Ohio elementary school student suspended for making gun gesture with finger

[Dave]

Oh when will it end? Unless this child has a loaded finger, his hand is never going to fire a bullet. This political correctness crap has really gotten way out of hand.

Columbus kid Nathan Entingh, 10, was given three-day suspension. Entingh’s father said the discipline went too far but school officials said that they were exercising their long-standing zero tolerance policy.

By Irving Dejohn / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, March 4, 2014, 12:18 PM

" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1710235.1393953084%21/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/boy-suspended-pointing-finger-gun.jpg" height="364" width="635" /">

The Columbus Dispatch

Nathan Entingh, right, was suspended from his Columbus, Ohio, school last week for three days because he made a gun gesture using his index finger and thumb. But his father, Paul Entingh, left said the punishment was unnecessary.

An Ohio boy was suspended by his school for giving a student the finger — his index finger.

Nathan Entingh, 10, was suspended from Denvonishe Alternative Elementary School last week for three days because he made a gun gesture with his hand and said “bang” when he pointed it at a student’s head.

“I was just playing around,” little Nathan told the Columbus Dispatch. “People play around like this a lot at my school.”

The behavior rankled school officials, who said that they have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to gun-related jokes and actions.

Principal Patricia Price warned her students several times that they are not permitted to make any gun jokes or gestures, and has sent home letters to parents, a district spokesman said.

“The kids were told, ‘If you don’t stop doing this type of stuff, there would be consequences,’” spokesman Jeff Warner told the Dispatch. “It’s just been escalating.”

Svetlana Prikhodko/Getty Images

The new middle finger? Gun finger gestures like this can get a student suspended at Denvonishe Alternative Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio.

RELATED: CHICAGO BOY CHARGED WITH A FELONY FOR THROWING SNOWBALL AT...

Schools are on high alert across the nation regarding any signs of trouble following a spate of school shootings including the horrific massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that claimed 26 lives.

Entingh’s childish behavior was far more menacing, Warner noted, and that his mock “hand” gun was pointed “execution style.”

Nathan has no history of disciplinary issues and his father maintains that the punishment didn’t fit the crime.

“He said he was playing,” the elder Entingh told the Dispatch. “It would even make more sense maybe if he brought a plastic gun that looked like a real gun or something, but it was his finger.”

Little Nathan boy is sticking to his guns that the school administration has overreacted.

“I was thinking it was dumb,” he told the Dispatch.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ohio-elementary-school-chi...

[XLFD]

Here's an appropriate gesture for the  Denvonishe Alternative Elementary School.  Kind of looks like a gun, but instead of saying 'BANG', the girl's saying a word that starts with the letter 'L' and rhymes with 'cruiser' (if you're an editor on the COLDNews, that word would be 'loser'). 

Next let's ban Glee because its "We're # 1" signs looks like a gun, and the word 'bang', or anything that makes a 'banging' sound like a book hitting the floor.  Whereas we can't ban the letter 'L' or the number '7', let us at least replace them with less dangerous looking symbols.  We can ban long division, however, since the symbol that separates the dividend from the divisor looks incredibly like an assault rifle.

[Dave]

The stupidity of it all is astounding. If a kid has a history of violent behavior/actions then maybe a suspension might be in order but when its kids being kids, its just pure idiocy.

[Willy]

This is extreme progressiveness showing it's ugly head. I don't like frivolous lawsuits but in these kinds of cases parents should bring the hammer down on this insane over reacting of school officials so schools will think twice about imposing stupid rules that can harm a child's development. I like Glenn Beck's take on these types of situations.

[AQUAMAN]

Thanks Dave and Willy, great posts. The problem with this over-reaction by progressives on this matter, is that it will follow the student into the far future, and be on his record for future possible suspensions. It's wrong, and needs to be stopped. I wonder what they would do if a cap gun was being used, like we did all the time when I was a kid.