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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTeacher Suspended for Showing Gardening Tools to Class
Doug Bartlett, a veteran teacher with an upstanding record of 17 years, has filed a lawsuit against the school district of Chicago for suspending him without pay after giving a lesson on gardening tools to his second grade students.
The incident took place on August 8, 2011 at Washington Irving Elementary School.
Mr. Bartlett recently filed suit on April 17, 2013 saying that he suffered humiliation and embarrassment as a result of his reprimand.
The hazardous tools in question were pliers, screwdrivers and wrenches that only the teacher handled. The tools were kept in a locked toolbox high on a shelf out of reach before and after the gardening lesson.
The district says that Mr. Bartlett exhibited negligence in supervising the children and for possessing, carrying, storing, or using a weapon. He was subsequently suspended without pay for 4 days.
more . . . http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/teacher-suspended-for-showing-gardening-tools-to-class/
supernaut
(44 posts)Ridiculous.
RetroLounge
(37,250 posts)and why scare quotes?
(This phrase is tossed about by right-wingers all the time who don't have any clue. Just saying...)
RL
Pelican
(1,156 posts)... that there seems to be an effort to sanitize anything anywhere that could have a hint of violence.
Logically, it won't stop one ounce of blood from being spilled but it makes people feel like they are doing something.
Kids suspended for
-Chewing a pop tart into a gun shape
-Threatening to shoot a friend with a hello kitty bubble gun
-Tossing an imaginary grenade into an imaginary box
-Wearing a shirt with the Marine logo on it
The list goes on...
Interesting that it was the teacher this time though...
RetroLounge
(37,250 posts)Political correctness and politically correct (PC) are terms that denote language and ideas, policies and behavior that are perceived as excessive in seeking to minimize social offense within occupational and institutional contexts, by specifically and formally respecting the differences of gender and sexual orientation, culture and race, disability and age, and religion and ideology of people who are not of the societal mainstream.
Let's get our outrages straight, shall we?
RL
Pelican
(1,156 posts)... in schools in particular, has become a hot political issue.
The standard applies...
RetroLounge
(37,250 posts)Stay outraged, but do try to be accurate.
RL
Pelican
(1,156 posts)... that when you end an argument with "Whatever" you are effectively conceding.
I pass the same tidbit of knowledge onto you...
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Hi,
This is not your living room in which your pronouncements to your chattel carry any weight.
demwing
(16,916 posts)your response was unwarranted
Wednesdays
(17,249 posts)More likely, they've given up arguing with someone who's too obstinate.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Inadvertently revealing comment, really.
TeamPooka
(24,156 posts)RetroLounge
(37,250 posts)RL
Skittles
(152,967 posts)sometimes people say WHATEVER because it feels like they are arguing with a table leg
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)is one of the most offensive things a teen can say. My kids have learned to never use the dismissive term 'whatever' with any adult. They can say it to their friends as long as I am not within earshot.
Skittles
(152,967 posts)no way in HELL
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)very much out to lunch in terms of the discussion, but it wasn't worth the "whatever-er's" time to educate them.
Rather like talking to a doorknob, is how I (and most people I know) regard the term. Not "effectively conceding" but more like delivering a near - insult that suggests that the person is bit of a hardheaded dolt, without actually delivering said insult.
Your approach to the word is rather unique. You might also want to let your wife and kids know that your POV re: the term is a minority one.
And welcome to DU.
Lady Freedom Returns
(14,120 posts)It is showing mercy. You need it with you and your friend, supernaut, argument that is totally off topic.
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)I'm sure they "whatever" you because you're a smug know it all RW troll.
Pelican
(1,156 posts)... and emotion has run out.
Thanks though...
Squinch
(50,774 posts)tell your wife how to speak, and you give her the gift of your perfect logic and wisdom, do you tell her you are doing it for her own good? Just curious.
Pelican
(1,156 posts)... to find something to be offended about that isn't there.
Squinch
(50,774 posts)Pelican
(1,156 posts)I bet you are a hoot at parties...
Squinch
(50,774 posts)Pelican
(1,156 posts)... or start channeling their inner angst and revert back to their teenage years.
OMG...Whatever...
Squinch
(50,774 posts)Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)What would that be called, d'ya think?
Pelican
(1,156 posts)I just agreed with the poster above. Ultra-sensitivity and an utter inability to think critically seem to be on the uptick.
On a totally unrelated note. I have to ask... Why does that chihuahua have purple hair?
Skip Intro
(19,768 posts)RetroLounge
(37,250 posts)RL
Skip Intro
(19,768 posts)demwing
(16,916 posts)RetroLounge
(37,250 posts)and reviewing what I posted above?
You best go find yourself a definition of snark before you go being all net-nanny on us.
Thanks, and have a nice day now...
RL
demwing
(16,916 posts)When you jumped in with your comments?
Nope, no invite needed, no rules here about waiting for permission to post.
Lots of rules about being respectful, though,.and for what it's worth, your " Let's get our outrages straight, shall we?" comment was pure snark.
Pelican
(1,156 posts)I don't worry about it...
RetroLounge
(37,250 posts)So you're upset I snarked on a troll who has been kicked off DU?
Left your cheese out in the wind on that one.
RL
demwing
(16,916 posts)In that thread. They did nothing there except disagree with you--and they weren't rude at all. If knowing they got canned makes you feel justified for being dickish, then have at it, little man.
RetroLounge
(37,250 posts)little man? Is that supposed to be some sort of insult?
That's the best you can come up with? Come on, let it out, show me what you got. Stop holding back, it's not good for you.
You keep defending obvious trolls, and it makes one wonder why.
Maybe you're not dem, but just dem-ish?
RL
demwing
(16,916 posts)I'd be defending you
I would love to let loose on you, but I'm not ready to lose my DU account for the likes of you.
I'll simply take satisfaction in the fact that your "best" response has been to ape my old, used barbs, laugh at your own jokes, and lamely question my party loyalty.
You're not as clever as you think. You're not even original.
RetroLounge
(37,250 posts)Good luck with that!
"You're not as clever as you think. You're not even original."
Irony alert!
RL
Sanity Claws
(21,822 posts)Pelican
(1,156 posts)I think that people (voting age individuals) would tend to accept more restriction in schools than they would ever accept for themselves. We've seen time and again how one vocal parent can set a standard for an entire school or district.
Secondly, much of the silliness in schools following Newtown was self inflicted by administrators and teachers following the time honored principle of CYA. It didn't translate to mass popular support for gun control in world outside of schools.
My $.02
cannot see through this one
MADem
(135,425 posts)The school leadership cannot, apparently, tell the difference between "gardening tools" and "weapons."
I wonder if they have the same problem distinguishing between, say "cell phones" and "toilet paper?"
That teacher needs to find a job at a smarter school.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)NickB79
(19,114 posts)You've never tied up tomatoes with twine? Strung up bean and pea vines on a trellis? Pruned a fruit tree?
ReRe
(10,597 posts)KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)XemaSab
(60,212 posts)or taking the wire off roses and other bare-root plants.
That's what the needlenose pliers with wire cutters and heavy-duty scissors are for.
It's all about the right tool for the right job.
Berlum
(7,044 posts)Not gardening tools.
I'm just sayin...
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)sibelian
(7,804 posts)I regularly set about my green babies with a pruning saw. I also have the sharpest pair of secateurs in Christendom.
Kitty, my dearest puss-cat, in what Universe are a box cutter and a pocket-knife not gardening tools? They are generic cutting tools and therefore of great use in gardening.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)sibelian
(7,804 posts)I use whatever cuts! Pruning saws are sometimes too much. I have a solanum outside, secateurs are overkill for trimming wind-damaged leaves. I use anything sharp. I've used a stanley knife in the past.
Sometimes I have to trim thin stakes for support. Box-cutters are good for this.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)sibelian
(7,804 posts)not sure what point is...
Is there one?
gollygee
(22,336 posts)I read two articles and they both specified "wrenches, pliers, and screwdrivers." I saw nothing about box cutters or knives. Is there a story I didn't see?
yurbud
(39,405 posts)markpkessinger
(8,381 posts). . . This has nothing to do with "political correctness." This is one of those "zero tolernace" policies, which in most cases are put into place, on the advice of counsel, out of a school district's overblown fears of being sued.
Lex
(34,108 posts)This is a stupid decision by idiot administrators.
MichiganVote
(21,086 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Used tools
MADem
(135,425 posts)And in home economics, there were sewing machines with pointed needles, and HOT STOVES.....and KNIVES.
Oh, the Huge Manatee...
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)shop class.Woodworking and metal. Something is wrong here.What happened to us?
deutsey
(20,166 posts)had our shop class miter saw fallen into the hands of the evil duzzers.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Looking at sharp metal things could encourage some bad kid. Aghhh! Eeekkkk!!!!! Freak out and run around!!!!!
Oh right. Because pschos neeeevvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr get frothed up over the Bibull.
In their demon-filled world, badness must be kept out of the circle of Grace. I'm serious; there ARE some who really think this way.
Lordquinton
(7,886 posts)...to take up gardening. As a horticulture student this really enrages me, they are trying so very hard to keep backyard farming down so we are wholly reliant on corporations.
There is an interesting history behind tools and weapons, like the "pesant" weapons in Japan, where the lower class was forbidden to use weapons, so they just took up their farming implements and used them instead, but this is a far cry from that, I mean, pliers?
ReRe
(10,597 posts)Lordquinton
(7,886 posts)ReRe
(10,597 posts)... if it sounds to stupid to be true, then it probably is pretty effed-up stupid. At least I got a couple laughs out of it...
Lordquinton
(7,886 posts)it's hard to compost a good reply to these tools.
LuvNewcastle
(16,820 posts)Sounds messy.
deutsey
(20,166 posts)But here's graphic proof of what can happen the moment we let our gaurd down and allow runaway usage of pliers to remain unregulated:
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Only at the grade school administration level, I doubt they're thinking on an abstracted level..... I think they bought the Fox mind set ...propaganda, I mean. Teaching their minions to be DEATHLY afraid of "suspicious" people....anyone around them COULD be a dangerous lefty commie blah blahdee blah bark bark oink.
Report Suspicious People!!!!!
frazzled
(18,402 posts)This was covered last week here, where it was pretty much shown to be a story being pushed by right-wing blogs (how the "healthy home economist" picked it up, I don't know). It was not a story in either of the Chicago newspapers at the time or now. Really, google this story: you'll see it being pushed on infowars and lightfromtheright.
And no, it wasn't garden tools like pliers, screwdrivers and wrenches (who uses those in their garden anyway?). It included a pocket knife and box cutter. For second graders. It was a lousy four-day suspension. Which he deserved.
Pffffft.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)only in the most tangental way are those tools used for gardening.
Screwdrivers I used to pry old rubber washers out of hoses
. Wrenches and pliers? Never.
REP
(21,691 posts)For attaching wire hangers to baskets; bending rhizome clips from bulk wire; wiring spike supports; and maintenance on my irrigation system. I'd think, though, tools like spades, hand cultivators and maybe a hoe would be thing to show young kids to explain how plants are grown.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)within the context of gardening. What tools did you use to repair other garden tools such as wheelbarrows or garden hoses?
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)Nothing.
Garden tools to show children> trowel, hand hoe, rake.
And you missed the word "tangental" in my original post.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)in the context that they were used is ridiculous beyong comprehension. The school did not overreact in this manner because they should not have reacted at all.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)or fixed a hose bib or re-tightened guy wires to new trees?
I landscape/garden professionally daily for the past 15 years.
I use all these tools daily.
It's too bad that in an age when a 15 year old cannot adjust the throttle cable on a push mower that an instructor who had the foresight to explain how this may be a functional application is railroaded by showing them "weapons"
FFS!
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)Furthermore, I used the word tangental
as in indirectly.
This thread, in all it's stupidity illustrates how even those who consider themselves liberal & well educated do not read or investigae and simply react according to their own preconceived ideas.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)They should be playing with the 'popper mower' and butterfly nets.
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)...do so according to their own preconceived ideas which then color the results of said investigation. Your reaction is an excellent example of it. Oh, there is indeed a lot of "stupidity" in this thread....
DesMoinesDem
(1,569 posts)Can you find these tools in the gardening section at the store? Nope, because they aren't gardening tools.
DesMoinesDem
(1,569 posts)called the tools garden variety. The editor of that article thought that meant garden tools so they used garden tools in the headline. It was obvious from the article that they were not garden tools, so how this has continued to spread is beyond me. How can you write an article calling wrenches, screwdrivers, and pliers garden tools? How is it continuing here?
I actually started a thread about it here a couple days agothat didn't get any replies.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022740653
Drudge Fail
or at least a CNSNews.com Fail.
This is the headline at drudge: Teacher Suspended on 'Weapons' Charge -- For Showing Students Garden Tools!
it links to an article with this headline: Teacher Sues School over Suspension for 'Weapons' Charge: Showing Students Garden Tools
This is the first sentence of the article:
Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed a civil rights lawsuit against a Chicago public school district on behalf of a second-grade teacher who was suspended after he displayed garden-variety tools such as wrenches, pliers and screwdrivers in his classroom as part of a "tool discussion" in his class."
http://cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister/teacher-sues-school-over-suspension-weapons-charge-showing-students-garden
I'm guessing the term garden-variety confused the hell out of the editor at cnsnews.
immoderate
(20,885 posts)I read down this far, incredulous that a teacher got suspended for showing tools to his students. And DU is aflame with whether they can "legitimately" be classified as garden tools. An argument, as most are, over what words mean.
This poor teacher -- guilty of attempted education!
--imm
bluestate10
(10,942 posts)In addition, anyone that build a garden gate that has hinges will use screwdrivers. If a person uses bolts for items like 6x6 planks for raised growing beds would need wrenches to tighten nuts. But you are right in one regard, those tools are not commonly used in gardening. I wonder what the administrators would have done if the teacher had brought a digging fork into class?
ProgressiveProfessor
(22,144 posts)KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)some article wrote "garden variety tools" and that became "garden tools" later on.
This is a rightwing story.
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)Idiotic because of the reaction on the part of the administrators. That you think their reaction reasonable says a great deal about you.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)The title is a total sham if he brought a weapon into a classroom.
ChazII
(6,198 posts)Unbelievable story though. I wonder when the pencils will become hazardous tools.
Skip Intro
(19,768 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Yeah, pencils can be hazardous, it really wouldn't be hard to kill someone with a pencil.
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)So keeping in mind this is a right-extremist group. However, on the surface of it at least - it does sound like the Chicago School District administrators really screwed up big time. Extremist hate groups do sometime latch on to legitimate complaints. If they never did - they wouldn't have any credibility.
MADem
(135,425 posts)You might be surprised at some of their cases--they are a VERY mixed bag, I'd say.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)that a lesson on tools became garden tools
probably from this article that uses phrase "garden-variety".
Googling shows this story heavily posted on fundie websites:
On August 8, 2011, in connection with a required tool discussion included in his teaching curriculum, Plaintiff displayed to his second-grade students several garden-variety tools, including a box cutter, a 2.25? pocketknife, wrenches, screwdrivers, and pliers. The visual aids were used in an effort to facilitate student understanding and remembrance of the curriculum. As he displayed the box cutter and pocketknife, Plaintiff specifically described the proper uses of these tools. Neither of these items was made accessible to the students.
MADem
(135,425 posts)It's one thing to show the kids the difference between a phillips head and a flat head screw driver, but box cutters? Does this school have a "Future Warehousemen of America" club?
Why waste time on a module about tools, anyway--teach the little farts math, fachrissake.
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)Yeah lets look down our noses at anyone who gets their hands dirty to make living.
Tools? Who needs to know how to use tools when you can just pick up a couple Mexicans from the Home Depot parking lot? You wouldn't want kids getting interested in building and fixing things; those jobs are for the menials.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)The OP indicated it was gardening tools, and of course the normal reaction is WTF? However, it appears they were "garden-variety" ( ie: common) tools, which included a pocket knife and box-cutter. I'd have to say it probably was a bad decision to bring any kind of knives to a class-room, and definately without clearing it from supervisors. The four day suspension is probably on the light side, and reflects his otherwise good record.
jmowreader
(50,453 posts)"If he'd have shown them a hoe, he would have been arrested for promoting prostitution."
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)they do have some right-wing elements. Also they do as an organization oppose the death penalty under all circumstances, So describing them - as admittedly I did - as a right-wing hate group would not be at all fair
In 2004, the group filed a lawsuit against Muskogee Public Schools in Oklahoma on behalf of Nashala Hearn, an 11-year-old Muslim student who was suspended for wearing a religious headscarf to school.[17]
In 2007, the group filed a lawsuit against Freehold Township, New Jersey on behalf of an orthodox rabbi, Avraham Bernstein, alleging that the town was persecuting Bernstein for holding prayer meetings in his home on the Sabbath.[18]
In 2011, the group took up the cause of Laura George, founder of the Oracle Institute, who wanted to build a "Peace Pentagon", a proposed interfaith study center and retreat, on the banks of the New River in Independence, Virginia. When George was refused a building permit when the local Board of Supervisors voted to deny the project on health, safety and welfare grounds, attorneys acting on behalf of The Rutherford Institute pursued a legal action to acquire the permit, alleging religious discrimination.[19] Eventually the building permit was granted.[20]
Freedom of speech
In 2012, The Rutherford Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of Harold Hodge, a man arrested in January 2011 for standing outside the United States Supreme Court Building carrying a sign which read, "The U.S. Gov allows police to illegally murder and brutalize African-Americans and Hispanic people."[11] Other cases include defending an Albemarle High School student's right to wear a National Rifle Association t-shirt to school and contesting the firing of a California teacher who referred to "Zionist Jews" during an Occupy Movement protest
Search and seizure
In 2008, The Rutherford Institute joined a coalition of civil libertarians and activists who called upon President George W. Bush to release a number of Muslim Uighurs who were being detained indefinitely in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.[21]
In 2010, the group took on a number of cases regarding the Transportation Security Administration's controversial security procedures at American airports. The organization filed a lawsuit in November 2010 against Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security as well as John Pistole, the head of the Transportation Security Administration, on behalf of airline pilots Michael Roberts and Ann Poe. The pair of pilots objected to being subjected to "whole body imaging" scanners, which reveal the nude body of the subject being searched, as well as a pat-down. John W. Whitehead said of the matter, "Forcing Americans to undergo a virtual strip search as a matter of course in reporting to work or boarding an airplane when there is no suspicion of wrongdoing is a grotesque violation of our civil liberties."[22] The next month, The Rutherford Institute filed another lawsuit on the behalf of three passengers that took issue with the TSA screening procedures: a 12-year-old girl placed in a body scanner without parental consent, a man who was subjected to an invasive pat down in his genital area due to an abnormality caused by a childhood injury, and a woman who had undergone a mastectomy and was forcibly patted down in her breast area.[23]
In 2010, President John W. Whitehead sent a letter to Ken Cuccinelli, the Attorney General of Virginia, decrying his legal opinion that school officials may seize and search student cell phones and laptops upon suspicion that a student has broken school rules or the law.[24]
In 2011, the group filed a friend of the court brief in the case U.S. v. Jones, imploring the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that the placement of a GPS tracking device on the defendant's car without first obtaining a warrant constituted an illegal search. In January 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that police must first obtain a warrant before placing a physical GPS tracking unit on a suspect's car.[25]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_Institute
MADem
(135,425 posts)their asses, but they've branched out in recent years--like I said, a bit of a mixed bag.
Their start was a little weak, but they have stuck their beak in some worthwhile cases.
I do think some of the leadership there are heavy-religious types, but that doesn't stop them from sometimes doing the right thing.
PD Turk
(1,289 posts)When I read "Gardening tools" in the headline, I thought the suspension would be over gratuitous use of the word "hoe".
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)When I was in Jr. High, I had a community or Victory garden. I used hoes and other tools on school property. This is just bizarre. Kids need to know the difference between a screwdriver and a wrench, for example.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)A poster above clarified the story. It was "garden variety" (ie: common) tools. Poor choice of headlines. And the tools included a pocket knife and box-cutter...which I think we can agree shouldn't be brought to school, unless cleared in advance by supervisors.
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)I'm sorry, but this so mind-numbingly stupid that it isn't even funny. These are tools used around the house on a daily basis. Tools kids are likely to come across. Do you REALLY think it better for the kids to try and discover on their OWN what these tools are rather than have it shown to them in a safe and controlled environment?
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)Its a bad idea to bring any weapon to school, even if the intent is good.
And if the intent was to teach kids about tools, then the lesson fails if they can't touch them.
I'm all in favor of teaching kids about gardens...which doesn't usually involve wrenches and screwdrivers. And I'm all in favor of teaching kids about tools...leaving sharp ones out until they're older.
Plain and simple, the teacher fucked up.
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)What a crock, pure and simple. These are tools used around the house every single day. A pencil can be used as a weapon, but that does not make it a damn weapon! And no, the kids don't need to actually touch them to learn a lesson from it. If that were the case, we might as well destroy every school book in the nation, as they are apparently useless.
No, the knee-jerk reactionaries fucked up, as they have been fucking up time and time again for decades. This "zero tolerance" idiocy, directed both at teachers and students, is what makes me contemplate homeschooling my children every day.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)And that's what a box cutter is. It's a retractable razor blade.
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)...then it is something they should be introduced to in a safe and controlled environment. End of story. So this is very much age appropriate.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)...since they might encounter them in everyday life?
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Those could be just as deadly. This is over reaction run amok.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)I would not want a second-grader using these tools, but they should know what they are.
Curiosity is more dangerous than the tools themselves.
Don't you think the kids' parents use these things and have them in their homes?
When I was a child and was given my first nickel, my grandfather asked me what was I going to do with it. I said I was going to go to the hardware store and buy some nails.
Some kids (and I was a girl) love working with their hands. Some kids grow up around people who work with their hands and admire that kind of work. Those are kids who would love a lesson about tools in the second grade.
Kids know there are knives in the kitchen. As long as the knives are kept out of reach of the children, what is the problem?
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)Should the teacher bring a gun to class to show the kids?
If the kids weren't allowed to handle the tools, then there was no lesson being taught that couldn't be done with pictures.
Teaching kids about gardens is a great thing...let them do hoeing, raking, etc. And its not a bad idea to teach them about basic tools...although sharp ones like knives, chisels, saws probably should wait till a bit older than second grade.
Think about it, second graders are still using those blunt scissors in art class. Bringing in items that are typically classified as a weapon into class, especially without clearing it with supervisors, was a bad idea.
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)And it was a "Hands-off" lesson as well, usually conducted by a law enforcement officer.
Also, seeing an object in person has far greater impact than seeing it in picture form for the vast majority of people.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)It looked to me like the kids were playing with rifles -- real ones -- doing formations of some sort.
One of the children looked maybe 12 or 13.
I assume that was ROTC. We do teach children to use guns in our schools.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)LuvNewcastle
(16,820 posts)That's how you bring a horticulture.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)blackspade
(10,056 posts)What kind of people have we become that idiocy like this happens.
CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)will get a real good clue as to just how stupid people in this country are getting. This thread contains some of the stupidest arguments about nothing I have seen in 20+ fucking years of the internet.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)It was a discussion about tools and their uses.
What does it matter what the tool was?
I talk to my kids about what tools do what, including box-cutters, screwdrivers, etc.
The fact that this teacher was disciplined at all is crazy.
Apophis
(1,407 posts)There has to be a line drawn.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)But I imagine it was the knife and boxcutter that got him suspended. Bad idea to bring items typically classified as weapons into a classroom.
And if the kids couldn't handle the tools, what lesson are they learning? Wouldn't pictures have sufficed?
Apophis
(1,407 posts)Pliers, wrenches, and screwdrivers are NOT weapons.
Good god.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)What gets people fired up?
"Teacher suspended for bring garden tools to class"
or...
"Teacher suspended for bringing knife and boxcutter to class"
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)What do you think kids will do with them, take out a whole class?
When did we become so scared of one another???
I hear it is guns. Then knives. Then box cutters. Pastries shaped like guns. Kid's drawing guns and such.
WTF has happened to us as a society that we are all now running scared of one another?
Oh...I know. It is the government and others telling us that me and you are the enemies. Fork over cash (for private companies) and more taxes and we will keep you safe.
I was safe in elementary school. My dad was. My mom was. My sister, brother, cousins. Dad took his gun to school for gun club and gun safety lessons. I had a little pen knife I kept with me many times for school patrol, fishing (yeah it was after school but I kept it on me), etc.
What has changed so much in society now that we freak out over the smallest of things when no one is being harmed???
Fear. It sells. We buy it and run with it.
We weren't afraid of each other. Now all we see on the news are stories about school violence and such. How many schools in the US and how many incidents are there? Very few percent wise. The right pimps fear of muslims, both the right and left do the same when it comes to fear of each other.
When we believe we are all possible suspects (except those in government who are doing the real killing) we start to fear and hate one another and think we are all out to get each other.
It's not true. But is sells papers, air time, and helps get people to vote and contribute in hopes of being more safe.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)Times change.
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)Why and how?
You can't blame guns. They were here before.
Movies? TV? Religion in schools? What has changed now that we are more afraid than ever before?
Our mindset? Sucking up news that is negative and promoting fear? If times have changed, explain what about the times have changed.
supernaut
(44 posts)Force-feeding an unwitting population fear over the last couple of decades has done a lot to create this sort of mindset.
sibelian
(7,804 posts)...but I've you to hear from anyone what might have been sinister or untoward about showing the kids the box-cutter or the pocket knife.
southerncrone
(5,506 posts)If it's not on the standardized test, it's not allowed in school. This is why I left the profession.
Sad times we live in.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)So that's what the kids are calling it these days.
Buns_of_Fire
(17,121 posts)Will a "Leatherman" multitool soon be designated as a weapon of mass destruction? (OOOOOH, I'm gonna give you such a PINCH!)
How in hell did any of us survive to puberty?
jwirr
(39,215 posts)gardening now. Plus thos specific tools are used for many other jobs. They should have to pay him for the damages done to his reputation.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)Maybe the teacher brought in some of these:
All are common tools of agriculture. Some are outdated, but are still in use.
Iggo
(47,489 posts)RC
(25,592 posts)"...pliers, screwdrivers and wrenches..." Who was the T-bagger that wrote that story?
And speaking of weapons, aren't pencils weapons? Pointy and sometimes even sharp?
burnodo
(2,017 posts)And a full bookbag makes a hell of a weapon also.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)he got suspensed right? Yet it will be ok if in the future the teacher can carry a hand gun. This country is F'd up.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)HAS THE WHOLE WORLD GONE FUCKING CRAZY!?!
Lex
(34,108 posts)octothorpe
(962 posts)SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)If you own a pair of pliers, a wrench or a screwdriver remove them.immediately from your home or you will be arrested from gross misconduct and negligence. If any parent is a carpenter or builder you will be terminated and flogged.Anyone seen with a tool belt will be apprehended.
CincyDem
(6,283 posts)...Glock. His reprimand for "possessing, carrying, storing, or using a weapon" might have been the same but at least he's have Wayne LaP on the Sunday show hawking his defense.
Who's going to help this guy now - you think the Garden Club of America is going to step up and do the right thing here?
Noooooooo...way.
It's like I always say, why grab a screwdriver when a gun will work just as well.
no_hypocrisy
(45,786 posts)with a piece of fresh fruit . . . . .
a kennedy
(29,467 posts)OMGosh. What in the world has happened to us.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)Lord knows the trouble he could get into with that.
liberal N proud
(60,302 posts)Or is this all they are allowed to use?
Aerows
(39,961 posts)We are now calling pocket knives and box cutters - that the students didn't even touch - deadly weapons?
A freaking hammer, which is a tool, is just as dangerous as a box cutter. You can beat someone to a pulp with a wrench.
Good grief. And people wonder why some high school graduates are so uneducated. Anything practical that teachers could teach, they can't teach because it might offend or scare someone.