I uploaded my school prayer and then went back to CNN. This next story is what I saw. A 7-year-old brings two loaded handguns to school.
The uncle "might" face charges. MIGHT....
I don't think this child is quite as innocent as the police believe him to be. I don't know about you but I have held and seen a "real" gun before and they are heavy. They are VERY heavy compared to a toy gun. I would think that he had a difficult time carrying two of them in his backpack.
I think he brought them to school to show his friends. He should have known better. I know that in our school they talk about these situations often, even in first grade. In our school the children are not even allowed to make the gun motion with their hands. I would assume that this is a subject this little guy has heard many times.
When CAL was in fourth grade a child brought a toy gun to school. His teacher didn't really do anything. In fourth grade I thought the child should have been expelled even if it was a toy.
Then again this child is only seven, a first grader.
7 comments:
A seven year old may not know the difference between a real gun and a toy gun. They may never have held a gun in their life. Many guns aren't heavy enough so that a seven year cannot lift them. I argue that the seven year old who may have brought the gun to school as a toy should not be punished the same way as a student who bringing the gun to school with the intent of murder.
Good point anonymous, if he had never seen or held a real gun he may not know the difference. I didn't mean to imply that a seven-year-old could not lift the gun but it would be much heavier than a toy. I don't think he should receive the same punishment as someone who brought the gun to school with "evil plans" but..... He does need to be expelled so that he will NEVER forget this lesson.
This story also made http://detentiosnlip.org! It's one of the leading sources for breaking crazy news in public schools.
I agree, I don't think the 7-year old really had a grasp on the reality of the situation. He probably doesn't understand the concept that life isn't a video game, those were REAL GUNS and someone could have gotten killed. I'm mixed on the school punishment, the kid has to be made to understand how serious what he did was, but permanent expulsion sounds overboard for a kid this young. I hope the school board takes a good hard look at the circumstances and renders an intelligent decision rather than reverting to zero-tolerance as a default.
The uncle, on the other hand, needs his a** kicked clear to the moon. And have his guns taken away from him and be permanently banned from owning or possessing firearms. As a responsible gun owner this kind of crap really burns me up. Keeping your guns away from your kids should take first priority over having one ready to defend your home, and if you can't keep your kids safety as a priority, you have no business having guns in the house.
Excuse the rant, but it's idiots like this uncle that make the lawmakers want to overturn the 2nd amendment. They give responsible gun owners a bad name.
There was a gun in the house while I was growing up; it was in my dad's closet, out of my reach. I knew it was there because my dad had showed it to me, let me hold it, and explained how evil it was. I also had gone quail hunting with him, and knew what a gun can do.
It NEVER crossed my mind to ever touch the gun in the closet, and I was a really mischievous little brat. I knew that if I was ever caught touching the gun, my dad would be really mad.
I was 6 or 7 years old at the time, and thenkfully, my father placed a fear on guns at that early age.
This is, again, another example of parents not doing their job, in my opinion.
Expulsion seems, to me, to be the worst possible course of action to take with this boy. He needs to understand the seriousness of his actions to be sure, but punishing him by expelling him would not get through to a seven year old. Want to really punish him? Make him stay inside at recess, or eat lunch by himself, or sit in the principal's office all day and do his school work, or all of them. THAT would make an impression. Making him stay home? Not so much at that age. And the parents are the ones who really need to impress on him how serious it was, something no school administrator can really properly do. Of course, we don't know the boy's home life, so maybe parents are part of the problem. But the idea of punishing a seven year old by expelling him for something he probably did not understand seems extreme. Intent and the lack of knowledge have to be taken into consideration.
My daughter is in first grade, and I have no doubt that she would not know the difference between a real gun and a fake one. Why? Because she doesn't have any fake/toy guns. Naturally, my wife and I have discussed guns (and cripes, everything else she's not allowed to do) with her as has the school. But anyone who thinks that they know what a kid will do when they are alone with no adult watching is fooling themselves. I like to think that she wouldn't do something like this, but it is not beyond the realm of possibility. She is a good, smart girl, but even good kids can and do make mistakes. She's six...I don't expect her to be able to reason like an adult and no one else should either.
How many of us played with matches or lighters even though we had been told it was dangerous? I can raise my hand on that one. My parents explained to me the dangers, but did I really understand at age 7? Nope. So I burned myself. Yeah, my parents were angry, but they understood that I was a kid and also understood that a kid is always going to be curious about something they are told not to touch or do. I learned my lesson, and it is important for this boy to learn his lesson. But expelling him and not letting him have the structure and learning opportunities that school can provide is too much punishment for a child that young.
If I seem a bit vehement, well my daughter's school just last year expelled a fourth grader for having a plastic butter knife in his lunch. "School policy" dictated that action, even though nearly every parent in our small school stood up for that boy and his parents. Granted, a HUGE difference between a loaded gun and a plastic butter knife, but neither child brought them with harmful intent. I am SO against blanket polices which do not allow for mitigating circumstances. At least neither child was charged by the police, which would go beyond absurdity.
Anonymous (the last one) I agree with you. Suspending this child would not really get the message across. What might help is to bring the parents and the uncle into the school and they have to spend the day in the principals office, standing at recess, and eating lunch with this child. It would probably be the most time they have spent with him in months.
My seven year old child would know the difference between a toy and a real gun I am sure BUT that does not mean that every parent has taught their child as I have. I am also sure that when I am not watching my child does exactly what I tell him is dangerous or not to do.
The funny thing about the zero tolerance knife issue. Our school still provides those knives to the children. They have to ask but they are provided.
Schools that adopt a zero tolerance for anything are as ridiculous as the they come. There are always circumstances that should not fall under that blanket. It is just a cop out so that they don't have to do their jobs which is THINK! No two cases are the same.
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