Drawing Two Guns in School Leads to Expulsion of Port Huron Teen

[XLFD]

When George Orwell published his dystopic book 1984 back in the 1940s, he warned of a future where the state would tell you how you should think and act and have the power to punish those who do not comply.  Warning that "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever."

Forty years after that title's year, we see our society moving towards those ends, slowly but surely.  Accelerated somewhat through the COVID experiment, the schools have become training grounds for raising a new generation that is ignorant of the inalienable rights our older generations cherish, where most of us recognize Thomas Jefferson's wise adage: "There is no justification for taking away individuals' freedom in the guise of public safety."

We have seen this happen in Ludington schools when a middle school boy was excited about getting an airsoft gun for Christmas and showing it to his friend, the well-indoctrinated friend told school officials and the student was suspended from school and when the boy's father balked at having his home searched because his son was talking about an airsoft gun, the SRO Austin Morris went ahead and intentionally swore falsely (most would call this perjury) to get a warrant to do a surprise search of the man's home. 

He and other officers found hunting guns in a locked gun-safe in the boy's older brother's room.  Because Morris had unlawfully did a LEIN check on the father and found a marijuana possession felony back from 2008, he successfully pursued prosecuting the man for unlawfully having guns in his possession-- even when they were in his oldest son's locked safe. 

Ironically, less than one year after the school board expelled a boy for a year from school for talking about a toy gun, the school board unanimously approved having a deer cull take place on school grounds, that would have mercenaries working for the federal government bring high-powered rifles on land that our elementary school is situated on and shoot innocent life as they went about their day.  The school never had a contract with the federal government for that service.

But let's explore a controversy that has erupted on the opposite shore of Michigan in Port Huron.  A boy's doodling in class has led to him being kicked out of school, and the school has offered an indecent proposal to the parents of the boy.  (see video)

FOX 2 (WJBK) - A student was kicked out of school for drawing a gun - and in order to be allowed back, the family says the district is asking for something they can't allow - a home search.

A sketch of gun references is not an art project and certainly not a threat, according to the father of the 16-year-old boy who drew it, but it has sparked controversy in Port Huron.

"He plays a lot of first-person shooter games, and so he drew one of the weapons, as best as he can draw," said Jeremy Kenney.

Kenney says his teenage son was banned from Port Huron High School because of this image, appearing to show two guns and the phrases "six shooter" and "bang!"

"We had a discussion with him about it because obviously,, we want him to do his school work right?" said his father. "We don’t want him doodling in class."

The issue makes many think back to the Oxford High School shooter who made troubling drawings prior to opening fire on his classmates, killing four and wounding several others in November, 2021.

Critics say Oxford ignored obvious signs of trouble there, but Kenney says this is "nothing like that."

"It is nothing incriminating or, there’s nothing in the photo that says he’s going to hurt anybody," his dad said. "There’s not a statement, there’s not an image of dead bodies, it’s just a picture of a gun."

The family says in order for their son to get back into school, the family has to agree to a search of their house to see if they have any guns. They have a problem with that.

"I understand the climate that we’re in," Kenney said. "And I understand how other people can say they didn’t do enough, or they did the wrong thing. But you’re never going to really understand that feeling of being violated, and having somebody trying to force their way into your home."

FOX 2 reached out to Port Huron schools for comment but we have not yet heard back on this.

Constitutional attorneys are sounding off.

"It makes no sense and the world’s gone crazy," said Attorney Nick Somberg. "If the school has reasonable suspicion of a crime, they’re going to be able to search a student. I don’t know what crime a picture of a gun, a very poorly drawn picture of a gun, could possibly be, but the actions of the kid are certainly not grounds to then go and search the parent’s house.

"They have full-blown constitutional rights. Your home is your castle, so that is the most protected place in the United States. They’re going to need probable cause and a warrant to go in there."

The family says that things appear to be cooling down with the school. [END article]

Attorney Somberg would have had a field day with what happened in Ludington, but he is absolutely right that probable cause and a warrant needs to be obtained if the school, SRO, or local police want to invade the home where the young, bad artist lays his head.  If the school gave an ultimatum that they would not allow the student to come back unless the parents allow an intrusive search of their home, they are not teaching our children that they have inalienable rights.  They are teaching them that two plus two does not equal four.  

[Willy]

I can understand the school being concerned but this is not the way to go about fixing a problem that may or may not exist. The Oxford shooting was a completely different situation. That kid had real problems and everyone knew it before he went postal. In the Port Huron case nothing has been brought out that this student has had problems at home or at school. All he did was create some doodling on a sheet of paper. The supposed drawings of "guns" could be anything one could imagine. They don't look like guns to me. For heavens sakes he even drew butterflies and hears. Some of these schools need to calm down and learn to handle these situations in a calmer and more rational way before insisting on invading the homes of the students and parents. If they truly thought there was/is a threat then follow the law and request a search warrant.

[stump]

   Look deeper into the drawing, a heart crossed out , Is he not feeling that nobody loves him?   OK , crossed out ? is he feeling everything isn't right in his mind?  What is on the rest of the paper not shown?  Maybe the kid is reaching out .Just my perspective.

[XLFD]

I see many troubling things in the drawing, but if I was making decisions for the school, I would be trying to get to the bottom of the meaning of it through family counseling and like methods.  "Six shooter" is a brand of video games, a band,  and a song so he may have just been high on the brand.  The district in this case probably has a policy that suggests a good course to take is to have the local police do a check on the child's house in such situations.  They know they are unlikely to get a home search warrant from a local magistrate with just this picture so they issue the ultimatum figuring they will force consent.  No search no schooling.