Zero Tolerance

[Irish]

I run across news articles all the time concerning children and the issue of zero tolerance where it relates to firearms, especially in schools. I'll reserve my opinion for the moment and see where this thread goes, hopefully somewhere positive. Here are some examples listed below and I'll continue to post more as I come across them.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/04/crimesider/entry6173526.shtml


STATEN ISLAND, NY (CBS) Patrick Timoney brought a gun to school Tuesday and nearly got suspended for it. Sounds reasonable until you see the gun – a two-inch LEGO toy gun.

Photo: LEGO toy that almost got Patrick Timoney suspended.

9-year-old Patrick, a fourth grader at PS 52 in Staten Island, N.Y., says he brought some of his LEGOs to school to show his friends during lunch but when the principal saw that one of those toys was a gun she pulled him out of class and called his parents.

A spokesman for the city's Department of Education says that the principal, Evelyn Matroianni, was just following the “no tolerance” policy of not allowing any weapons on campus.

Timoney’s mother, Laura Timoney, thinks the school overreacted.

"This isn't a safety issue," she said. "This is a judgment issue. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? It could poke you in the eye?"

Laura Timoney said Patrick was in tears when she got to the school and even asked to stay home from school Wednesday because he was afraid the principal was mad at him.

The toy gun goes with a policeman figure and is his favorite because his father, Pat Timoney, is a retired police officer.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/2209/image6173680x.jpg (http://img189.imageshack.us/i/image6173680x.jpg/)

[Irish]

http://www.lawofficer.com/news-and-articles/news/2010/02/vancouver_swat_responds_to_cap_gun_at_school.html;jsessionid=4550A7341639999FEA47470FBC2E20DB


Vancouver SWAT Responds to Cap Gun at School
2010 Feb 3
VANCOUVER, Wash. - The initial 911 report from the Vancouver, Wash., elementary school was alarming: shots fired at a school playground. That had police and SWAT officers scrambling Tuesday morning _ only to find the weapon was a bright orange cap gun.

Police and school officials say a second-grade boy at Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School brought the gun and apparently pointed it at two 6-year-olds and fired it, discharging smoke.

The two students told a playground supervisor that another student had fired a gun at them - and the response took off from there. Police spokeswoman Kim Kapp says, "When you have that type of a call, there's no waiting."

A SWAT sweep and school evacuation began, but officials say students were back in class a half-hour later.

District spokeswoman Kris Sork says school officials met with the boy and his parents to determine possible punishment.

[Irish]

http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m2d9-Zero-Tolerance-stupidity-strikes-again-in-Portland


Evidently not to be outdone on the stupidity scale by their colleagues in Staten Island, NY, school officials in Portland, Oregon (the buffer zone between California and Washington) suspended an 8-year-old student because he found a 4-inch plastic toy gun in his pocket, showed it to a friend, and was reported by another kid.
KPTV in Portland first reported this story and it has been picked up nationally by Fox News.
The school principal reportedly “followed protocol” and suspended the youngster “after she determined the toy gun was a simulated weapon.”

School officials said the principal followed protocol after she determined the toy gun was a simulated weapon. According to district policy, punishment can range from suspension to expulsion.

Stories like this provide all the explanation necessary to people who wonder what has happened to public education in this country, and why students cannot seem to read or write, spell or communicate as well as their parents or grandparents were required to do when they went to school. Instead of wasting valuable time on such obviously worthless endeavors as penmanship, vocabulary, sentence structure, pronunciation, math, history and English, the people responsible for turning out the next generation of scholars concentrate on demonizing tiny pieces of molded plastic, merely because in their hoplophobic view of the world, these small items are “simulated weapons.”
What a pity we no longer use dunce caps. They would have to be sized to fit adults.
Portland used to be part of the Pacific Northwest, that rugged land explored by Lewis and Clark; a rich frontier that didn’t suffer fools. Witness “progress” as the “progressives” define it: the fools have taken charge.
The boy’s father, Aron Anderson, has appeared in a news broadcast and was quoted by KPTV observing, “There’s got to be some common sense that says, ‘I see what it is and there’s no reason to sound the alarm’.”

The region administrator for the school sent Anderson a letter that said the district intends to uphold the principal's decision.

This is the product of “zero tolerance,” which translates – as I have written previously – to zero intelligence. It is a policy that enables teachers and their bosses to avoid one of their greatest responsibilities: teaching common sense by exercising it.
Children learn by example. This week’s lesson in Portland: Hysteria 101.

[BiggLee71]

Irish, dont be "Alarmed" but I have a residence where that first article took place. I actually read the headline to a fellow forum member while I was speaking to him on the phone. We were both flabergasted to say the least.

I say the good citizens of this great country should have "ZERO TOLERANCE" for our wonderful gov't's zero tolerance policies. How dare these ****ers stand up there looking down on us preaching "zero tolerance" while they do whatever they want with impunity. Sickening. The Founding Fathers would be rolling in their graves.

Did you guys ever hear the story of Benjamin Franklin walking down the street? ( guys,this isn't a joke!!). A woman stopped Mr. Franklin and asked him something to the effect of " What have you given us? " Mr. Franklin answered " A Republic, if you can keep it ".

Gents, we are slowly losing our Republic. Meanwhile...100 million people watched the Superbowl:confused:. If half as many people cared about the sad, current state of our Republic as the Superbowl, maybe our country would be alright.

[msr]

This was discussed earlier. More info;
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=46471

[Spiffums]

Irish, dont be "Alarmed" but I have a residence where that first article took place. I actually read the headline to a fellow forum member while I was speaking to him on the phone. We were both flabergasted to say the least.

I say the good citizens of this great country should have "ZERO TOLERANCE" for our wonderful gov't's zero tolerance policies. How dare these ****ers stand up there looking down on us preaching "zero tolerance" while they do whatever they want with impunity. Sickening. The Founding Fathers would be rolling in their graves.

Did you guys ever hear the story of Benjamin Franklin walking down the street? ( guys,this isn't a joke!!). A woman stopped Mr. Franklin and asked him something to the effect of " What have you given us? " Mr. Franklin answered " A Republic, if you can keep it ".

Gents, we are slowly losing our Republic. Meanwhile...100 million people watched the Superbowl:confused:. If half as many people cared about the sad, current state of our Republic as the Superbowl, maybe our country would be alright.

Maybe we can get someone like Peyton to run .gov. He seems to have done good with the Colts.

[Volucris]

What's comical is that I remember bringing knives, toy guns, and other stuff to school when I was younger. Hell I remember watergun fights between staff and students that would dominate the front lobby from time to time. Then out of nowhere Columbine happened and those shooters pulled off probably the greatest shooting ever solely because of the knee jerk reaction they incited. The lives they ended is comparable to the amount of people they've tormented with this zero tolerance crap.

[montanadave]

Unfortunately, this issue cuts both ways. Here's an article from my local morning news:

Boys arrested, suspended after pellet gun incident

Gazette Staff | Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 11:45 pm

Three boys from Newman Elementary were suspended from school and arrested Tuesday on suspicion of assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon on school property. The three were walking from school to the Boys & Girls Club in Billings on Monday afternoon when one of the boys, a 10-year-old, allegedly shot an 11-year-old girl in the right corner of the mouth with a pellet gun, said Billings Police Sgt. Neil Lawrence.

The shot bloodied the girl’s mouth, but did no serious injury, he said. The victim’s mother posted a note on her Facebook page Tuesday evening about the incident, which drew the police’s attention. The 10-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday and cited on suspicion of assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon on school property.
An 11-year-old boy with him was arrested on suspicion of possession of a weapon on school property and a second 10-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of assault with a weapon by accountability and possession of a weapon on school property. Each was cited with a notice to appear in youth court.

When school officials learned of the incident, the boys were disciplined by the district.
“The boys have all been suspended from school,” said Superintendent Jack Copps.

[chadbag]

from the Staten Island quote:


Evelyn Matroianni, was just following the “no tolerance” policy of not allowing any weapons on campus.

I have news for them. A 2 inch lego gun is not a weapon. So they fail in even knowing what weapons are.

I wonder if they will suspend people for using pencils. A sharpened pencil is a more dangerous weapon.

[RancidSumo]

Zero tolerance is a bull shit policy. I have a friend that was suspended this week because he had a pocket knife on a school trip and used it to open his lunch. There is no reason why this shit happens especially when I could do far more damage with the pen I have in my pocket every day than he could have done with a little pocket knife.

[BAC]

Schools have quite a bit of discretion with "zero tolerance" policies. I've had a pocket knife clipped at my right front pocket all through middle school, both high schools, and both colleges I've attended. It's never been hidden, and has occasionally been used and even borrowed by other students and school/college faculty for use (opening boxes and packages, cutting rope, normal everyday uses).

eguns-com is correct, though; that two inch plastic LEGO is not a weapon, even if it's shaped like one. It is NYC, though.


-B

[awm14hp]

This one would have really set them off then and prob got a year out of school I am thinking of buying a few just cause they are SO EVIL

http://www.minifigforlife.com/theprostore/main.php?P=product&pid=C000236&T=Combat

[GermanSynergy]

Too bad we can't have a Zero Tolerance policy for liberal psychos...

[Safetyhit]

I have news for them. A 2 inch lego gun is not a weapon. So they fail in even knowing what weapons are.


No shit. This and the current security thread are both like something out of a really bad movie.

[xfyrfiter]

ZERO TOLERANCE for f---ing idiot school boards, administrators,and teachers that can't teach Johnny to read and write. Our liberal litigenous society is to blame. Parents don't discipline or teach at home and won't allow schools to either ,all because "aww my little Johnny or Jane wouldn't do anything like that" ,is their thinking. Dr. Spock and child rearing techniques should be banned.