Ruining an Innocent Child's Future Through Blind Authority

[XLFD]

A harmless incident in Shelby High School without a victim or an intent is likely to end up with a long suspension and criminal charges.  A 10 day suspension is already in effect, not to mention a lot of nervous Shelby area parents who received a robot call informing them their kids were safe. 

 The Oceana County Press entitled the news article as Student suspended for bringing airsoft pistol to school complete with a picture of the orange-tipped toy secreted in a backpack that caused all the hubbub.

SHELBY — A male juvenile [under 18 y.o.] student was suspended from Shelby High School for 10 days after allegedly bringing an airsoft pistol to school Friday, Dec. 2, according to Shelby Public Schools Superintendent Dan Bauer.

The student could be charged in juvenile court, said Shelby Police Chief Terry TenBrink, who plans to forward the police report to the Oceana County Prosecutor’s Office.

No one was injured or threatened with the gun, Bauer said. “No one was ever in danger,” he said. The student told school officials that he brought the gun to school to sell it to another student. The pistol was inside a backpack stashed behind a vending machine, Bauer said. Another student found the backpack and brought it to the school office toward the end of the school day.

School officials swiftly took action to determine who brought the weapon to the school and to notify parents through an automated call that the students were safe, the superintendent said. Principal Fran Schamber expeditiously put out the alert to parents, said Bauer, who credits his staff for efficiently handling the situation. Video surveillance cameras installed in the school building just a few years ago determined who was responsible, he said. “We quickly determined who brought it.”

The gun was confiscated by police, TenBrink said.

The student is scheduled to attend a disciplinary hearing to determine if there will be any further disciplinary action, Bauer said.  [End of Article]

Incidents like this is why our children should believe that our society is crazy.  Shelby, like all Mason County public schools, are participants in Michigan's Archery in the Schools Program, where kids as early as the fourth grade are able to wield weapons while at school.  Shoot, around Michigan it's almost universal:

These bows, when combined with arrows, can easily take down a person with one shot.  A trained archer can get off six arrows quicker than some revolvers can get off six bullets, as Lars Anderson has demonstrated here before:

But then look at everyone going crazy in Shelby simply because a student brought, hidden in his backpack, an unloaded toy BB pistol to school that he was intending to sell to another student (which is legal commerce, even for juveniles).  Schools should have the ability to maintain discipline and order through its rules, but often they try a zero tolerance policy that severely punishes kids even when the superintendent admits there was never any danger to anybody. 

What sets this apart from similar infractions that have happened in Mason County Central Schools is that the Shelby police are looking at the same facts you are and sending this up to the prosecutor for potential charges.  Seriously, if we believe the boy's only intent was to sell his toy gun, which appears to fit the fact set and the boy's claim, then what crime can the state charge him with? 

How better to teach our youths the limits of their civil rights and educate them in the ways of the world than suspending them from school and putting them through the juvenile court system for something like this.  If we do not defend our kids when they get caught up in stuff like this, we may as well give up the fight for every other right we hold dear.

[stump]

My nephew was suspended from school because he brought a swiss army knife to school that he got for christmas. It was about 1 1/2 " long, not one of those bigger ones . Also he was in kindergarden. They thought he also was a real threat to the school . And as stated above, they let kids have/use other items that could hurt some one like scissors.

[XLFD]

I know a kid at MCC Middle School that had a swiss army knife he used for fishing that had a 3" blade.  Allegedly, he didn't brandish it, didn't threaten anybody with it, he kept it in his pocket, but word got out he had it, and he readily produced it to the teacher.

Suspended for a school year.  It seems to me that such unusually strict punishments would actually be breeding the next generation of school shooters. 

[Willy]

I have a problem with a high school student  having no clue that bringing a pistol to school that resembles the real thing was not going to cause the authorities grief if they found out. After all he hid it behind a vending machine. Being suspended  for 10 days is not the end of the World but prosecuting him would be extreme. Now is the time for officials to act like adults and handle this is in a fair and mature manner. Prosecuting the youth is an over reaction.

[XLFD]

If the Shelby school system has such things codified in their policies, they would be remiss if they didn't follow through with them, but in the reports, and at the school's websites, there's no school rule against having a toy in your backpack.  An orange-tipped BB pistol is not a firearm or a weapon under most legal definitions I've seen.