DATE: February 4, 2014
TO: USF & NRA Member and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
USF Executive Director
NRA Past President
This Thursday, March 6, the House Education Committee will hear HB-7029, a bill to stop school administrators from using Zero Tolerance to punish children for playing.
This is a MUST PASS BILL. Please click here to read the bill.
This bill will stop some of the unbelievable actions by school administrators against children who behave like children and point fingers at each other pretending to shoot guns etc. Read the Background information below and you'll know why this bill is so important.
Please E-MAIL Committee members, ask them to SUPPORT HB-7029
IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT: SUPPORT HB-7029 -- Student Conduct
(To send your message to all just Block and Copy All email addresses into the "Send To" box)
[email protected]
Committee members need to hear from you. Some school administrators apparently lack common sense and the capacity to make rational judgments so it's up to the legislature to stop the insane abuse of children.
BACKGROUND:
This is the kind of conduct by school administrators this bill is intended to stop!
When Zero Tolerance and Zero Common Sense Collide
A 7-year-old boy was suspended from school for pointing a pencil and going POW-POW;
A boy and two friends were suspended from school for 3 months for playing with a fake gun in his own yard, because a school bus stop was 70 yards away
A 14-year-old wore an NRA t-shirt with a hunting rifle on it to school. The shirt didn't violate the school's dress code, but a screaming teacher demanded that he turn the shirt inside out. The boy was then removed from class, suspended, arrested, and faced a year in jail for "obstructing an officer" because he wouldn't stop protesting his innocence while he was being hauled away.
An 11-year-old boy was discussing the Sandy Hook massacre with friends on the school bus when he said that he wished he had a gun to stop the bad guys. He was suspended from school for 10 days and his father received a visit from police who wanted to search their house without a warrant.
A high school freshman was suspended for having a picture of a gun as the background screen on his computer.
A 10-year-old was arrested by police for showing a toy gun with an orange tip to a friend on his school bus. Video footage from the school bus cameras revealed that he never pointed it at anybody, never made any threatening gestures, and no one looked frightened or concerned yet he was arrested, given his Miranda rights, charged with brandishing a weapon, fingerprinted and photographed. He was suspended for 10 days with a recommendation for expulsion and assigned a probation officer.
A group of students got permission from their teacher to bring NERF guns to school as part of a science experiment. Afterwards, the school suspended all of the children who brought toy guns to school and all the children who were present during the experiment, while the teacher was NOT punished.
An 8-year-old boy is suspended from school for using his finger as an imaginary gun.
A 16-year-old High School student, on a school bus, wrestled a loaded revolver away from a teen threatening to shoot another student. His heroism was rewarded with suspension from school for being part of an "incident" where a weapon was present.
A 7-year-old boy is suspended from school for chewing his strawberry filled pop tart into the shape of a gun.
A 7-year-old boy is suspended from school for drawing a stick figure holding a gun;
A 5-year-old little girl was talking to classmates about playing with her "Hello Kitty" bubble gun - which blows soapy bubbles. They were laughing and talking about taking turns shooting each other with bubbles. The school accused her of making a "terrorist threat," suspended her from school for 10 days, told her parents the police might need to be involved, and demanded that she get a psychological evaluation. Clearly, somebody needed a psychological evaluation but it wasn't the 5-year-old.
Two 7-year-old classmates who were playing soldiers, pointed pencils at each other and made shooting noises. Both were suspended. A school spokeswoman said, "We consider it intimidating and threatening." "Pointing a finger in a threatening manner and drawing a picture of a gun also are forbidden," she said.
A 6-year-old was suspended for taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon to school. He was so excited about joining the Cub Scouts that he wanted to use it to eat lunch.
A third-grade girl was expelled for a year because her grandmother had sent a birthday cake to school, along with a knife to cut it. The teacher called the principal — but not until AFTER she used the knife to cut and serve the cake.
And are you ready for this?
A 3-year-old DEAF child's sign language for his name is a sign shaped like a gun. His name is Hunter and he has been using the sign for his name since he was 6 months old. His pre-school administrator asked his parents to change the sign for the child's name because it violates their weapons policy.
It's Time to Stop this Insanity
Please e-mail Committee Members today -- It is URGENT they hear from you.
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