Man bites dog?
Posted on 11/01/2010 10:22:01 AM PDT by rawhide
HAMILTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - A teen's spirit week stunt has landed him in hot water.
Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School Senior Dan Depaolis, dressed in medieval garb, rode a horse into the school's parking lot as part of spirit week.
What he, and his parents, thought was a good-natured stunt, the school deemed dangerous. Depaolis was suspended from school for two days.
The vice principal allegedly suspended the 17-year-old even after the boy’s father explained that the horse was brought in on a trailer and that no one was in danger.
The father tells FOX25 the school compared the stunt to bringing a “loaded firearm” to school and that he and his wife were shocked to hear about the suspension, saying that the 1100-pound horse, named Pierre, would never hurt a fly.
The school would not comment, saying that they do not talk about any aspect of a student discipline.
The family says they plan to contest the suspension.
> Nine children?
Actually, there were 11. Two are married with families of their own, now.
> A mighty man indeed
Our family was a miracle of God. He is the Mighty One that brought it into existence. I’m just a broken tool, like a dull saw or a chipped chisel. God was kind to use me in this way in spite of my failings.
Man bites dog?
Isn’t an ass a horse designed by a school committee?”
I think that is a camel.
The Humane Society of the USA wants to ban the riding of horses. It’s on the HUSA web-site,”
We do not eat horses in this country, so if we don’t ride them, what would we have them for? Lawn mowers???
My daughter got suspended a few weeks ago for giving the wrong answer on a hypothetical psych question about “what would you do if you could get away with it and there would be no consequences?”. Apparently the “right” answer was things like “Rob a Bank” or “hijack a snack truck” or “have sex in school”.”
My answer probably would have been: Turn in this teacher for asking such a provacative & stupid question.
“...it wasn’t really about the horse...but about the sword - only there was no sword.”
Actually, in the video of the incident posted on the tv story about this, the boy was wearing a sword as part of his medieval costume.
It was still a stupid decision.
VietVet
Medieval Reenactor
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The inmates are running the asylum. Just when you think they can't give you another reason to homeschool, they outdo themselves and provide one.
If I had been the responsible adult at that school I would have probably freaked, too. Horses are big and dumb and unpredictable. One well-placed kick to an idiot kid who didn’t know how to approach a horse and it would be all over for them. I’m sure everyone involved would have loved to get hit with that lawsuit.
Great joke. I’ll have to keep that one in mind.
Thanks!
Only if he did that, in the school auditorium, as part of the sex ed classes.
I doubt that.
Now, if she had said, "Vote a straight Republican ticket", then....
So.... let's solve this problem. Make all children ride horses to school.
(1) Snow won't be an issue. Children will be able to get their full amount of school days.
(2)Children will learn proper respect for animals. (Those who don't will be bucked off the saddle while riding full speed along side a barbed wire fence)
(3) No more bullying on the schoolbus.
(4) Plenty of fertilizer to help grow more crops and keep the Earth 'green'.
(5) Hundreds of thousands of NEW JOBS will be created in the farm/horse market.
(6) No more wasting gas sitting in the school drivethrough, with the engine idling.
(7) Parents don't have to take time to deliver/pickup children, and clog the school parking lot. The horses know the way.
Kids driving big cars are also unpredictable.
That's not really true. Horses are like dogs, cats, humans, birds, the list goes on.
Some are smart. Some are not. Many are just average. The more attention and training they are given, the smarter they become.
PLUS, the human trainers become smarter because they learn to 'understand' the animals efforts at communicating.
And I assure you, they do try to communicate to us. Most of us don't listen, and/or don't know 'how' to listen. But, it is there.
Most humans only understand other humans. Most animals understand other animals (of all species) AND humans. Birds can even speak entire sentences, and solve complex puzzles in seconds.
Who is smarter?
I guess it depends on how prevalent horses are where you live. I wouldn’t dream of letting my kids ride a horse in the parking lot dressed up as a character without having it cleared with the school officials first, unless it was a day when everybody was told to do something related to school spirit that was wacky.
Generally, I tell my kids that if they are planning to do something where, if everybody did it, there would be havoc, they should probably ask permission first.
If the school knew what the kid wanted to do, maybe they would arrange for it to be part of a pep rally, a more controlled circumstance.
But like I said, it could be different if you are in an area where horses are more normally found out in public.
“Kids driving big cars are also unpredictable.”
Yes, but somewhere in the process the parent consents.
Having a farm animal kick/stomp/bite him on school property is something else entirely.
“Who is smarter?”
The loot-farming lawyer who will sue the rider and owner of the horse and the school official who was acting in loco parentis (sp) when said horse bit/stomped/kicked some unwary minor child who didn’t know any better.
I appreciate school spirit and pranks (we were going to steal a real live bull and bring it to school) but now as an adult who has been given great responsibility I see how quickly things can go terribly wrong.
Yes, until some kid tells their parent that “a kid in my psych class said she would kill us if she could get away with it”, and the parent screams at the principal, and the principal decides he has to “investigate”, and launches the formal “threat assessment” process which requires an out-of-school suspension while they decide how credible the “intent to violence” was.
In this case, there was no “intent to violence” to assess, which they figured out pretty quick, but having suspended my daughter I presume they need to “justify” themselves so they hit her with an “inappropriate behavior” referral.
The funny thing is my daughter loves school, is obedient to a fault to the rules, and was pissed off she had to miss a day for any reason. She also didn’t like being interviewed by the police to see if she had suicidal or violent tendencies. He was a nice officer though, who found the whole thing absurd.
How DARE they try to build team spirit??
Didn’t they know there was a Czar for that?
That school’s mascot is probably “Downtrodden Miguel” an “Oppressed Worker”.
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