Opposing Views – by Sarah Rae Fruchtnicht
A Virginia school board is changing its weapons policy after two 7-year-old students were suspended for pretending their pencils were guns.
The two boys attend Driver Elementary School in Suffolk. They were suspended for pointing pencils at each other and making shooting noises. Second grader, Christopher Marshall, whose father is a former marine, told his mother they were “pretending they were in the military.”
Wendy Marshall called the pretend game harmless fun and was shocked to learn the school’s reaction. Officials considered the boys in violation of the Suffolk Public Schools’ weapons policy, which carries a suspension of up to 10 days.
“I thought they were going overboard,” the mother said.
The school board is now revising its former zero-tolerance policy to consider the context: Was there intent to harm? Is the object listed as a weapon in the policy?
The board voted unanimously to approve the policy change last week. Ordinary objects will no longer be considered weapons. Punishment for violating the policy will be determined on a case by case basis.
Christopher’s father, Paul Marshall, said they are still waiting for an apology from the school.
“The school board could have done the right thing, not just on paper like they did at the meeting last night, but they could have actually apologized, said ‘hey you know it’s unfortunate that it happened, but we’re coming to you to say things will be changed to mitigate the problem in the future,’” Marshall said.
“It’s a teachable moment. It’s not a suspension moment for a 7-year-old,” said Andrea DeBruin-Parecki, graduate program direct of early children education at Old Dominion University, to The Virginia Pilot. “You call the boys aside, and you explain to them why it’s not appropriate to do this in school.”
The pencil is mightier than the sword, that is, until the First Amendment is totally obliterated as well.
I do so hope the emerging generations prevail over the accumulative damage the public schools are inflicting.
This case is so damned moronic, every single one of these pansy policy making wimps should be exiled from, not just their jobs, but the country. Sent to a little island of fairies, unicorns and rainbows, until the pirates show up and sack the place with cold, brutal reality.
“Argghhh, you’ll be swabbin me shank, er ye be walkin tha plank. Which will it be ye soft skinned, smooth fingered whelp?”, sad part is most of them would probably like that.
Suspending a 7 year old these days for stuff we did and far more graphic, less than 40 years ago. Things have gone so far out of whack in this country I no longer recognize it. The place is overrun with and run by, miscreants, deviants, thieves, liars and perverts. Disgusting!
Yet, Obama can use a watergun on his kids during Father’s Day. Ain’t the hypocritical life grand?
Speaking of hypocritical, water-guns have been on “sale” in every Manhattan store/drug store toy dept. since the “summer season” began. They have to keep restocking SuperSoakers.
Even though it is a total overreaction on the part of the statists their way of fixing it(according to our betters at the university) is to use it as a teaching moment. These two boys can now be taught that being boys and behaving as such is just totally inappropriate.