Chris James Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 http://now.msn.com/lego-gun-may-get-joseph-cardosa-suspended-from-school Can you believe this? Turn on the televison and you see stories about shootings, guns galore...the NRA must be so proud! And so a child builds a gun out of Legos. Here we are with a teachable moment but instead they seek to shame the poor kid and punish him. Legos can allow some pretty artistic and expressive things to be built. Perhaps the school would have been proud if the boy had constructed a penis and balls, or how about a vagina? No wait, he made a toy gun...didn't know those were illegal, and in fact they are not. Maybe the kid was expressing his 2nd Ammendment rights, good luck with that in court. This is not political correctness, it is paranoia and there is no place for that in the education business. Someone call the ACLU. Link to comment
Cole Parker Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 This isn't surprising. They're suspending kids at some schools who, on the playground, form a gun by raising a thumb and sticking out their index finger. Zero tolerance in many cases equates to zero intelligence. C Link to comment
JamesSavik Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 Before long the femi-nazis are going to fit men with a straight jacket at birth and neuter us when at the same time they do the family cat. Link to comment
DesDownunder Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 My favourite was my water pistol...which was replaced when I reached puberty. Link to comment
The Pecman Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 This is such politically-correct bullshit... these school authorities have got to get it together. This is the kind of thing they're worried about? Worry about the guns that actually kill people, not something made of Lego. Jesus... Link to comment
JamesSavik Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 I remember a rather bawdy cadence: This is my rifle, this is my gun, This ones for fighting and this one's for fun... Link to comment
DesDownunder Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 Excellent James, thanks for bringing back the memory. I first heard it at about the same time I heard about the gay cowboy who rode into town, and shot up the sheriff. Link to comment
Chris James Posted January 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 I seriously doubt if this event is over. What if a psycologist or counselor talks to the boy and he says he made the Lego gun to feel safe because he thinks schools are dangerous? I would encourage the parents to let a professional speak with the boy and determine why he felt the need to make that toy gun. Yes, it is a toy and not the real thing, but five year olds often have an advanced sense of fantasy and it would be good to know what's on the boy's mind. What would the poor kid do if he saw a teacher with a gun strapped to her hip? We don't need to encourage that kind of thinking. Link to comment
Gee Whillickers Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Can anyone here even imagine this scene playing out today in almost any country? That poor kid would be on the ground with tasers in his chest and pepper spray in his eyes in about two seconds. And no whining about police brutality, the kid obviously had it coming. Link to comment
EleCivil Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I had to suspend a kid for a toy gun, once. Only once. It was a pellet gun that was so realistic that the other kids were scared, and his teacher had to call the cops. The cop held the pellet gun up to his own sidearm. They looked identical. The cop told us that if he saw someone with that pellet gun on the street, he would be forced to draw on them, and might end up shooting. However, I have no problem with, say, guns made of folded notebook paper that are quite clearly two dimensional. Or big, orange and green cartoony toy guns. Or finger-guns. In fact, on the last day of school, I've been known to pack some water pistols, myself. Why? Unspoken male telepathy. Observe: Link to comment
DesDownunder Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Visiting my childhood memories, I found that I had a 'cap' pistol which came with a coil of little dots of gunpowder which exploded, making a loud sound when the gun's hammer struck them. Strangely, my parents were unable to 'find' replacement coils when I had fired them all. As kids from age of about 8 to 12, we used to play, cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, shooting each other with nothing more than our hands and fingers poised to imitate a gun. It was pretend 'play', often re-enacting the movies we had watched at the local cinema. We understood it was nothing more then pretense ; exactly like we had watched the actors in the movies 'pretend' they were cops, or robbers, or cowboys, or indians. There were also prohibited 'toys' like wooden guns that fired rubber bands with great force, slingshots, and 'toy' bows and arrows. Most parents would not allow their kids to have such 'toys' which, were also banned at school. At high school we could join the 'School Cadets' and fire real (army surplus) rifles. I never even asked my parents for permission to join that activity. Not only was I repulsed by the idea of firing the rifle, I had discovered other, more personal ways to shoot, that was much more fun. As a child, I had toy plastic Buida-brix, which were supposed to encourage us to build houses and buildings. Not me, I built a stage in a theatre, and then I discovered I could use them to build little space ships and flying saucers which I used to 'bomb' the crap out of each other. Again the emphasis here, is on the pretend play that was...is, the essence of childhood imagination and amusement. I would have run away from anything resembling a real fire-arm as my mother had well and truly informed me of their inherent danger. Link to comment
Chris James Posted January 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Voices of reason...let's hope they prevail: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis--disciplining-children-over-fake-guns-may-be-wrong-lesson-195101197.html Link to comment
Cole Parker Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 It is the school's role to educate its children. Shielding them from reality is not educating them. Children should be shielded from reality that they are unable to process. Playing shooting and hiding and that sort of games doesn't hurt them at all, and lets them feel powerful for a few minutes within their natual setting. Kids are able to imagine all sorts of things, and thereby learn to sort them out. The lady said the kids might be scared if they see someone with a toy gun. If we're going to protect kids from learning to separate what's imaginative fun from reality, actual terror from play terror, we're doing a horrible job of getting them ready to be handle the world they'll inhabit. Link to comment
EleCivil Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Just wait until the National Lego Association hears about this. "Legos don't kill people. People...well, I guess Legos could be a choking hazard, actually. And they hurt like hell when you step on them in bare feet. I suppose you could melt them down, mold them into a plastic bullet, and shoot it out of a gun. But, really, who does that? Besides, the pressure and heat involved would melt the...wait, what were we talking about, again?" Link to comment
colinian Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Voices of reason...let's hope they prevail: http://news.yahoo.co...-195101197.html Great article, Chris. Definitely the Voices of Reason. I played with toy guns when I was a little kid – but never at school (I went to a Catholic elementary school and "playing with guns" wasn't allowed). I have no desire to go out and shoot up a theater or a school. Colin Link to comment
JamesSavik Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 I played with real guns when I was a kid and nobody died. I only really wanted to shoot one person but I decided against it. Link to comment
Nick Deverill Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 What gets me even more is a story like this one: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/school-asks-deaf-preschooler-change-sign-language-name-191629255.html Same sort of 'reasoning'. Does the sign (watch the video) look like you're being shot? Link to comment
Chris James Posted February 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Pathetic...the school principal's name must be Dr. Para Noid. He probably sees a pointed finger as a knife, a rocket launcher...an atomic bomb. I think the kids there have greater brain power, only the adults seem to see a danger. Link to comment
Cole Parker Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Next thing you know, a four-year-old will be put in handcuffs and thrown into a jail cell for pointing at someone. C Link to comment
The Pecman Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 That's what started me on my life of crime. Link to comment
DesDownunder Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 My mommy told me never to point at someone because it was rude. I often wonder if that was what made me gay, because when I reached puberty I started to point at all the guys and that led to me doing very rude, but nice things with them. Link to comment
dude Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 Why Des, where I grew up... giving my fellow classmates a pointer or two was considered to be quite friencly! Link to comment
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