7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade

7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (Full Version)

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jlf1961 -> 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 7:16:19 AM)
quote: A second-grade boy has been suspended from a Colorado elementary school for throwing an imaginary grenade during a game of make-believe with his classmates Friday. Alex Evans, 7, who attends Mary Blair Elementary in Loveland, said he was playing a game called Rescue the World. “I was trying to save people and I just can’t believe I got dispended,” Alex told KDVR.com. The school has a list of absolutes that states no weapons, real or imaginary, and no fighting. “Honestly I don’t think the rule is very realistic for kids this age,” Alex’s mom, Mandie Evans, told KDVR. Check this out. Okay the bubble gun incident actually had a weapon, of sorts, and only lethal if the bubble somehow contained a toxic gas. Now would someone explain the lethality of an imaginary object with no mass, explosive, substance or anything other than air molecules taking up the space in which this weapon would have occupied?

DaNewAgeViking -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 7:32:15 AM)
Get real. The school is worried about small kids learning to think of lethal weapons as toys. I'm not sure if suspension is the right answer - perhaps a special lecture or class program would be better - but someone has to tackle this sick neurosis sweeping our country. At least they're trying. [sm=blasted.gif]

WantsOfTheFlesh -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 7:34:29 AM)
hey kids is very impressionable at dat age! send him ta juvie [:D]

Switcheroo1983 -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 7:37:30 AM)
I remember when I was a kid. Toy swords weren't too "child friendly", toy guns didn't have the orange plastic on the front, and we were able to play soldier at school. I understand the paranoia of these schools, don't get me wrong, however I don't see anything alarming about a 7-year old boy playing "Rescue the World". But, if it's the school's policy, it's the school's policy, and they state "real or imaginary".

Nosathro -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 7:38:11 AM)
Oh not a big deal, I got suspended from High School for a growing a beard.

WantsOfTheFlesh -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 7:42:17 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Nosathro Oh not a big deal, I got suspended from High School for a growing a beard. either dat or da use of steroids. [8D]

DesideriScuri -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 7:43:23 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: jlf1961 quote: A second-grade boy has been suspended from a Colorado elementary school for throwing an imaginary grenade during a game of make-believe with his classmates Friday. Alex Evans, 7, who attends Mary Blair Elementary in Loveland, said he was playing a game called Rescue the World. “I was trying to save people and I just can’t believe I got dispended,” Alex told KDVR.com. The school has a list of absolutes that states no weapons, real or imaginary, and no fighting. “Honestly I don’t think the rule is very realistic for kids this age,” Alex’s mom, Mandie Evans, told KDVR. Check this out. Okay the bubble gun incident actually had a weapon, of sorts, and only lethal if the bubble somehow contained a toxic gas. Now would someone explain the lethality of an imaginary object with no mass, explosive, substance or anything other than air molecules taking up the space in which this weapon would have occupied? Imaginary weapons cause imaginary death, jlf. This kid is causing imaginary terror in an imaginary world. Should have fought fire with fire and gave him an imaginary suspension.

EsotericLady -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 8:21:08 AM)
No one is too young these days to learn responsibility for their actions...real nor implied. I agree with this post. quote: ORIGINAL: DaNewAgeViking Get real. The school is worried about small kids learning to think of lethal weapons as toys. I'm not sure if suspension is the right answer - perhaps a special lecture or class program would be better - but someone has to tackle this sick neurosis sweeping our country. At least they're trying. [sm=blasted.gif]

Nosathro -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 8:37:39 AM)
Not to say it anyone here but some time back a high school kid who was suspended for 1. Having burglary tools, in this case a screwdriver. In my high school the shop student carried around tool boxes full of screwdrivers. There was a Auto Shop Club, in some of their tool boxes a few had that wand, you know back then, it you needed your car unlocked, there was this device that you insert between the window and door and it would unlock your car, a few even had the book. Right now, if you have a plastic card in your possession that is a burglary tool. 3. A plastic bag that was supposed to have marihuana residue, test proved negative. 4. Possession of stolen property, in this case costume jewelry, the items were never report stolen nor has anyone claimed them since. Then some guy created a website that since the kid had an Arizona Ice Tea and skittles it was proof of drug addiction, all the kid needed was a brand of over the counter cough syrup, which is 18% alcohol. So many claimed all of this was positive proof of a hard core gang banger, drug addict, who robbed innocent white people’s homes. Then again this kid was black.

Alwaysmylove -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 8:53:39 AM)
I don't see any harm in a pretend grenade or any other pretend weapon. Especially since the kids intent was to save the world. What's missing in all of this is common sense. I grew up pretending to play war with the boys in my neighborhood. We pretended to shoot each other. Pretended to die. Pretended to take prisoners. We KNEW it was pretend. We knew the difference between real guns and our imaginations. We knew that air grenades were NEVER going to hurt anyone. We also knew we would not be suspended for playing a game. Had any school official tried to suspend me for such, my father would have been in that office in a jiffy and it would have been the principal with a problem, not me. Since when has it become okay, in the United States, to have the thought police suspend a kid for using their imagination? The boy did nothing wrong. He was playing in the same fashion that kids have played throughout history. For those who say a seven year old has to be responsible for his actions, that a rule is a rule, and that he got what he deserved? What about when rules are arbitrary and just plain WRONG? Are we really at a point where so few people utilize common sense and simply follow the herd? There were once rules that legalized slavery, rules that women could not vote, rules that said children could work the same hours as adults. Just because somebody puts down some words on paper and says it's "policy" does not make it a policy worth adhering to. I shudder to think what the next generation of Americans is going to be like. The funny thing is, as our rights keep getting gnawed away at, most hardly even notice it's happening. It's wrapped up so neatly, and with such political correctness, that people applaud as it happens.

DesideriScuri -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 9:14:59 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Alwaysmylove I don't see any harm in a pretend grenade or any other pretend weapon. Especially since the kids intent was to save the world. What's missing in all of this is common sense. I grew up pretending to play war with the boys in my neighborhood. We pretended to shoot each other. Pretended to die. Pretended to take prisoners. We KNEW it was pretend. We knew the difference between real guns and our imaginations. We knew that air grenades were NEVER going to hurt anyone. We also knew we would not be suspended for playing a game. Had any school official tried to suspend me for such, my father would have been in that office in a jiffy and it would have been the principal with a problem, not me. Since when has it become okay, in the United States, to have the thought police suspend a kid for using their imagination? The boy did nothing wrong. He was playing in the same fashion that kids have played throughout history. For those who say a seven year old has to be responsible for his actions, that a rule is a rule, and that he got what he deserved? What about when rules are arbitrary and just plain WRONG? Are we really at a point where so few people utilize common sense and simply follow the herd? There were once rules that legalized slavery, rules that women could not vote, rules that said children could work the same hours as adults. Just because somebody puts down some words on paper and says it's "policy" does not make it a policy worth adhering to. I shudder to think what the next generation of Americans is going to be like. The funny thing is, as our rights keep getting gnawed away at, most hardly even notice it's happening. It's wrapped up so neatly, and with such political correctness, that people applaud as it happens. It doesn't matter if a rule is wrong or not. If it is a rule, it is to be followed. Period. p.s. Exceptions will be made (DOMA) when it doesn't suit the ruling power's vote count.

Level -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 9:36:08 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: jlf1961 quote: A second-grade boy has been suspended from a Colorado elementary school for throwing an imaginary grenade during a game of make-believe with his classmates Friday. Alex Evans, 7, who attends Mary Blair Elementary in Loveland, said he was playing a game called Rescue the World. “I was trying to save people and I just can’t believe I got dispended,” Alex told KDVR.com. The school has a list of absolutes that states no weapons, real or imaginary, and no fighting. “Honestly I don’t think the rule is very realistic for kids this age,” Alex’s mom, Mandie Evans, told KDVR. Check this out. Okay the bubble gun incident actually had a weapon, of sorts, and only lethal if the bubble somehow contained a toxic gas. Now would someone explain the lethality of an imaginary object with no mass, explosive, substance or anything other than air molecules taking up the space in which this weapon would have occupied? How incredibly fucking stupid.

Aylee -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 10:25:48 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: EsotericLady No one is too young these days to learn responsibility for their actions...real nor implied. I agree with this post. quote: ORIGINAL: DaNewAgeViking Get real. The school is worried about small kids learning to think of lethal weapons as toys. I'm not sure if suspension is the right answer - perhaps a special lecture or class program would be better - but someone has to tackle this sick neurosis sweeping our country. At least they're trying. [sm=blasted.gif] No one is too young? Really? Frankly that is just unicorn shit. Children are children. It is a biological thing. Believing otherwise will not make it different. A seven year old has not even reached the "age of reason." This is why we call them minors. Yes, they can learn what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. In this case a time-out would have been appropriate or even being told not to throw imaginary grenades anymore. I do wonder about the mental competency of the poor widdle teacher(s) who was/were so frightened by an imaginary grenade (something that does not exist) being used in a game to "rescue the world."

EsotericLady -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 11:01:14 AM)
YESSSS, the majority are! There are prime examples of it everyday, every minute of the day! One needn't look far at all. This world SCREAMS "Follow me!" "Be like me!" "You're nobody if you don't do this...buy this...wear this!" etc. If more than two people do something....then by golly EVERYONE should be doing it! EVERYONE has to have it! And as for growing up and innocently playing Cops 'N Robbers with the neighborhood kids, I recall those guns being cardboard, or sticks, or later on, the Lone Ranger facimiles. Five-year-olds are pulling out guns from their Dad's gun cabinets to show their best buddies, and accidentally killing one of them. It's a MUCH different world we live in now, than those innocent years of the past. quote: ORIGINAL: Alwaysmylove Are we really at a point where so few people utilize common sense and simply follow the herd? I grew up pretending to play war with the boys in my neighborhood. We pretended to shoot each other. Pretended to die. Pretended to take prisoners. We KNEW it was pretend. We knew the difference between real guns and our imaginations.

EsotericLady -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 11:07:03 AM)
Perhaps those "poor widdle teacher(s)" (as you call them) were attempting to follow the school absolutes that state no weapons, real or imaginary, and no fighting????????? quote: ORIGINAL: Aylee I do wonder about the mental competency of the poor widdle teacher(s) who was/were so frightened by an imaginary grenade (something that does not exist) being used in a game to "rescue the world."

LafayetteLady -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 11:14:41 AM)
No question, the boy broke the rules and there should be repercussions for that. However, suspension is a bit over the top. Parents are aware of these rules, and we can assume that parents discuss them to a point with children, but this was a game on the playground, so the child wasn't thinking about the rules and at 7, he can't really figure it all out anyway. Not allowing him playground time, explaining why what he did was wrong and making him write some kind of essay on it would have been more appropriate and I daresay would have taught him much more than the suspension.

Alwaysmylove -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 11:14:48 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: EsotericLady YESSSS, the majority are! There are prime examples of it everyday, every minute of the day! One needn't look far at all. This world SCREAMS "Follow me!" "Be like me!" "You're nobody if you don't do this...buy this...wear this!" etc. If more than two people do something....then by golly EVERYONE should be doing it! EVERYONE has to have it! And as for growing up and innocently playing Cops 'N Robbers with the neighborhood kids, I recall those guns being cardboard, or sticks, or later on, the Lone Ranger facimiles. Five-year-olds are pulling out guns from their Dad's gun cabinets to show their best buddies, and accidentally killing one of them. It's a MUCH different world we live in now, than those innocent years of the past. quote: ORIGINAL: Alwaysmylove Are we really at a point where so few people utilize common sense and simply follow the herd? I grew up pretending to play war with the boys in my neighborhood. We pretended to shoot each other. Pretended to die. Pretended to take prisoners. We KNEW it was pretend. We knew the difference between real guns and our imaginations. Kids were accidentally killed when I was a kid, too. The response then would have been to lock up your guns, to make the parents be more responsible/accountable. When those terrible things happened, they were teachable moments, sad, horrible, but recognized as isolated incidents. They still are. However, the media feeds us a constant stream of it to make it seem much more commonplace than it truly is. I'm not condoning violence. Yes, even one child dying from gunfire is too many. But, vilifying just about everything in the name of safety is not the answer. Imaginary grenades are not responsible for the ills of society. Trying to turn this incident into something other than an average child playing a normal game is ludicrous. Suspension is an overreaction to what is normal behavior for a child this age.

thezeppo -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 12:13:25 PM)
It seems like a massive overreaction, and I really don't think any self-respecting school should be punishing its children for using their imaginations. I think in the 21st century kids are growing up a lot faster, and so the cultural studie/ethics type classes should be more prominent from an earlier age. Punishing a kid of 7 for using an imaginary weapon seems like the wrong way to approach this issue, assuming one even exists

Nelee -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 12:21:36 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DaNewAgeViking Get real. The school is worried about small kids learning to think of lethal weapons as toys. I'm not sure if suspension is the right answer - perhaps a special lecture or class program would be better - but someone has to tackle this sick neurosis sweeping our country. At least they're trying. [sm=blasted.gif] For a country that has a long history of seeing stray bullets as something that isn't nearly as dangerous as the idea of a stray boob on a television program, America's sudden realization that romanticizing violence is having a negative impact on it's growing population is hilarious to me. I don't know how it is in "suburban" schools, but in my schools, we had to go to classes about gun safety (and gang violence lol), and if one of us were to exhibit the type of behavior that 7-year old showed, we would be taken by one of the counselors and taught the dangers of "real" grenades and why it was a bad thing to pretend to do something that caused harm to people. And then we sort of got the picture and chilled out. I agree with DNAV. I don't know why they don't do something like that. I think that suspending the kid is a little unnecessary. He's not going to learn the deeper meaning to what he did and why it spooked the administration like that. There was literally no point in suspending him. Just take him to the side and explain it. He may not completely get it, but it will be in his head to understand as he starts to learn about how the world really works. Edited for errors, bleh.

muhly22222 -> RE: 7-year-old boy suspended for throwing imaginary grenade (2/7/2013 12:24:10 PM)
I question how effective this punishment would be overall. When there's a punishment, the person being punished should know and understand what they did wrong, what rule they broke, or at least be capable of that. I'm not sure that a 7-year-old is capable of understanding this rule. Could he understand a rule that was simply, "No fighting." Perhaps, unless something like this was included in that rule. In this case, it seems as if he was "fighting" imaginary bad guys; at worst, he was playing a game in which some kids took on the role of good guys, and others of bad guys. It's no different than cops-and-robbers-style games that have been played by kids for ages. I don't think that it would make sense to a lot of kids (or adults, for that matter) why this behavior should be included in "fighting." Maybe the rule is "No weapons." That would still be confusing. When most people, including children, think of weapons, they think of something that can do physical harm to people. An "air grenade" will absolutely not harm anybody. I'm not convinced that this is a behavior the school needs to be correcting at all, but assuming for the sake of argument that it is, wouldn't a simple stern explanation from the principal (a terrifying thing for a second-grader) do the job better? Now, the school and parents are basically locked in a battle, with no upside. Either the kid will no longer be attending that school (or that's how I read the article), or the school will have to allow him to come back. If the school backs down, the kid learns that he can stand up for his rights, but he doesn't learn that what he was doing was "wrong." If the parents back down, the kid has been taught not to stand up for himself, that The Man is always right. If neither back down, then the kid ends up at a new school and doesn't learn what the school wanted him to learn anyway.

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