Students expelled for touching a BB GUN
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SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. -- Parents of three students facing expulsion say they'll appeal the punishment.
Three seventh-grade friends, Andre Bussey, Alfred Burns and Darius Allen admit they made a mistake. Allen brought a BB gun onto a Cowan Road Middle School bus. Burns and Bussey said they touched the gun.
When Spalding County school administrators found out, the three were expelled.
Allen said he got the idea after a class discussion that the teacher admitted to in a statement to the principal. The teacher said the subject of guns came up in class.
The principal suspended Allen and a school tribunal kicked him out of the school system. Bussey and Burns were expelled for a year and a half for touching the gun.
Their parents are upset and do not think the punishment fits the crime. "And just being put out of school for just touching a gun, I don't think that fair at all," said Burns' mother Audrey Hightower.
A school spokesman said the boys committed a serious violation and stand behind the punishment.
Three seventh-grade friends, Andre Bussey, Alfred Burns and Darius Allen admit they made a mistake. Allen brought a BB gun onto a Cowan Road Middle School bus. Burns and Bussey said they touched the gun.
When Spalding County school administrators found out, the three were expelled.
Allen said he got the idea after a class discussion that the teacher admitted to in a statement to the principal. The teacher said the subject of guns came up in class.
The principal suspended Allen and a school tribunal kicked him out of the school system. Bussey and Burns were expelled for a year and a half for touching the gun.
Their parents are upset and do not think the punishment fits the crime. "And just being put out of school for just touching a gun, I don't think that fair at all," said Burns' mother Audrey Hightower.
A school spokesman said the boys committed a serious violation and stand behind the punishment.
Deer Hunter
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- Dec 26, 2005
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- 4,097
OH COME ON
They touch scissors at school and ride in cars to get to school. These things have killed so many more people than guns, but even then, a BB GUN?
The kid who brought it on the bus was stupid, but damn give him swats (oh wait, this is a more "civilized" school) or detention. Not get expelled! And the kids who touched it? Allegedly?
I hate people sometimes. I really do.
They touch scissors at school and ride in cars to get to school. These things have killed so many more people than guns, but even then, a BB GUN?
The kid who brought it on the bus was stupid, but damn give him swats (oh wait, this is a more "civilized" school) or detention. Not get expelled! And the kids who touched it? Allegedly?
I hate people sometimes. I really do.
shadowalker
Member
Although I find a year and a half excessive for the kids that touched the gun they did break the rules not only by touching it but by not reporting it, what if it wasn't a BB gun? What if their actions resulted in another child being shot or killed?
As long as a year and a half fits within the guidelines and is being fairly applied compared to other incidents and these kids aren't being unfairly punished I don't have a problem with it.
As long as a year and a half fits within the guidelines and is being fairly applied compared to other incidents and these kids aren't being unfairly punished I don't have a problem with it.
Nightwing
Member
Seriously..... can't kids just be freaking kids> IT'S A BB GUN!!!!! I remember being little and taking a big ol Buck Knife to school and showing my friends for show and tell. I told them "This is a Big Knife! I found it in the field behind my house. I don't really use it for anything but I think it's cool cause it's so big".
I then put it back in my desk and continued on with the show and tell, and then with school. I did find it in a field by my house...... maybe someone should have called the police! haha. I was 6. who cares.
I then put it back in my desk and continued on with the show and tell, and then with school. I did find it in a field by my house...... maybe someone should have called the police! haha. I was 6. who cares.
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I graduated from a private Christian school in 2002. It was such a different environment. You could be expelled if you drank alcohol (off campus on the weekends not just on school property) or if you got somebody pregnant. But half of the guys carried pocket knives every day. I even remember when one student brought a BB pistol to school and brandished it in front of parents in the carpool line because he thought it would be funny (not too bright I know) He was suspended for 2 weeks and had to personally apologize to the parents - thats it.
I don't think you fully understand the gravity of that punishment for those kids, and I don't think you are really thinking about the situation. A year and a half expulsion for touching a BB gun? that year and a half will make it very tough for the kids to finish school at all, who wants to be two years older than all your classmates? Kids are going to have a very stunuted education one way or another because they touched a BB gun. It's supreme effeminization of the youth.
I graduated from a private Christian school in 2002. It was such a different environment. You could be expelled if you drank alcohol (off campus on the weekends not just on school property) or if you got somebody pregnant. But half of the guys carried pocket knives every day. I even remember when one student brought a BB pistol to school and brandished it in front of parents in the carpool line because he thought it would be funny (not too bright I know) He was suspended for 2 weeks and had to personally apologize to the parents - thats it.
That sounds like a very reasonable way to deal with a situation like that. Kid was being an idiot, he'll certainly feel some shame while apologizing to everyone involved, especially if he had to apologize to each individual parent one at a time, unless he was raised by a pack of howler monkeys the embarassment will stick with hiom for quite some time, if it were me it would.
Seancass
Member
i think if that happened around here i could see expulsion and suspensions, but removal from the system, cant ever come back, is a bit much. I think expulsion is a bit much too, but they could just be making an example. I havnt been out of high school very long and i swear the rules are changing fast.
edit: Commenting on NG VI: i cant think of a single kid from my highschool who got expelled and went on to graduate later. I think all those where drug and alcohol related.
edit: Commenting on NG VI: i cant think of a single kid from my highschool who got expelled and went on to graduate later. I think all those where drug and alcohol related.
scrat
Member
its reality now a days. As adults we all need to teach children at an early age that this is not acceptable and teach them the consequences. If you were to go back 30 year or more it may not have been a problem. Like others i remember when i was a kid i always carried a pocket knife. i remember pulling it out and giving it to the shop teacher to open something. He just gave it back. Then same time if you were to go back 30+ years ago. most high schools had gun smithing as an ellective.
Darthbauer
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- Apr 1, 2007
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- 677
I took a toy gun to school one time in Jr high. I took it to the office and said that I did it on accident. They fliped out like I brought a real gun to school and then they fliped out on my parents for me having a toy gun without an Orange tip.
Nothing would have happened to these kids if they just said it was an accident and gave it to someone in the office. Sure they would have been yeld at and stuff but they would not have been expelled.
Nothing would have happened to these kids if they just said it was an accident and gave it to someone in the office. Sure they would have been yeld at and stuff but they would not have been expelled.
tecdv
Member
I hate reading/seeing/hearing crap like this being done to our children. Society is raising the next generation to be a bunch of pansies and/or criminals. You can't discipline them without the fear of jail. Since they "touched" a BB Gun, lets kick them out of school so they can run the streets and learn the wrong life lessons. Idiots. Whoever made that decision needs to have their life altered by those very same children that are now out on the streets learning those lessons. Well, Mr. Dumb &@#, if you wouldn't have kicked me out of school for that ridiculous reason, I would have been there learning how to be an asset to society, not here robbing you!
sm
member
I was born in the Southern United States in April of 1955.
Where did my America go?
Where did my America go?
Mike OTDP
Member
Punish the kids. Rules are rules.
Then fire the administrators. It's their responsibility to have rules that make sense. Our children have the right to be educated by responsible adults, not hysterical ninnies.
Then fire the administrators. It's their responsibility to have rules that make sense. Our children have the right to be educated by responsible adults, not hysterical ninnies.
Officers'Wife
Member
I can't help but remember one of my Dad's reading assignments when I was home schooled...
The law should be used as a shield not a sword. That school teaches the law is a sword, and a sword weilded in vindictiveness as well.
Is it any wonder the lawmakers want firearms banned?
Selena
The law should be used as a shield not a sword. That school teaches the law is a sword, and a sword weilded in vindictiveness as well.
Is it any wonder the lawmakers want firearms banned?
Selena
The Tourist
member
Let's not be too hasty here. It appears to me like a "non-story." Let me explain.
This is how things should work. The kids broke a rule, there is a consequence, and the parents have the right to redress and an appeal.
If anything, this is a reasonable and logical system of discipline. And it sure beats those "zero tolerance" procedures with no built-in system to challenge the decision.
This is how things should work. The kids broke a rule, there is a consequence, and the parents have the right to redress and an appeal.
If anything, this is a reasonable and logical system of discipline. And it sure beats those "zero tolerance" procedures with no built-in system to challenge the decision.
Wetawd
Member
Wow it's a BB pistol PEOPLE. In Arkansas my grandpa used to tell me stories about how he and friends would bring shotguns to school and then go hunting or shooting after school.
The point is, kids back then weren't all that different from kids today and there was even less school shootings. I don't think anything should happen to those kids.
The point is, kids back then weren't all that different from kids today and there was even less school shootings. I don't think anything should happen to those kids.
mpmarty
Member
Solution:
All three families move out of the school district, enroll the kids in new schools and then sue the old school district and the dummies who made the decision for cruel and unusual punishment, abuse of power, violation of constitutional rights, forcing the families to uproot and move away to ensure the government mandated right to education etc. and cost the school and its administrators a bundle of money. The ACLU might even take the case.
All three families move out of the school district, enroll the kids in new schools and then sue the old school district and the dummies who made the decision for cruel and unusual punishment, abuse of power, violation of constitutional rights, forcing the families to uproot and move away to ensure the government mandated right to education etc. and cost the school and its administrators a bundle of money. The ACLU might even take the case.
Rob G
Member
Zero tolerance makes me ill. It completely bypasses the concept of "due process." I understand that that particular constitutional right only applies to the government and not necesarily to the schools. However, the question is, should it? If we are trying to raise children to be responsible citizens then shouldn't we raise them under the same standards that they'll live under as adults?
I think "zero tolerance" policies should be replaced with policies that allow for a fair review of each individual incident. I mean really how fair is it for these children to be punished the same as someone who walks through the front door with a .50 BMG screaming "where is that SOB principal." Essentially that's how they're written.
I think "zero tolerance" policies should be replaced with policies that allow for a fair review of each individual incident. I mean really how fair is it for these children to be punished the same as someone who walks through the front door with a .50 BMG screaming "where is that SOB principal." Essentially that's how they're written.
I used to bring my Marlin Mod 60 to my 3rd grade class room. The teacher's rule was: all guns had to be kept in out lockers with our coats and backpacks.
I was 9 years old and I frequently took it to school so I could have it when I went to my friends house after school. (they had a prairie dog problem that I was attempting to resolve
By the way I am only 32, so its not like this was THAT long ago.
I was 9 years old and I frequently took it to school so I could have it when I went to my friends house after school. (they had a prairie dog problem that I was attempting to resolve
By the way I am only 32, so its not like this was THAT long ago.
Shadowangel
Member
Ridiculous, but not surprising. Didn't a kid get expelled awhile back for drawing a PICTURE of a gun?
Autolycus
Member
This is what happens when you break the rules. The kids got what was coming to them. If it had been a real gun would we be as concerned?
What about drugs and alcohol? Should we let them get away with doing that in school?
What about drugs and alcohol? Should we let them get away with doing that in school?
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