Should The Zero Tolerance In School Gun Policy Mean Exactly That?

A nine-year-old boy was almost suspended from school over a small toy gun -- like the one in the image to the left -- because the school has a zero tolerance gun policy.

No one really thinks that this toy is really a gun, right?

So the boy was threatened with a school suspension in order to scare him into not packing anything larger, or perhaps more lead-filled, upon his return? Because maybe this kind of reaction could be the first step to driving him to do just that.

What ever happened to just talking to the boy and explaining why this toy isn't acceptable (as outrageous as it may seem to him) and let him continue to love school despite the now blossoming feeling that something's a bit off in the world that he inhabits at his elementary years. He has all of junior high to develop those kinds of conclusions.

I get the idea of zero-tolerance policy on guns in school but some of the most recent cases of 'going too far' have just seemed like folks not using common sense. Like this second grade child who was suspended for drawing a stick figure pointing a gun.

I understand that some toy guns look like guns and should be kept out of school; those kinds of toy guns look convincing and that's why they have been used in successful crimes before. But sometimes it's really easy to tell the difference, like when it's a single piece of Lego that's not quite two inches long and carried by a nine year old who isn't James Bond Jr. just like the one in the photo below.

But for this fourth grader he didn't just get a talking to or a speech on the importance of not having the right to bear fake arms, he was apparently subjected to a trip to the principal's office, forced to fill out an incident report, and threatened with suspension. The kind of stuff that makes good kids cry. A lot.

So maybe I'm missing something -- did he poke another kid in the eye with this thing? Why this child was made to cry over carrying something I could swallow makes no sense to me.

We want kids to love school, not be scared of it. Do you think his treatment was overkill? Or should zero tolerance mean exactly that?

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Comments

[Jessi]

Total overkill. I can't believe that anyone would imply that this breaks a gun policy.

[motherbumper]

@Jessi I obviously feel the same way. Its like common sense has left the building. Teach through open discussion, not fear.

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[Ivy]

The principal went way overboard with respect to this tiny toy gun. The focus should be on paying attention to and calling in question behavior of children that may be struggling to fit in, make friends, and have adjustment issues....kids who exhibit signs of stress, anxiety and/or depression. Schools should encourage inclusion and activities that provide the opp'y to learn empathy and other positive behaviors, so there are fewer children that develop emotional issues. Children are even more vulnerable to emotional issues and depression once they hit puberty. If we made more of an effort to have policies of intervention and training to detect troubled children, then maybe there would be fewer children who feel so alone and develop hatred for themselves and everyone that they resort to violence. This is the trend of most of the school shootings that occur.