Filed under: In the Homeland
Dennis Township-Illinois
The schools located within the township of Dennis in Illinios have a zero tolerance on guns. That seems pretty reasonable to me. You bring a gun to school-BAM, you’re outta there. You talk about bringing a gun to school-BAM, you’re in the counselor’s office and principal’s office with the threat being taken seriously. Now what if you’re in art class and you’re sitting there with your big ass box of 64 crayolas with the sharpener on the back and if you were like me as a 7 or 8 year old, you’re busy drawing things that run through a boy’s mind
When I was a kid I drew primarily tanks, things exploding, shooting, soldiers—oops! Did I say shooting?
Shooting would mean there would be a gun depicted in my artwork now wouldn’t there?
Well zero tolerance is some serious shit in Dennis township-they mean it when they say ZERO tolerance-even if it’s not a real gun, and even if it’s only a picture of one drawn on a piece of paper! A second grade student got suspended for drawing something just like this last week. The student, a seven year old named Kyle Walker drew a picture with a gun in it- and gave it to his buddy on the school bus. His buddy’s parents took the picture to the school and complained. The kid was then suspended from school for a day.
I wonder if he sat around and drew pictures on his day off from school?
5 Comments so far
Leave a comment
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
I know my little guy draws nothing but skeletons, demons, and dungeons (thanks to his mom being a d&d nerd) but there is pleanty of violence and stuff in his drawings. No guns though. Where is the next line going to be. No swords, knives, rope in drawings. Does this mean that if you are under 18 you have no 1st ammendment rights? Is this what you boys are fighting for?
Comment by Nickelpickel Monday 22 October 2007 @ 12:29 pmWell, yeah, I can see zero tolerance for physical guns whether they are real or not. However, it seems a little radical to say that children cannot draw what’s on their minds without getting suspended for it. What if that child has no other outlet for the things that are bothering him? Like, what if his big brother is in Iraq right now…or his dad….maybe he NEEDS to be able to put on paper how he’s feeling about it. Maybe he needs counseling and no one will ever know because he’s not allowed to express himself with his 64 crayola crayons. And don’t tell me he can color at home. Not every child has that luxury…..he may not have crayons at home….he may have an abusive parent at home that doesn’t allow coloring. I don’t know. I guess I’m on my soapbox, but kids are kids, and unfortuantely, guns and war are a part of our lives. Shoving that under the carpet will not help.
Comment by Deena Davis Monday 22 October 2007 @ 12:52 pmI read that over the weekend. I am rather surprised at this. Kids will be kids let them draw what they want. Sometimes I think the parents tend to go over board let the kids be kids.
Comment by doubledeuce Monday 22 October 2007 @ 3:39 pmNick might have a point. What about his constitutionally protected right to draw whatever-the-hell-he-damn-well-pleases? Perhaps the teacher should question if he’s SEEN a gun like that and where. A little protection instead of conviction.
Or maybe you boys should think about things like flowers and kitties, like us girls do, so you can stay out of trouble.
By the way, good to see you! Muuaahh!
Comment by ladylori62 Monday 22 October 2007 @ 4:56 pmMy son (who is now 19) used to draw horrible, violent pictures that upset me. Then our cat caught a mouse and was playing with it, torturing it, and my son started crying about how inhumane the cat was to the poor mouse.
Comment by lunalupa Tuesday 23 October 2007 @ 2:19 amI realized that even though boys like guns, they still have souls. Even so, I’d still prefer that he drew pictures of kitties and flowers… and maybe rainbows. (Yeah, Lori – rainbows are nice, too.)