Seriously, this is out of hand.

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: hiromizu
I went to a reject HS where the science teacher nearly got me suspended for playing with an electromagnet powered by a 9v battery - that is, I completed the circuit for a few seconds and mentioned that it was getting hotter.....like it's supposed to. The teacher went berserk and told me that I would've set the building on fire and took me to the dean's office and called my mother. She got annoyed and yelled at the teacher that she has no time for such BS. I loved my mother. RIP.

LOL thats hilarious.

Wow, guess schools in the US are very tight compared to here.

You should see the stuff we/I got away with in science class. The teacher called me phsyco and would laugh at some of the stuff I'd try. I don't know why but every time I would volunteer to pour a dangerous solution into another one, people would back up.

 

[TwinkleToes77]

He's lucky. Only suspended. My brother got caught in the Zero tolerance crusade when he was in 6th grade... he's 20 now. They expelled him and pretty much ruined his life. It was over something totally stupid with no intent to harm other kids. But as the school board said.. "rules are rules"

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: hiromizu
I went to a reject HS where the science teacher nearly got me suspended for playing with an electromagnet powered by a 9v battery - that is, I completed the circuit for a few seconds and mentioned that it was getting hotter.....like it's supposed to. The teacher went berserk and told me that I would've set the building on fire and took me to the dean's office and called my mother. She got annoyed and yelled at the teacher that she has no time for such BS. I loved my mother. RIP.

Our Chem teacher used to throw potassium and sodium in one of the lab sinks filled with water.

 

[Freejack2]

Someone told me about this so I googled it and found this:

SCHOOL ? 1958 vs. 2008

Scenario:
Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with a shotgun in his gun rack.

1958 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack?s shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2008 - School goes into lock down. FBI called. Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Vice Principal?s car searched; but, even with his concealed weapons? permit, he?s arrested and sent to jail, losing his job. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario:
Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.

1958 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2008 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario:
Billy breaks a window in his neighbor?s car, and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

1958 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2008 - Billy?s dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy?s sister that she remembers being abused herself, and their dad goes to prison. Billy?s mom has affair with psychologist.

Scenario :
Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.

1958 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2008 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons. Principal arrested for smoking around juveniles.

Scenario
Pedro fails high school English.

1958 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2008 - Pedro?s cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit again the state school system and Pedro?s English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario:
Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.

1958 - Ants die.
2008 - BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny?s Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1958 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2008 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

Source

Seems to me things are getting a little out of hand, the stories my boss has told me comparing things back then to how they are today show just how much the laws have changed, often for the worse.

 

[hiromizu]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel

Originally posted by: hiromizu
I went to a reject HS where the science teacher nearly got me suspended for playing with an electromagnet powered by a 9v battery - that is, I completed the circuit for a few seconds and mentioned that it was getting hotter.....like it's supposed to. The teacher went berserk and told me that I would've set the building on fire and took me to the dean's office and called my mother. She got annoyed and yelled at the teacher that she has no time for such BS. I loved my mother. RIP.

LOL thats hilarious.

Wow, guess schools in the US are very tight compared to here.

You should see the stuff we/I got away with in science class. The teacher called me phsyco and would laugh at some of the stuff I'd try. I don't know why but every time I would volunteer to pour a dangerous solution into another one, people would back up.

Probably the same month some girl had a birthday and brought herself a cake - with a knife to cut it. During lunch hour when she took out the cake, a faculty member spotted the knife and reported her to security. Security guards RUSHED IN, handcuffed her and took her away while she was crying. I don't know what happened to her.

Nevertheless, I left that school 1 year later and spent the last 2 years of HS at a private school where my Australian chemistry teacher would blow stuff up and call it fizzle pop.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: TruePaige
I have another reply from them.

Thank you for writing, Mr. XXXXX. I'm sure you understand that we cannot discuss the specifics but below is a response from the principal. We appreciate your care in writing and hope that you trust us that there is more to this story.

Sincerely,
Valerie Truesdale
Superintendent

Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary
30 School Road
Hilton Head Island, SC 29926

Thank you for your interest in our school.

We regret that inaccuracies in a local news story created an impression that we do not use common sense in working with our children. While I cannot discuss a minor child's case, I want to advise you that the Beaufort County School District does not have a zero tolerance policy. In our elementary school, all discipline is progressive. Our students have pencil sharpeners in each classroom as well as individual sharpeners in their art boxes. The student was not suspended for having a pencil sharpener.

He had an exposed blade which created a dangerous setting for the student and other children. The student was suspended for one day for inappropriate behavior in the classroom. The suspension was warranted. Please visit our school web site to know more about our wonderful school.

If this is true, then I can kind of understand...but they don't dispel that it was a pencil sharpener blade.

get a pencil sharpener and take off the plastic top. look what is exposed..the blade.

 

[Chunkee]

You want this crap to stop, you have to change the system Fire the fucking school board. Have you ever met some of these people? I know many teachers that are moving to new careers because of the bureaucracy, shackling and general sway from the original intent of school, education. This crap is in alignment with most public organizations/government sectors. Dumbest people hired/elected, no accountability, no checks and balances, etc. More parents need to procure some involvement toward their children's education. This is almost status quo any more. People actually have to start caring and taking action. Complaining does not do anything, you actually have to engage. Solidarity and numbers will actually bring about the changes.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: TruePaige
I really did get stabbed by a pencil once, cut me in the arm pretty rough.

So..what will they outlaw next?

Weird, me too. Graphite got stuck in the hole. That's three people in this thread so far.

 

[DangerAardvark]

5. I'm not reading the whole thread to find out, but damn. Is it like inevitable that you will get stabbed by a pencil at some point in your life?

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
5. I'm not reading the whole thread to find out, but damn. Is it like inevitable that you will get stabbed by a pencil at some point in your life?

BAN PENCILS!

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: dbk
I blame the stupid teacher that overreacted in this situation.

I do too, the teacher knew what was going to happen when she reported it with the school's zero tolerance policy. If she just told the kid it wasn't safe and took it from him this wouldn't be a problem.

I used to carry my pocket knife in school, it was no big deal then. Now they'd walk me out in handcuffs.

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark

Originally posted by: TruePaige
I really did get stabbed by a pencil once, cut me in the arm pretty rough.

So..what will they outlaw next?

Weird, me too. Graphite got stuck in the hole. That's three people in this thread so far.

We should start the "OFFICIAL ATOT 'I Was Stabbed By A Pencil' Club".

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane

Originally posted by: Baked

Originally posted by: buck
Jeebus, when is this shit going to stop?

When they start offering common sense and individual thinking courses in colleges. Delete government backed propaganda news networks. *cough*Fox News*cough*

Troll. Fox News has no bearing on a lack of common sense in the entire country.

Faux News EXEMPLIFIES the lack of common sense in our society.
This is best illustrated by those who defend it.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: AlienCraft
"Zero-Tolerance" has been the downfall of this nation.
That we cannot judge the severity of something on a case by case basis flies in the face of the very principals this nation was founded on, and throws the entire due process arguement out with the bath water.

To say that exc3eptions can't be made is the most hypocritical statement ever uttered. Exceptions are made all the time, what they mean to say is that exceptions vcan't be made for YOU !

Go cry more about your right-wing employer not paying for your gas.

----------------> Fuck you. <-----------------------------
Why don't you stay on topic, or is that too much for the one brain cell to handle?
I'm not sure how a personal attack on me contributes to this discussion, but I'm sure you'll quote from Karl Rove's little black book of political dirty tricks and edumacate us all.
I'm on pins and needles in anticipation. :roll:
It's responses like yours which illustrate the absurdity in your thought process, or more accurately, the LACK thereof.
I don't know which brain cell fires in response to me but do yourself a favor, ignore it from now on, if my responses annoy you so much. Jackass. :disgust:

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Fiel lawsuit .... 3 ... 2 .... 1

If this happened to my kid, I would be at a lawyers office ASAP. The psychological damage this could cause is unbelievable. The kid didn't know he did something wrong, you have him in tears and that is still not good enough?

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
Fiel lawsuit .... 3 ... 2 .... 1

If this happened to my kid, I would be at a lawyers office ASAP. The psychological damage this could cause is unbelievable. The kid didn't know he did something wrong, you have him in tears and that is still not good enough?

wouldnt matter. they will say rules are rules. wich is what they always do in this type of situation.

 

[Xavier434]

This is pretty dumb. The teacher should have just asked the boy to throw the broken sharpener away and help him by offering a new pencil or access to a sharpener. It could have been as simple as that, but now it has turned into something big enough to be a news story...

 

[Brainonska511]

As always, zero-tolerance = zero common sense and thinking.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I got a response.

My email:

I understand your school (the Hilton Head Island International
Baccalaureate Elementary School) recently suspended a student for
possessing a pencil sharpener. I don't understand why you'd do
something like that. You claim to have a "zero tolerance policy" for
"weapons," yet anything can be a weapon if someone wants it to be. Not
only is a pencil sharpener not a weapon, but you are sending the wrong
message to your students by disciplining them so heavily for something
that shouldn't warrant any punishment at all. If the sharpener was
broken in such a way that it could be dangerous, the teacher should
have simply made the boy throw it away. He didn't even try to hurt
anyone with it, nor was he even aware that it could be used as a
weapon.

Another option would be to ban anything that could possibly be
dangerous from your schools. All pencils, pens, heavy textbooks,
eating utensils, belts, and keys could be prohibited. While you're at
it, why not ban independent thought? That's certainly the biggest
threat to others - if someone is allowed to think, they might think
about violence.

Response:

South Carolina has no statewide disciplinary policy, which means that local school administrators, supervised by locally elected school boards, have the last word. Local school districts are largely autonomous, and state law does not empower our agency to intervene in local student discipline cases.

I don't know anything about the incident involving the Beaufort County fourth-grader other than what I read on the Internet. But I do know this: Schools frequently find themselves in a public relations bind in these situations. Because they protect the privacy of young students involved in disciplinary actions, they don't tell the news media everything they know - even when their reticence ends up getting them flogged in the news media.

Remember the last time we had a story like this in South Carolina? A student in the Midlands was disciplined "just for kissing a girl on the school bus." Lots of public outrage resulted. Because of my position here, I was able to find out what actually happened. But once I knew the facts, then I was "stuck," too. Like the school district, I couldn't tell everything I knew.

One thing I'm sure we can agree on is that fourth-graders should not have their misbehavior spotlighted by the news media. And again, because school districts protect the privacy of these kids, they don't tell the news media everything they know. It's the right thing to do, it's the ethical thing to do, and in some cases, federal privacy laws apply, according to federal legislation entitled "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act".

Also, my understanding is that Beaufort County does not have a "zero tolerance" policy for student behavior. They use a "progressive" disciplinary policy, which means that if students continue to break the rules, they face progressively more serious penalties.

I hope this helps.

 

[Xavier434]

One thing I'm sure we can agree on is that fourth-graders should not have their misbehavior spotlighted by the news media. And again, because school districts protect the privacy of these kids, they don't tell the news media everything they know. It's the right thing to do, it's the ethical thing to do, and in some cases, federal privacy laws apply, according to federal legislation entitled "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act".

I think I have to agree with this part. Most of these stories are obviously one sided and they do feel as if they are lacking information. If the schools were permitted to tell everything they know then maybe the media would be better about this stuff, but as it stands they are stuck with no choice but to connect the dots with whatever they are given and that easily misleads people. I would rather the media stay out of it completely than report half-assed inaccurate stories.

 

[PhilipRivers]

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner
Damn, didn't they learn anything from the Joker?

Pencils are obviously more dangerous than the sharpeners!

Ugh... that was disturbing.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: PhilipRivers

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner
Damn, didn't they learn anything from the Joker?

Pencils are obviously more dangerous than the sharpeners!

Ugh... that was disturbing.

yeah but i was not expecting it and got a good laugh out of it.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: Xavier434

One thing I'm sure we can agree on is that fourth-graders should not have their misbehavior spotlighted by the news media. And again, because school districts protect the privacy of these kids, they don't tell the news media everything they know. It's the right thing to do, it's the ethical thing to do, and in some cases, federal privacy laws apply, according to federal legislation entitled "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act".

I think I have to agree with this part. Most of these stories are obviously one sided and they do feel as if they are lacking information. If the schools were permitted to tell everything they know then maybe the media would be better about this stuff, but as it stands they are stuck with no choice but to connect the dots with whatever they are given and that easily misleads people. I would rather the media stay out of it completely than report half-assed inaccurate stories.

Exactly. It's so easy to get caught up in a media frenzy. They live for it - it makes them money. How can you possibly know the real story?

On the other hand, we never know who's really "in the right" here. If the news station got its sole report from an unhappy parent, that parent is going to give the most damning version of the story as possible. Had the school been at liberty to discuss the situation in detail, they probably would have presented a quite different version, or at least provided some critical piece of information that the parent or child left out.

Honestly, who wants to bet the kid pried the blade out and was waving it around for fun, not intending to threaten anyone, but not knowing that it could be dangerous? In that case, if the kid were to explain his side of the story, he'd almost certainly claim that he hadn't done anything. But I have almost as hard a time believing the "official story" that schools (and police departments, and politicians, etc.) present because it's often spun just as much in the opposite direction.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I just got a reply. Did anyone else get one?


On behalf of Beaufort County School District, I thank you for writing.
I'm sure you understand that we cannot discuss the specifics but below
is a response from the principal.

We appreciate your care in writing and hope that you trust us that there
is more to this story.

Sincerely,

Randy Wall

Thank you for your interest in our school. We regret that inaccuracies
in a local news story created an impression that we do not use common
sense in working with our children.

While I cannot discuss a minor child's case, I want to advise you that
the Beaufort County School District does not have a zero tolerance
policy. In our elementary school, all discipline is progressive. Our
students have pencil sharpeners in each classroom as well as individual
sharpeners in their art boxes. The student was not suspended for having
a pencil sharpener. He had an exposed blade which created a dangerous
setting for the student and other children. The student was suspended
for one day for inappropriate behavior in the classroom. The suspension
was warranted.

Please visit our school web site to know more about our wonderful school

 

[SaltBoy]

I accidentally got a pencil lead caught underneath my fingernail. Hurt like hell.

BAN PENCILS!!