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While Chicago churches are trading computers for guns, one suburban kid found out that turning in a pellet gun gets you expelled, instead.
In Plainfield, a thirteen year-old boy allegedly discovered a pellet gun in the boys restroom of Troy Middle School and turned it in to an assistant principal, only to be kicked out of school. Several local news groups are covering the incident. The kid's parents are protesting the expulsion and they took their case to the media. The school has remained mum on the incident, citing their responsibility to respect the privacy of the boy.
We're finding it really hard to not sympathize for the kid and view the school board as a collective of idiots. We don't know the rules and regulations of that particular district, but we suspect that the school was put in this position by a zero-tolerance policy for weapons in the school. They can enforce the policy as written and interpreted, resulting in the mess they have now, or they can choose to ignore it, resulting in a more-than-zero tolerance stance on guns in school. In their defense, the school has said that the media (that would be us) should not speculate on the incident as the full report has not been made public. The parents have a copy of the report, but have declined to share it, because it "wouldn't be to [their] son's advantage". This sounds rather fishy to us, so we're going to withhold judgement at this moment.
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It's hard to not to pass judgement on this given that we don't have the all facts, but I have a son in the neighboring school district (204 in Naperville. Yes Naperville) and I've had to deal with a fair amount of asinine BS from them in the last couple of years. This incident sounds typical of a west suburban school district.
What is it with guns and this nation? Way to show how kids should do the right thing. It shows he would have gotten in no more trouble pocketing the gun and getting caught with it later. Same goes for Tank Johnson and the standoff he was preparing for in South Central Gurnee. He is facing misdemeanor gun charges, for assault weapons! He will still play on Sunday (most likely), and being Chicago, a couple sacks and key tackles will wipe the slate clean. He's not getting expelled, or fired, or released for having guns that would tear someone in half, as opposed to [insert miracle here] and an icicle falling off the garage and hitting your glasses. And the stupid kid who left the gun in the bathroom is either shitting himself in fear of getting ratted on, or laughing to himself for someone else taking the heat. Nice. Way to go society. You've proved us wrong again.
According to the article, the kid found the gun, but didn't turn it in right away. So, he did make a bad decision to begin with. However, he or his parents quickly realized the error and sought to correct it, which should count for something.
This is just another example of adults demonizing a young person who was placed in a position to make a decision that even adults would often get wrong.
I'm sick of kids being held to the same standard as adults, punished because they "have to be responsible for their decisions". Teens may know "right from wrong" in some generic sense, but they don't know why their beliefs coalesce the way they do and they are ill equipped to reason through all of the factors involved.
They should be held accountable, but not with the same degree of consequence as an adult. Now this kid is going to be adversely affected for years for a momentary lapse in judgement that he tried to correct and which hurt no one.
The administrators for this school district should be ashamed of themselves. Not only ashamed, but THEY should be accountable for the consequences of the horrendous decision making. After all, they are adults who by now should have well thought out reasons to back their decisions.
I actually know the Morgan's personally and this situation has really touched me. I believe that when the boy found the pellet gun he did not know the implications around touching it and putting it in his pocket. But he did the right thing in turning it in to authorities, and I applaud him for that. His parents have acknowledge that it was NOT a good thing that he touched it at all, but he removed the gun, without evil intent, and instead of discarding it or playing with it, he gave it to authorities. He should be given SOME credit. Especially considering he had NO behavioural issues in the past. It's a sad situation, but i'm glad they're fighting it!
was the gun realistic looking, or a bright orange one?
Exhibit A as to why public schools in America are f---ed up. This kid did right and he's getting screwed over by a school system held hostage by a bunch of hysterical ninnies. Political correctness neither educates kids nor teaches them right from wrong.