Sexism is Alive and Well in the Public Schools

Kindergarten teacher denies Legos to boys in name of 'gender equity'

A kindergarten teacher in Bainbridge Island, Wash., actively denies her male students the opportunity to play with Lego blocks in order to encourage her female students to play with them.

Karen Keller bars the boys in her class from playing with the colorful blocks, even going so far as to lie to them about their opportunity to play.

"I always tell the boys, 'You're going to have a turn' — and I'm like, 'Yeah, when hell freezes over' in my head," Keller told the Bainbridge Island Review. "I tell them, 'You'll have a turn' because I don't want them to feel bad."

Keller does this because she saw the boys in her class gravitating toward the blocks during their "free choice" play time while the girls flocked to dolls and crayons. Keller's solution was to deny the blocks to the boys, who wanted to play with them, in order to encourage the girls to play with them. The Review article offers no indications about how Keller gets the girls to play with something of which they have no interest.

Legos SCOTUS members hate boys

She could have got the boys to voluntarily drop the Legos, if she'd provided play guns.

 Keller had found research finding that Lego play accelerates development and helps with spatial and math skills. And since Keller believes that gender stereotypes are ingrained into girls at a young age, well, something had to be done.

Lego David Hasselhoff

Of course, currently, the actual "gender gap" between boys and girls in science and math is quite minor:

Overall, boys are ahead of girls in math (by an equivalent of about three months of schooling), about even with girls in science and a year behind girls in reading.

Part of the reason for this more recent disparity is that boys spend less time doing homework and reading books than girls. Another reason is teachers like Keller, who actively hold boys back in order to promote girls.

The OECD also found that teacher assessments favor girls, while anonymous tests allowed boys to do much better.
. . .
As one of my Twitter followers said: "When you have an axe to grind with 5yr old boys, maybe you shouldn't teach kindergarten."

Lego Pam Anderson

The teacher and the school now claim that the discrimination was temporary, and anyway, they didn't discriminate:

Keller claimed she only instituted the "girls only" Lego play for the first month of school to get them interested in the toys. She also said her "hell freezing over" remark was "a casual, off-record aside meant to convey my frustration with the marketing to girls in our society." She said that it was "not appropriate" and "taken out of context." She insisted that every student in her class has access to Legos.

The school district called the Review article "inaccurate" and said the school does not discriminate on the basis of sex.

The teacher should be sentenced to be Greenhorn for a year on the Capt. Keith Colburn's crab boat Wizard. The $1,000,000 fine the school district should pay would be used to offset his loss of income from her lack of productivity.

University of California to Guarantee Freedom from Thought

Some exerpts from a new policy to be "debated" and voted in at the next Regents meeting on Thursday:

Regents of the University of California’s Statement of Principles Against Intolerance

The University of California is committed to protecting its bedrock values of respect, inclusion, and academic freedom. Free expression and the open exchange of ideas — principles enshrined in our national and state Constitutions — are part of the University’s fiber. So, too, is tolerance, and University of California students, faculty, and staff must respect the dignity of each person within the UC community.

So far so good. But as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions (either that or the skulls of unbaptized babies, as my grandpa used to say; maybe good intentions are the mortar that holds the skulls together):

Intolerance has no place at the University of California. We define intolerance as unwelcome conduct motivated by discrimination against, or hatred toward, other individuals or groups. It may take the form of acts of violence or intimidation, threats, harassment, hate speech, derogatory language reflecting stereotypes or prejudice, or inflammatory or derogatory use of culturally recognized symbols of hate, prejudice, or discrimination.

Everyone in the University community has the right to study, teach, conduct research, and work free from acts and expressions of intolerance. The University will respond promptly and effectively to reports of intolerant behavior and treat them as opportunities to reinforce the University’s Principles Against Intolerance.

Wow, from freedom of expression to banning "hate speech" in three paragraphs. That may be new record. Heaven forbid these poor children should actually be exposed to thoughts that do not meet the approval of the almost entirely liberal academic complex.

Let me guess. At UC, gay flags will be flown and Che shirts worn, confederate flags will be banned, speech and writings excoriating "the patriarchy" will be celebrated while casting doubts on feminism and the more absurd social so-called sciences will be punished, agitating against fossil fuels and the companies that provide them will be encouraged, while publicly expressing doubt about climate change will earn a committee appearance to see if you can continue at school while casting aspersions on "the climate change consensus." And the list goes on and on. Professor Volokh has a pretty good list too:

However, lefty professors will still be permitted to propagandize from the pulpit lectern:

This statement shall not be interpreted to prohibit conduct that is related to the course content, teaching methods, scholarship, or public commentary of an individual faculty member or the educational, political, artistic, or literary expression of students in classrooms and public forums that is protected by academic freedom or free speech principles.

Now, conservatives could also report cases of "intolerance" against conservative persons and ideals, but they won't because they believe in the concept of free speech. But a few counter strikes might have a salutatory effect.

Great Moments in Tolerance

Bruce (or whatever the hell he/she wishes to be renamed) Jenner shocked Diane Sawyer and other liberals by coming out as a Republican: Bruce Jenner Blasted Online After Coming Out As a Republican: ‘Personally, I Am Disgusted’

One is tempted to hope that at least some of these posts are deliberate irony; but I have my doubts.

As confused as Jenner may be regarding his gender, as a person who earned his own money through his athletic prowess, he understands well that the Republican party is the party with his economic self interest dwell.

Ted Cruz Campaign Battles 'Intolerant' Boycott of Gay Men Who Hosted Him in New York

The producers of the New York City show became the first people to boycott a venue owned by Mati Weiderpass and Ian Reisner, gay entrepreneurs who hosted Cruz for an event this week. As first reported by Maggie Haberman in the New York Times, Cruz held a "fireside chat" with about a dozen interested people at the penthouse owned by Weiderpass and Reisner. The ostensible topic was Israel; Cruz, like many Republicans, is looking for openings with donors who have leaned Democrat may be shopping around for a new party out of a feeling that the Obama administration has slighted the Jewish State. Yet Cruz told attendees that gay marriage was an issue for the states -- though if one of his daughters were gay, he would love them just as much.

That kindled a Facebook campaign to boycott Fire Island Pines Establishments and the gay-friendly Out NYC Hotel. In a statement to Bloomberg News, the campaign's anonymous organizer said that to suddenly think that the new owners of a portion of the Fire Island Pines commercial space support anti-LGBT politicians is a devastating blow to the community," and said the campaign had already gone viral.

That's right, gays. Support the Democrats or face career threatening boycotts. Now that's tolerance for you!

Not to be left in the dust, the student government at Johns Hopkins University rushed to ban Chick-Fil-A from having a franchise on campus: The Johns Hopkins Chick-fil-A Ban and the Coming Gay-Marriage Witch Hunt

A new spirit of intolerance has arisen on the Johns Hopkins University campus, and conservative Christians are the targets. The JHU student government’s vote this week to ban any hypothetical future Chick-fil-A outlet from campus because of the company owner’s support for traditional marriage, coming on the heels of the JHU Spring Fair’s censorship of a pro-life fetal-model display as “disturbing” and “triggering,” sends a clear message that students who disagree with liberal orthodoxy are not welcome on the Hopkins campus.

The student government’s vote went beyond merely expressing support for same-sex marriage. The Chick-fil-A ban seeks to introduce unprecedented discrimination against companies owned by religious conservatives into the university’s contracting policies, even though only a few years ago, prominent liberals like Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama had held the same views on marriage. In banning Chick-fil-A from campus for “homophobia,” the JHU student government is only a short step from similarly giving the boot to socially conservative Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Orthodox, and Jewish student groups from campus, as we have seen happen at Vanderbilt University, the 23 campuses of California State University, and others throughout the country.

I wasn't even aware that there was a move for Chick-fil-A to have a campus presence, but if so, what would be wrong with individual students (who, in my extensive college experience rarely pay much attention to the student government) actually deciding where they want to eat? I occasionally enjoy a chicken sammy among the burgers.

Conservative or even less than evangelical liberal students at JHU need to form a "Sad Puppies" type campaign to retake student government from the hands of the SJWs.

Scratch a liberal and find a fascist.

Silver Spring Cops Re-Arrest "Free Range Kids"

‘Free-range’ family again at center of debate after police pick up children

A couple of months after Danielle and Alexander Meitiv were found responsible for “unsubstantiated neglect” for letting Rafi, 10, and Dvora, 6, walk home from a park close to where they live in downtown Silver Spring, they gave the children permission to do it again.

Responding to a call from a citizen, police collected the children and took them to CPS in Montgomery where, 5 1/2 anxious hours later, they were reunited with their parents.

An interesting twist to this story is that when the police stopped the children and took them into custody, they told them they were going to take them home. Apparently, they didn't mention that they were going to hold them for hours, deny them food and water and use of the bathroom. Way to go, cops, you just created two more citizens who will never trust the police again.

Danielle Meitiv said they were panicked when they didn’t hear anything from the children, who were expected home at 6 p.m., until CPS called at 8. The children were released to their parents at 10:30 pm after the parents signed papers agreeing not to leave the children unattended.

“They were both scared they would never see us again. They were scared they were being taken away from us. I was scared of that, too,” Danielle said in an interview with a Washington Post reporter. “This is surreal. I can’t believe that anyone who claims to care about children would put children through this.”

One wonders, if at this point, the Silver Springs police department has entered into a campaign to beat the Meitivs into submission by using every opportunity to harass the family for not conforming to approved parenting styles. I wonder how often these rules are enforced in the rougher areas of the county and state?

According to the Montgomery police report, police received an anonymous call about unattended children and found them in a parking garage on Fenton Street where a “homeless subject” was “eyeing the children.”

Ah yes, the old "anonymous tip" dodge.

Post columnist Petula Dvorak get worked up over this.:

In the bizarre nationwide culture war over how much freedom children should have to play outside alone, the youngest combatants — Rafi and Dvora Meitiv — are the ones being damaged the most.

This is getting pretty ridiculous. Somehow we’ve morphed from being a village that helps raise children to a parenting police state,
. . .
Imagine the message our society is sending the Meitiv kids by holding them in the back of a squad car and in a crisis center for nearly six hours because they were playing alone outside. And if what Danielle said is true — that police initially told the kids they were going to just drive them home — how is this not a kidnapping?

It’s outrageous, really.

If that adult who called police was worried about the kids, why not talk to them? Ask them where their parents were? Walk them home?

Or maybe it was someone who recognized the Meitiv kids, hated their parents’ very public “free-range” advocacy campaign — multiple television appearances included — and decided to get back at them.

If this is how we respond to children playing alone, my kids and I would’ve been locked up multiple times. Walking the dog around the block? Call the Capitol Police! Getting a Popsicle at the corner store? Alert the social workers! Getting me the cheese I ran out of while making dinner? Book ’em!

We need to get a grip. I get that it’s a scary thing to let kids go. But it is absolutely necessary for them to become normal, functioning adults.

All That Fuss Over a Half Inch of Hair

Boy's 'military haircut' spurs suspension threat, outcry

A young boy's high and tight haircut meant to honor his soldier-stepbrother earned him the threat of suspension from an elementary school named for a Medal of Honor recipient, and the fallout from the incident has led a Tennessee school district to increase security measures.

Adam Stinnett went to Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary School in McMinnville, about a 90-minute drive southeast from Nashville, on March 9 sporting the new hairdo. His mother, Amy Stinnett, said he'd requested the high and tight to be more like Spc. Justin Bloodworth, his active-duty stepbrother.

Adam was written up by the principal, who thought the haircut was against school policy banning "mohawk haircuts or other extreme cuts."

Amy Stinnett disagreed. Adam went back Tuesday with the same haircut.

After his mother received an email from the principal and stopped by for a face-to-face chat, it was made clear that Adam's hairstyle would have to change before he returned to school.

With so much hair already gone, his mother had few options.

"I did shave his head," Stinnett said Thursday. "With no hair, he looks sick all the time."

The incident upset Adam, who wants to follow Bloodworth's path into military service, his mother said.

My, how times have changed. I fought my Dad tooth and nail to retain every last fraction of an inch of every last hair. I'd like to blame the Beatles, but the battles began before they made any appearance. He would so have liked me to keep my hair like that.

News from the "Free State"

Parents held responsible for ‘unsubstantiated’ neglect

“Free-range” parents have been found “responsible” for “unsubstantiated” child neglect because they let their kids — ages 10 and 6 — walk home from a park near their Maryland home, reports the Washington Post. Montgomery County Child Protective Services investigated Danielle and Alexander Meitiv’s parenting for two months before reaching that Orwellian verdict. An “unsubstantiated” finding is made when Montgomery County Child Protective Services has “some information supporting a conclusion of child neglect, or when seemingly credible reports are at odds with each other, or when there is insufficient information for a more definitive conclusion,” an official told the Post. CPS will “keep a file open” on the family for at least five years. If the parents are caught again giving their kids a bit of independence . . .Who know?

La Ballona Creek from the Baldwin Hills

We walked about a mile to and from school from first grade on, often detouring along the way to La Bollona Creek, giant concrete gutter which cut through the heart of Culver City. We also walked several blocks to the Mom and Pops store to buy candy and drugs drinks, and another mile or so to the municipal pool in summer. We had no older kids with us. My parents would still be in jail.

Oregon Library Girl Pleads Not Indecent

Remember Kendra Sunderland, the former Oregon State University student whose weak attempt at internet porn filmed in the school library made national news? I figured that sensible people at OSU and Corvallis would find a way to drop the charges and be done with this and not make any more national news. Alas (for them), no, they have gone ahead and filed misdemeanor indecency charges against her:

Indecency Charge Filed Against Library Cam Girl

2/26 UPDATE: In a court appearance this afternoon, Sunderland entered a not guilty plea to the misdemeanor public indecency charge. She is next due in court on April 28. When first questioned by police, Sunderland copped to the X-rated web cam performance, adding that she was “not sure which of her customers posted the video to the Internet,” according to a police report. Sunderland also reportedly admitted that she “sometimes herself gets pleasure from seeing the webcams.”

Don't ever talk to the police!

FEBRUARY 24--Prosecutors have filed a public indecency charge against the former Oregon State University student who last month filmed an X-rated webcam show inside the school’s main library, according to court records.

Kendra Sunderland, 19, was named last week in a misdemeanor criminal information filed in Circuit Court in Benton County.

The February 17 charging document alleges that Sunderland, a Corvallis resident, “did and with the intent of arousing the sexual desire of defendant or another person, expose her genitals” while inside the university’s Valley Library. Investigators allege that Sunderland’s lewd performance occurred on the evening of January 27 while she was seated at a desk on the library’s sixth floor.

And if the video is accurate, that's pretty much what happened.

 While Sunderland has attended Oregon State, she is not currently registered for classes. She previously studied human development and family science, according to university records.

Much like  Steve Jobs, Kendra chose not to finish college, but go into the internet business, and while early returns may be deceiving, she seems to be succeeding:

Sunderland has embraced the notoriety stemming from her illicit library antics. While continuing her webcam business, she has posed for Playboy, signed a deal to front for a sugar daddy web site, and done radio and TV interviews.

Her Twitter account--which now has more than 74,000 followers--features a steady stream of racy photos and career updates (most of which include the hashtag “#LibraryGirl”). In a message yesterday, Sunderland reported, “Holy shit! I'm the 56th most popular pornstar on @Pornhub.” (2 pages)

According to Gawker:

Sunderland appears to a professional "cam girl," which means the video was likely recorded by one of her customers and uploaded without her permission. According to thesleuths at Reddit, she worked for MyFreeCams.com under the user name babyyygirl420.

Well, we can't all be chemists, marine biologists and oceanographers.

I still think she should be sentenced to a bare bottomed public spanking which should be videotaped, and released on YouTube. And the earning of it should go to the library.

Wombat-socho is celebrating the break in the weather with "Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday: Spring Thaw?"

Another Great Moment in Zero Tolerance

From the Weasel Zippers, by way of Wombat-socho's "In the Mailbox: 02.12.15 RTD edition"

New Jersey Snow-Shoveling Teens Get In Trouble With The Law For Not Having A Government Issued Permit

When a major snowstorm hit the east coast two weeks ago, two entrepreneurial teens in New Jersey were ready.

Until they ran directly into a real force of nature: government nannies.

Matt Molinari and Eric Schnepf, both 18-year-olds from Bound Brook, N.J., were going door-to-door in their neighborhood Jan. 27, handing out homemade flyers that offered snow-shoveling services. School had already been canceled for the next day, when a winter storm was expected to bury their portion of the Garden State under several inches of cold white powder.

But their offer of a free exchange of services for cash caught the attention of the local police force.

According to local news reports, the cops told the kids they weren’t allowed to solicit business by going door-to-door without a permit from the local government.[…]

To get a permit for door-to-door solicitation in Bound Brook, Molinari and Schnepf would have had to pay the borough $450 (and the government-issued permission slip is only good for 180 days at a time, which is fine if you’re trying to run a snow-shoveling business, but not so great if you’re trying to offer services year-round).

I think they should go the non-profit route like a museum, and offer to  shovel snow for "a donation" of  "X".

Great Moments in Zero Tolerance: Child Suspended for Threatening Wizardry

Aiden and a potential collaborator in wizardry

Texas boy suspended for saying he could make classmate ‘disappear’ with ‘Lord of the Rings’ sorcery

Kermit Elementary School officials called it a threat when the 9-year-old boy, Aiden Steward, in a playful act of make-believe, told a classmate he could make him disappear with a ring forged in fictional Middle Earth’s Mount Doom.

“It sounded unbelievable,” the boy’s father, Jason Steward, told the Daily News. He insists his son “didn’t mean anything by it.”

The Stewards had just watched “The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies” days earlier, inspiring Aiden’s imagination and leading him to proclaim that he had in his possession the one ring to rule them all.

“Kids act out movies that they see. When I watched Superman as a kid, I went outside and tried to fly,” Steward said.

Well, at 9 years old, a boy is about the size of an adult hobbit, so it's a reasonable worry that he could use a Ring of Doom to destroy the evil educational system. Gotta nip that kind of thinking in the bud.

The Stupidest Zero Tolerance Stories of 2014

Some I've covered already, some I saw and passed on, some are new to me, but it's useful to review such things to show that they are not isolated events, they are part of pattern of thinking by people in authority that needs ridicule.

1. Student, 13, shares lunch, gets detention
2. Sunscreen not allowed on field trip—kids might drink it
3. Kindergarten cancels its year-end show to allow more time for college prep
4. Teacher suspended on weapons charge for demonstrating carpentry tools
5. School bus driver loses job for keeping kids warm when bus breaks down
6. 79-year-old substitute teacher fired for having student-friends on Facebook
7. Student suspended for slicing apple with knife during health food demonstration
8. School goes on lockdown when mom fails to sign-in
9. Girl in wet bathing suit forced to stand outside… in February… in Minnesota… due to school policy
10. Student suspended for twirling pencil, subjected to five-hour evaluation

Canadian Taliban Object to Lady Sports Fans

Woman in Whitecaps video baffled by sexism controversy (with video)

Emily Guedes had no intention of becoming the centre of a social-media firestorm when she attended a Vancouver Whitecaps’ soccer game with two friends earlier this season.

Footage of the three young women cheering in the stands at BC Place Stadium was used in a promo video posted on the team’s YouTube and Instagram accounts on Wednesday. The video proved popular online and Guedes, a Port Moody resident, drew comparisons to former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, who was discovered at a B.C. Lions’ game 25 years ago.

In the slow-motion video, Guedes — wearing a white tank top and holding a beer — jumps with her arms extended in the air as she follows the action on the field.

The team pulled the video within hours of it being posted after some fans complained it was sexist and misogynistic in nature.

The video in question?



Much nicer than Pam Anderson. And Emily was rather pissed that it was pulled:

Guedes, meanwhile, is incredulous to the idea that there is anything misogynistic contained in the 18-second slow-motion video of her cheering on her favourite team.

“What’s misogynistic is the fact that men are in the videos — and kids cheering for (the Whitecaps) — but not a couple of women,” Guedes said. “I am not offended by the video but (I am) adamantly offended by their removal of it.”

Guedes isn’t an actress or model. She’s a season-ticket holder who goes to every game.

Ann Althouse said she showed "tremendous restraint." Would the feminists prefer that women wear burkas to sports events?

Wombat-socho is celebrating Rule Five Sunday on Monday this week.

In Maryland, Publish and Perish

An eighth-grade teacher who writes fiction under a nom de plume is ordered to undergo an "emergency medical evaluation" for his novel about a school shooting.

A 23-year-old teacher at a Cambridge, Maryland, middle school has been placed on leave and—in the words of a local news report—"taken in for an emergency medical evaluation" for publishing, under a pseudonym, a novel about a school shooting. The novelist, Patrick McLaw, an eighth-grade language-arts teacher at the Mace's Lane Middle School, was placed on leave by the Dorchester County Board of Education, and is being investigated by the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office, according to news reports from Maryland's Eastern Shore. The novel, by the way, is set 900 years in the future.

Here is part of a breathless, law enforcement-friendly report from WBOC, which describes itself as "Delmarva's News Leader":

He's a man with many names, and the books he has written have raised the concerns of the Dorchester County Board of Education and the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office.
Early last week the school board was alerted that one of its eighth grade language arts teachers at Mace's Lane Middle School had several aliases. Police said that under those names, he wrote two fictional books about the largest school shooting in the country's history set in the future. Now, Patrick McLaw is placed on leave.
Dr. K.S. Voltaer is better known by some in Dorchester County as Patrick McLaw, or even Patrick Beale. Not only was he a teacher at Mace's Lane Middle School in Cambridge, but according to Dorchester Sheriff James Phillips, McLaw is also the author of two books: "The Insurrectionist" and its sequel, "Lillith's Heir."
Those books are what caught the attention of police and school board officials in Dorchester County. "The Insurrectionist" is about two school shootings set in the future, the largest in the country's history.
Phillips said McLaw was taken in for an emergency medical evaluation. The sheriff would not disclose where McLaw is now, but he did say that he is not on the Eastern Shore. The same day that McLaw was taken in for an evaluation, police swept Mace's Lane Middle School for bombs and guns, coming up empty.

Imagine that—a novelist who didn't store bombs and guns at the school at which he taught. How improbable! Especially considering that he uses an "alias," which is apparently the law-enforcement term for "nom de plume." (Here is the Amazon page for The Insurrectionist, by the way. Please note that the book was published in 2011, before McLaw was hired.)

According to an equally credulous and breathless report in the Star-Democrat, which is published in Easton, Maryland, the combined efforts of multiple law-enforcement agencies have made area children safe from fiction. Sheriff Phillips told the newspaper that, in addition to a K-9 sweep of the school (!), investigators also raided McLaw's home. "The residence of the teacher in Wicomico County was searched by personnel,” Phillips said, with no weapons found. “A further check of Maryland State Police databases also proved to be negative as to any weapons registered to him. McLaw was suspended by the Dorchester County Board of Education pending an investigation and is no longer in the area. He is currently at a location known to law enforcement and does not currently have the ability to travel anywhere.”

It's hard to even be cynical the stupidity of the anti-gun hysterics who are firmly in control of Maryland.  I hope Mr. McLaw is writing a non-fiction book about his abuse at the hands of the police and educational "professionals." I fear his teaching career is over.

I hope he sues and wins a bundle, but, being Maryland, I have my doubts.  If he can keep the suit on the Eastern Shore, though, there's some hope.

At $14.95, the Kindle Book seems over priced, but I just might buy it anyway out of solidarity to McLaw.

Student Arrested, Suspended Over Dinosaur Killing Fantasy

High school student says he was arrested for killing dinosaur in class assignment

Story illustrated with some equally realistic human dinosaur encounters.

A 16-year-old Summerville High School student says he was arrested Tuesday morning and suspended after writing about killing a dinosaur using a gun.

Alex Stone said he and his classmates were told in class to write a few sentences about themselves, and a "status" as if it was a Facebook page.

So, at Summerville High School, they actually have to teach kids how to use facebook?  Maybe they should try a business letter, or a letter to bureaucracy begging for mercy, things that are far more likely to be useful.

Stone said in his "status" he wrote a fictional story that involved the words "gun" and "take care of business."

"I killed my neighbor's pet dinosaur, and, then, in the next status I said I bought the gun to take care of the business," Stone said.

I think that's the point that the teacher should have realized she (and I'm willing to be it was a she) that the story was not a realistic scenario.

Stone says his statements were taken completely out of context.

"I could understand if they made him re-write it because he did have "gun" in it. But a pet dinosaur?" said Alex's mother Karen Gray."I mean first of all, we don't have dinosaurs anymore. Second of all, he's not even old enough to buy a gun."

Technically, some have argued that birds are the descendants of dinosaurs with minor advances and should be considered as dinosaurs, so I suppose if he could be fantasizing about killing his neighbor's chicken or parakeet, it could be considered possible. And while it is certainly illegal for a 16 year old to buy a gun, it's more than likely that with only a little effort, a 16 year old could probably buy one with sufficient money and effort. Making drinking by teenagers illegal certainly hasn't prevented any number of them from obtaining beer.

Investigators say the teacher contacted school officials after seeing the message containing the words "gun" and "take care of business," and police were then notified on Tuesday.

The cops should have laughed them off. But they are not allowed to anymore.  Each event, however silly, must be investigated as a potential Columbine.

Were students pre-informed that the word "gun" was forbidden in school essays?  I doubt it. That would draw too much attention from pro-second amendment parents who might object in advance.  No, the anti-gun crowd is trying to make the concept of guns forbidden with random and extreme punishments.

Summerville police officials say Stone's bookbag and locker were searched on Tuesday, and a gun was not found.

According to Gray, Stone was suspended for the rest of the week. Gray says she is furious that the school did not contact her before her son was arrested. She says her son followed directions and completed an assignment.

Amen. The trick to working with teenagers is to be explicit with your rules. If the word "guns" is forbidden, write that down. If fictional stories are out in an assignment to make a fictional facebook post (already a contradiction), you have to make that clear, otherwise the students will (especially the more restive males), and even if you make it absolutely clear, they'll leave footprints right up and onto the line.

The teacher and administrators responsible for this should be sued. Or better, as Instapundit suggests:

To be thorough, they should have searched the neighbor’s yard for a dead Triceratops, too. Everyone involved in this tragedy should be flogged naked through the streets, then put in the stocks wearing a dunce cap.

Wombat-socho has the grand summary "Rule 5 Sunday: Peaches En Regalia" up at The Other McCain.

Another Great Moment of Zero Tolerance

Sure looks like a hardened criminal

Honor student charged with felonies over Science Fair volcano

A 16-year-old girl was arrested and expelled from school after she demonstrating the traditional ‘erupting volcano’ in class as a science experiment. Even a year later, she is still being haunted by the multiple felonies she was charged with.

Kiera Wilmot’s volcano was designed to demonstrate a chemical reaction simulating a volcanic eruption. Inside her volcano prop, was an 8-ounce water bottle with some toilet bowl cleaner in it. When the cleaner is exposed to aluminum, it creates an exothermic chemical reaction.

Her experiment got her in serious trouble on April 29th, 2013.

“When I put the aluminum foil into the bottle, the lid popped off an a little bit of smoke climbed out of the bottle,” Kiera described.

No one was hurt. No damage was caused. No harm was done.
. . .
She was charged with possession/discharge of a weapon on school grounds, and discharging a destructive device, both felonies.

For the record, I made a science fair volcano back in the 7th grade.  However, it was the more conventional baking soda, vinegar and Red Dye #2 volcano and not the more exciting aluminum foil and tidy bowl version, and so, would probably only be charged as a misdemeanor in today's climate.

The good news is that that, in a moment of apparent common sense, the authorities have at least partially relented:

Although prosecutors eventually declined to pursue Kiera as a criminal, the charges themselves continue to taint Kiera’s record and impede her future success.

“All my charges have been dropped, but the lawyer says that it takes 5 years to clear each felony off the record,” Kiera said.

Another Great Moment in Zero Tolerance

With a happy ending, courtesy of Stacy McCain: Nerd Jokes in Georgia

The yearbook quote that got Mundy’s Mill High School senior Paris Gray in trouble was actually kind of clever, if you’re into rap music and the periodic table of elements. Maybe not as clever as the Nine Sexiest Words, but still clever, and if kids are making chemistry jokes, they’re probably doing OK in school. So I’m glad the school decided that she can still speak at graduation.

Paris Gray

From the original article:

Paris Gray, upstanding vice president of her about-to-graduate high-school class in Jonesboro, Georgia, was suspended last Friday when administrators figured out what her yearbook quote meant. It read:

When the going gets tough, just remember to Barium, Carbon, Potassium, Thorium, Astatine, Arsenic, Sulfur, Uranium, Phosphorus.

BaCK ThAt AsS UP: Apparently a lyric to a rap song, which I would have no clue about...

San Diego PD Focusing on the "Big" Problems

IYKWIMAITTYD

Great Moments in Gun Control

Detectives photograph body of 13 year old Andy Lopez

Sheriffs Deputies shoot, kill 13 year old for plastic replica

Sonoma County sheriff's deputies shot and killed a 13-year-old boy Tuesday afternoon during an encounter in a southwest Santa Rosa neighborhood.

The boy's father, Rodrigo Lopez, identified the teen as Andy Lopez and said he had been carrying a toy gun that belonged to a friend.

That'll teach him not to play around with guns...  Oh wait.

It was unclear Tuesday whether the rifle, which sheriff's officials characterized as a replica, was capable of firing BBs or other projectiles.

Source

They spend a fair amount of verbiage in the article talking about how Airsoft makes realistic looking fake guns that could maybe kind of confuse the officers into thinking it was a real gun, but even those have features (red tips) to make them readily distinguishable.  Did this gun have such features?  The picture they show seems to go to some lengths to hide the muzzle of the gun in straw.

At 3 p.m., two sheriff's deputies patrolling in the area of Moorland and West Robles avenues observed Lopez walking with what sheriff's officials said appeared to be some type of rifle.

The deputies called for backup and repeatedly ordered the boy to drop the rifle, Sheriff's Lt. Dennis O'Leary said in a news release.

At some point after the deputies told Lopez to drop the rifle, they fired several rounds from their handguns at the boy, who was hit multiple times, O'Leary said.

After telling Lopez to move away from the rifle, deputies approached the unresponsive teen as he lay on the ground and handcuffed him before administering first aid and calling for medical assistance, O'Leary said.

Lopez was later pronounced dead at the scene. Neither deputy was injured, said Sheriff's Lt. Steve Brown. Sheriff's officials did not release the names of the deputies Tuesday, but said both had been placed on administrative leave.

While it's hard to know just what happened, because police will definitely lie in a case where it helps them to do so, it's hard to imagine a teenager threatening armed deputies with a fake gun.  These officers should be fired unless they can show affirmatively that they had a good reason to open fire, and I can't imagine what that would be.  Having a few fired for being too quick on the trigger could encourage the rest to show a little common sense.

The shooting took place just as neighborhood residents were on their way home from work and school. Others were home when they heard gunfire.

“First I heard a single siren and within seconds I heard seven shots go off, sounded like a nail gun, is what I thought it was,” said Brian Zastrow, a resident on Horizon Way. “After that I heard multiple sirens.”

 Seconds, huh.  Took a lot of time for this kid to answer, I guess...

Great Strides in Zero Tolerance: Student Suspended for Playing With Toy Gun at Home

Suspended Student May Be Expelled for Rest of the Year for Playing With Toy Gun…in His Own Yard

A suspended seventh-grade student in Virginia Beach, Va., could be expelled for the rest of the school year for shooting an airsoft gun with a friend in his yard as they waited for the bus to come.

I rather expect this to become a he said/she said incident where the bus driver (or student on the bus) reports the facts a different way.  But if the gun didn't make it to school, which would certainly have been reported, it didn't get on the bus, so the story seems to suggest that they didn't attempt to bring them to school.

Caraballo answered “no, sir,” when asked if he took the toy gun to the bus stop or to school. “We were in our yard. This had nothing to do with school,” the student said.

Caraballo’s mother, Angel, said being punished for “possession, handling and use of a firearm” was “pretty harsh” for a toy that she bought for $25.

 Combined with the fact that it is not, in fact, a firearm, but a toy. 

Tim Clark, Aidan’s father, told the news station that the school neglected to use common sense in the incident that occurred off school property.

“Has zero tolerance gone too far?” WAVY-TV asks.

Yes. Administrators need to start losing their jobs, or at least a year's pay, when they commit even the tiniest infraction (like random pocket checks to make sure they aren't stealing paper, pens or pencils from the school districts.  At least they can't use their immaturity as an excuse.

This is all part of modern educational establishments attempt to propagandize children with the gun control message, and threaten parents who don't toe the party line. 

Cop Kisser Accused of Battery

Woman, 62, Jailed On Felony Battery Charge After Kissing Cop On The Nose

A Florida woman is jailed on a felony battery on a law enforcement officer charge after she allegedly kissed a cop on the nose.

Peggy Hill, 62, was arrested late Saturday evening outside her Bradenton residence by Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies who had arrived at the home in response to a call about a dispute between Hill and a neighbor about a fence between their properties.

I'm going to guess this wasn't about who owned the daisies.

As Hill was conversing with Sergeant Randy Lamb, “she approached him and kissed him on his nose against his will.” Lamb, an 18-year veteran, stepped away from Hill and “wiped off the saliva from his nose,” according to an arrest report. With the help of another deputy, Lamb “gently” took Hill to the ground and handcuffed her.

In a post-arrest interview, Hill said that Lamb “was being aggressive towards her,” and that “the thought just popped in her head to kiss him on his nose, so she kissed him on his nose.” Hill told deputies that she had consumed “about 3 glasses of wine” before deputies arrived at her home.

OK, admit it.  You'd be scared, too.  I wonder how big those "3 glasses of wine" were?

Calvert County Schools Blows Chance to Exercise Common Sense

Suspension won’t be removed for five-year-old grilled over cap gun who then peed his pants

School officials in Calvert County, Maryland have denied a request to expunge the suspension of the kindergartener who brought a plastic cap gun on a school bus last month and then wet his pants during a subsequent interrogation.

The refusal came in the form of a letter dated Friday, reports The Washington Post. The letter stated that the five-year-old “did bring a cap gun in his book bag.” It also charged that some other children were frightened and told school officials that they couldn’t discern if the orange-tipped cowboy-style gun was real or fake.

The unidentified kindergartener had brought the toy gun in his backpack because his friend had brought a water gun the previous day. He later told his mother that he “really, really” wanted his friend to see it.

Right, because they really want to deny the 5-year old kid the opportunity to go to the best possible
school when he eventually stumbles out of the Calvert County School District and into real life.

To be fair, though, I think the threat "This will go on your permanent record" is one of the most hollow threats that school authorities have to wield.  Does anyone believe that colleges et al are actually going to read about the stupid stuff kids did when they were 5?

From the article it's clear that 1) Calvert County is becoming too urban, if other students were frightened by a clearly fake cap gun (which I doubt; I suspect the admin is lying about this to justify their behavior) and 2) the school officials are incompetent if they don't know that the orange tips are added to toy guns now to distinguish them from real weapons to people who are utterly ignorant about them.

As long as I'm on the topic of guns, gun control and education, I've got a couple of other articles to share:

What if we looked at cars the same way we look at guns?

...suppose educators instead declared that cars themselves were harmful instruments of death and destruction with no useful purpose. Then they began punishing students at all ages, even down to kindergarten level, for such "offenses" as drawing pictures of cars, bringing toy cars to school or even mentioning the word "car." You'd likely think this was an extreme overreaction, a textbook example of irrational behavior that was likely to punish innocent students for harmless words and actions.

Now, substitute the word "guns" for "cars," and you have a description of what appears to be a widespread mindset on the part of school officials nationwide that one psychologist and family doctor has called "psychotic."...

Gun play: 'Zero tolerance' toward schoolkids could backfire, says expert

...Sax said he worries about the long-term effect, particularly on boys, of being told the games they play make them bad. “Out-of-touch policies such as these, which criminalize behaviors which have always been common among young kids, are contributing to the growing proportion of American kids, especially boys, who regard school as a stupid waste of time and who can’t wait to get out of school so that they can get back to playing their video games,” Sax said...

“There are more effective ways to encourage good behavior and to discourage criminal behavior, without disengaging boys from school altogether,” Sax said...