More Zero Tolerance Fun

[Anne Bonney]

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2 ... lice-case/

Simple kiss at school may morph into criminal investigation

By Jeff Kass, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Originally published 12:30 a.m., March 6, 2008

Public officials called it "nutty" and "foolishness" Wednesday morning, and one asked whether SWAT teams would now descend on teenagers kissing at school.

The Denver district attorney calls one such case a crime.

The difference between a kiss, and a crime, centers on the requirement that Denver Public Schools employees "make a report if child abuse or neglect reasonably is suspected."

But a meeting Wednesday of the City Council Safety Committee indicated that a climate of fear among DPS employees is spurring an unwarranted increase in abuse and neglect referrals. The head of Human Services indicated the agency was being overloaded, and there was concern about police resources.

"It's just getting to the point of ridiculousness where we're prosecuting kids for kissing," Councilman Doug Linkhart, who chairs the Safety Committee, said after the meeting.

Much of Wednesday's discussion involved issues of sexual harassment. Among the examples cited Wednesday was a referral to Human Services for two 5-year-olds who were kissing. In another case, one 6-year-old said to another 6-year-old, "You have a sexy booty."

There was no sanction in the case of the 6-year-old, but it remains a traumatic experience for children and their parents to be "ordered in" to Human Services, said spokeswoman Benilda Samuels.

Safety committee discussion indicated the trigger for these and other cases came in January when the district attorney served Skinner Middle School principal Nicole Veltze with a misdemeanor summons for failure to report an unlawful sexual contact.

Veltze was investigating the case, but in the meantime, the girl's mom notified police, said Rich Caschette, Veltze's attorney. Police and the district attorney are making an example out of Veltze because they believe DPS is underreporting crimes, Caschette added.

After the Veltze case was filed, Chief Deputy District Attorney Lamar Sims attended a training with DPS principals about the requirement to report child abuse or neglect. Linkhart indicated that Sims further prompted employees to overreport.

In February, Human Services said it received 251 referrals from DPS. Previously, the monthly average was 142, Samuels said. That's a 76.7 percent increase.

[psy]

::unhappy::

 ::OMG::

 ::puke::

This is beyond absurd.  There is only one country on the planet where shit this petty is made into such a big deal.

[Anne Bonney]

6-year-old boy suspended for toy Nerf gun at school

DENVER - Anthony Saenz just wanted to play cops and robbers with his favorite toy from home. So he pulled out a bright orange and yellow Nerf gun on the McGlone Elementary playground.

"I had a phone call from the school saying that my son got suspended for taking a toy gun to school," said Lorraine Romero, mother of the kindergarten student. "He's just a kid. He doesn't know any better."

Anthony was suspended for one day for taking a facsimile of a gun to school. Apparently, he snuck it into his backpack Wednesday morning.

Romero knows it was wrong, but she doesn't believe the punishment fits the crime.

"I don't think he should have gotten suspended for that," Romero said. "I think they should have just talked to him about it and say, 'Hey, you know you're not supposed to bring any toys to school.'"

Principal Candice Reese says she was just following Denver Public Schools' discipline policy, which was changed from a "zero tolerance" stance last year.

"It's not too harsh of a punishment and we want to make sure all of our students are safe," Reese said.

In 2009, the zero tolerance policies were changed after case involving a Cherokee Trails High School student. Marie Morrow is a member of the Young Marines and she had her drill team rifle in her car in a school parking lot. Initially, Morrow was expelled, but that was eventually reduced to a suspension and she returned to school.

Morrow's case led to the passage of a state law which gives school districts discretion over which incidents to administer punishment instead of mandatory expulsion or suspension.

Reese says the one-day suspension of Anthony is appropriate.

"As a principal in the building, and staff members too, we serve as the parents of the children. So our role is to take care of all of the students that are in our building," Reese said.

Anthony and his mother plan on visiting the principal Friday morning in anticipation of the boy being allowed back into his kindergarten class.

"He's not a trouble maker. To tell you the truth, he's a very good kid," Romero said.

He's a kid who, Romero says, learned his lesson about bringing toys to school.

"When I was in the office, I was sad, because I didn't want to get in trouble," Anthony said.
(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)

[Ursus]

There's a 2:21 video news clip at the link below. Here's some other pertinent info for the above article:

9news.com · Colorado's News Leader
6-year-old boy suspended for toy gun at school
Nelson Garcia   ·  3 hrs ago





(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)

[Anne Bonney]

There's a 2:21 video news clip at the link below. Here's some other pertinent info for the above article:

9news.com · Colorado's News Leader
6-year-old boy suspended for toy gun at school
Nelson Garcia   ·  3 hrs ago





(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)

Boy yeah.....that sure looks like a real gun to me!     What the hell is wrong with these people?  He's a SIX year old!  Suspended??  My gawwwwd.

[DannyB II]

There's a 2:21 video news clip at the link below. Here's some other pertinent info for the above article:

9news.com · Colorado's News Leader
6-year-old boy suspended for toy gun at school
Nelson Garcia   ·  3 hrs ago





(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)

Boy yeah.....that sure looks like a real gun to me!     What the hell is wrong with these people?  He's a SIX year old!  Suspended??  My gawwwwd.

You really should not be a parent if you can not understand their position on this. No wonder why your children were
so.....
Oh forget it.
What a pair a dumbasses, you both should be shot by real guns.

[shaggys]

Danny why are you derailing each and every thread here with your idiotic and hateful posts? Furthermore, why is this behavior not being properly punished by the admins?  ::poke::

[Anne Bonney]

You really should not be a parent if you can not understand their position on this.

Oh no!  DannyBoi doesn't approve of my parenting!  What will I do??  

No wonder why your children were
so.....
Oh forget it.

Oh no......please, go on.  I couldn't be more proud of my kids.

What a pair a dumbasses, you both should be shot by real guns.

Ahhhh, there's that wonderful spirituality you gain from LGATs and your New Warrior Training, huh?

[Anne Bonney]

Danny why are you derailing each and every thread here with your idiotic and hateful posts? Furthermore, why is this behavior not being properly punished by the admins?  ::poke::

Cuz he's incredibly threatened by intelligent, strong women.  I really don't think he can help himself at this point.

[Whooter]

Danny why are you derailing each and every thread here with your idiotic and hateful posts? Furthermore, why is this behavior not being properly punished by the admins?  ::poke::

Shaggys, Come-on, you tolerated Control Trolls posts all day long which were intended just to attack. Why derail this thread too.  Lets stay with the topic.



...

[Whooter]

I think part of the problem is the school system is put into a position to police and wear the hats of judge and jury.  It isn’t an issue of whether it looks like a real gun or not.  The rules is “No toy guns”.  The punishment is intended to affect the parent.  The parent will need to find coverage for the child which will send a stronger message that the parents need to check their childs backpacks.



...

[Anne Bonney]

I think part of the problem is the school system is put into a position to police and wear the hats of judge and jury.

I can partially agree with that.

It isn’t an issue of whether it looks like a real gun or not.  The rules is “No toy guns”.

 

I understand that, but the reason for the 'no toy gun' rule is that there were kids that were bringing in toy guns that looked remarkably real.  That's why I think the whole "zero tolerance" stuff has gotten out of hand.  There's no common sense anymore.

The punishment is intended to affect the parent.  The parent will need to find coverage for the child which will send a stronger message that the parents need to check their childs backpacks.

Eh...point taken.

[Whooter]

I understand that, but the reason for the 'no toy gun' rule is that there were kids that were bringing in toy guns that looked remarkably real. That's why I think the whole "zero tolerance" stuff has gotten out of hand. There's no common sense anymore.

I know and I somewhat agree but then it becomes a judgment on the teachers part to determine which gun looks real and which gun does not.  Everyone sits around the table and discusses solutions:

1.  Should we train the teachers on which toy guns are acceptable?
2. Train the parents to recognize and purchase only those toy guns which are not realistic
3.  Send a memo out to all teachers and parents to inform them that no toy guns will be acceptable on the school property period (zero tolerance)

I think number 3 is the safest and takes the liability and risk out of the teachers hand.  Whats the worst thing that can happen?  The kid is sent home and is forced to spend a whole day with his family.

I try to see it from the teachers perspective.  they have enough to do already.



...

[DannyB II]

Danny why are you derailing each and every thread here with your idiotic and hateful posts? Furthermore, why is this behavior not being properly punished by the admins?  ::poke::

Cuz he's incredibly threatened by intelligent, strong women.  I really don't think he can help himself at this point.

Please, let me know when one enters, I'll let ya know how I feel.
Oh, wait here she is, hey Liza. One has entered, I feel equally blissful.

Anne, you would not know a strong intelligent women if she walked up to you and introduced herself. Sit down and listen, please.

[Inculcated]

@Who,I don’t think you’re giving teachers enough credit if you think they’d need training to recognize a brightly colored nerf blaster as a non-weapon. I think that’s why this case is being cited as a stand out example of zero tolerance gone too far. Granted, there are still some toy guns and even lighters that do resemble actual firearms and those would pose a problem and warrant the kind of response aimed at motivating the parent to check their kid’s backpack that you had mentioned, but it’s clearly not the case here.