An irate Staten Island mom blasted a grade school principal Wednesday for treating her son like a pint-sized Plaxico Burress after he brought a 2-inch-long toy gun to school.
Several parents at the school felt the principal overreacted, including Kim O'Rieley - whose son was playing with Patrick in the cafeteria.
Her boy's Lego man was toting a tiny ax, which the principal deemed less threatening.
Fish and Chips (post: 1371568) wrote:I'm not saying it's likely, I'm just saying it's possible.
people in the USA seem to be a little more paranoid than Canada...or is it just me?
Nate (post: 1371621) wrote:So hmm. How many people here would be calling the principal an idiot and irresponsible if that had turned out to be a real gun and the kid had shot other kids? All of them? Most of them? "I thought it was a toy." Yeah, I bet a lot of people would be saying "What an idiot, he needs to get his head out of his [rectum] thinking it was just a toy, now kids are dead and it's his fault!"
Wikiwalker wrote:Justified? But Roy, it was . . . a lego.
Fish and Chips (post: 1371568) wrote:I'm not saying it's likely, I'm just saying it's possible.
I can't think that anyone is really complaining because a principal did their job Nate.Nate (post: 1371643) wrote:I'm not playing devil's advocate. I'm being serious.
Okay, I admit, after they found out it was a toy, they should have dropped it and just said "Please don't bring that toy to school anymore." I don't deny that.
But to use tired old phrases, isn't an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure? Isn't it better to be safe than sorry? Given that school shootings are not rare by any stretch of the imagination, it is his DUTY to investigate these kinds of things. If she didn't, she would be a terrible principal.
We also don't know the specifics. All the article says is, "He was playing at the lunch table and brought out the toy gun, and then the mother got a call from the principal." That's a pretty big gap in time there. No statement on whether it was a teacher or another student who said anything.
So know what probably happened? Some kid was watching them play and said something like "Cool he has a gun!" Some teacher overheard this. Said teacher went to the principal and said "This boy has a gun!" Principle went to investigate.
Now again, I do admit after they found out it was a toy gun, they did overreact. I do not deny this. But given that this is likely what happened (I really doubt a teacher or the principal saw the toy gun and went "Holy crap, a gun!"), how can you fault her? If a teacher came in and said "Someone in the cafeteria has a gun!" what kind of principal would she be if her response was "Ah it's probably just a toy, ignore it!" No, when you hear something like that, you have to act.
The response was perfectly appropriate. What happened after they found out it was a toy was not, but again, I'm not talking about what happened after, I'm talking about the initial response. And I think we can all agree that a principal who would not investigate a claim that a student had a gun should not be holding that job, especially if it HAD been a real gun and people had been injured.
Warrior4Christ (post: 1371740) wrote:Common sense, where art thou?
Fish and Chips wrote:I can't think that anyone is really complaining because a principal did their job Nate.
Obviously if there's any kind of rumor or report that some kid brought a gun to school, they should investigate it. Nobody is saying they shouldn't investigate it. It's just that the minute someone, anyone, holds the assumed efficient killing machine between their thumb and forefinger and realizes it's plastic should cool the situation down before the principal has to detain some kid in the office and call their parents.
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