Kid suspended for drawing a gun

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

But isn't that what suspension is? It's the school saying, 'Parents, fix this'? They are putting it in his parents' court.

I don't absolve a parent's role, but it should start with informing the parents and letting them know that if there continues to be a problem, punishment will follow. But handing out punishment in the absence of communication is turning the school into an adversarial authority and an uncaring institution, the exact thing that fuels angry kids to act out.

[AllyOops!]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I found Ally's post interesting because my dad (police sargeant for 30 years or so) does not want me to get a gun. He has many, but doesn't think and of his kids should have them. Ralphie's father insisted upon us having them.

I should clarify a little bit more:

Both my dad and grandfather (my dad, a Deputy & my late grandfather, a former Reserve) are & were pro-gun ownership. Mainly, because they always needed to have one. My Dad still does. My Mom, also part of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept. is against them. Because I grew up with my Mom, we never had one in the house. They were totally forbidden. My boyfriend's dad is a Police Sergeant as well, and I'm interested to know his feelings, so I'll have to ask.

I once dated an Undercover Narcotics Detective who was and had to be packing at all times. It made me extremely uncomfotable. Silly as it may sound, I was afraid he would hug me too tight, the safety would pop-off and boo-ya! Goodnight, Ally. I could always feel the gun when he hugged me (which answers the age old question if he was really happy to see me ). If it wasn't his hidden badge, it was the gun. Nobody wants to feel that on their skin in any circumstance. Creepy, no?

Also, a main point- my Dad did not insist on the guns until a prowler was found on our property. He wanted to make sure that I was protected. I don't feel the need to have one. However, does it make me feel a bit safer knowing it's there? I'd be lying if I said "no".

Oddly, I also feel unsafe at times knowing it's there. I'm always panicked some sort of accident can happen. However, if I truly didn't want it, I could rid myself of it. It's there on a "just-in-case-but-I-PRAY-I NEVER-need-it-EVER basis. I mean, you won't find me polishing it and Wyatt Earping in front of the mirror. You'd never know I even had one. That's the way I want it. It's NOT a toy or a trophy.

Guns are a loaded issue (no pun intended). It's all about personal opinion. And of course, being a responsible and law-abiding gun owner. My Dad wouldn't have given me one if I would have been a hot-headed, act-on-impulse, troubled and reckless individual who thrived on bullying and fighting. He knows his daughter is a big ol' fraidy cat who doesn't like to kill household spiders. I prefer that they are "set free". Born free, as free as the wind blows, lil' fellas.

[Gemini Cricket]

MAYER, Ariz. -- A 15-year-old boy made a hit list and threatened to blow up his school on Thursday, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies arrived at Mayer High School around 2 p.m. on reports of a bomb threat.

School officials had placed the school on lockdown in response to threats by a student to "detonate the school," deputies said.

The boy allegedly created a hit list and showed classmates a device in his back pack that he claimed was a bomb.


A Department of Public Safety bomb squad was called in from Flagstaff, which is more than an hour and 20 minutes away.

The bomb squad evacuated the school and destroyed the device. Deputies said the device turned out to be non-explosive.

The student who made the threats was arrested on charges of hoax and disruption of an educational facility, both felonies.

Source

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Scottsdale school bus drivers drove their personal vehicles to all the stops on their routes Friday to inform parents that vandals had broken into a Scottsdale Unified School District bus yard overnight, smashing the windows of 79 buses.

The damaged buses were out of service Friday, but school was held as usual. The 19 schools whose bus routes were affected included all elementary, middle and high schools in the Arcadia, Coronado and Saguaro complexes. A total of 237 bus routes and 4,000 students were affected by the vandalism.

Source

The schools in the state may be on alert because of issues like these above. Maybe that's why the punishment seems harsh. In context with stories like these (granted the 2nd story doesn't say if it's the students or not) I find what the school did to that kid to be just.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by AllyOops!

Also, a main point- my Dad did not insist on the guns until a prowler was found on our property. He wanted to make sure that I was protected. I don't feel the need to have one. However, does it make me feel a bit safer knowing it's there? I'd be lying if I said "no".

If the same incident happened to our family, he'd probably change his mind and issue us all firearms.

[blueerica]

I stand by my insistence that suspension isn't the answer. It's an answer, and I suppose any attempt is better than none, but I feel that this could have a negative repercussion if there is a bigger issue at hand with the child.

I was suspended once, for a prank. I carried the least part in it, had been a model student, and yet I got the greatest punishment. Not only was I suspended, I had to go to "Saturday School." The suspension was a mere nuisance, and I got to chill out at home. (I am not even sure mom knew what was really going on). My biggest problem was how angry I felt toward the school administration for my seemingly excessive punishment in relation to my crime. Had I been having other issues who knows where it could have led. It was in my senior year of high school, and I still carry a distrust of authority that I have no doubt was only affirmed by my incident.

I feel that there is almost no situation in which suspension would be the correct course of action. Nothing ever really gets learned with suspension. It's usually just another prime example of authority not really doing anything but pretending to punish. "Let's get so-and-so out of our hair." The most effective part of my punishment was probably the Saturday School. Even a detention would have made more sense (to me) than a suspension.

Oh well.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by blueerica

Oh well.

Distrust, yes. But are you emotionally scarred by the incident and more likely to become a Columbine-esque murderer because of it? I'm thinking, no. But you do remember the suspension, don't you?

I was never suspended from school. I was never sent to the principal's office for my actions. (I voluntarily went to see the principal to complain about the shoddy job of teachers of mine, and I also went to protest the mandatory church services at my high school, but I never went because of something I did.) Why? Because I didn't do messed up things. Even when I was ten, I'd know that anything I put on homework goes directly to the teacher's eyes. I wasn't dumb.

I was raised to be accountable for my actions and if I mess up, I pay for it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I was raised to be accountable for my actions and if I mess up, I pay for it.

As was I, but I was never punished for the sake of punishment without accompanying dialog as to why what I did was wrong, to find out why I did it, and to discuss what a more appropriate behavior would have been. That's what's missing with the "Suspend first, ask questions later" attitude. The hypothetical kid did something wrong, but unless someone bothers to talk with him, learn why, and find out if he needs help finding better ways to express himself, nothing is solved. Best case, you've got a frustrated kid who feels he can't trust school administration. Worst case, you've given a troubled kid something to be angry about.

[AllyOops!]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

If the same incident happened to our family, he'd probably change his mind and issue us all firearms.

I forgot to mention, too, that the gun has caused me a few scary nightmares (when I first got it).

I once dreamt that it engaged and fired the bullet right at me. The bullet moved in slo-mo Matrix style and I woke up right before it hit. I swear, I almost wanted to empty the chamber and go bury it right then & there.

However, I also dreamt once that I was walking down my staircase and as I approached the family room, I could hear & see gun brandishing thugs tying up my family and threatening to kill them. I pulled my gun out of the back of my jeans (no, seriously, aside from the movies & TV, who's keepin' it there? ) and I could feel myself fill with dread and panic wondering if I had the stones to fire it. Wondering if I'd miss. Wondering if I'd be fired at first. Wondering that if, even in self-defense, how would I live knowing I'd taken a life?

As my dream/nightmare continued, somebody finally spotted me, raised their gun toward me and I fired. First. Me and my family's safety was the bottom line.

I woke up sick to my stomach. I ask myself all of the questions that I asked myself in my nightmare in real life, so I'm sure that's why I dreamt it.

Seriously, I think I need to just ditch my gun & go live in the Alps. HeidiOops!

[Morrigoon]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

Distrust, yes. But are you emotionally scarred by the incident and more likely to become a Columbine-esque murderer because of it? I'm thinking, no. But you do remember the suspension, don't you?

I was never suspended from school. I was never sent to the principal's office for my actions. (I voluntarily went to see the principal to complain about the shoddy job of teachers of mine, and I also went to protest the mandatory church services at my high school, but I never went because of something I did.) Why? Because I didn't do messed up things. Even when I was ten, I'd know that anything I put on homework goes directly to the teacher's eyes. I wasn't dumb.

I was raised to be accountable for my actions and if I mess up, I pay for it.

You, my friend, have not lived. Poor bugger.

Got suspended myself for fighting... my parents always said, "Never hit first, but if they hit you, hit them back and make them bleed." And they supported me getting suspended for it, because that's exactly how it happened. Lost the fight, technically, but they were right that the person would never mess with me again.

But I guess you could see a disrespect for authority being bred by the fact that both people get suspended regardless of who the instigator was - like what, I'm just going to sit there and let some chica pound my face in so she can abuse me the rest of the school year? I don't think so.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

You, my friend, have not lived. Poor bugger.

Ha ha.
Being the son of a cop and a fundamentalist Catholic mom, I was an angel.

Which means I merely influenced others to do mischief.
I never got into fights because I had bodyguards. One was named "Psycho" the other was a Kung Fu black belt. Also, everyone was scared of my dad... including me.