4th grader suspended for having a BB gun in his bedroom during virtual learning

[sarisataka]

4th grader suspended for having a BB gun in his bedroom during virtual learning

A 9-year-old Louisiana student was suspended after a teacher reported seeing a gun in the boy's bedroom during a virtual class.

The attorney representing the child's family said it was a BB gun and the school went too far -- applying its on-campus weapons policy without considering the privacy of the child and his family.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry announced Friday his office is investigating.

"I am alarmed by what appears to not only be multiple violations of both the State and Federal Constitutions, but also blatant government overreach by the school system," Landry said in a statement.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/26/us/student-suspended-gun-virtual/index.html

[BigmanPigman]

1. This is a new issue, interesting.

[soothsayer]

3. Yeah very

[Hoyt]

2. Not sure suspension is necessary, but there is no place for gunz

among school kids, BB gunz included. I wouldn’t want to see confederate flags, trump posters, dildos, drugs, MAGA hats, alcohol, etc., either.

[Demsrule86]

17. It is a BB gun...probably in the kids room. My brothers and I all had BB guns.

[TheBlackAdder]

23. Same here, my brother and I had them, but we kept them in our closets.

[Hoyt]

26. You don't flash BB gunz, 1911s, AR15s, any more than MAGA hats,

confederate flags, etc., in a school situation.

School needs to talk with parents.

[Codeine]

29. It's in his bedroom. He's not flashing anything.

We can’t force kids to do Zoom learning and then punish them for perfectly legal things the camera sees in their rooms, MAGA hats included.

[Hoyt]

34. Sorry, not into normalizing, promoting gunz in 4th grade. Parents are

wrong in this case.

White wing gun-humpers will be displaying their weapons cache before you know it, if some kid gets away with displaying a rifle, even if a Red Ryder.

[Trumpocalypse]

36. That is just zero tolerance stupidity

That makes progressives look unreasonable and ridiculous.

[Hoyt]

37. So does promoting gunz, normalizing gunz, giving gun-humpers an excuse

to show their gunz, confederate flags, etc.

Like I said, suspension is not warranted. A warning to parents, is warranted.

[Trumpocalypse]

40. Says the person promoting smoking

by your choice of avatar. Cigarettes kill more people every year than guns. So before you impose your “high standards” on others why not set an example and live up to them yourself.

[Hoyt]

41. Are you a 4th grader looking at my avatar? Parents need to "patrol"

their kid’s background where they attend school.

I guess the white winger’s kid — with an AR15 and a MAGA hat in the background— is acceptable to you under same rationale. Or Dylann Roof is OK too.

Nip it in the bud, ask them to remove the Red Ryder. Not for suspension.

[Trumpocalypse]

42. And still promoting smoking

Spare me the hypocrisy.

[Codeine]

54. Does my daughter have to take down her rainbow flag?

That’s as political as a MAGA hat.

[Hoyt]

61. Search schools ban MAGA hats, and tell me how many hits you get.

[Codeine]

64. Schools can ban things on campus.

My child’s room is most assuredly not on campus, and she is free to display that which she desires, be it political or otherwise. Nobody can dictate to her, or to me as her parent, what decorative items she may choose to display.

If an instructor deems something in her room is disruptive then the instructor is free to blank her feed to the rest of the class. Problem solved, though it doesn’t feed your authoritarian desires as thoroughly.

[Hoyt]

67. So you are fine with this hanging in background:

?fit=1150%2C647&ssl=1

[dware]

70. I most assuredly am not ok with this,

but if it's on private property, then I have no say whether it's visible or not.

It's really none of your business what someone displays in their own home/property.

[Codeine]

72. In someone else's home?

None of my fucking business, and absolutely none of yours either. Their house, their walls, their rules. Hillbillies gonna hillbilly.

If it is an issue the teacher can blank their video feed, in which case the distasteful display/sooper scary BB gun/idiot red cap ceases to exist. That solves any disruption issues (which is why we ban many political items on campus) without interfering with the Constitutional rights of the parties involved, which have to be considered paramount in one’s own abode.

On my own kid’s wall? Well then that’s my house, and we’re going to have words. Luckily she’s a delightfully cop-hating lefty lesbian with nothing on her wall more distasteful than some bad choices in music posters.

[Dial H For Hero]

69. 2.2 million.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=school+bans+maga+hat

[krispos42]

46. Unfortunately, Hoyt's viewpoints are exactly what gun-owners think of...

... when they think "Democrat".

Which is a big part of the reason rural states vote Republican.

Insulting, belittling, sarcastic, and fanatic about removing guns from society through any means necessary.

[Demsrule86]

57. Dont call duers out like that .be civil..

[krispos42]

58. He or she is in the thread, proving my point

And I'm discussing how that person expresses their opinion and how it affects perceptions

[Hoyt]

62. We know you are against all restrictions on your gunz and public displays.

[krispos42]

80. I don't recall saying that, so don't put words in my mouth

I'm pretty sure you really know what I believe and said because we've conversed before. But since you're making your usual inflammatory statements anyway, your goal must be something other than a discussion.

[Codeine]

43. You're a cartoon.

You can’t “normalize” that which is already perfectly normal. BB guns are just that.

[Hoyt]

60. Gun-humping ain't normal, and has given us this:

?resize=1200%2C799

[Codeine]

65. Most boys my age had BB guns as children.

Most of us aren’t gun-humpers now.

[Hoyt]

68. I did too, had a pellet rifle that was as powerful as any .22. But, times are different.

[dware]

71. Pump or Co2?

I had a pump pellet rifle and it was very powerful.

[Codeine]

75. Crossman 760.

Those things were insane. Compressed air is a remarkable beast from a physics standpoint.

[dware]

76. Compressed air is a remarkable beast from a physics standpoint.

Ain't that the truth.

I had a Daisy pump pellet rifle that was powerful as hell, my dad kept it in his gun safe and I wasn't allowed to use it without adult supervision, which, in hindsight, was a good thing.

[Dial H For Hero]

77. The more powerful pump air guns approach a .22 LR in power.

Just as an aside, there are now "big-bore" air rifles of up to .50 caliber that are suitable for short range big game hunting. They're quite expensive, though.

[Hoyt]

78. Pump. Sheridan Pellet Rifle.

[dware]

79. Nice.

Mine was a Daisy pump .177 cal. rifle.

[Codeine]

74. Times are different.

But rights stay the same unless lawfully enumerated otherwise.

[Codeine]

32. Taking away free expression in a child's own home

is unacceptable. Regulating what can be brought onto a school campus is one thing, but if some dumb hillbilly kid wants a Trump poster next to his ICP poster on his own wall then that’s his right.

[Hoyt]

38. Virtual school is our new reality. Remove the dang gunz and anything else

that is a political issue.

[Codeine]

44. Virtual school may be so,

but it does not, and cannot, override the Constitutional right to expression. To state otherwise is rank authoritarianism, and bespeaks a clear disregard for well-established rights and norms in a free society.

[NightWatcher]

4. Suspended from home online school, where is he supposed to go?

[fescuerescue]

51. To his room

Where he keeps his BB gun I guess.

[JI7]

5. They need to make some rules about not allowing certain objects

on camera. Parents should make sure their kids are in a place where the background is plain and empty as possible.

Only allow kids to have something like water apart from the school supplies.

[33taw]

8. Some kids barely have their own space.

Making this harder will only encourage return to classrooms.

[JI7]

10. It doesn't have to be that strict. But just something that wasn't an issue before

is one now so as people become aware they can adjust.

[Codeine]

48. What is the actual issue?

The BB gun is legal, yes? It’s on private property, yes? It represents no danger to anyone over the Internet, yes?

It then follows that no “issue” exists. Some may find that a child owning a BB gun is distasteful (my kids don’t, and will not while in my home) but they possess neither the authority nor the moral right to extend that opinion into somebody else’s bedroom.

[JI7]

49. Then they must make this clear becsuse these things will

keep becoming an issue.

[Codeine]

52. Once one school gets slapped the fuck down

for violating the rights of their students all will be clear enough.

[Demsrule86]

18. The school overstepped with the suspension IMHO.

[TheBlackAdder]

25. Yep, especially if they didn't say what cannot be visible in the room.

[Codeine]

45. You cannot dictate what a person

can keep on the walls of their own home.

[Drahthaardogs]

6. Stupidity

He’s at home

[33taw]

7. I hate guns, but this seems like a stretch.

Ask them to keep it off camera, but a suspension is just going to make headlines unnecessarily.

[lpbk2713]

9. Piss on authoritarians.

The teacher saw the opportunity to make the kid's life miserable and went for it.

[Demsrule86]

21. That seems so.

[Codeine]

30. I'm afraid I cannot disagree with you.

This is something the kid owns, keeps in his room, and which is entirely legal. Leave him the fuck alone about it.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. Another one? Christ. ETA:

My annoyance is with the people who feel the need to report and punish this incident.

[Boogiemack]

12. You can walk the street strapped with an AK-15 assault rifle but can't be home

with a BB gun in the background. WTF? And this is a kid. Why was his face shown? Had it been a white kid you would never even see the photo.

[Klaralven]

15. Note also that they give the kid's name but not the teacher's name -- it's probably Karen.

[Demsrule86]

19. They treat Black kids like crap. This is bullshit.

[Hoyt]

39. I would hope they'd jump on a white winger's kid's parents too.

Suspension is too much, if parents comply.

[Demsrule86]

56. First of all none of their business and no a white winger would not be harrassed.

It is not against the law for any kid to own a bb gun

[Hoyt]

59. Oh, I don't know. Here's a gun that got a North Dakotan suspended (I'm against suspension BTW):

I suppose this hanging in the background is OK too for a class backdrop in virtual school:


?

[Klaralven]

13. Stupid teacher - if it bothered her, ask the kid to stow it somewhere

I started to shoot my brother's Daisy Red Ryder as soon as I could cock it using the lever.

[Luciferous]

14. He was at home, it was a BB gun. This seems like an overreach.

[Mike Nelson]

16. The teacher...

... had to say something. A teacher can take no chances with a student's safety, and I'm not sure you can tell what kind of gun is on the screen, in a video. I would have called the parent, first... but, if I got no reply, I would call the office.

Also, the parents should have been informed about what is appropriate in a learning area. Anything resembling a weapon should not be seen. Most parents sign a handbook or list of guidelines.

All that being said, I'm not sure why the administration suspended. It accomplishes nothing, as far as I can tell in the article. The child gets several days off, with no instruction... taking away education, when it is needed, makes no sense.

[Demsrule86]

20. Sorry, If I decide my kid can have a BB gun which they all did...no one's business but mine.

[Codeine]

31. Just this.

My kid doesn’t have one, but I certainly did, and it wasn’t anyone’s fucking business.

[Demsrule86]

55. Yup...ass hats carry long guns into the supermarket but a black 9 year old is suspended.

For a bb gun in his own home. I guess we are lucky they didnt send swat in to cut him down...such a threat and all Racist is as racist does.

[Mike Nelson]

47. I agree...

... I had two -- a medium-sized (larger than hand gun) and a rifle-sized one.

[fescuerescue]

53. yes. He could have shot the monitor.

Sending best wishes and prayers to all the victims of that image.

[vercetti2021]

22. Such a dumb thing to do

It's a goddamn BB gun. I had like three of them growing up.

[VarryOn]

24. some teachers are dumbasses...

like this one.

[gulliver]

27. This is why we need norms, guidance, and judgment.

The teachers are forced to say something, because if the kid turns out to be Eric and Dylan II, it's their ass. The teachers need to be able to ask the kid what the deal is. If it checks out, then no report. Just move the BB gun out of sight. Keep the class going. Teacher's call.

[Baclava]

28. Sue the shit out if them, a student's home isnt school property, no room for this absurdity

[hardluck]

33. Stupid

Is it that hard to call the parents and say “hey can you please remove the BB gun from the background of the zoom class?” I mean how hard is it to take a good faith, humane approach to this instead of just suspending the kid?

[Takket]

35. this........

we go from zero to nuclear war in this country all the time now when simply making an adult request would do just fine.

[fescuerescue]

50. A virtual school shooting is logically the next step i guess

I hope who saw that image gets the necessary counseling and treatment.

[Klaralven]

63. My history teacher brought a bazooka and practice rounds to class

along with a few other weapons (M1 and BAR?) so the kids could see and handle the things their older brothers and cousins had been using in Korea a few years before. He was an officer in the local National Guard unit.

Now I guess you have to wait until you are 17 and can join the Guard and learn how to shoot the real thing, as my grandnephew did a few years ago.

[Dial H For Hero]

66. Another example of how things have changed: In the 1970's I fired a .357 magnum in my high school.

I was in our school's production of "Oklahoma!!", playing the part of Jud (the villain). The script called for me to fire a gun into the air, and our prop department (such as it was) managed to come up with a cap gun. I thought, "Well, that's kind of lame", and asked the director if I could use my father's Ruger Blackhawk .357 magnum instead....loaded with blanks, of course.

His reaction? "Cool."

Imagine the reaction today if a student even asked.....

[Dial H For Hero]

73. What an absurd overreaction. And there will be permant consequences for the poor kid.

https://www.thepigeonexpress.com/4th-grader-suspended-from-online-classes-for-six-days-for-having-a-bb-gun-in-his-bedroom/

“He’s now been submitted for a social worker assessment. This is not a child that needs a social worker’s assessment,” Cusimano said.

The weapons violation is now a part of Ka Mauri’s permanent public school record.

“It’s going to follow him going to college, picking colleges and whatnot,” Harrison said.

“This is a pre-judgment of a 9-year old that will impact his educational career for the rest of his life,” Cusimano said.