‘Bang!’ School That Punished Boy for ‘Finger Gun’ Gets Skewered
This article originally appeared on WND.com
Guest by post by Bob Unruh
‘It is shocking such a menace was allowed to remain free’
Constitutional expert and legal pundit Jonathan Turley, the George Washington University professor who has testified before, and represented Congress, on Tuesday cited the case of a student, 6 years old, who “not only engaged in a game of cops and robbers but actually added ‘bang, bang’ to the game.”
He was suspended by his school.
The student was identified only a J.B., and Turley warned, “It is shocking that such a menace was allowed to remain free in our society.”
He was, of course, being sarcastic over society’s penchant for digging deep into the book of punishments for students who engaged in such play-acting.
The fact remains that no one ever has been injured, seriously or otherwise, by a finger accidentally or deliberately being discharged.
“This absurdity is reportedly the product of Donna Page, assistant principal at Bagley Elementary School, who was given the report of a finger gun and immediately began a disciplinary process against J.B. Rather than use a modicum of discretion and common sense to protect this child, the school proceeded with formal disciplinary measures for a ‘3.22 Threat’ infraction,” Turley reported.
“One can only imagine school security officers yelling ‘Code 3.22’ into walkie talkies as adults scramble to face the threat of J.B.’s fully loaded finger guns. After all, J.B. could imagine any calibre of weapon and has no limitation on reloading or ammo,” Turley said.
Fox News reported the situation was documented in Jefferson County, Alabama, by the boy’s father, Jerrod Belcher.
The report said Belcher’s son was accused of a “Class III” infraction by “using his fingers to shoot at another student.” A suspension from school was the punishment.
In a letter sent to Jefferson County school officials on Friday, Belcher’s attorney, M. Reed Martz, demanded that the school ‘immediately and publicly confirm it will remove any record of an infraction, disciplinary action, or other sort of report’ from J.B.’s record. Gun Owners of America, a national Second Amendment group, partnered with the attorney and state-based BamaCarry in Alabama to send the letter to school administrators, the report explained.
J.B. was playing “cops and robbers” with another student. They pointed their fingers at each other and said, “Bang, bang.”‘
The legal letter explained the students didn’t disrupt any activities, did not threaten any students and did not interfere with school functions.
Martz explained age “apparently lacked the insight and judgment to see the ordinary children’s play for what it was, immediately began a disciplinary process against J.B.”
The school’s handbook insists a 3.22 threat, with which J.B. was charged, includes “A threat to do serious bodily harm or violence to another student by word or act, cyber bullying, or intimidation that may induce fear into another.”
Examples: “A threat to kill, maim, or inflict serious harm; a threat to inflict harm involving the use of any weapon, explosive, firearm, knife, prohibited object, or other object which may be perceived by the individual being threatened as capable of inflicting bodily harm.”
Martz noted that under the school’s ideology, “J.B. would be subject to a lesser maximum penalty had he punched the other student in the face!”
Turley, in his column, included a list of links to a number of similar cases he’s comment on, and said, “This ridiculous use of zero tolerance rules will not end until administrators are held accountable. A few suspensions of staff would go a long way in restoring sanity to our schools.
WND also has reported on similar cases over the years:
When a 6-year-old girl was reported to police for pointing her finger like a gun.
A case that revealed bringing a real gun was a misdemeanor, but point a finger was a felony.
Another boy suspended for pointing his finger.
When a first-grader was suspended for the same thing.
When a 12-year-old was cuffed for point a finger.
When a 13-year-old girl was charged by police for the offense.
Multiple similar cases have developed, too, when children use toy guns.
And perhaps the most extreme scenario developed when a student was suspended because he “chewed his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun and pretended to shoot classmates.”
A judge affirmed the suspension, finding the boy “disrupted his class,” reports said.
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