Posted on 10/05/2001 6:13:53 AM PDT by Clintons Are White Trash
KMOV) -- A local elementary student has been suspended for three days because he drew a picture of the World Trade Center. Thursday, the fifth grader was allowed to return to class. The sketch depicts one World Trade Center tower on fire and included a paper airplane attached to the other tower. (KMOV) On Friday, September 28, the day was just beginning for North Jefferson Intermediate fifth grader Paul Volz and his teacher didn't like what she saw. "My son drew a picture at school of the Trade Centers and it had a little smoke coming out of one picture and he had a little Post-it note that he said was folded up, sitting on the thing," describes Paul Volz, the fifth grader's father. The Post-it note was made into an airplane and placed on the picture Paul Jr. drew. "I didn't see anything wrong with it at the time and I still don't," his father says. (KMOV) However, Principal Jeff Boyer did. In a discipline referral form, Boyer wrote, "Paul drew a picture of the Trade Centers being bombed. He then taped this picture to the outside of his cubicle and pointed it out to the other students and grinned. When I asked him why he did this, he just looked at me and smiled. This is totally inappropriate and Paul's behavior has to change." "If it's making light of something that other people find very serious, then that might be considered threatening, or, if it's an upsetting drawing that brings back maybe some bad memories for some other students and it disrupts the school day, then that can be considered threatening," says Ben Helt of Northwest R-1 School District. Paul Volz (KMOV) Paul was suspended for three days with no appeal. "If they thought this was something wrong, instead of doing what they did, they should have sent him to the counselor and let him talk to the counselor, see what the problem was," Paul's father says. Volz admits his son has been in trouble before, but believes a drawing should not keep his kid home from school. The Northwest R-1 School District has suspended and even expelled students before because of drawings and its student handbook addresses communications of a threatening nature. However, in a time when schools often encourage kids to draw to express their feelings, some parents find a three-day suspension a little harsh.
Why? A voucher is a welfare check. And vouchers will turn ALL schools into government schools.
I'm incredibly anti-NEA and anti-stupid-teachers-and-administrators... but... Smith288 has brought up the most salient point, here. We are assuming. (My initial reaction was "WTF?!?!") We weren't there to see whether the kid was happy about his work, or gloating over 6500 deaths. I'll put a small amount of trust in the teacher in this case, and not in some sensation-building headline.
(If I'm wrong, PLEASE fire the short-sighted dolts!)
You're right!
GandtheD
Voltz admits his son has been in trouble before
It just sounds like this boy may have had others problems prior, by his own father's admission.
I'm not excusing the drastic measures that the idiot principal took.
As I said in another reply, this was for the teacher to handle.
Agreed.
Certainly the photo itself couldn't be the cause of the suspension. (I hope) It must have been the child's behavior. Since we aren't getting details regarding that behavior, I still want to give the benefit of the doubt to the faculty...
unless they actually admit that the penalty was simply for the drawing.
Tremendous memories of full-scale food fights in the cafeteria and then the faculty cracked-down so hard after that you couldnt even talk in the lunchroom.
Also will never forget Ovie Ray Wagner bought & drank 20 cartons of chocolate milk, upchucked it all and then they stopped selling chocolate milk altogether that year
He was the most hated kid in school after that.
Yes. And kids have been doing similar drawings all over America, and yes, many kids use laughter when they can't deal with a situation. This story is absolutely crazy.
This screams a good Freeping.
GandtheD
Ms.Anne Steffens,
You must be kidding ... right?
This is some kind of early April Fools gag ... right?
This kid draws what everyone around the world has seen on the television and in print for almost a month and gets suspended from school for three days?
If anyone here is at fault ... it's the teacher for not teaching this little kid to draw a little better!
If I was that kid's parents I'd sue the teacher and the school!
And I thought things were bad here in San Francisco!
-- Thank You.
Bob Evans
SF, CA
If there is nothing more to this, and they really did just suspend him for such a picture, then you should round some people up and get to a school board meeting. If not just for this boy, for the next child that will be the target of their pettiness.
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