Teacher Lets Students Bring Nerf Guns to School for Project, School Suspends the Kids

Opposing Views ^ | 06/04/2013 | By Dabney Bailey

[Responsibility2nd]

There have been a lot of news stories recently about young children being punished for talking about guns, making toy guns, owning toy guns, and drawing guns. This new story takes the cake: a group of students from Chase Lake Elementary School in Edmonds, Washington, asked their teacher if they could bring Nerf guns to school. The teacher gave permission, but the school punished the children with suspension anyway.

The students even had a perfectly legitimate reason to bring the guns to school; they wanted to fire foam darts 100 times as part of a probability experiment.

The school quickly enforced its zero tolerance policy and booted the students. In fact, they even suspended students who were simply present during the experiment. Shannon Shumard’s fourth grade daughter and sixth grade son got caught in the crossfire because they played with the guns, even though other students brought the guns to school.

The parents of the suspended students have said that they intend to appeal the suspensions, but the school stands strong by its convictions. “Again, it’s a matter of safety and it’s of the utmost importance. So even if it’s a toy, we take it seriously,” said Amanda Ralston, a spokeswoman for the school district.

The peculiar thing about this story isn’t that the school enforced such harsh penalties on the students – that seems to be the popular strategy nowadays. What’s odd is that the students were punished instead of the teacher.

Kids violating the rules is one thing, but punishing students after a teacher gave the Nerf guns a thumbs up is much more problematic.  

Shumard added, "If the teacher and the school staff don't even know their own rules, how are the children supposed to know them?"

All of these recent stories have called into question the severity of school gun policies. Do you think that being so relentless against guns will help prevent children from brining real guns to school, or do you think that the schools are overreacting to a bit of harmless fun?

Source: Komo News

 

[Sopater]

We have the means to get our country back but not the will.

I'm afraid you're right... At least not the collective will.

[rmh47]

There used to be an old joke:

In the U.S., everything that is not prohibited is permitted.
In Germany, everything that is not permitted is prohibited.
In Italy, everything is permitted even if it is prohibited.
In the Soviet Union, everything is prohibited even if it is permitted.

It seems the joke is in serious need of updating.

[Quickgun]

Property tax protest time? don’t fund them.

[kidd]

Three years ago, I helped my son make a life-sized figure of Davy Crockett as part of a 5th grade project.

I thought it would look more realistic if Davy Crockett had a gun.

So I asked the teacher if my son could bring in a very realistic looking full sized Tennesee flintlock to accompany the figure.

The teacher cleared it with the principal. He brought it in and had no trouble at all. In fact, the teacher asked if he could use it as part of a Civil War camp they were having at school the following week.

And this is Connecticut.

School administrators, like the one in the article, do not need to be like this at all.

[Amendment10]

Is anyone surprised here?

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” ― attributed to Albert Einstein

[stars & stripes forever]

The Tea Party should begin a national homeschooling movement to get every child out of the public school system.

[rockinqsranch]

‘....It’s programming, pure and simple, “brainwashing,” if you will.....”

Yes.

[SeminoleCounty]

People have got to get out and vote in these school board elections. You have fewer stupid rules if a school board knows they will be tossed next election. Its the only way you get the Gun Control Nutjobs out

[Teacher317]

Again, "Zero Tolerance" means "zero judgment", and that is how the administrators want it. As long as they can adhere blindly to the text of a rule, they can always blame the rule, and avoid any consequences for themselves. The district may face liability if anything goes awry, but the administrators themselves are never on the hook, because they never actually made any decision of any kind.

Liberals made great efforts to demonize the word "judge" ("Don't judge me!" and "I'm not judgmental", etc), and this is what we get when we can no longer trust authorities with the authority of their position. Truth, common sense, and justice are all sacrificed, because our litigious society has made it easier to hide behind regulations than to be an adult and stand by a decision. (Add in the emasculation of the male of the species by the Left here.)

[luckystarmom]

I live in California, and I don’t know of people being that crazy. Our home hosts nerf gun, water gun, and laser tag paries throughout the summer.

[Ancesthntr]

Time to sue the school districts, and every official involved. Enough such suits, and maybe then the crap will stop.

That, and home schooling or taking them to private schools. The less students enrolled, the less funding these assclowns get.

Hit them where it hurts - the wallet.

[MacMattico]

We're in NY and do the same. We also have a giant super soaker and have “shot” our neighbors on both sides, granted it was while we were in the pool and we were inviting their kids to come swimming!

[Conserev1]

The ignorance of weapons can have the same harm as Knowing that it is just a gun!
What the educator is missing of course is the education of how and why guns are needed and what their use is! Myself from the age of nine was taught these things! Any parent that owns any weapon be it knife, gun, or any item that can cause bodily harm has to educate their chidern on the cause and effect of any weapon.
To try to make weapons nonexistant in the education of a child is a crime in it’s self. They love to teach SEX!
There is a real world out there!

[MarkL]

Things sure have changed... During my freshman year in high school, I got an "instructional" assignment, along with "props," in speech class. So I gave a speech on gun safety, complete with a Colt Trooper Mk3 revolver, a Remington 870 shotgun, and a Remington 700. My mother had to drive me to and from school that day, and I left the guns int the principal's office until my class, then put them back until the end of the day.

Of course, I was also on the JROTC rifle team, and we had a 50' range in the school basement, and shot every day after school, a 50 rd box of Winchester T-22, courtesy of the US Army. And the rifles were stored there as well, a combination of Winchester 52 and Remington 40XC single shot target rifles, also owned by the US Army.

Mark

[verga]

People have got to get out and vote in these school board elections. You have fewer stupid rules if a school board knows they will be tossed next election. Its the only way you get the Gun Control Nutjobs out

I have read various statistics on the number of people that vote in School board elections, not one of them is over 10%. I am not going to hazard a guess as to how many of these parents voted last time but I am pretty sure I can guess how many will be voting next time.