Health & Fitness
Pop-Tart Guns and School Suspensions; Have Schools Crossed The Line?
How far is too far? Are educational institutions so very afraid of another Sandy Hook scenario that they have lost sight of what is protected 1st Amendment speech, and what is not? Would these actions hold up in court if the offending student's paren
This kid was suspended and forced to undergo a psychiatric evaluation for twirling a pencil in his hand. The student sitting behind him shouted that he was making gun gestures, and “send him to juvie!”. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUxHIYkp20g
This kid was suspended for merely pointing his fingers like a gun. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUxHIYkp20g
This kid was suspended merely for wearing an NRA tee shirt. See http://bcove.me/6stn8xvl
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This kid was suspended for bringing a butter knife to school, to cut her pear during lunch. See http://www.myfoxboston.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8721399
This kid was suspended for allegedly chewing his pop tart into the shape of a gun. See http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/arundel_digest/lawyer-anne-arundel-schools-stand-by-suspension-of-student-who/article_f39c8bb5-3a6f-5dd3-9b5b-4beb9d027121.html
Find out what's happening in St. Charleswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
How far is too far? Are educational institutions so very afraid of another Sandy Hook scenario that they have lost sight of what is protected 1st Amendment speech, and what is not? Would these actions hold up in court if the offending student’s parents sued?
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, do these “Zero Tolerance Policies” have any common sense behind them? Do you, as parents feel any safer at all knowing schools behave this way? If not, how do we restore common sense to institutions that have lost sight of the boundary between protecting free speech and (allegedly) protecting students?