School calls in police over online photo of a pellet gun

[rob63]

I just received this message in an email from my son's school principal: (Hamilton County, IN school)

"Dear Parents,
I am writing to inform you of an incident that happened today. A sixth grade student posted a picture online of a pellet gun with a message about bringing the gun on the upcoming Flat Rock trip. There was not a threat to harm anyone.

Administration was notified, and we immediately involved law enforcement and the student’s parents.
Student safety is our top concern, and we take situations such as this very seriously. I want to assure you that this behavior is being addressed per our school guidelines, and that the student in question will NOT be participating in the Flat Rock trip.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions."

I assume that the police won't actually do anything to the kid and it was obviously stupid on his part, but it still seems a bit over the top to even bother the police with this in the first place. Yet another example of how sad we have become.

It seems like everytime you hear of a kid exercising poor judgement, the story is accompanied by adults exercising questionable judgement in the punishment imposed. Anybody else feel that way?

 

[Dockem]

Zero tolerance at it's best? If Pop Tarts can get a kid expelled, why not a picture?

Yeah, poor judgement on the kids part, but if he didn't bring it, why involve the police (or if he did, just confiscate it and have a talk with the parents). Maybe the kid was a trouble maker?

No Fed law, just state laws to contend with.
Air Gun Laws by State | Pellet Gun Zone

But we MUST follow the rules! [purple]

 

[phylodog]

I don't blame the school administrators. We've got Mom's Demanding some kind of stupid crap just up the street and there seems to be no shortage of morons who are more than willing to **** a live chicken in a school lobby over this type of thing. CYA - All Day - Every Day.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

What's Flat Rock...sounds like it might be a cool place to go shooting.

 

[kiddchaos]

I'll be there with my pellet gun. Oops I posted that.

 

[Denny347]

What's Flat Rock...sounds like it might be a cool place to go shooting.

YMCA operated camp and it is VERY cool. No shooting...GUNS that is. Bows...yes.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

YMCA operated camp and it is VERY cool. No shooting...GUNS that is. Bows...yes.

Oh. I'm picturing something out west, with mesas and cactus, etc.

 

[SSGSAD]

YMCA operated camp and it is VERY cool. No shooting...GUNS that is. Bows...yes.

My son went to Camp Tecumesa with MDA, and they shot .22 rifles .....

 

[drillsgt]

Hopefully the cops told them to get lost and they have more important things to do, they could say it more polite than that but not necessary.

 

[sharkey]

YMCA operated camp and it is VERY cool. No shooting...GUNS that is. Bows...yes.

No more range? First gun I ever shot was a .22 rifle at Flat Rock.

 

[OutdoorDad]

So the student in question proposed to bring a legal object to an off school function.
But did not actually bring anything, because the activity has not yet occurred?
And now he's banned from the function for this proposal?

No threats were made?
No illegal activity occurred?

Personally, I think the administration should all be ashamed.

Oh, and thrown in jail as a preemptive measure. They might be pedophiles. Of course, there is no evidence they are. But the children's safety comes first.

 

[ModernGunner]

It's what happens when libtards get their way: Creating a 'panic' just for the sake of making guns 'evil'.

That said, as long as we have libtards running... well, anything, really... the libtard administrators are just covering their butts against their libtard buddies.

Just proves that libtards don't even trust other libtards!

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Indoctrination has to permeate the entire school experience. His classmates now know better than to have anything to do with firearms, BB guns and pop Tarts.

 

[Stang51d]

My wife and I went with our daughter on her 4th grade field trip today. We went to Vincennes, and the first stop was the George Rodgers Clark memorial. First thing, a guy came out in old time clothes with a black powder rifle. Told them story's about the battle that happened on that site. Soldiers shooting at each other and such, then he showed the class how to load the gun and he fired it. The next stop was William Henry Harrison's house, where they told how it was built to withstand Indian attacks. Showed them a bullet hole in the shutter, and where they kept all of the guns in the basement. Also about Harrison ofter hunting grouse. Later today, the last stop was old ft knox II. Where they got to see where soldiers would have a good position to shoot at anyone on the wabash river.

No one seemed to have any problem with the presence, talk of, or thought of firearms today. The way it should be.

 

[david890]

So the student in question proposed to bring a legal object to an off school function.
But did not actually bring anything, because the activity has not yet occurred?
And now he's banned from the function for this proposal?

No threats were made?
No illegal activity occurred?

Personally, I think the administration should all be ashamed.

Oh, and thrown in jail as a preemptive measure. They might be pedophiles. Of course, there is no evidence they are. But the children's safety comes first.

1. It was a school-sponsored event off school property, so the school was still liable.
2. Does a picture constitute a threat? Possibly. What happens if you take no action and the kid brings a real gun to the event?
3. Because the children's safety DOES come first, and given the litigious nature of our society, administrations must act on the side of caution regardless of how vague the situation may be.

I doubt you face the same possibility of litigation that a school employee - from Superintendent down to the janitor - faces every day. Keep in mind the average HS teacher deals with about 150 students per day, so that's 150 sets of parents who might take offense at ANYTHING the teacher (or principal) says or does on any given day.

It costs less than $300 to file a lawsuit, but far more to defend it (unless you're comfortable going Pro Se, and you'll still have to take time off work to go to court and argue your own case if you go that route).

 

[mrjarrell]

So the student in question proposed to bring a legal object to an off school function.
But did not actually bring anything, because the activity has not yet occurred?
And now he's banned from the function for this proposal?

No threats were made?
No illegal activity occurred?

Personally, I think the administration should all be ashamed.

Oh, and thrown in jail as a preemptive measure. They might be pedophiles. Of course, there is no evidence they are. But the children's safety comes first.

Actually, the Flat Rock trips that occur in Hamilton County are not off school functions. They are overnight school trips. If you cannot bring a pellet gun to school, then you cannot bring it on the trip. All the schools have these rules. The kid in this case was stupid and is likely being punished by their parents for their stupidity, as well as being denied the privilege of attending one of the schools most looked forward to trips.