (not a perfect angel, but never done anything that deserved more than an occasional talking to or lunch detention). Would suspension be the right reaction if that kid did this?

I also would like to point out that if there was a shooting and warning signs were ignored, quite possibly the same people who are bashing the school now would bash the school for doing nothing.

If a child repeatedly draws guns all over the place then yes, they should talk to the child. I don't see suspension as a constructive option, ever. It does not fix the possible problem of a violent child. Like Sac said above. Anyone who would bash a school for "ignoring" a first time offense is just scared sh.tless.

No one's saying the boy shouldn't like guns. No one's saying that drawing a gun is bad. Drawing a gun on homework is not cool and can be seen as a threat by someone. It's inappropriate.

Just because something CAN be seen as a threat doesn't mean it IS a threat. I find that a particularly weak argument because lots of things can be seen as a threat, or inappropriate.

There are times to express yourself in art, even illustrating a creative writing piece with pictures but on homework that seems to not have required pictures, it's inappropriate.

I used to doodle on my homework. Why? Why would I put something on there for the teacher to see? Because I was bored. Because I hated homework. Sometimes it was because I felt confined by the textbooks and repeated pet tricks I had to pull to keep my grades in line. Other times, though, it was because I actually liked my teacher, and the idea of a certain kind of banter with them was fun. I recently unearthed some of these (which I SAVED, because I enjoyed them so much) and they involve silly faces, odd quotes from songs, odd conversational snippets. I asked my teacher to write NBC and protest the cancellation of Quantum Leap. I made jokes about the homework, I wondered aloud about current events, you name it. This was my coping mechanism with the tediousness of school.

Lots of other kids doodled on their homework. They'd inscribe the logo of their favorite car, or band. I remember 7th grade well in that respect - many of the girls I knew write NKOTB on every paper they touched. Yes, a gun is a whole other class of things to put on the homework. But like I tried to illustrate with my knife example, where does it end?

I think the children of this school will be thinking twice before doing something like this again.

Yes, and they are going to think twice before drawing a whole world of other objects and ideas, or crossing any other set boundaries for them. It's called fear.

What the kid did was wrong and he paid the price.

It was wrong? Drawing a gun where a teacher will see it is wrong? I know you don't like my examples, but where does it end? Is it wrong to draw a knife, or a pair of scissors, or a caveman's club?

For a while I had this odd image I liked to draw - a heart with a cupid arrow through it, with blood dripping out of the wounds. Yeah, I was an overdramatic kid. Are arrows wrong? Is blood wrong? Is the idea that love can be painful wrong? Is expressing my own pain wrong? If I were a teen and I was suspended because of that drawing, what does that tell me?

Steps were not taken before Columbine and now people are criticizing a school that's trying to prevent another one. I'd rather people learn from mistakes in the past than just ignoring them. I mean, what's really being suppressed is the past and the history of violence in schools.

I'm not comparing Columbine to this kid because again, I don't know this kid's scenario. However, the fact that those Columbine kids did the worst possible thing conceivable now means that no child ever in any public school shall ever draw a weapon that may be seen by a teacher is, to borrow a word, WRONG. This is like having your firstborn die of drowning so you never let your second kid near water. Overcompensating fear BS cripples our society, and doesn't even help the kids it's supposed to help!

Sometimes I hate this country.