Toy Soldiers Banned

[Alaskan]

"PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Christan Morales said her son just wanted to honor American troops when he wore a hat to school decorated with an American flag and small plastic Army figures.

But the school banned the hat because it ran afoul of the district's zero-tolerance weapons policy. Why? The toy soldiers were carrying tiny guns."

"The district does not allow images of weapons or drugs on clothing. For example, a student would not be permitted to wear a shirt with a picture of a marijuana leaf on it, the superintendent said."

The hat in question:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100618/ap_on_re_us/us_army_hat_banned

I guess under that policy the following image would also be banned:

 

[Alaskan]

Except, they weren't objecting to the flag. It was the toy soldiers with guns they were objecting to. So the Iwo Jima flag raising image would violate their rules because the second Marine from the left has his rifle slung over his shoulder.

 

[Boone]

If schools spent 1/2 the energy focusing on whether their students were actually learning something as they do on this kind of nonsense, I think we might have vastly improved results. Pretty silly position to take.

 

[servumtuum]

I tend to agree with what I sense as the general tenor of the comments here. Zero-tolerance, I think, was an un-thought out knee-jerk reaction, like so many decisions people make unfortunately, that was perceived as a viable solution simply because it "felt" right. Apparently no one said "hey, let's think this thing through before we put it into effect to see if it might have some downsides if it's taken to an extreme interpretation". It seems to be the case, quite often I believe, that no one does a reductio ad absurdum thought experiment to see if a ridiculous situation might arise if an absolutist interpretation is taken-which, seemingly inevitably, someone eventually does.

Long story short-look before you leap.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

If schools spent 1/2 the energy focusing on whether their students were actually learning something as they do on this kind of nonsense, I think we might have vastly improved results. Pretty silly position to take.

I blame the media. School shootings are very sad events, but they happen in the vast vast vast minority of schools. However the media would like us to believe every single school has a potential shooter in it, who is days away from snapping. This has led to parents freaking out, which in turn leads to ridiculous policies like banning toy soldiers with tiny, plastic guns.

Culture of FEAR!

 

[Henry]

It's silly to follow the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law in a situation like this. But I also think it's silly to make a huge deal out of it either. I have no idea why this is considered news.

Schools do dumb crap all the time, but if soldiers and patriotism are involved, let's alert the media and hand out awards! The whole thing just reeks of political grandstanding.

 

[Elephant]

I blame the media. School shootings are very sad events, but they happen in the vast vast vast minority of schools. However the media would like us to believe every single school has a potential shooter in it, who is days away from snapping. This has led to parents freaking out, which in turn leads to ridiculous policies like banning toy soldiers with tiny, plastic guns.

Culture of FEAR!

It is the same type of knee-jerk reaction that caused Congress to implement severe mandatory crack related sentences back in the 80's that led to a hint of racism. I don't believe the laws were racist in any way, but because there were so many killings related to the distribution of crack cocaine they introduced tough sentencing guidelines that lent themselves to a disproportionate amount of black men receiving the harsher sentences.

The consequences of the law were not even discussed, they just did something to appease the masses in light of the circumstances, people being murdered in record numbers.

The same thing can be said about the demand for new drilling regulations and moratoriums. If the current regulations were enforced, there would likely have been no disaster like we are seeing. But now that the regulations were not enforced, we have a complete disaster and there is outcry for stricter regulations.

How do we get past this sort of knee jerk policy making? Is this something we can get past? We have developed into a instant gratification society. When we see something that is not right, we immediately think we can fix it over night. Sometimes it simply takes a little time to figure out the problem instead of throwing some unproven policy at it to satisfy the need for immediate results.

 

[servumtuum]

How do we get past this sort of knee jerk policy making? Is this something we can get past? We have developed into a instant gratification society. When we see something that is not right, we immediately think we can fix it over night. Sometimes it simply takes a little time to figure out the problem instead of throwing some unproven policy at it to satisfy the need for immediate results.

You mean use reason, analysis, question assumptions and validate them against verifiable data before making decisions?

I'm trying to think of the last politician who took that approach and managed to get elected...I think it was Thomas Jefferson.

 

[Boone]

It's silly to follow the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law in a situation like this. But I also think it's silly to make a huge deal out of it either. I have no idea why this is considered news.

Schools do dumb crap all the time, but if soldiers and patriotism are involved, let's alert the media and hand out awards! The whole thing just reeks of political grandstanding.

Ding!

I pine for the days of Walter Cronkite when the news actually focused on...well....news.

 

[Sarge]

I remember fall days taking my deer rifle to school so I could hunt afterwards. Not that it ever came out of my car, because my ass would have been grass when I got home. But it was not uncommon for a bunch of us to have rifles on school grounds

Nowadays, they'd have the SWAT team called in, the school locked down and we all be brought up of Federal terrorism charges

 

[Boone]

I'd call that progress Sarge, and so would most reasonable adults. There's nothing political about that viewpoint, just a recognition that most kids have no business handling firearms without a responsible adult supervising, and that they certainly don't have any business in a school setting.

There's a huge divide between that belief, and banning symbols such as toys because some bureaucratic school nitwit believes there is something dangerous in what they represent.

 

[Sarge]

I'd call that progress Sarge, and so would most reasonable adults. There's nothing political about that viewpoint, just a recognition that most kids have no business handling firearms without a responsible adult supervising, and that they certainly don't have any business in a school setting.

There's a huge divide between that belief, and banning symbols such as toys because some bureaucratic school nitwit believes there is something dangerous in what they represent.

Problem is, there's not much adult supervision nowadays. Note I said that my ass would have been grass if I had brought the rifle out of the car. I knew better, and definately knew better than to even THINK about threatening someone with it, or go on a school shooting spree

But a 180 degree reverse has taken place over the years. We've gone from taking deer rifles to school to nitwits suspending kids for having toy soldiers or butter knives in their lunchboxes, all while REAL discipline has gone out the window

 

[Henry]

Did that kid with the hat get suspended?