Oh goodness. This is distressing. Hello Kitty?? My son had a Diego bubble fun blower and I tell ya, he'd have loved to meet someone with a Hello Kitty bubble blower for a bubble war! I mean, what's the big threat? Soap in the eyes?
Now, our school has very clear rules about toys at school and they are forbidden. Removing the toy is usually all that is in order to cause a 5 year old to feel like they are in HUGE trouble. Suspension? That is ridiculous.
When I was at my son's preschool---- the boys went to the area that was like a play workshop with tools and picked up the pretend electric screwdrivers and pretended they were guns. The teacher went over and said we don't pretend to have guns at school. End of subject.
This is definately taking things too far and I think the little girl needs that off her the record and Hello Kitty should sue for having her good name dragged throught he mud!
My son got in trouble in 7th grade for having a neon green bandana.... just having it at school. The administration said it was gang related.... They didn't find it funny when I said "Gang related? What gang is he in? The Skittle Gang?"
Talk about overreacting. Particularly since this child didn't even have the toy with her at school.
One thing struck me though,
"The mother has tried to get the girl in another school since this time, and they won't take the little girl because of this mark on her record," Ficker said.
What? The public schools have to take the child. This lawyer may be setting the stage for some litigation, but I find it hard to believe that the mother can't get the child into school.
I have to be honest---- this story doesn't sound completely true to me. You gotta wonder. I missed that she didn't even bring the bubble blower to school with her. AND, if they determined that she was psychologically stable after evaluations--- what is in her record/ She threatened to bubble her classmates after school?? Silly.
Having spent some time in a kinder classroom recently . . . I just can't imagine overhearing a 5 year old discussing shooting her bubble gun and reacting in fear. I'd try to set up a playdate with her and my boys!
I heard this on the news yesterday and could not believe my ears. Really? If this is true, it speaks to the severe paranoia the nation is experiencing and that bothers me much more than a small child with a hello kitty bubble gun. Omg
What if it was a semi automatic bubble gun with a high capacity bubble juice reservoir?
Zero-Tolerance means ZERO-TOLERANCE, folks.
I think this sick, twisted, evil little 5-y/o girl needs to be put away for a very, VERY long time.
What is this world coming to, when a 5-y/o can get their hands on a GUN! A bubble-gum-gun, yes, but still... it's GUN people!!!
String her up. String her up and punish her severely.
Serial-killer in training, if you ask me.
I heard on the radio that three 6 year old boys got detention in their elementary school for pointing their finger and saying bang during recess too! My kids would be put away for life if that were illegal!!
ha ha Brice, well, then. Her days of being able to purchase such a dangerous bubble gun are numbered. Only those in authority positions will be able to have the semi automatic bubble gun.
These school officials would have flipped out if they could have seen all of the "cowboys and indians", "cops and robbers" games we played as kids. We'd have to have our pointer fingers removed.
Hm. I just thought of something. I wonder if my boy's semi automatic NERF guns are going to be banned. Uh oh.
OMG, I think some of this over the top reactionary stuff is ridiculous. I hate that now the Halloween parties have strict rules, NO fake weapons may be brought into school on Halloween. I could MAYBE (MAYBE) see fake guns, but everything else? It's so dumb...most of the costumes are made by the weapons!
Same with the newer dietary restrictions. NONE of the kids' parties at school can involve a food item with the first ingredient of sugar...so no more cookies, cupcakes, etc. Nothinig like hummus dip at the Valentine's party! UGH!
Hey, I'm ALL for teaching kids about eating healthy, but to now allow those treats at a kids' party, at least a little bit of it? Totally stupid IMO. Instead, they all get treat bags loaded with candy, which they're not allowed to eat at school...so they just go HOME and stuff their face.
Too many things are being taken to extremes.
Let kids be kids!!!
Schools.... We've got a great tardy policy here at our high school. Basically, if you are 1 minute late to first period class, you are put on "in school detention" for 2 days.... on the other hand, if you miss first period with a parents permission, no problem. Basically, they are advocating absence.
ow one min late and 2 days detention that sounds tough,but then you may aswell miss the first period and ask Mom to write a note
Yup. That's about what it amounts to. This goes with it. We get a lot of snow. We have a 42 mile, one way commute to town/school. One real bad storm had the roads all jacked up and we arrived at the school right as the tardy bell rang. My son got detention.... here's the kicker. Buses were still unloading and none of those students got detention because "the roads were bad".
(The buses routes are within 10 miles of the school and those kids were excused, we live 42 miles away, beat some of the buses there and the bus kids got excused while my kid got punished....)
wow cant you and other parents put in a complaint.. sounds very unfair
Our school is pretty strict on tardies with the thought that a kid who just walks in late will bust a move so that parents aren't involved. I don't really have a problem with it. Teaches kids that being even one minute late is still late and that is a life lesson. Most parents will then make an effort to get to school on time as really, the last thing most moms want is their kids hanging out at the house in the moring. (as we moms do a happy wave as the bus pulls away . . . well, most do. I still stifle a tear as I'm overly attached.)
Considering the circumstances of any tardy we have (only time is like the story above) it is unfair. 30 kids walk in the school the same time my kid does and they are okay but my kid is marked as tardy?
We've complained.... it does no good. There are no absentee rules though. So, just miss 1st period and call it good. Dumb....
Brice, you have an odd school system. They have no rules on absences? We have rules on tardies and absenses and they are governed by the state I believe. Your story of your child arriving at the same time as the buses and him being the only one to get detention surprises me as that doesn't make any sense. That is different that a rule that you are tardy if you come in late (which wouldn't apply if road conditions made everyone late). That is treating your son differently than other kids just because he drove to school rather than road a bus. I do believe all kids should be held to the same standards.
in general though, rules on arriving to school on time should apply to everyone within reason. We don't have things like 42 mile drives to school or massive snow to contend with so most tardies in our area are the "couldn't get out of bed" type of tardies.
** that is different THAN a rule . . .
I would see that as unfair as well. That is different than teaching people to be on time.
Too many things are being taken to extremes.
Let kids be kids!!!
I couldn't agree more !
More details from another article
Parents of the kindergartener are seeking to fight the suspension, since their daughter did not have the bubble gun with her at the time the remark was made on Jan. 10. Their attorney, Robin Ficker of Bethesda, Md., said school district officials labeled the girl a "terrorist threat" after the incident, according to the Associated Press.
The kindergartener was waiting in the bus line with two friends when she made the remark about her pink bubble gun. The next day, officials at Mount Carmel Area Elementary School allegedly questioned the student for three hours about the incident without her parents' knowledge, local news outlet the Daily Item reports.
“This logic, which was not said in malice, came from the mind of this beautiful 5-year-old child who was playing with her friends, whom she hugs every day,” Ficker told the Daily Item. “And this shows how hysterical people who work at schools have become since Sandy Hook.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/kindergarten-suspension-pink-bubble-gun_n_2507017.html?utm_hp_ref=education
"5-year-old"--"school district officials labeled the girl a "terrorist threat"
LOL, SHE"S 5 and know considered TERRORIST THREAT over a Hello Kitty bubble gun
How absurd is that !!!!!!
It is becoming scary that teachers and school officials feel they may speak to children and question them without the parents knowledge , this is a concern. Iwonder if parents across America are removing all weapons from their children toy' cupboard...lest they be labelled Terrorist'
These are the times in which we live. I think its wonderful that these teachers are somehow qualified to identify a "terrorist threat" but cannot motivate children to be better students. Things have changed since I was in school or since my mother was a teacher.