The only "threatening" here is the small minded charlatans running the schools and making these moronic rules.
We couldn't have "zero tolerance" for stupidity because then we'd all have to stay home.

Like George Carlin said..."Now they want to ban toy guns...but they're keeping the real ones!"

"Some children would consider it threatening, who are scared about shootings in schools or shootings in the community,"

"I also used to think there were monsters in my closet and under my bed, but nobody thought to clear out all the scary stories from the Farmington Hills Public Library."

Don't give them any ideas.

My grandson is 5 and I have purchased him the following: bubble gun, cork gun, pirate knife, pirate sword and a knight's sword. We have silly fights with all of these thins. This weekend he pointed his finger at me to shoot me. I fear for him in the public school system. I can already see the handwriting on the wall. I wish these stupid school would realize just how destructive their zero tolerance policies are to a child who is figuring out this crazy world we live in.

Not just boys...

Florida Teen Girl Charged With Felony After Science Experiment Goes Bad

I'd like to go to that school with a Pop-Tart, eat pieces off it so that that remainder is roughly the shape of a gun, then chase that stupid spokeswoman around a full classroom, going, "BANG! BANG! POW! RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!"

Suffolk Public Schools spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw said a pencil is considered a weapon when it's pointed at someone in a threatening way and gun noises are made.

..."Some children would consider it threatening, who are scared about shootings in schools or shootings in the community," Bradshaw said.

So, if I took a sharpened pencil, raised it over my head like a dagger and advanced on someone, that wouldn't be considered threatening, as long as it didn't make the gun noises?

Astra, I just read the article you linked to. The comments are absolutely disgusting: "There are rules (sniff) that must be followed (sniff)". People who want society to be proscriptive: you can only do what the government gives you explicit permission to do. Everything else is prohibited.

From the article: "After the explosion Wilmot was taken into custody by a school resources officer and charged with possession/discharge of a weapon on school grounds and discharging a destructive device. She will be tried as an adult." Makes me really wish I lived there so I could be on that jury.

When will Star Wars be banned? I mean, the princess in there shoots people with a blaster!

@Amy - we have epic battles in the livingroom, I always end up on the losing end of his sword. The only rule for play is he can't shoot the dog with the cork gun and he can't shoot us above our shoulders.

Astra, I just read the article you linked to. The comments are absolutely disgusting...

Yep. The ones that drive me up the wall are the "think of the children" ones. And felony charges!

This comment was the best:
from "Futureofourkidsisdim
1 day ago

"This is ridiculous. Did none of you do stupid things as kids, setting off fire crackers in inappropriate places, lighting matches, mixing things that shouldn't be, any other stupid childish thing you can think of? Anyone out there ever 'experiment' with an illegal substance to see what it would do to you? I'm pretty sure you are a liar or have selective memory loss if you think you've never done something you weren't supposed to or allowed to do. The fact here is that nothing HAPPENED. Kids in school systems do more terrible things for less punishment than this girl is receiving. Should she be rewarded as an innovative future scientist? No. Should she be punished for disobeying rules? Yes. SHOULD SHE BE EXPELLED AND TURNED INTO A FELON? Really, I have to ask? What on Earth is wrong with you people? If they were as adamant about enforcing their zero tolerance policy about bullying maybe they would get somewhere, but attacking a girl for popping a bottle cap off before school hardly seems worth all the trouble she's in." (bold emphasis is mine)

I would like ask this question of EVERY damn administrator in every school system who thinks that turning this child or any other, for doing anything similar, into a FELON is even remotely appropriate. What. The. Fuck.

Actually, a pencil makes a pretty good weapon when you use it as a PENCIL! But a pen is mightier than a sword. So I guess we should just eliminate all writing implements. Just in case.

Actually, this keyboard could whack somebody pretty hard, so we'll probably have to get rid of them, too.

Hmm, Radwaste mentioned Star Wars. Has me thinking, I've yet to hear any stories like this concerning knives or swords. They are weapons too. And I don't believe for a minute that there are no boys in these schoold, making lightsaber suonds while swinging sticks/wrapping paper tubes.
I used to do SCA and gave demos of sword fights in schools, as the wake them up part of history lessons. Never had a problem, even with examples of swords and blades. But in these same schools I'd probably get arrested bringing in an obvoisly fake toy gun. Leads me to believe much is political toward anti 2nd amendmen.

"Actually, a pencil makes a pretty good weapon when you use it as a PENCIL!"

And here we have a SUPERB example of a culturally-driven ignorance (and this is not directed at you, friend).

The pencil is a wonderfully effective stabbing weapon, and is routinely ignored by people who can only remember things shown in movies.

people who can only remember things shown in movies.

Even they should know about the pencil's lethal potential from The Dark Knight.

"Boys are usually the children who play with weapons"

Not in my house. She mimics her brother, and when she was three discovered that hot wheels make excellent projectiles for sling shots.

The schools (and I use the term loosely) have been taken over by yuppified PC idiots to the point that if it weren't for the social aspects, I'd home school till college! They don't care if your child learns and succeeds, they want a pay cheque and good reputation. You can't even send your kid to school in a Halloween costume anymore, not if it doesn't agree with their thinking.

I quote from a letter received last Halloween sent home with my daughter:

" We respectfully request parents send their children to school in message and age appropriate clothing. The school reserves the right to confiscate any costumes or accessories deemed to be inappropriate or that glorify violence.

Inappropriate costumes and accessories include:

Pirates
Soldiers
Prisoners
"Jason" or "Freddy Krueger"
Belly dancers
Religious Costumes
Native Americans
Guns
Swords
Masks (face paint is acceptable)
Revealing clothing/short skirts
Lipstick

Suggestions for costumes include:

Animals
Princess/Prince
Firefighter
Witch/Vampire/Werewolf"

Since when did we work for the school boards? Like other public institutions, shouldn't we be telling THEM what the fuck to do, especially as concerns our children?

Sara is indeed a fun grandma. Her grandkid (if she has more than one) must adore her.

That said, I'm waiting for CPS to come by and forbid her all contact with her grandchild for teaching him gun violence. Not that I would want that to happen; I'd be outraged if it did. Just being cynical.

(Not that I'm ever cynical.)

@Patrick, I have two grandsons and I'm waiting for the day the school calls me to pick one of them up because he pointed his finger and made a shooting sound. If I don't get the call directly, I'm pretty sure my daughter will call me to go to the school with her. I'm kind of looking forward to it. It's been a few years since I've had to tangle with a school administrator. Better go brush up on my verbal sparring skills, the oldest grandson starts kindergarten this fall!

"Boys are usually the children who play with weapons"

Gotta brag up my grand-niece for a minute. I don't know if she's fired a gun yet, but she's a pretty good bow-hunter. Got her first buck last year. I can't remember her age at the moment, but she's pre-teen anyway.

She also baits her own hooks, once she changes out of her princess dresses and puts on her khakis.

Whenever I hear a story like this, the part that makes me seethe even more than the injustice directed towards the child is the abdication of an educator's primary responsibility: setting an example for reason.

The whole point of education is to develop our abilities to think about and evaluate things we encounter in the world around us. "Zero tolerance" means "unwilling to make a reasoned judgement" and that is an educational failure far worse than suspending a little boy.

wtf: "The schools (and I use the term loosely) have been taken over by yuppified PC idiots to the point that if it weren't for the social aspects, I'd home school till college!"

What social aspects? Home based education doesn't require you to isolate your kids in a cabin in the boondocks. Home educated kids are educated and socialized in the real world, outside the fences of the oppressive, regimented institutions we refer to as "schools". Their teachers and role models are real people with the intelligence, common sense and social skills to function productively in the incredibly diverse environment we call society - i.e. the real world. That's why when home educated kids become adults they function so well in the real world.

Most kids, starting when they are five years old, are institutionalized six to eight hours a day, five days a week for 13 years inside a fenced compound, isolated from the real world, segregated by age, lined up in lines, seated in rows, rewarded or punished based on how well they comply with the dictates of their authoritarian "teachers". Their daily activities are directed by a series of bells that ring at the same times every day. They are expected to learn the same things at the same time in the same way at the same rate as every other kid who happened to be born in the same year. They are processed in batches, not educated and socialized as individuals. The natural, noble, honorable thing for a self-respecting, freedom-loving person to do in such a situation is to rebel against the oppressors. Many kids do (I did when I was in high school), and I admit that I admire and encourage them.

If you are thinking about changing to home based education for your kids I encourage you to go for it. It's easier than most people think, and it's so much fun. And when your kids are 16 to 18 they'll be able to go to any college they want.

"What social aspects?"

Well, I think it's important for them to attend "school" in order to spend a great deal of time with other kids. The majority of children attend school during the weekday, so most activities with other children their age are out. I can send them to activities after school hours, but that limits the time they spend with other children to perhaps 15 hours during the week.

It's important for children to learn to deal with other children their age and make friendships. After all, when they aren't in school most children are not inclined to make friendships with adults or spend large amounts of time with them aside from their parents.

Most of these friendships start in the school yard and some last a life time. Others start in high school and start to form the basis of a network that can be very beneficial to them later in life, both personally and professionally.

I personally feel that you cannot be everything to your child, nor should you try. A parent cannot be a parent, teacher, friend and authority figure all at the same time, not without confusing the child and exhausting the parent.

Also, I can't afford to home school, and though I love my children dearly, you couldn't pay me enough to spend 14 hours a day with them. Not for any extended period of time.