Second-grade Loveland student reportedly suspended for imaginary weapon

[zulater]

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingne...aginary-weapon

LOVELAND -- A 7-year-old Mary Blair Elementary School student says he's confused about getting in trouble for trying to save the world from evil, though Thompson School District officials contend that the boy broke one of the school's “absolutes.”

Parent Mandie Watkins said Mary Blair principal Valerie Lara-Black called her Friday afternoon to inform her that her second-grade son, Alex, had been suspended for throwing an imaginary grenade during recess on the playground.

Alex did not have anything in his hand at the time and made no threats toward other people, Watkins reportedly was told.

Watkins said Alex's story matched up with the principal's account: He threw the pretend grenade at an imaginary box that had something evil inside.

He was going to save the earth this way, and when he threw the grenade he pretended that the box exploded, in apparent success.

“He is very confused,” Watkins told the Reporter-Herald on Tuesday. “I'm confused as well, so it makes it hard for me to enforce these rules when I don't even understand them.”

The rules are laid out by Mary Blair Elementary School in a list of “absolutes” that are posted on the school's website and are aimed at making Mary Blair a safe environment.

Included in those absolutes are no physical abuse or fighting – real or play – and the no-weapons absolute also covers real or play weapons.

District policy does not prohibit imaginary weapons, but Superintendent Stan Scheer said individual schools are permitted to add enhancements to the general student code of conduct.




This just pisses me off so much. I would love to take these school administrators out to some island in the middle of nowhere and leave them there for good, where they could do no more to erode our society!

[fansince'76]

The only thing that surprises me is that it didn't happen in Boulder. This is much more their speed. A ferinstance:

Boulder residents mourn Mapleton elk at candlelight vigil

[NJarhead]

Un-fricken-believeable.

[Mach1]

You can also be suspended for pictures of guns.

High school student suspended for picture of gun on laptop

Daniel McClaine Jr., a freshman at Poston Butte High School in Florence, Az., said he was suspended from high school for having a picture of a gun on his school-issued laptop, Bryan Preston reported at PJ Media Monday.

http://www.examiner.com/article/high...-gun-on-laptop

- - - Updated - - -

The only thing that surprises me is that it didn't happen in Boulder. This is much more their speed. A ferinstance:

Boulder residents mourn Mapleton elk at candlelight vigil

I seen that. Then I went into my freezer and pulled out some elk steak for dinner in mourning.

[Craic]

I'm all for zero-tolerance . . . of REAL threats. A student brings a gun to school? A student makes a real threat? Yeah, zero tolerance.

This however, should be filed in the zero-intelligence bin.

[mark0933]

How about we start to give teachers imaginary paycheques, see if they get the point.

[Craic]

How about we start to give teachers imaginary paycheques, see if they get the point.

Most of them would complain that they already get imaginary paychecks, nevermind that starting out, most of them already make the average household salary of the state they live in.

BTW ya canuck . . . it's paychecks! oh, and welcome to the board.

[salamander]

God bless America.

[mark0933]

Here in Ontario our teachers are overpaid and are still not living in the real world. Sure we don't have the gun issues you guys do, but our educators are just as confused and irrational. We parents and the students are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Government is trying to take away teachers right to strike and teachers are protesting by a work to rule campaign trying to say they are doing it for the futures of the students...BS in my opinion.

The irony in all this is that there are major pushes in our school systems for zero tolerance for bullying (verbal, physical or cyber) yet the teachers fail to see that they are trying to bully students and parents to agree with their stance (wildfire rotating day strikes, no extra-curriculars, etc).

I wish common sense was a lot more common

Mark

PS - thanks for the welcome, I've only been here for 2 1/2 years (and I'm a Brit, not a Canuck) :P

[Craic]

Here in Ontario our teachers are overpaid and are still not living in the real world. Sure we don't have the gun issues you guys do, but our educators are just as confused and irrational. We parents and the students are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Government is trying to take away teachers right to strike and teachers are protesting by a work to rule campaign trying to say they are doing it for the futures of the students...BS in my opinion.

The irony in all this is that there are major pushes in our school systems for zero tolerance for bullying (verbal, physical or cyber) yet the teachers fail to see that they are trying to bully students and parents to agree with their stance (wildfire rotating day strikes, no extra-curriculars, etc).

I wish common sense was a lot more common

Mark

PS - thanks for the welcome, I've only been here for 2 1/2 years (and I'm a Brit, not a Canuck) :P

Ahh, just saw the post count and figured you've just been around a while. As for being a Brit or a Canuck - you know us rebel colonials can't tell the difference.

[steeldawg]

LOL, I would of loved to heard the conversation with the mother. Your child has been suspended for imaginary grenade, He should of tried to reason with the evil box to see if a peacful world saving agreement could be reached before resorting to imaginary grenades. The child is far to dangerous, what if other children were hit by imaginary shrapnel this type of violence will not be tolerated here at loveland.

[zulater]

LOL, I would of loved to heard the conversation with the mother. Your child has been suspended for imaginary grenade, He should of tried to reason with the evil box to see if a peacful world saving agreement could be reached before resorting to imaginary grenades. The child is far to dangerous, what if other children were hit by imaginary shrapnel this type of violence will not be tolerated here at loveland.

Kid should have just called in for an imaginary drone strike and everything would have been fine.

[X-Terminator]

We're doomed, folks. We may as well admit it. Paranoia and political correctness is going to kill this country. When the fuck are we going to start letting kids be kids again?

[43Hitman]

We're doomed, folks. We may as well admit it. Paranoia and political correctness is going to kill this country. When the fuck are we going to start letting kids be kids again?

Those days are long gone X. Heh, they won't even let the kids pick their own teams for kick-ball and when they do play, they are not allowed to play with outs. In other words, everyone gets a free kick and gets to run the bases. They just switch sides after each player gets a turn at kicking. Oh yeah, and no score keeping either. It drives my son crazy because he is uber competitive, just like I raised him to be.

[fansince'76]

Heh, they won't even let the kids pick their own teams for kick-ball and when they do play, they are not allowed to play with outs.

[43Hitman]

exactly

[Dwinsgames]

sounds to me like these " Education Professionals " need to be expelled for lacking a brain ....

what ever happened to COMMON SENSE ??????

[43Hitman]

sounds to me like these " Education Professionals " need to be expelled for lacking a brain ....

what ever happened to COMMON SENSE ??????

It got replaced with Political Correctness.

[Hindes204]

Hmm...I'm not sure folks, read the follow up story. Now I'm not saying the mother is lying, but her credibility has to be questioned due to her criminal background (including forgery and giving false statements). The fact that she inserted herself into multiple news stories in the past doesn't help either.



7NEWS also found that Watkins has repeatedly appeared at the center of news stories in recent years and she has a lengthy criminal history that raises questions about her credibility.

Thompson School District spokesman Michael Hausmann said the district normally doesn't comment publicly about student discipline. "In this case, however, the parent of the student has chosen to make this a public issue, and because there appears to be a great deal of misinformation in the media about this matter, we feel compelled to respond."

A teacher saw Watkins' son, a second-grader, throwing real rocks at other children on the playground on Feb. 1, Hausmann said in an email. "Following a discussion with the student and his mother, the principal imposed a two-hour in-school suspension as a consequence for the student’s behavior. The student was never removed from school grounds by the district."

7NEWS' Sablan asked Watkins on Friday about her account that her son was throwing an "imaginary grenade," when the district says he threw rocks at other students.

Watkins insisted it was the school principal who said her son "had been suspended for throwing an imaginary grenade."

"There was an imaginary grenade," the mother continued. "He was throwing an imaginary grenade and that's why I (publicly) clarified and said, 'did he have anything in his hand?'"

Sablan asked if district officials are lying about the rock throwing?

"Yes, absolutely," Watkins replied. "It's not true at all."

Yet, Amanda Lorraine Watkins has several criminal convictions -- for attempted arson, theft and forgery -- that cast doubt on her own credibility.

She also has inserted herself at the center of four news stories in the past six years.

In 2009, Watkins claimed the family dog saved her and her children from dying when their Greeley house caught fire as they slept. She said the pooch kept whining and licking Watkins face and pawing her bed to wake her up.

Yet, Watkins was later charged with felony arson and six other counts in the house fire, according to court records. Two counts were for child abuse, because her children were potentially endangered during the fire. The mother and her children were treated at a hospital for possible smoke inhalation.

Ultimately, Watkins pleaded guilty to false reporting/fake crime and the other charges were dismissed. She was sentenced to 153 days in jail, court records said.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...ds-credibility