Posted on 12/14/2006 12:25:17 PM PST by Mobile Vulgus
In school we tell our children that guns are bad. We tell them to be good little children and turn in those bad, evil guns to a parent, a policeman or a teacher. We tell them to do the supposed responsible thing. Be an upstanding citizen and take that evil gun out of circulation so that someone else won't kill half the city, runs the logic.
So, a young boy at Troy Middle School near Joliet, Illinois follows this sage advice and what is his reward?
He is kicked out of school for following his indoctrination.
On November 15th, 13-year-old student Ryan Morgan was expelled from school in supposed compliance with the idiotic "zero tolerance" policy against weapons with the school district claiming that young Ryan had "possession of a gun".
Sounds menacing, doesn't it? A gun! Imagine that?
Well, maybe it isn't so ominous after all because this "gun" turned out to be a mere toy pellet gun that Ryan and a friend found hidden in the boy's bathroom. It seems that Ryan had heard a rumor that this "gun" had been hidden there so he and his little friend went there to do the "right" thing and retrieve it to hand it in to the office.
As a reward for his diligent efforts to be a good, responsible citizen the school recommended that Ryan be expelled for a year. A slap in the face for performing what he has been told is his civic duty.
Later, this supposed policy that the district's lawyer, John M. Izzo, said held the district "bound by state law to bring an expulsion recommendation" against this poor, dutiful child was upheld by the school board. Consequently, honest little Ryan is to be thrown out of school for his offense.
Superintendent Larry Wiers said that "purposeful possession of weapons is one of the most serious offenses a student can commit and requires close consideration by the administration."
Yes, little Ryan, even if you are trying to do the "right" thing, turning in a gun found laying about the place, you are to be punished.
Wait, it gets worse.
As mentioned, this penalty is supposed to leave young Ryan expelled for a full year. Of course, the school board really does "care" about education, you know? We know this because they say so, you see. So, instead of leaving him expelled and sans educational opportunity they are going to pay for a year of home schooling.
Not only is Ryan being punished for trying to fulfill what he is told is his duty, but now so are the taxpayers who will have to pay double for this young man to be educated. With property taxes already paying for his education once at the school, it will now be doubled for his home schooling.
Lawyer Izzo earnestly announced that "it would be in the best interest of the student and the school to continue provide this student with educational opportunities through home bound study." But, what is "in the best interest" of the taxpayers who are being forced to pay double for this kid who was only trying to be helpful, Mr. Izzo?
So, what is it, school administrators? Are we teaching our children to do the "right" thing and turn in found weapons to the school administration to take them off the street, or are we teaching children that to get involved in any way is tantamount to pulling that trigger on themselves? Are we teaching our children that taking a gun out of circulation is important or are we teaching our children that school administrators cannot be trusted?
It would seem the later in both cases.
The lessons here are disheartening. The Troy Elementary School District just taught young Ryan Morgan that if he sees something wrong going on that he'd darn well better turn and walk away, stay out of it, don't get involved. Because if he does, we have taught him that HE will be the one in trouble. See a kid waving a weapon? Pretend you see nothing. Hear a kid getting beaten? Close your ears lest it be imagined you were involved. Happen to come across a rape in progress. He sees nothing. A break in? What break in? And, what would happen if Ryan someday hears two terrorists talking about their next target? Heck, it isn't any of Ryan's business. Move along nothing to see here, little Ryan.
So much for civic mindedness.
So much for doing the "right" thing.
So much for good administration of our schools.
I used to be a cop at a High School in L.A. My last arrest was nearly identical to this. A teacher came to me and said she thought she saw a gun in the bushes. Went to look and nothing was there.
5 minutes later one of my campus aides told me a student told him another student was showing off a gun in class to the back of the room.
Went and grabbed him up. Had a useless Ruger-style pistol-- nearly rusted shut. He told me a bully took him to the gun and threatened to "kick his a--" if he didn't take the gun. Said he was gonna turn it in to me after school. His dad was mad at me for arresting his poor son.
As I read this article, I knew there was more to the story. I'm surprised so many FReepers are willing to believe that the kid did no wrong.
Two great minds. 8-)
Hear, hear. I'm so sick of conservatives who think they're fighting Marquia of Queesbury fisticuffs and some more practical liberal comes up and hits 'em in the kidneys with a lead pipe.
It seems to me that the administration believes Ryan may have been the owner of the gun and not have merely found it? Do they have witnesses? Do they have testimony? Do they really think he is lying to them?
In my personal opinion, homebound education is not the same as homeschool. However, either way, I think that maybe for once, they have made the right decision unknowingly and without intention, in favor of homeschool.
Homebound status gets you a personal tutor, paid for by the district, who is usually a classroom teacher in the ps system who has volunteered to teach special needs cases. These special needs cases, I believe, are usually children who are too sick to physically go to school (children with lukemia come to mind).
Does anyone else have knowledge about this? Correct me if I'm wrong, because I really do not know if this is what was meant in the article.
No good deed goes unpunished.
It's time to get mean.
He touched a gun. He's contaminated and has to be kept away from the other children or it will spread.
Nothing at all. Homeschooling has typically been done at the parents own expense. Paying for the homeschooling of a kid they suspended could really open a whole can of worms. I know it's pretty contoversial among the homeschool community.
Sexual profiling!
Yes, it is. I for one would like there to be some sort of resolution, afterall, they are my taxes as well as everyone else's. Vouchers are a nice way to say "laundered" in my opinion. I would rather the money be in the form of a local tax deduction or credit. That way, the money never gets put into the education pool in the first place. Of course, that would also mean that I'd have to start paying state taxes (Texas currently does not have a state income tax). So while that idea is nice, it really doesn't work either.
In Texas, homeschools are legally considered private schools. If all public education were privatized, and all particpants paid what they annually pay in taxes to their school of choice each year, that might work. Then again, you have so many renters that would be denied an education.
There has to be a doable compromise in there somewhere, where my tax money actually goes to my child's education instead of little bits of it to everyone's children.
Why is this a good deed? Perhaps the student should have alerted a teacher or administrator. Suppose it was more of a weapon, loaded and very dangerous particularly to a child who is not aware of gun safety.
My dauther was on homebound education the last half of her senior year. It was not homeschooled. She did have several tutors (different subjects) who came to our house, reviewed her work and gave more assignments. Quite different from homeschooling. She was able to attend all school functions and graduate with her class.
Just look where it happened. The parents should sue the hell out of that school board if the kid is not in the wrong.And yes you should be able to sue people for being stupid.
"I think the author in his zeal to be critical has got something wrong here. The school district does NOT receive funding for this kid's education if he is not there, so in effect the taxpayers are NOT paying double for his education."
You may be right that the school itself may not get the money, but taxes do NOT go down relative to the students!! The taxes only go UP, not down!
So, the taxpayers ARE paying double and that was the point.
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