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Officials say drawing by teen ‘absolutely considered a threat’
A 13-year-old boy has been suspended for three days by an Arizona public school because he sketched a picture that resembled a gun, something school officials said they “absolutely” believed could pose a threat.
“My son is a very good boy,” Paul Mosteller told the television station. “He doesn’t get into trouble. There was nothing on the paper that would signify that it was a threat of any form.”
The principal at Payne Junior High School kept the actual drawing, and officials with the Chandler Unified School District declined to release any information about the situation.
Mosteller said her son was just idly drawing pictures, and ended up with a fake laser.
“He was just basically doodling and not thinking a lot about it,” she said. “We’re not advocates for guns. We don’t have guns in our home. We don’t promote the use of guns. My son was just basically doodling on a piece of paper.”
School officials who initially banned the student for five days lowered the penalty to three days after discussing the situation with the boy’s father.
“I just can’t believe that there wasn’t another way to resolve this,” Mosteller told the Associated Press. “He’s so upset. The school made him feel like he committed a crime. They are doing more damage than good.”
The drawing did not show blood or bullets. Nor did it show injuries or target anyone, the Mostellers said. It just resembled a gun.
Terry Locke, a spokesman for the district, told the AP the sketch was “absolutely considered a threat,” and threatening words or pictures are punishable.
However, the school failed to contact police, and failed to provide counseling or an evaluation for the student to determine if he intended it as a threat, officials said.
The student’s father, Ben Mosteller, said school officials told him how serious they considered the situation, and discussed the 1999 massacre at Colorado’s Columbine High School, where two teens shot and killed 12 students and a teacher, and injured dozens more.
That, he said, was extreme and offensive. The family already has contacted the district’s governing board about the incident.
The station said it checked the rules students must follow at school, and found there’s nothing in a portion of the student handbook that addresses conduct to indicate the drawing of a weapon poses threat.
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
September 5th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Remember the good ol’ days when you could play guns at recess without getting in trouble? Now you say the word “shoot” and they’ve got the FBI breathing down your neck.
September 11th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
[...] Sep 11th, 2007 by nakedchick Youth suspended over sketch of gun [...]
September 16th, 2007 at 8:21 am
[...] Picture & Article Source: Funny Mos. [...]
September 21st, 2007 at 9:09 pm
I HONESTLY BELIEVE THESE SCHOOLS ARE BRAINWASHING OUR CHILDREN.THEY ARE MAKING THEM FEEL THAT GUNS ARE BAD NO MATTER WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE.I FEEL THAT OUR RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS AND PROTECT OUR FREEDOM AND PROPERTY WILL BE TESTED TIME AND TIME AGAIN…VIVA NRA L.BARNES
November 5th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Sure look’s like a space ship to me…
These zero-tolerance rules mean youy need to check your mind at the school enterance… it’s no wonder the kids ain’t learning squat.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:07 am
Rubbish.
Fifteen years ago when I was in middle school, I was taken out of class and sent to the school psychiatrist for a full evaluation on my psych profile when my english teacher reccomended me as being a threat to myself and others.
Why?
I drew a little (about the size of a postage stamp) picture of a smiley face with a bullet hole in its head with a handgun next to it.
I thought it was a whimsical statement reflecting the grade I knew my paper would get after I turned it in. Not that I had secret urges to kill.
Teachers can be massively paranoid, but wouldn’t you be too if you had to be around hundreds of screaming hormone filled, easily influenced youth day in and day out that are all brainwashed from a lifetime of mind-numbing television, being packed full of ideas of what society is and how they should act based off of… reality TV… then there’s the parents that are too busy with their own shit to pay attention to their kids and then they blame their children’s behaviour on TV and video games.
Bullshit. Don’t have kids if you can’t care for them.
Ah, but I digress…
May 7th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Hmm its funny how it looks like a god damn street with happy people walking along the sidewalks…i guess the failed attemt at an angle perspective made it look like a…a gun i guess.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
i remember when we played cops and robbers cowboys and indians all involved the mighty finger pointing as a gun heck i remember when we used to bring squirt guns to school i understand you have to be careful but lets not let good times to remember be thrown out by being so uptight we cant enjoy the things that are suppossed to be fun like our school days !!!!!