Texas Boy Suspended For "Threatening" Classmate With the One Ring 591
An anonymous reader writes Nine-year-old Aiden Steward has been suspended by officials at a Texas school after he allegedly threatened to use his magic ring to make another boy disappear. His father says the family had watched The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies last weekend. His son brought a ring to class and told another boy his magic ring could make the boy disappear. "I assure you my son lacks the magical powers necessary to threaten his friend's existence," Aiden's father wrote in an email. "If he did, I'm sure he'd bring him right back." Principal Roxanne Greer declined to comment on the school's zero tolerance policy on magic rings. It may seem easy to make fun of Principal Greer in this case, but it does make one wonder how many elves could have been saved if someone took a hard line with a young Sauron.
Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Informative)
and, is this policy thing working out for you?
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Insightful)
More like "zero intelligence" policy.
lessons in incompetence (Score:5, Insightful)
It's part of the "teaching incompetence and government absurdity" in the classroom program. Best the kids learn early that rational thought and reason does not exist if the words threat, school, sex, gay, religion, race, and more are used in a sentence.
Re:lessons in incompetence (Score:4, Funny)
Best the kids learn early that rational thought and reason does not exist ...
Indeed. How does it make any sense to punish misbehavior with a three day vacation spent watching TV while falling further behind academically? At my kids' school, they punish misbehavior with detention and extra work, which seems to be effective since they have had NO students disappear due to magic spells.
Then this kid is way ahead already... (Score:5, Informative)
Best the kids learn early that rational thought and reason does not exist if the words threat, school, sex, gay, religion, race, and more are used in a sentence.
From TFA:
He's already been suspended three times this school year.
Two of the disciplinary actions this year were in-school suspensions for referring to a classmate as black and bringing his favorite book to school: "The Big Book of Knowledge."
"He loves that book. They were studying the solar system and he took it to school. He thought his teacher would be impressed," Steward said.
But the teacher learned the popular children's encyclopedia had a section on pregnancy, depicting a pregnant woman in an illustration, he explained.
Re:Then this kid is way ahead already... (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, I wondered if there could be more to this story, like the concern was not the actual threat so much at the intent behind it. (Like, it wasn't any concerns over the "magic" angle, but that the threat was rooted in an actual desire to cause harm. Then I read this in your comment:
...the disciplinary actions this year were in-school suspensions for... bringing his favorite book to school... depicting a pregnant woman in an illustration...
Yup, that tells me everything right there. They are nuts. Remind me never to go anywhere near this school system, ever.
Re:Then this kid is way ahead already... (Score:4, Insightful)
Best the kids learn early that rational thought and reason does not exist if the words threat, school, sex, gay, religion, race, and more are used in a sentence.
From TFA:
He's already been suspended three times this school year. Two of the disciplinary actions this year were in-school suspensions for referring to a classmate as black and bringing his favorite book to school: "The Big Book of Knowledge."
"He loves that book. They were studying the solar system and he took it to school. He thought his teacher would be impressed," Steward said.
But the teacher learned the popular children's encyclopedia had a section on pregnancy, depicting a pregnant woman in an illustration, he explained.
Knowledge. You know that shit can be dangerous in a classroom. We should probably suspend anyone who brings such educational porn in from the local bookstore...
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But the teacher learned the popular children's encyclopedia had a section on pregnancy, depicting a pregnant woman in an illustration, he explained.
hang on, don't teachers usually already know about pregnancy and all that adult type stuff? this teacher just learned about it NOW?
maybe the kids should be teaching class...
Re: (Score:3)
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The current school system is, in fact, a massive, well-documented, openly discussed at the time "conspiracy" to train kids to be good little manufacturing workers, with learning as a secondary goal. This wasn't evil at the time: manufacturing jobs were great jobs, once, long ago. But we need engineers now, and those are the great jobs, and the whole system actively discourages the curiosity and exploration and skepticism of authority needed to develop the engineering mindset.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:4, Insightful)
Nah, this is common all over the country now. Today's school system is way too much like washington dc, they don't want to be held accountable for anything, so they silence everything. They're also way too interested in pushing certain political viewpoints on the kids.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no excuse for this kind of idiocy. When something is obviously not a threat to then treat it like one shows that the principal is an idiot. She should have confiscated the ring and told the kid to go back to class and behave. Actually a teacher should have handled it. How it ever got to the level it did is mind boggling. I know this kind of behavior goes on all the time because kids are kids. Most teachers and principals would have handled this without all the fuss, this time it was an idiot. Unfortunately you can't filter them all out, sometimes a few get through. They should fire her immediately and replace her with someone with some sense.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Funny)
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:4, Insightful)
There is no excuse for this kind of idiocy. When something is obviously not a threat to then treat it like one shows that the principal is an idiot. She should have confiscated the ring and told the kid to go back to class and behave. Actually a teacher should have handled it. How it ever got to the level it did is mind boggling. I know this kind of behavior goes on all the time because kids are kids. Most teachers and principals would have handled this without all the fuss, this time it was an idiot. Unfortunately you can't filter them all out, sometimes a few get through. They should fire her immediately and replace her with someone with some sense.
Most teacher I know often handle this in class but once it gets noticed outside of class there is no longer a option of using common sense. If one kid gets a hand slap and another a more serious punishment then the school is open to a lawsuit; and if the kid escalates into more serious actions then the school and teacher are in trouble as well. Yes, this is a stupid case and I wish we didn't have these dumb zero tolerance positions but we do. It's easier on the administration of a school and politicians get to say they are taking a tough stance on XYZ and as a result stupid outcomes happen. Welcome to the new reality where judgement is bad and having punishments fit the circumstances is a distant memory.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no excuse for this kind of idiocy. When something is obviously not a threat to then treat it like one shows that the principal is an idiot. She should have confiscated the ring and told the kid to go back to class and behave. Actually a teacher should have handled it. How it ever got to the level it did is mind boggling. I know this kind of behavior goes on all the time because kids are kids. Most teachers and principals would have handled this without all the fuss, this time it was an idiot. Unfortunately you can't filter them all out, sometimes a few get through. They should fire her immediately and replace her with someone with some sense.
Should you fire the person that is likely legally bound to make a very nonsensical call?
Or should you perhaps do the right thing instead, and call into question why yet again the threat of legal liability is turning humans into robots.
Tell me, at what point will the middle finger be considered not just grounds for expulsion, but an Act of Terrorism?
Don't laugh, we're well on our way, thanks to the wrong kind of thinking.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:4, Informative)
Should you fire the person that is likely legally bound to make a very nonsensical call?
No. You should fire the person who is legally bound to respond to credible threats, but who doesn't have any fucking sense about what is obviously a completely non-credible threat.
Similar thing in CO a few years back, where administrators are required to deal with students who bring weapons onto campus, and/or students who use even fake weapons to threaten other students. But somehow an administrator thought that a marching band member's wooden rifle sitting in an unoccupied locked car qualified...
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What if the policy actually requires them to treat all threats as credible, no matter how ridiculous?
And if they don't follow the policy to the letter, they get fired?
I don't know if this is the case, but it is possible that the stupidity is coming from a higher level.
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Again, you're applying common sense to the situation. You can't do that. This is a governmental agency with written policies, which must be adhered to. If the policies are stupidly written, and enforced at the highest levels, this is what we'll get.
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Should you fire the person that is likely legally bound to make a very nonsensical call?
No. You should fire the person who is legally bound to respond to credible threats, but who doesn't have any fucking sense about what is obviously a completely non-credible threat.
Similar thing in CO a few years back, where administrators are required to deal with students who bring weapons onto campus, and/or students who use even fake weapons to threaten other students. But somehow an administrator thought that a marching band member's wooden rifle sitting in an unoccupied locked car qualified...
I'm glad you used the word "qualified" here, because I have a far easier time that these scenarios qualified for the idiocy around zero tolerance policies than I do believing we actually have trained monkeys running schools.
Yes, there are some obvious cases of bad interpretation here, but that is EXACTLY what a ZERO tolerance policy is designed to eliminate, so we probably shouldn't act so surprised when the foolproof trap designed to be foolproof did its job with even a fool in charge.
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Let me give you a real world example to clarify the problems school administrators face. About 3 years ago a teenager girl going to the same high school as my kids was killed by someone she had accused of sexual assault. He was out on bail with a trial pending and she just started attending the high school the same week. The administrators didn't know the situation at all, nor did the local police dept. as all of this happened in another city. She was abducted on school grounds just after school had let
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Insightful)
'violence problems' are a red herring.
all indications are that crime has GONE DOWN over the decades, not up!
and if you're worried about your little snowflake, chances are that its someone you know that may abduct him or her, not some 'stranger danger' guy.
stop being afraid of goddamned shadows. living in fear is no way to live. man up, dammit.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:4, Insightful)
It seems like now that actual violent crime is dropping we have to invent new problems. It's like a solution in search of a problem.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:4, Funny)
I think we must consider the possibility that the teacher actually believed the kid could make people disappear with his ring. This is Texas after all. Devil-Worship is breaking out and this principal decided to put a stop to it. Good for her, now if she could only use her talents on a state-wide level. Come to think of it, maybe she could politely ask to use the little boy's ring.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Funny)
Come to think of it, maybe she could politely ask to use the little boy's ring.
Bad idea. She would use this ring from a desire to do good... But through her, it would wield a power too great and terrible to imagine.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Funny)
"Young man, give me that ring."
"Ooooh... its so pretty. I could do great things with this ring. No... no... it's better if we just destroy it."
"I have passed the test. I shall diminish and gain tenure."
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and me without my mod points...
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:4, Insightful)
If you read the article, the kid already has a suspension on file for daring to bring [The Big Book of Knowledge] to school.
Elementary school is no place for Knowledge, young man.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:4, Interesting)
Take a stand, have a moral compass, do the right thing, not the easy thing. "Just following orders" when herding the children into camps is not behavior anyone would consider laudable.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Insightful)
I love people who take pot shots and don't know what the fuck they're talking about. All school districts are taking tougher stances on punishment and more and more districts across the country are adopting zero tolerance policies. Is it draconian? yes, but when you have inattentive parents who don't take the time to explain right from wrong or turn a blind eye to the kids' activities this is what you get. This is clearly one that the schools administration could deal with but their hands are probably tied by district policy. Schools need to get back to the job of teaching and inspiring our youth, not being extensions of a detention system. That means that parents, you know the ones that actually bring these kids into the world, need to get involved with their kids and start by doing some teaching at home.
While I agree wholeheartedly with what you say there is another reason for such policies:
By mandating certain actions the school's administration is not required to make judgement calls that could be second guessed by the district or the courts. This way, they can fall back on the "district policy" argument to protect themselves. Before someone Goodwin's this thread with the "I was just following orders" argument with the current willingness of many parents to sue at the drop of a hat zero tolerance is a better defense than judgement call.
Yes, it leads to stupid results and is really a bad idea but until parents step up we'll see more and more of this.
It is NOT draconian. (Score:4, Funny)
Is it draconian?
That's a common misconception.
Bilbo only uses the ring to fool the dragon, the ring was not made or previously owned by said dragon.
It was actually Sauron who forged the ring, as it was explained already in Lord of the Rings.
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Schools need to get back to the job of teaching and inspiring our youth...
LOL! Can you imagine such a thing?
They already are. Just today I was inspired to place my hand on my forehead and sigh.
Reading the full article inspired me to try something I had never done before and now, thanks to the brave folks at Kermit Elementary School, I know that I can do an Olympic Double Face Palm.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Insightful)
I would take a certain pleasure in seeing a massive doxxing campaign against principals and other officials on state payrolls who make such stupid decisions and hide behind bad policy.
Agree the story sounds bizzare, but if an angry mob of mouth breathers is your idea of natural justice then I for one am glad you are not a public servant or an educator.
Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Interesting)
Since you bring race into it, there is a journalist I heard on NPR who studied black crime and police. The problem has little to do with white folks in the communities she worked with. Most black crime is black on black. The families living in these areas would much prefer more police protection. However, the police don't have the street level view of the crimes that are being committed. Nor can they protect witnesses very well when the witnesses live with the perps. The witnesses are intimidated into shutting up. The police, not being able to get inside information, wind up cracking down on the crimes they can see in the hopes of putting at least some of the perps behind bars. That leaves the black community feeling the police are only arbitrarily enforcing petty crimes and some how don't want to arrest the real perps.
That said, the police depts have their own internal problems. At least in parts of L.A., there are different units assigned to murders than to gang activity and the two do not communicate very well. Police depts. need to be reorganized to streamline communication, but communities must also rat out the perps in their midst. As long as the communities do not feel like police can protect them against retribution, that won't happen.
You can see a microcosm of this playing out in the prisons. These are captive populations with plenty of cops, yet inside the inmates run their own justice system and the cops cannot protect inmates from retribution. When the society gets that evil, it is very difficult to fix.
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Take away the ring, and what dose "I'm going to make you disappear" mean? It could mean he was threatening to kill him.
Did he mean it that way? Not likely, but a school can't take that chance.
It gets even scarier. Another kid said "Excuse me, may I go to the washroom please?" to his teacher.
He may have really wanted to go into the hallway to set off an atomic bomb he had stashed in his backpack, destroying the entire city. If only this bill had been passed [state.tx.us] the brave teacher would have been allowed to use deadly force to protect global freedom. Instead, all they could do was expel the terrorist in training.
You just can't take any chances at all.
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No, a threat is a threat. If I threaten to make you disappear, and you don't feel that I'm joking, you won't care whether I added "by using magic" as how I would do it.
This. If I put my hand in my pocket, point my finger, and tell you I have got a gun, it's still a crime. The fact that this is a child only points out that we have billion dollar industries designed to create belief in the metaphysical in children. Harry Potter, Tolkein, Twilight, etc. And billion dollar industries taking fiction and turning it into reality. (I have a watch that has a more powerful computer in it than were imagined when I was born. RPi 2 is a quad-core A7 with 1 Gig RAM for $35! I can get
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No, a threat is a threat. If I threaten to make you disappear, and you don't feel that I'm joking, you won't care whether I added "by using magic" as how I would do it.
I'm gonna make you think really hard about how stupid that sounds... by using magic.
Re:Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score:5, Funny)
When Rings of Power are outlawed, only outlaws will have Rings of Power.
This is Texas! (Score:5, Funny)
The reason why he got expelled was because he didn't bring a gun to class. And in turn he started spouting some non-christian magic mumbo jumbo.
Re: This is Texas! (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: This is Texas! (Score:5, Funny)
Blindness by invisibility is only a problem when using SCIENCE.
Magical invisibility causes no such issues.
Re:This is Texas! (Score:5, Funny)
"And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger." - Chronicles 33:6
I don't understand why they let the boy go. He should have been executed for wizardry.
Or whatever means of punishment they use in Texas.
Oh, wait. It IS execution. Now it makes even less sense.
Re:This is Texas! (Score:5, Insightful)
Suspending a kid because he has a book that talks about pregnancy isn't much above the "unga bunga" stage when it comes to education.
There is no way I'd have a child in that school after THAT incident. None at all.
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This is why my partner and I make sacrifices in order to send our child to a private school.
To which deity and/or demon? And does he/she/it demand living things or only objects or food?
Re:This is Texas! (Score:5, Informative)
The kid is a serial offender. Previously disciplined for referring to another kid as "black", and for bringing a book to school depicting pregnancy.
If they don't do something, what next? He might bring in a book on evolution.
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He might bring in a book on evolution.
He might give a lecture... or even worse...... participate in a debate in which he disagrees with a prominent elected government official.
Re:This is Texas! (Score:5, Insightful)
I thought you were joking. But that's really what he's been suspend for the previous two times.
That's insanity...
Re:This is Texas! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's kind of mind-boggling, isn't it?
This tells me the principal at this school is quite possibly a complete fucking moron who is too stupid to hold this job.
For pretending he'd use his magic powers he gets suspended? Amazing.
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It's kind of mind-boggling, isn't it?
This tells me the principal at this school is quite possibly a complete fucking moron who is too stupid to hold this job.
For pretending he'd use his magic powers he gets suspended? Amazing.
Imagine what this principal would do if God truely existed and Jezus went to this school, threatening to turn water into wine and such.
Re:This is Texas! (Score:4, Funny)
This has been going on for some time now:
"In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then He made School Boards." -- Mark Twain in 1897
Re:This is Texas! (Score:4)
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Left wing comes in whenever race is involved. Calling someone "Black" is a racial slur in some places, right up with the N word. Funniest thing I ever saw was someone calling a black guy from Britain who had never been to America (or Africa) an "African American". The liberal outrage when I pointed it out to them was almost as funny.
Re:This is Texas! (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, do you have anything to back that up, or is it just the wild-ass speculation it sounds like?
I would not be surprised if you were talking completely out of your ass with neither facts nor evidence to back it up. I might not even be surprised if you beat your wife and children. I might not be surprised if you killed and tortured animals.
In this case, "I would not be surprised" is code for "I''m going to make unfounded bullshit speculation and insinuate there is a basis for it other than I felt like making shit up".
Re:This is Texas! (Score:4, Interesting)
First, I'd like to point out we're hearing a third-hand rendition of what happened in each case. The kid told his parents told the media why he got suspended.
Black isn't a racial slur. The name of the race on the US Census is "Black or African American". The only way it could possibly be okay to suspend him is if he repeatedly and with intent to harass called someone who didn't like being called black, black. Did this happen, or is some teacher using her power to engage in a personal vendetta against a word she doesn't like but is generally considered acceptable? I don't know. Like I said, we know one side of the story.
Maybe, in this most recent case, the kid actually, for fun, tormented a superstitious classmate into thinking he was really in danger of being exiled from existence due to black magic.
TLDR: Many kids are assholes. Many teachers are assholes. Parents will never admit, due to myopia, that their kids are assholes. Schools will never admit, for legal and union reasons, that their teachers are assholes. Who was an asshole here? We'll never know. But I do assure, someone was.
Re:This is Texas! (Score:5, Funny)
what next? He might bring in a book on evolution.
Don't be silly. This is Texas; simple behaviour cannot turn into more complex behaviour without divine intervention.
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Hang on, did I miss a memo? What's wrong with using the term black? What's the acceptable epithet? (oh, and just an advanced "Fuck off" to any racists with 'hilarious' replies).
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"Randal Graves: Well, I still don't think that porch monkey should be considered a racial term. I've always used it to describe lazy people, not lazy black people. I think if we really tried, we could take back porch monkey and save it."
Other possibilities.... (Score:2)
Where he went wrong (Score:4, Interesting)
Seeing that this is Texas he should have just said that "God will strike down the unbeliever" and left it at that.
I'd love to see this zero tolerance policy come up against religious freedom.
OMFG .. I just read TFA (Score:5, Informative)
yeah I know that reading the TFA helps. But this little gem says it all - this kid is a huge trouble maker and has been suspended before. Look at the crap he has pulled:
Two of the disciplinary actions this year were in-school suspensions for referring to a classmate as black and bringing his favorite book to school: "The Big Book of Knowledge."
“He loves that book. They were studying the solar system and he took it to school. He thought his teacher would be impressed,” Steward said.
But the teacher learned the popular children’s encyclopedia had a section on pregnancy, depicting a pregnant woman in an illustration, he explained.
Re:OMFG .. I just read TFA (Score:5, Funny)
Here in Europe everybody would have laughed their pants off.
Assuming their pants were on in the first place.
Zero Tolerance Vs. Common Sense. The Showdown (Score:3)
"It may seem easy to make fun of Principal Greer in this case, but it does make one wonder how many elves could have been saved if someone took a hard line with a young Sauron."
Ironically, his level of ignorance has triggered my zero tolerance for morons in powerful positions. Particularly those responsible for education.
Just once, just one damn time I'd like to see Common F. Sense kick the living shit out of Zero Tolerance.
Once again, we watch the fear of litigation create handcuffs and cause cranial-rectal inversion. Damn that shit gets old.
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Oh, it's probably happened, the news industry is just to embarrassed to admit that "administrator not a complete idiot" actually qualifies as news. They have to make their audience feel good about themselves after all.
Should be obvious (Score:2, Insightful)
... Another case that proves the old saying - "Zero Tolerance Policy" means "Zero Intelligence Policy"
Hard line with young Sauron. (Score:5, Funny)
Since Sauron is a Maia, he predates what we know as "creation".
So the answer to this is probably "no".
As always, Eru Illuvatar did not make himself available for comment.
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Just when I thought you could not get more geeky than the punchline to this story, you, my dear ''Chas'', prove me wrong.
Thank you, kind Sir, you made my day. I am still wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.
Further down in the article... (Score:2)
He got suspended earlier for bringing a children's encyclopedia, "The Big Book of Knowledge," which had a section on pregnancy.
Re:Further down in the article... (Score:5, Interesting)
One of my sons was expelled from the highschool the day after the Columbine shootings because had previously owned a trench coat that he had out grown and hadn't owned for nearly a year. The expulsion only lasted half a day before someone came to our house and apologized as the principal had over stepped his authority when he expelled every student that had ever worn a trench coat to school. That was also his last year as principal.
He was also suspended for wearing a pentacle by a vice principal wearing great big honking cross. After a lengthy explanation about religious symbols used as gang signs from her I simply told her she's not suspending him and will never mention it again unless she intends to suspends every person wearing a cross. She started to try and convince me that was different and I cut her off and cautioned her that there wasn't any argument she could give that wouldn't make me want to see her fired.
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Wow. No indoctrination going on THERE.
Stewards of Gondor (Score:2)
I think the boy was merely trying to show "show his quality"
Not the school name that I expected ... (Score:3)
TFA says that the school is called ''Kermit Elementary School'', I was expecting the name ''Hogwarts'' - silly me!
Re:Not the school name that I expected ... (Score:4, Interesting)
So I guess it's appropriate that the principal is a muppet.
Thank you, school monopoly... (Score:2, Offtopic)
If a moron at a local pizzeria causes you grief, you'll simply order from a different restaurant next time. But there is no such choice in the single most important sphere of all: the children education. And TFA is just one little example of it.
Since 1960-ies the per-pupil annual cost of public schools quadrupled (inflation-adjusted) [ed.gov], while the quality of education remains the same (if it has not gotten worse). What other industry could get away with such a thing?
Comment removed (Score:3)
Here we go again (Score:4, Insightful)
There is something seriously wrong with this principle. I do not know if is something that needs counseling, or psych-drugs, or whether she is mentally challenged, or merely power mad, and enjoys exerting it over little children, but no, childplay should never be punished like that. I don't think she should be allowed to be around children.
Texans can't separate fantasy and reality (Score:3)
Extraordinary Claims (Score:3)
Re:its not about the ring, its just a lesson. (Score:5, Funny)
the school is teaching the kid that threats have consequences.
What's the consequence of threatening boys with suspension for imaginary witchcraft?
imaginary witchcraft is ok (Score:2)
it's not imaginary witchcraft that is the problem. I hear belief in Jesus, his witchcraft, and that of his people is encouraged. Just not Lord of the Rings witchcraft.
Re:its not about the ring, its just a lesson. (Score:5, Insightful)
school is for learning and teaching.
Not this school
Two of the disciplinary actions this year were in-school suspensions for referring to a classmate as black and bringing his favorite book to school: "The Big Book of Knowledge."
“He loves that book. They were studying the solar system and he took it to school. He thought his teacher would be impressed,” Steward said.
But the teacher learned the popular children’s encyclopedia had a section on pregnancy, depicting a pregnant woman in an illustration, he explained.
Most kids who have younger siblings or friends who have younger siblings have seen a pregnant woman, so what is the big deal? Idiots teaching others how to be idiots by example.
Re:its not about the ring, its just a lesson. (Score:5, Insightful)
Credible threats have consequences. Threatening to magically make someone magically vanish lacks credibility.
and a pretty good lesson
"Good" lessons have a point to them. Teaching kids to fear imaginary threats does not.
Re: (Score:2)
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right, threats should be outlawed.
like the last few that my boss gave me.
oh right, those are NOT illegal and NOT 'against society'.
we should just let texas leave the US and be their own country. florida, too. in fact, take most of the Old South with them. good riddance, too.
this stuff would almost be funny if it wasn't actually being taken seriously by the zero-tol automatons.
its been said many times before: what WILL we end up with, in this coming generation, when this is what teachers are allowed to do
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And despite the bozos that constantly talk about kids not being "fully formed persons," nine-year-old kids know the difference between stories and reality. If they don't then it is a mental health issue, not a displinary one. Children are PERSONS at another stage of development, not un-persons with brains that don't work.
This is silly. If I go to my office mate and joke that I am going to hit him with a Super Mario Bros. fireball, should I be fired? If a really believe it maybe I should be sent to the f
Re:its not about the ring, its just a lesson. (Score:5, Insightful)
the school is teaching the kid that threats have consequences.
Credible threats have consequences. Threatening to magically make someone magically vanish lacks credibility.
and a pretty good lesson
"Good" lessons have a point to them. Teaching kids to fear imaginary threats does not.
There is one good lesson they're teaching this boy: those with authority are not to be trusted.
Re:its not about the ring, its just a lesson. (Score:5, Interesting)
Credible threats have consequences. Threatening to magically make someone magically vanish lacks credibility.
How can the rules distinguish between Humor/Fake/Play threats, and real Bullying?
I think any reasonable person would believe the threat to magically disappear someone would be imaginary and non-credible.
Just like you would probably laugh if your next door neighbor tried to threaten you with Thermonuclear destruction.
But what if the victim was gullible, and the kid kept coming up with new imaginary threats to intimidate him?
Such cases can't entirely be dismissed, if there is a legitimate pattern of bullying or intentional intimidation.
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I don't know, my neighbor has been buying A LOT of smoke detectors lately.
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There is always someone willing to defend indefensible behavior.
Re:its not about the ring, its just a lesson. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm all for teaching kids that threats (and other mean things said) have consequences. As a father, I have to do this more often than I'd like. (Mostly from my boys getting on each others' nerves.) However, your response needs to be proportionate to the actual threat. If a child brings a gun to school and threatens another child with it - even if the gun was unloaded - suspension could definitely be considered. If a child is threatening another child with a "magic ring", though, perhaps you should just talk with the child about how it's not nice to threaten people even with imaginary objects. At most, have the child write an essay or something to drive the point home. However, a suspension over "my magic ring will make you invisible" is really going over the line.
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I think its the other child that needs a talking to.
Its not clear from the article that Aiden had any intent in the way of assault, "the putting in of fear". As far as I can tell he was playing make believe after seeing a movie.
The fact that another 9 year old feels 'threatened' by any action which might be taken using the "magic" ring other than perhaps it being thrown at him should be of greater concern.
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Mod this parent up, please. I can't understand why schools have gotten so trigger-happy nowadays. ...
Most likely because parents are sue happy when their little angel is "traumatized."
Re:its not about the ring, its just a lesson. (Score:5, Funny)
It's all fun and games until it's your child that gets turned invisible.
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school is for learning and teaching.
the school is teaching the kid that threats have consequences...
Yeah, we should probably advise our youth of the legal firms taking on cases of sorcery. I hear it's a growing threat these days.
Oh wait, I forgot. You're right. Sorcery is a form of terrorism according to our government. Yeah, we should probably cover the legal liability in class.
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I remember getting in trouble in grade school for calling someone a homo sapiens (yes I knew I wasn't REALLY insulting the idiot kid, but HE didn't know that, but I got in trouble because he "felt" insulted.
Then again, most of my teachers in grade school were fucking assholes.
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If the kid felt he was bullird then he probably was bullied
I feel bullied by the stupidity of this comment.
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Re:They've also outlawed freeze tag (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, they really have outlawed and/or regulated it in several states, because it encourages "anti social" behavior.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/... [washingtonpost.com]
http://www.nydailynews.com/new... [nydailynews.com]
Why are we letting the government regulate stupid shit like this? So are the kids supposed to stay inside and play video games instead? Bumps, bruises, getting teased, and learning to deal with losing/competition are life lessons.
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While I won't disagree that personal attacks cause issues and are ethically questionable, the counterargument (and the framework under which the anonymous doxxer is likely working under) is that awareness that the wider world might come crashing down on you will affect others' actions. So even if this isn't their district, it might well affect the actions of principals and other administrators in local districts, and in general humanity would be better off if there was a counterweight to the zero-tolerance