i work as a behavioral interventionist at an elementary school in wilmington, DE, which is a smaller 'big' city just south of philly. we have a pretty rough population, and i always suspected i would someday have to deal with some sort of gun-related incident sooner or later. i read these news stories all the time about kids doing really innocuous things like pointing a finger like a gun, or carrying around an empty casing, or having a water gun, and school administrators reacting like clowns. today i had my chance to do things right and normally.
a 4th grade teacher told me she found a 'bullet' in some kid's desk and didn't know what to do. i went right down and got it from her, and told her not to worry about it, and i would take care of it....and to not make a big deal of it with her kids. as i figured it would be it was a unspent .22 round, and was all jacked up, like it had been run over on the street. the student whose desk it was in, was not in school; he's a pretty good kid, and his mom i knew to be pretty level-headed and involved. my principal is very reasonable, as well. i showed it to him as would be my responsibility, and immediately told him exactly what it was, and given the condition, that the kid probably found it on the ground somewhere. i told him i had just planned to call home to mom and let her know what was up. he took the round and agreed.
i actually had a chance to see the kid at a basketball game after school. i asked him where he got it. he was really upset, i guess because he knew he shouldn't have had it in school, or maybe at all, once his mom found out. he said he found it in his pocket, which was a strange lie, but i figured he didn't want me to know because he thought he would be in less trouble if it 'just appeared' in his pocket. i didn't press it too much. i did go and call his mom right after talking to him. there really isn't too much else to the story. no one was hurt. the boy had a fright and knows he should not be bringing anything like that to school. discipline is in the parent's hands. and there isn't some ridiculous news story.
i just thought it would be interesting to give some insight into how situations like this can play out. i also concluded that the only way something like this could blow up into some huge drama is if those dealing with the situation, like some administrator, wanted some press time. why else would you make a big deal about it? the child threatened no one, had no gun, and simply was hanging on to a cool, dinged up 'bullet'. take it, tell him he cannot bring these sorts of things to school, ask him some questions to make sure nothing is behind it, and hand the issue over to mom. i am happy to be a part of a non-story, and glad my principal felt the same. imagine what it could have turned into.
a 4th grade teacher told me she found a 'bullet' in some kid's desk and didn't know what to do. i went right down and got it from her, and told her not to worry about it, and i would take care of it....and to not make a big deal of it with her kids. as i figured it would be it was a unspent .22 round, and was all jacked up, like it had been run over on the street. the student whose desk it was in, was not in school; he's a pretty good kid, and his mom i knew to be pretty level-headed and involved. my principal is very reasonable, as well. i showed it to him as would be my responsibility, and immediately told him exactly what it was, and given the condition, that the kid probably found it on the ground somewhere. i told him i had just planned to call home to mom and let her know what was up. he took the round and agreed.
i actually had a chance to see the kid at a basketball game after school. i asked him where he got it. he was really upset, i guess because he knew he shouldn't have had it in school, or maybe at all, once his mom found out. he said he found it in his pocket, which was a strange lie, but i figured he didn't want me to know because he thought he would be in less trouble if it 'just appeared' in his pocket. i didn't press it too much. i did go and call his mom right after talking to him. there really isn't too much else to the story. no one was hurt. the boy had a fright and knows he should not be bringing anything like that to school. discipline is in the parent's hands. and there isn't some ridiculous news story.
i just thought it would be interesting to give some insight into how situations like this can play out. i also concluded that the only way something like this could blow up into some huge drama is if those dealing with the situation, like some administrator, wanted some press time. why else would you make a big deal about it? the child threatened no one, had no gun, and simply was hanging on to a cool, dinged up 'bullet'. take it, tell him he cannot bring these sorts of things to school, ask him some questions to make sure nothing is behind it, and hand the issue over to mom. i am happy to be a part of a non-story, and glad my principal felt the same. imagine what it could have turned into.
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