STUPIDITY VIRUS STRIKES SPOKANE
"Three boys at Bemiss Elementary School in Spokane, Wash., have been
suspended for bringing 'toy guns' to school, the Spokane Spokesman-Review
(
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-...89&date=012704)
reports. Now at first glance this may not seem wholly unreasonable--after
all, children have been shot by policemen who mistook toy guns for the real
thing. But there wasn't much danger of that happening in this case. Terry
Wilson-Spence, whose eight-year-old son was among the suspended students,
tells the paper that 'the toy guns her son carried in his pocket were for GI
Joe action figures. The guns are from only 1 inch to 3 inches long--half the
size of a pencil.' "
- James Taranto, Best of the Web, 1/28/04
The school's principal, Lorna Spear, is quoted in the story as saying,
"We've been very clear with our students and parents that you don't bring
anything that resembles a gun to school. At school you don't need anything
that's going to make kids feel unsafe."
I gotta tell you, knowing that a bone-head like Spear is in charge of our
children's education makes ME feel pretty darned unsafe.
By the way, apparently the Wilson-Spence kid was ratted out by another
student who noticed the toy hanging out of the third-grader's pocket. What
kind of message are we sending our youth by encouraging them to snitch on
their classmates for something so trivial and harmless. At the risk of
being deemed "insensitive," I suggest it may be time for a little
"playground justice" for the little tattle-tale, if you know what I mean.
BRUSHFIRE ALERT: The school's phone number is (509) 354-2300. You can send
Principal Spear an email by clicking on her name in the staff directory
found at:
http://www.spokaneschools.org/bemiss/Staff.stm
STUPIDITY VIRUS STRIKES SPOKANE
