|Numbers| Posted May 7, 2013 Report Share Posted May 7, 2013 http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/05/07/2-va-boys-suspended-for-using-pencils-as-guns/ 2 Va. Boys Suspended For Using Pencils As Guns SUFFOLK, Va. — Two Suffolk second graders have been suspended for making shooting noises while pointing pencils at each other. Media outlets report the 7-year-old boys were suspended for two days for a violation of the Suffolk school system’s zero-tolerance policy on weapons. They were playing with one another in class Friday at Driver Elementary. “When I asked him about it, he said, ‘Well I was being a Marine and the other guy was being a bad guy,’” said Paul Marshall, one of the boys’ fathers. “It’s as simple as that.” Marshall, a former Marine, said he believes school officials overreacted. But Suffolk Public Schools spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw said a pencil is considered a weapon when it’s pointed at someone in a threatening way and gun noises are made. “Some children would consider it threatening, who are scared about shootings in schools or shootings in the community,” Bradshaw said. “Kids don’t think about ‘Cowboys and Indians’ anymore, they think about drive-by shootings and murders and everything they see on television news every day.” Bradshaw said the policy has been in place for at least two decades. It also bans drawing a picture of a gun and pointing a finger in a threatening manner. Marshall said his son has good grades and no history of being disruptive in class. On the suspension note, the teacher noted that the boy stopped when she told him to do so. He said school administrators failed to use common sense. “Enough is enough,” said Paul Marshall. “I see it as the tail is now wagging the dog.” Bradshaw said the suspensions were effective Monday and Tuesday. “It’s an effort to try to get kids not to bring any form of violence, even if it’s violent play, into the classroom,” Bradshaw said. “There has to be a consequence because it’s a rule. And it’s a rule that the principals go over.” Seriously ? ...at least they were not Pop-Tarts, they probably would have gotten the book thrown at them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Elflocko| Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 This country has lost its collective fucking mind... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sois Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Pencils are cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The PatternMaster Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/05/07/2-va-boys-suspended-for-using-pencils-as-guns/ Seriously ? ...at least they were not Pop-Tarts, they probably would have gotten the book thrown at them... Good thing people weren't this crazy when I was a kid or I would've been in Gitmo. I'm all for protecting the kids but this is overkill, it seems like people aren't using common sense in these situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldschooler Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Well. I guess a pencil is like a gun. Because you can "fill someone with lead" with both. :shrug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Numbers| Posted May 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Well. I guess a pencil is like a gun. Because you can "fill someone with lead" with both. :shrug: I thought that also. Perhaps it was an automatic pencil ? http://www.geekosystem.com/teacher-bans-pencils/ Crazy Teacher Tries to Ban Pencils From School (2010) A Massachusetts school district is trying to distance itself from one of its teachers after she told every sixth grade parent that their kids could no longer bring pencils to school. Perhaps she’d been on the receiving end of one of these? Or perhaps she took the adage a little too literally. Wendy Scott sent a memo to the parents of all of the sixth graders at North Brookfield Elementary School stating that “students would no longer be allowed to bring writing implements to school. It said pencils would be provided for students in class and any students caught with pencils or pens after Nov. 15 would face disciplinary action for having materials “to build weapons.” We can’t really see the logic behind this but if we had to guess, somebody probably did something horrible with a handcrafted pencil launcher and now a disciplinary overreaction has ensured that other kids will pay for it. The North Brookfield School district maintains that the memo was sent without permission and that no ban is actually in effect. Whether or not your child is going to be subject to zero tolerance policies for trying to be prepared for class is understandably something that a parent would like to be clear cut and easy to figure out. Well, if the kids can’t bring pens in, maybe they could bring swords? I’ve heard that they’re less dangerous. All kidding aside, try doing an online search with the key words "pencil gun." It is literally amazing how many different types of weapons can be made from a pencil or pen. That is not what the kids at the school in the IP were doing though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khatmandude Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 This country has lost its collective fucking mind... That's the plan. And it's working marvelously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluhartz Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Pencils are cool mechanical or traditional? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sois Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 mechanical or traditional? traditional. mechanical ones always get that loose butthole syndrome where the tip wont hold the lead, no matter how many sections you try. I hate mechanical pencils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justice Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 That's the plan. And it's working marvelously. you cannot make a boy think a gun is bad and they can not play with it..Instinct! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluhartz Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 traditional. mechanical ones always get that loose butthole syndrome where the tip wont hold the lead, no matter how many sections you try. I hate mechanical pencils. ahhhhhhhh... you're dead to me.. kidding, but I love mechanical pencils.... Sharpening sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sois Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 ahhhhhhhh... you're dead to me.. kidding, but I love mechanical pencils.... Sharpening sucks. A freshly sharped Tigonderoga pencil can't be beat. No shot. Maybe I've never had a good mechanical pencil. However, a good one usually costs a ton, a good wooden pencil is like 20 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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