1. I think the "Bong hits 4 jesus" was dumb. He should not get suspended sense he wasnt on school grounds. 

2. I guess my first answer was for both 1 and 2.

3. Children should have every constitutional right adults have. The constitution was made for all Americans. 

4. Cool thread!

We all know there is more back story to every single one of these events.  Deconstruct what really happened and you may find justifiable answers for these reactions.

People are sensitive to violence the way they are sensitive to bullying.  Everywhere you hear or see people demanding protection against violence in schools.  Pro-gun advocacy or even pretend can be imagined as a threat.  Even fake guns, like pop-tarts, probably violate some rule saying, "No real or fake guns, end of story."  Food or not food, it still breaks a rule in the school.  That rule is meant to keep kids safe and comfortable.

Are they silly?  Some if you look at just what you wrote.  But maybe you should look deeper into the history of the students before you automatically take their side.

This one time, a boy got expelled for having long hair. The school felt he was ruining what represents them because of that. He didn't even have it messy.
warmaker : And that's about all the backstory there is to this one.

This one time, a boy got expelled for having long hair. The school felt he was ruining what represents them because of that. He didn't even have it messy.
warmaker : And that's about all the backstory there is to this one.

Bong hits 4 jesus, hahaha.
Most of these things are quite ridiculous. 
Children should be able to support charitys, that pink hair suspension really annoyed me, as did the mohawk, your hair is yours,  its none of the schools damn business. 
The 2nd amendment I think is ridiculous,  however people have a right to voice support for it. 
Playing with gun shaped/ themed things is only wrong if theyre being malicious.
Unless theres a religious reason things like beads bands etc can be legitametly banned, however if someone wears them they should be asked to remove them, not suspended.
And the foreigb flag, plain intolerant. 
If that happened in the uk there would be a sh** storm.

warmaker : Well I should do some backstory for some of my list as I didn't write down why the school suspended those certain students. I did provide some background like the pop-tart gun and the Hello Kitty gun but I didn't really go into much depth on the other ones. I'll do that now...

1. In the case of the Rosary Beads, the boy was wearing them because I believe either his grandfather died and he was wearing them in honor of him, or he was wearing them because of a church event that he was being apart of. I think it was the grandfather, but I'll double check to make sure. Anyways the school suspended him because they believed that the Rosary Beads was a "Gang Sign" and they didn't want "Gang Violence" in the school (I don't know what Gang Rosary Beads represent btw).

2. In the case of the Bong Hits 4 Jesus, a school in Alaska was going to have their students watch the parade as a school event. The kid who made the sign, SKIPPED SCHOOL (I wrote that in huge letters cause its important) that day to watch the parade. A teacher saw the kid with the sign and ordered him to take it down saying that it was promoting the use of drugs. The kid argued that his sign wasn't arguing for drugs, even saying that his sign "made no sense and was just an attempt to get attention from the media".

3. The Girl with the pink was suspended because there was a school rule that prevented the use of unnatural or "excessive" dyed hair.

4. The Boy who got suspended for the foreign flag to his backpack, the school said that the flag would have caused "racial or gang violence in the school". The Boy had a flag from either a Central American or South American country (I think it was either Haitian, Dominican Republic, or Columbian) and the school has a lot of African Americans in that school, and everyone knows that African and Latino gangs are at war with each other.

5. The Boy suspended for the Mohawk was similar to the girl with the pink hair, except that the school justified the suspension because the boy's hair was "distracting" other students. I think the kid was in kindergarten and a bunch of the other kids were intrigued by his hair to the point that, as the school argues "the teacher couldn't control or teach the students because they were distracted by the Mohawk."

6. The Boy suspended for wearing the shirt which read "Support your Second Amendment Rights" was suspended because it was a "politically motivated shirt" and the shirt could have started "violence over what to do with gun control." The Boy had the choice to switch the shirt inside out until the day was over, but he refused saying that his shirt wasn't causing violence and was a form a Free Speech.

7. The Boy suspended for drawing violence was because another student was worried about the picture he drew. The Boy drew a picture of a school blowing up with the bodies of the teachers also being shown. The kid drew the picture for an assignment called involving drawing something of what "they wish for." Most of the other students thought it was a joke, but the one student didn't think it was. Also I should point out that the Boy who drew the violent drawings also had a history of drawing violence or depicting violence. School said that this was enough to justify a suspension.

I have read some of those and they all sound pretty stupid.

1. Which do you think the suspensions should be upheld? revoked?

*Girl suspended for having pink hair in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Then the school don't care about women getting breast cancer

*Boy suspended for having a foreign flag on his backpack.
Then the school is completely racist.

*The Boy suspended for drawing violent pictures.
It's just a drawing, it's not like he can get the gun from the paper and start shooting everyone


2. Should schools be allowed to suspend students for some of these things?
No, mostly it's because of stupid reasons, like who should suspend a student for no reason. If I were them, I would (or your parents) would of taken that school to court. 

3. Should Children have rights and/or Constitutional rights? (Free Speech is what I'm getting at.)
Yeah, every student has a right to wear on what they like to wear, it's the things they want to share their opinion with the other students.

Oh, I think all of those stories are punishable crimes against humanity.
Think we should go on a "witch hunt" for all of the countries youth and "burn them at the steak"?
Or is this an indication of what they learn from the present example of leadership that they have?

"Who's more foolish?"
"The fool? Or the fool who follows him?"

That was deep.
!Burrp!

Good Luck To All.
I'm done. Stick a fork in me.
Peace.

IgorBird122 : Yeah this stuff is just down right ridiculous, suspending a kid for having a foreign flag on his bookbag, seriously? That just really is low and shows how racist the schools can be towards others. I certainly these are pitiful reasons for suspending anyone, they are completely dumb and sensitive for suspending them in the first place, what's next they will suspend someone for ordering lunch? Here is one I found:



A 10 year old girl was suspended for bringing peppermint to school and giving it to others.
Really? They act like she had access to alcohol or something and then coated the peppermint with it.


I think stuff like this is truly a very lame and stupid reason to suspend someone and I think there is no thought behind doing it, like they are always associating little dumb things with either being a weapon or drugs o some other crazy thing, can't wait to see what other dumb stuff students will get suspended for next.

 

1.I think all of them should be revoked.
2.No I  don't think they should they got suspended for really stupid things.
3.Yes freedom of speech is what every student should have.

I think a lot of these are absolutely ridiculous.  On the other hand, it's rather infuriating to see acts of discipline like this just because I see what my very own kids get away with.  It seems nearly impossible to discipline my students at all, because the principals, assistant principals, and parents always want to play 'child's advocate'.  I mean, for example... I caught a boy stealing food from another student. He just swiped something off the other kid's desk, walked away, and ate the item in the hallway.  It wasn't until later that the original owner noticed the missing item and brought it to my attention.  I hadn't known that the food belonged to the first child, and so I went and confronted the thief.

He laughed it off like it was no big deal and actually funny.  "It was just a honey bun Mrs. Singell... chill!"  But I don't care if the kid stole a penny... fact of the matter is that he stole and felt no remorse over the issue.  I also know it's a habitual thing with him, because I've caught and stopped him from stealing before.

Can you believe that even WITH his confession, I was told to leave the matter alone?  Not even to call his parent!  I was shocked... and then I read articles like these.... where kids get suspended for chewing pop tarts into gun shapes or wearing Rosary beads.  It's ludicrous!

The one that shocked me the most was the girl getting suspended over pink hair.  However, further research into the story showed that it was actually against school policy.  So as shocking as some of those examples might sound initially, I think it's fair to know the story behind them, before passing judgement on which are fair and which aren't.

Do I think it's right to have a school policy on colored hair?  Not really.  I'm not a fan of wildly colored hair myself, but I don't see a reason to put it in school policy.  That being said, it WAS a school rule, and the child DID knowingly break it...

I think that, if you actually look into context and consider most circumstances these could happen in, then they could all, in a sense, be justifiable.

1) "Boy suspended for chewing his pop-tart into a gun and proceeding to use it as an imaginary gun". As stupid as it may seem to do this, you have to realize that using imaginary guns in any way (Toys, paper art, etc) is against the rules. And again, it only seems stupid due to the fact they actually specified the item in question. If they said something like "Boy suspended for proceeding to use an item as an imaginary gun in school", then nobody panics. But when they replace "item" with "pop-tart", everyone loses their mind.

2) "Girl suspended for having a "Hello Kitty Bubble Gun" and saying this phrase to another student 'I'll shoot you, you can shoot me, that way both of us can play with it.' ". Again, a gun-like item. Not allowed. At all.

3) "Boy suspended for wearing Rosary Beads to school". As you put in to context later on, this was due to a gang symbol. As such, either they were confusing it for something vaguely similar to what is used as a gang symbol around there, or Rosary Beads ARE used as a gang symbol around that area. You have to actually live near there for the whole story, really. Plus, with the former, it's easy to confuse things as "Gang symbols". In fact, I eavesdropped into a conversation on my bus about how some kid almost got equally punished because they thought the Assassin's Creed logo was a gang symbol.

4) "Boy suspended for waving a poster that said "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" during a state broadcast of a parade (another side not, he was not on school grounds during the parade)". Again, you later said how the school was going there as a trip anyways. Even if he was skipping, he was still there at the same time. Had he gone later (If it was still there later) after the school left, he probably would not have gotten in trouble. But, with the school around, and being associated with the school (Absent or not), it's justifiable. Plus, drug reference.

5) "Girl suspended for having pink hair in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month". Yet again, context. As you mentioned, it's against the rules to dye your hair either excessively or with unnatural colors. While it personally bugs me (because I love unnatural hair colors when done right), if it's in the rules to NOT do it, no matter the cause, it shouldn't have been done. And as a student of the school, they should have made sure of it before doing so. Despite having seen people with blue hair in my past school, my mom made sure I still went and checked whether or not it was against the rules to dye my hair (When I went to dye mine blue). Does it say what type of school it was? My best guess is some sort of religious/private school.

6) "Boy suspended for having a foreign flag on his backpack". moar context. As you said, it was a sort of Latin American flag in a African American dominated school. While it may have not yet caused any sort of violence, you always have to consider the future.

7) "Boy suspended for having a Mohawk haircut". Again, as you said, it was a major distraction to the students, to where the teacher wasn't even able to teach them. While I'm sure many would blame the teacher for not doing a good job, you have to consider the key piece of information: It was Kindergarten.

8) "Boy suspended for wearing a shirt that read 'Support your Second Amendment.' ". Did it have guns on it? If so, that right there is all they need to make you turn it inside out or punish you. If he resisted on the grounds of turning it inside out, then the punishment is acceptable. Even if it wasn't "causing violence" or "politically motivated".

9) "Boy suspended for drawing violent pictures". You later state that other students were worried over what he drew. You then state that it included the school being blown up, with bodies of teachers even included. That type of stuff alone could be considered as a "threat". Plus, if that wasn't his first time, which you say it wasn't, then they had full rights to suspend him.

Now, for your questions, I pretty much completely answered both the first and second ones with all I said above.

For the third, that's really dumb. Children DO have rights, you're just taking "silly" incidents and turning them into something that it isn't.

MegaRevolution1 :  You're very right.  I hate that media tends to turn these stories into 'shock' factors.  People get so riled over them, that they don't take the time to check out the reasoning. (like you and I and OldSchool mentioned about the pink hair, for example)  While there are definitely SOME ridiculous suspensions going on, it gets silly to cry 'foul' every time a kid is punished.  I only wish my school enforced the rules they set.  That, or the school rules just simply need to be done away with and re-written.

Kids at my school can be potentially suspended for wearing colored shoes (other than pure tan, pure black, or pure white).  I can only imagine a kid getting suspended over green shoes and the media going nuts!  But the rule, as silly as it seems, is there to prevent kids from flaunting gang colors... since so many of our kids come from gang-infiltrated neighborhoods.

It really depends. I don't think that students should be suspended automatically. They should at least be given a warning or something.

1. I don't think he should of been suspended right away. A simple warning would of been more fair. If he would of done it again then yeah he should be suspended.
2. Same as above.

3. I'm not sure of the whole story. Was the rosary really a gang symbol? If it was then he should of been warned and if he did it again suspended.
4. If the class was going to see the parade why did he skip? I'm not too sure about this one.

5. Again, warning. If the teachers would of spend some times going over the rules and such this would of been avoided. If the student already knew about the consequence then yeah she should be suspended. Also the parent should of known about this and should of stopped her from dyeing he hair.
6. Warning. The kid probably had no idea that it was about a gang. He probably made an honest mistake and got suspended for it.

7. Mohawk? I don't think he should of been suspended. The teacher should of asked him to put something over his head or something. I don't think a class could spend an entire school day staring at something.
8. The kid should of turned the shirt inside out. If you're not allowed to wear the shirt don't. This was pretty foolish and was the kid's fault.

9. It kind of depends on the age of the kid. If hes old enough to handle himself then he should of gotten suspended. He did this multiple times so he should of known not to. If he is really young then he shouldn't get suspended. In either case he should see someone for help.

For you third question, I'd have to agree with mega revolution. If the student got suspended wrongfully (none of the situations above) they should report the teacher to the principal or someone else.

1) I think this is ridiculous, the majority children of high/secondary school age have a curiosity for guns and it wasn't like it was a replica gun which I would understand

2) It is a bubble gun, unless you are allergic to water it is not going to hurt anybody, also how else could the girl have said what she meant and there was no sinister intent so there is no connection to a suicide pace

3) This is not just wrong it is racist, the boy could have took the school to court and sued them for at least six figures

4) This is just plain immature, if he was wearing school uniform or if he was on school property I could understand but he was neither so it is ridiculous

5) Does any member of staff in the school own a TV or have internet access??? If the answer to either is yes then this is an outright disgrace

6) Again this is racist, it is also patriotism which has been twisted and gone mad

7) This I can understand because a lot of schools do have regulations on haircuts and I presume he is not doing it for charity

8) I can sort of understand this because it is promoting weapons and people been armed, this is very controversial at the moment with the gun reforms

9) This child should not have been suspended because he did not do anything to harm anybody, however he is showing some concerning signs so he should be given counselling to find out why

Based on what I have read I would not be surprised if they suspended a kid for stepping on a bug because it shows a homicidal tendency or some other nonsense they would think up.

The mohawk one sounded like the teacher was just giving the kid a hard time. -not suspendable-

The pink hair one seem to be the kid using breast cancer awareness month as an excuse. -suspendable-

The bong hits for jesus one seem to be a mix of drugs and religion. However, the kid could get suspended for skipping class. -suspendable for skipping class, but not for the sign-

I have never heard of the rosary beads representing a gang, but if that is accurate, keep it to yourself -give him a warning, in he does it again, suspendable-

The flag of a different country seemed like it would provoke violence -suspendable-

Drawing a picture of the school blowing up is pretty intense. -suspendable-

The t-shirt one struck me as a kid being a republican redneck smartazz -suspendable-




I am trying to be non biased and refer to experience that happened when I was in school. My friend had a t-shirt that was an anagram for a swear word. He got suspended.

Also, Im fairly certain that these people are all very mouthy and provoked the teacher and principal to take action because of the attitude they gave them. I know people who would get suspended for dumb reasons mainly because they gave a teacher or principal attitude or ran their mouth. I feel like these people partially put the suspension on themselves.

A kid at my school beat up a kid younger than him, and so my friends beat up that kid, who was younger than them. Only my friends got suspended because they gave the principal attitude and the other kid snitched for getting beaten up, even though he did the same thing to someone else. The other kid was not punished.

A guy at my school lit off fireworks in the park down the street from our school after school one day. Nobody was at risk of being injured and nobody was around. The school's camera caught it on tape and he was suspended.

A kid at my school asked another kid to give them a permanent marker tattoo, so he did. The girl got in trouble by here mom when she went home and the mom called the school and complained. The kid who gave the tattoo got suspended, even though the girl asked for the tattoo, she never got in trouble.

A kid at my school brought a dart to school for some reason. He had no intentions to use it in a violent manner, but just to look cool because he was a tryhard. He got suspended.

A guy at my school brought a beebee gun to school to film a school assignment. There was one beebee left in the gun that the guy had emptied before bringing it to school that didnt come out. The gun was accidentally fired, the beebee bounced off a table and hit someone in the face. The person who got hit in the face was not injured. The guy who owned the beebee gun got expelled.