Fifth-Grader Expelled........ for Drawing Guns!

[MattTheSkywalker]

RyanH,

Do you plan to neuter your children too? Maybe you could remove the issue from consideration by not reproducing at all.

Any chance at calling it "artistic expression"? Or is art only art when sissies like it?

Come on bro. This is silly. You are actually arguing that a kid should be led away in handcuffs for something they DREW.

I would love for you to explain the harm caused by a child drawing pictures of guns. Guns are real. They exist. Telling children that something is bad only makes them more interested. The right way to teach children about guns is to introduce them at a very young age, and teach respect for what they do and how to use them properly.

It scares me to think that there are people stupid enough to one day pay legal fees for your efforts. May you never run low on ambulances to chase.

Give me an explanation of teh harm this causes, not some ambiguous "kids draw guns, kids shoot each other" line with no logical connection.

 

[RyanH]

RyanH,
Come on bro. This is silly. You are actually arguing that a kid should be led away in handcuffs for something they DREW.

I would love for you to explain the harm caused by a child drawing pictures of guns. Guns are real. They exist. Telling children that something is bad only makes them more interested. The right way to teach children about guns is to introduce them at a very young age, and teach respect for what they do and how to use them properly.

It scares me to think that there are people stupid enough to one day pay legal fees for your efforts. May you never run low on ambulances to chase.

Give me an explanation of teh harm this causes, not some ambiguous "kids draw guns, kids shoot each other" line with no logical connection.

I don't believe the child should have been led away in handcuffs...that act is a bit extreme. Although, I do believe that school's have the right to take a strong stance on ANY act that can be interpreted as having the potential for violence. And that includes long-term suspensions. How often do you see a fifth grader drawing pics of guns? Maybe a younger child might, but a 5th grader who draws guns actually has what it takes to fire one, if he can obtain it. I would be troubled as a parent or a teacher if my kid was busy drawing weapons of DEATH, at such a young age. I'd rather he be consumed with activities you know will take him some where----i.e. reading a classic, playing soccer, painting a landscape.....

You can't wait until harm is caused to prevent it...PREVENTION... If you do wait, then you might have another Columbine.
Schools should do whatever it takes to deter any sight or mention of guns when kids are involved. If the kids were older, in college, then it would be a different situation. By that age, one has the intellectual maturity to realize the consequences of firing a gun. But, what is a teacher supposed to do when she sees a pic of a gun has been draw---say, "Oh lovely, I love that pic of the gun you drew?" A school can't condone, endorse, or take any chances when it comes to guns. If so, then it could be your child or someone else's that loses his or her life way too soon.....

I'm an avid supporter of the 1st Amendment, but only when your exercise of it doesn't interfere or have the strong potential to interfere with another person's safety.

 

[TxCollegeguy]

Ryan I was drawing blue prints for guns, bombs, bunkers, planes. for many years past 5th grade. I never once took a gun to school, and I never threatned with my drawings anyone.

 

[JohnnyO]

I used to draw phasers and other ray guns. I also used to draw Martians and other space scenes.

 

[METHYL MIKE]

That just goes to show how far the government has lost it-The ONLY reason something like this happened is because they are intentionaly drawing major media attention to every school shooting to bring credibility to their anti-gun campaign. This is basically just a fluke because of it. Maybe now some people will get their heads out of their asses and realizew the government is trying to brainwash us and we'll do something about it....

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Long reply, no insults this time:

I do believe that school's have the right to take a strong stance on ANY act that can be interpreted as having the potential for violence. And that includes long-term suspensions.

ANY act? So what's next? No football at recess? No sports at all? Suspending him long term is an overreaction of the highest order and most foolish.

How often do you see a fifth grader drawing pics of guns? Maybe a younger child might, but a 5th grader who draws guns actually has what it takes to fire one, if he can obtain it. I would be troubled as a parent or a teacher if my kid was busy drawing weapons of DEATH, at such a young age.

There is a logical incongruity here. In one sentence, you say that a "younger child might" draw guns. Then you say that
"I would be troubled as a parent or a teacher if my kid was busy drawing weapons of DEATH, at such a young age". So is it a younger kid that could be drawing them at teh appropriate age, or an older one? You are saying both. What is so abnormal about a 10 year old boy drawing a picture of a gun, that he needs to be separated from his peers?

Also, the phrase "weapon of DEATH" is emotionalism not logic. Guns can kill or be used for recreation and sporting purposes. Ted Bundy killed 3 girls at Florida State University with a piece of a log. Should trees be deemed "weapons of DEATH?" Trees therefore can kill, or break down CO2 into oxygen. A gun is no more likely than a flower to kill someone OF ITS OWN ACCORD. Should playground baseball be banned because a bat could crush a skull? All of these are foolish.
It is the emotional characterization of guns that drives sad decisions like this.

I'd rather he be consumed with activities you know will take him some where----i.e. reading a classic, playing soccer, painting a landscape.....

There is absolutely no connection between those activities and success in life. Likewise there is no connection between drawing pictures of guns and failure or criminal lifestyle. This is. logically speaking, gibberish.

You can't wait until harm is caused to prevent it...PREVENTION... If you do wait, then you might have another Columbine. Schools should do whatever it takes to deter any sight or mention of guns when kids are involved.

I agree that well-thought out prevention is necessary, but certainly not knee-jerk reactionary attempts at thought. Columbine is forever etched into our memory, but it is largely because it was an upperclass community where "it couldn't happen here". School shootings have been common in inner-city schools long before Columbine. Columbine was a true tragedy.

However - Once again: guns exist. They are real. Maybe we would have better prevention if we educated our children in self-contained caves from which children never emerged until they were 30. There would be no school shootings then. In the same logical vein, we could have a 15MPH strictly enforced speed limit, to prevent car fatalities. These two solutions would engender near-100% prevention in their realms. Are they good ideas? Of course not.

If the kids were older, in college, then it would be a different situation. By that age, one has the intellectual maturity to realize the consequences of firing a gun. But, what is a teacher supposed to do when she sees a pic of a gun has been draw---say, "Oh lovely, I love that pic of the gun you drew?" A school can't condone, endorse, or take any chances when it comes to guns. If so, then it could be your child or someone else's that loses his or her life way too soon.....

You keep using the phrase "firing a gun" as if a real gun were brought to school or fired on school grounds. This wasn't even a photo of a gun, which might indicate the child knows the whereabouts of a gun. This is a drawing, a sketch....probably something the kid did while bored in art class.

I'm an avid supporter of the 1st Amendment, but only when your exercise of it doesn't interfere or have the strong potential to interfere with another person's safety.

Strong potential to interfere? You're really reaching...this is an example of school officials being stupid, and now they will likely be too small to admit their mistake.

 

[-SD-]

I think teaching sex education interferes with the safety of children, lets ban it. Sex education has been proven a failure and causes harm to children.

 

[TxCollegeguy]

good point Dave, or lets arrest all the little peanbrains that laugh and disturb class with their rude jokes maybe the Head Mistress can handcuff them

 

[RyanH]

Again and again, several of you fail to see the larger problem in all of this------society's fascination with guns.
Guns have taken this country no where, except to local morgues throughout this country.

Schools must with the support of their Congressman begin to dismantle America's stupid fascination with weapons of death. Instead, schools should endorse what schools in England and France endorse---the arts, sciences, and the humanities.

There is a reason we are the most violent country in the world. Contact your local NRA for more information----if truthful Mr. Heston and his good ol' boys will tell you that its because of them---the NRA KILLING MACHINE.

 

[TxCollegeguy]

Ryan I hope if they ever try to take our guns one of your chronies will have the balls to come kick in my door and see whats waiting for them.

Lets take guns away from cops as well, since we don't want them to abuse them on the citizens since we won't be able to defend ourselves. hell lets take them away for the military and send the right message to the rest of the world that guns are just plain unfair. I bet they would listen what do you think??

Please get real. Maturity is what is needed for those who own guns and more so for those who don't know shit about them and want to bitch about those who do have them. Safety needs to be taught, and Death Penalities enforced much quicker for violent criminal offenders.

None of this waiting for 10 years to get it done. Your ideals for guns are not realistic, and I would guarantee a civil war much more violent if they ever made a serious threat at taking them away