Arizona, 2007: A child is suspended for drawing images of a gun:
MESA, Ariz. — Parents of a Florence student suspended for sketching a gun during class say his punishment is an overreaction by school officials.
The eighth-grader at Florence’s Walker Butte K-8 school was suspended for three days on Aug. 24 for drawing images of a gun.
Stephanie Vardarkis said her son, Joshua, had drawn the images on index cards, sort of like a cartoon that included a stick figure holding a gun.
In one image, the boy included the name of the school resource officer. Rather than it being a threat, Vardarkis said the character was meant to be calling the officer for backup.
New Jersey, 2007: A child is suspended for drawing a picture of a gun:
A second-grader’s drawing of a stick figure shooting a gun earned him a one-day school suspension.
Kyle Walker, 7, was suspended last week for violating Dennis Township Primary School’s zero-tolerance policy on guns, the boy’s mother, Shirley McDevitt, told The Press of Atlantic City.
Kyle gave the picture to another child on the school bus, and that child’s parents complained about it to school officials, McDevitt said. Her son told her the drawing was of a water gun, she said.
A photocopy of the picture provided by McDevitt showed two stick figures with one pointing a crude-looking gun at the other, the newspaper said. What appeared to be the word “me” was written above the shooter, with another name scribbled above the other figure.
School officials declined to comment Friday. A message left at the superintendent’s office Saturday was not returned.
Mount Carmel, PA: Child suspended for terrorist act- threatening to shoot classmate with bubble gun:
A 5-year-old girl was suspended from school earlier this week after she made what the school called a “terrorist threat.”
Her weapon of choice? A small, Hello Kitty automatic bubble blower.
The kindergartner, who attends Mount Carmel Area Elementary School in Pennsylvania, caught administrators’ attention after suggesting she and a classmate should shoot each other with bubbles.
“I think people know how harmless a bubble is. It doesn’t hurt,” said Robin Ficker, an attorney for the girl’s family. According to Ficker, the girl, whose identity has not been released, didn’t even have the bubble gun toy with her at school.
Talbot County, Maryland: Child suspended for making a gun with his finger:
Is it child’s play or a serious threat of gun violence? For the second time in less than a month, a Maryland child is kicked out of school for using his finger in the shape of a gun.
Kai Jackson has more on the controversy.
No one is debating the importance of keeping children safe. The question being asked is what’s child’s play and what’s not?
There’s controversy at a Talbot County school after two 6-year-old boys were suspended while playing cops and robbers during recess and using their fingers to make an imaginary gun.
“It’s ridiculous,” said parent Julia Merchant.
This is the second time a Maryland child has been suspended for such play. Earlier this month, 6-year-old Rodney Lynch was suspended from his Montgomery County school after pretending to fire an imaginary gun more than once.
Images via Washington Post
So why are Barack Obama and Jimmy Buffett teaching children to shoot other children? Clearly, these are gateway toys and need to be banned.
It’s all fun and games until 26 are dead.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.