There was a joke, saying that a guy got arrested at the airport by loudly greeting his friend, ” Hi, Jack!” Certainly people are overly sensitive to some expressions or actions during the sensitive time and at a sensitive location. For example, after the shooting incident at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in New Town, CT, school people are very nervous about the word “gun” or the actions of kids pointing index fingers to others as if one were about to shoot. There is zero tolerance to guns and violence at schools.
Today in the news, people talked about a 5-year-old kindergarten male student being suspended after he threatened in class to bring a gun to school. This incident happened last Tuesday afternoon at the Spruce Street School, NJ, near the end of the day, and the principal called police to make an official report of the incident. It is the district policy to notify law enforcement authorities about such threats. As a result, the boy received a two-day suspension because of his age. (Otherwise, it will be 12 days in suspension.)
Can a 5-year old pose a real threat with a gun at school? Did the school district over-react? Is the punishment too harsh for the kid? Should his parent(s) be liable?
The kid’s home environment, according to the news, is near a complex, difficult region. He obviously was badly influenced by people surrounding him. He is probably still not sure what he did wrong and why he was suspended. He is most likely to be labeled as a problematic kid afterwards.
Another story in the earlier news: A 6-year-old boy brought a baggie of methamphetamine to class and the child’s father, Gonzalo Meza, 25, was booked into the jail.
The question is who should be more responsible for such kind of incidents?
Source of the news:
- Five-year-old Lakewood student suspended for making gun threat. Boy, 5, suspended, Lakewood superintendent reports, Jan 31, 2013 from http://www.app.com/article/20130130/NJNEWS15/301300140/Five-year-old-Lakewood-student-suspended-making-gun-threat
- http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/09/28/sacramento-man-arrested-after-6-year-old-child-brings-meth-to-school/
