clintlebo   |
From: http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/articles/2012/outrage-of-the-week-scho... In years past, zero-tolerance weapons policies in overzealous school districts have ensnared students for "weapons" such as a Cub Scout camping utensil, a 2-inch Lego toy gun and even a misappropriated chicken finger. But last week, Grand Island Public Schools officials in Grand Island, Neb. went for the record in zero-tolerance hysteria when they sought to bar a three-year-old deaf student from using his name. The student is Hunter Spanjer, who communicates using a modified version of American Sign Language called Signing Exact English or S.E.E., which is often used with young children to help bolster their English skills. The registered S.E.E. sign for Hunter's name is the forefinger and middle fingers crossed and extended, slightly resembling the ASL sign for gun, or a finger gun children might make during a game of cops and robbers. Hunter's parents were told by school administrators that the name sign would need to be changed, as it violated the school's weapons policy that forbids students "to knowingly and voluntarily possess, handle, transmit or use any instrument in school, on school grounds or at school functions that is a firearm, weapon, or looks like a weapon." Further, Grand Island Public Schools Marketing and Communication Coordinator Jack Sheard told the New York Daily News that the sign was "not an appropriate thing to do in school." After taking their story to the local media, the Spanjers have received a nationwide outpouring of support. Thousands have taken to Facebook and online petition sites to register their disgust, and hundreds of others have contacted the school district by phone and email. Additionally, the National Association of the Deaf came to Hunter's defense, stating, "The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) condemns the actions of Grand Island Public School in Nebraska to require that a 3-year-old deaf boy change the way he signs his name. The NAD is prepared to assist the family in responding to Grand Island Public Schools including through legal action." The NAD press release added, "The NAD is not aware of any other schools that have banned a name sign; Grand Island Public Schools is likely the first to ever to do so." The ACLU has also made clear its disapproval, raising questions about whether the school district's decision violates Hunter's right to practice his chosen form of speech. Following the public outcry and threats of legal action, the school system appears to be backing away from its original position. In response to a media request, the school district stated, "Grand Island Public Schools is not requiring any current student with a hearing impairment to change his or her sign language name." Hopefully this issue will be resolved so that Hunter can keep signing his name and the taxpayers of Grand Island are spared the expense of defending a mindless overreaction. "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
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greg az
some times the net gets a bit "carried away" with itself, and the result is a PC type bunch of nonsense.. we can hope this is one of those times.. if not then were one step closer to CA as the guiding light.. (gasping for breath on that one) .. hunter.. oh boy..
luckybychoice
gotta tell my grandkids,M4 and AK,about this story.
LLE
must have hired amateur legal advisors, to have believed that such stupidity could prevail. OR they might have consulted with Eric Holder, who probably would have told them not to worry about the First Amendment or the non-discrimination regulations governing educational institutions that receive federal funds, including such regs governing the disabled.
My guess is there are also a number of State of Nebraska regs that would shut down the Grand Isle school district pronouncement, before any litigation became necessary.
If I were a member of that schoolboard, and I voted in favor of that lunacy, I would resign, before being locally lynched in the media....... and I probably would even move out of town.
MattyTheJet
I wish this was going to be a non-story, but it won't be. The anti-gun crowd has gotten everybody in such a panic that this is going to only get worse. I mean, we've already got the TSA removing a woman from an airplane for having an image of a gun on her purse because even "images of weapons" are not allowed on planes "to fight terrorism." Remember playing war on the playground as a kid? Don't do that now! Expulsion is best case scenario, and no doubt we're going to have a kindergartner leave the playground in handcuffs for shooting a classmate with his finger when some idiotic left winger with 4 degrees and 3 living brain cells overreacts, if it hasn't happened already.
daisycutter
one to woodshop to work on the stock, the other to metalshop, I don't recall what for but back then the world maintained some degree of sanity and rationality.
If I were a member of that school board I'd have to ax (ebonics for ask) myself why waste my time, I could be at home cleaning guns, loading ammo or printing targets.
School districts across the country are in competition to see which one can out-stupid all the others.
IMHO I think all schools should have mandatory marksmanship and gun handling classes every year, all grade levels, all students. No opt out!
Whadda ya think?
jay sedler
been busy busy.hows everyone been?daisy,id love to see gun handling classes/weapon education.by making guns something to be afraid to talk about and hide away from kids in the hope they will never encounter one and certainly never touch one themselves,we make them MORE enticing (being bad is fun syndrome).by simply saying "dont do it,because i said" won't help any more than it does with sex.the only way to help them learn and be safe is good values,education,and making it ok for kids to get information and talk about whats going on.
daisycutter
Yep, nothing like training people early about how to handle potentially dangerous equipment. Studies have shown that training people how to handle such things actually reduce accidents! Who would have guessed!?!
Startling fact, isn't it? LOL!
As for sex education, I volunteered to be the school's cheerleader squad's own sex ed professor but they decided the position could be better filled by the female football & body building coach, her name's Butch :<))
MattyTheJet
My dad, who owned a gun shop, offered to do this for my school when I was in junior high, but was shot down because the anti-gun panic was already beginning in earnest. It had been approved, but then some kid's lawyer mom started threatening lawsuits because the school was "endangering her child" by letting some "armed lunatic" on the campus and the administration caved.
Oh, and, yes, lawyer's kid DID get an ass kicking on the playground for his mom calling my dad an "armed lunatic." LOL, and now he's an NRA member!
VietVet68
I think we all know that common sense went out the window decades ago, it's really sad. Nationwide our educational system just "sucks" & now here comes another example of how their "NO TOLERANCE" policy kicks them every day of the week. How many businesses do you think could function under that policy?
I guess I can play their game too by asking every pregnant woman in America to submit the name they want to use for their child to every school administrator in the state they live in, to get their approval, before they send their child to school only to have him/her admonished for the name his/her parents gave him/her.
It makes just as much sense as the actions of this school, call it a "PARENTAL NO TOLERANCE" policy. ;-)