Student Faces Expulsion For Playing With Toy Gun In His Own Yard

[stormkroe]

This stuff is getting a bit out of hand. I guess what I'd like to know is do our hard-stance pro gun control members agree with this or is this even too far for you?

Khalid Caraballo, 12, and his friend, Aidan, were suspended for “possession, handling and use of a firearm” because they “shot two other friends who were with them while playing” with the airsoft guns, WAVY-TV reported

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...toy-gun-in-his-own-yard/#sthash.JSP2KABw.dpuf

 

[Theb]

outRageous.

 

[Brainonska511]

Already in OT: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2344207

And this is highly relevant:

This is not Kahlid Caraballo's first disciplinary infraction. He has been disciplined six times in less than 18 months for increasingly aggressive behavior including harassment, bullying and fighting that has resulted in injuries

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BU9hzLjCUAAVdbC.jpg:large

Now back to your regularly scheduled outrage.

 

[bshole]

Well bullies need people to stand up for them too......

 

[Jaskalas]

Were the kids arrested for committing crimes? No.

The school is acting out against the law.

 

[Geosurface]

Remind me what airsoft guns actually fire out, and whether it hurts to be hit by one?

 

[hal2kilo]

Misbehaving at a bus stop always got me in trouble with my school (private property or not).

On the other hand , this zero tolerance on anything slightly related to a gun like object, fake gunplay, ect. makes pro gun control folks look just as ridiculus as the rabid SA advocates.

 

[Brainonska511]

Misbehaving at a bus stop always got me in trouble with my school (private property or not).

On the other hand , this zero tolerance on anything slightly related to a gun like object, fake gunplay, ect. makes pro gun control folks look just as ridiculus as the rabid SA advocates.

Except this isn't an incident about 'zero tolerance'.

 

[Atreus21]

Already in OT: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2344207

And this is highly relevant:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BU9hzLjCUAAVdbC.jpg:large

Now back to your regularly scheduled outrage.

Ir-freaking-relevant.

It took place outside of school grounds and outside of the school's jurisdiction.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/24/airsoft-gun-suspension_n_3982677.html

Two Virginia middle school students were given long-term suspensions in a unanimous decision Tuesday morning after shooting airsoft guns near one of the students' homes.

Seventh graders Aidan Clark and Khalid Caraballo are suspended until June of next year, and may face being expelled altogether, WAVY reported. The children were suspended for possession, handling and use of a firearm.

Caraballo and Clark shot two other friends who were with them while playing with the guns as they waited for the school bus. Because the bus stop is technically on school grounds, Larkspur Middle School said it had the right to suspend them.

The two seventh graders said they never went to the bus stop; they fired the airsoft guns while on Caraballo's private property, 70 yards away.

"We see the bus come, we put the gun down," Caraballo said. "We did not take the airsoft gun to the bus stop. We did not take the gun to school."

Airsoft guns fire small, spring-loaded plastic pellets. They are generally considered safer than BB guns, which fire copper pellets.

Seeing the kids playing with the toy guns, a neighbor called 911, according to the Washington Post. In the 911 call, the neighbor admitted she knew the guns were not real.

"This is not a real [gun], but it makes people uncomfortable," she told a dispatcher. "I know that it makes me [uncomfortable], as a mom, to see a boy pointing a gun."

"And you know what, do have someone contact me and tell me what was done," she continued. The dispatcher informed the woman that police would not contact her but could talk to her at the scene. The neighbor said in the call she would not be on the scene.

"It is my sincere hope that they will learn important life lessons; the most important being that there will be consequences when they do things that can result in harm to another person," Principal Matthew Delaney said in a written statement.

Caraballo said he will now have to attend an alternative school.

"It's terrible," the seventh grader said. "I won't get the chance to go to a good college. It's on your school record. The school said I had possession of a firearm. They aren't going to ask me any questions. They are going to think it was a real gun, and I was trying to hurt someone. They will say 'oh, we can't accept you.' "

Police said no one will be charged in the case.

Unbelievable. Possession of a firearm? You've lost your damn mind.

 

[Brainonska511]

Ir-freaking-relevant.

It took place outside of school grounds and outside of the school's jurisdiction.

It took place near the bus stop, while people were waiting for the bus, which is absolutely in the school's jurisdiction. It was not isolated to private property. Using your flat, unbendable logic, a student on a field trip should not be punishable either. After all, that's off school grounds too. But that isn't the case. A field trip, much like a bus stop, is an off-grounds, but still within the school's jurisdiction to mete out punishment and enforce appropriate behavior.

As the letter points out, he isn't being expelled. He's been suspended from normal school and being provided with alternative schooling. His behavior and improvement will be reviewed at 6 months to see if he can reintegrate with the normal school.

 

[Brainonska511]

Unbelievable. Possession of a firearm? You've lost your damn mind.

7th Grader who continually gets in trouble claims innocence. News at 11.

 

[Atreus21]

It took place near the bus stop, while people were waiting for the bus, which is absolutely in the school's jurisdiction. It was not isolated to private property. Using your flat, unbendable logic, a student on a field trip should not be punishable either. After all, that's off school grounds too. But that isn't the case. A field trip, much like a bus stop, is an off-grounds, but still within the school's jurisdiction to mete out punishment and enforce appropriate behavior.

As the letter points out, this isn't the first or second time the child has been in trouble. He is being provided with alternative schooling and his behavior will be reviewed at 6 months to see if he can reintegrate with the normal school.

Well, first, whether the kids were on school property (and I accept that a bus stop counts as school property) or their own property is in dispute. The kids and parents say they were not; the school says they were.

Second, they said he was in possession of a firearm. Something that kills people with a metal projectile. Not a toy that spits out spring-loaded plastic pellets. Idiotic.

 

[hal2kilo]

Except this isn't an incident about 'zero tolerance'.

I think most definately is related to zero tolerance. One does not normally get suspended for a semester due to horse play at a school bus stop.

 

[Brainonska511]

Well, first, whether the kids were on school property (and I accept that a bus stop counts as school property) or their own property is in dispute. The kids and parents say they were not; the school says they were.

Second, they said he was in possession of a firearm. Something that kills people with a metal projectile. Not a toy that spits out spring-loaded plastic pellets. Idiotic.

So if they're on private property and targeting people walking to or at the bus stop, that's okay? There isn't a force field at the edge of private property protecting those waiting for the bus.

 

[Brainonska511]

I think most definately is related to zero tolerance. One does not normally get suspended for a semester due to horse play at a school bus stop.

"He has been disciplined six times in less than 18 months for increasingly aggressive behavior including harassment, bullying and fighting that resulted in injuries."

Sounds like he wasn't changing his behavior, so the punishments grew.

 

[Atreus21]

So if they're on private property and targeting people walking to or at the bus stop, that's okay? There isn't a force field at the edge of private property protecting those waiting for the bus.

Is that what they were doing?

 

[Brainonska511]

Is that what they were doing?

That's what the school says in their letter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BU9hzLjCUAAVdbC.jpg:large

 

[Atreus21]

That's what the school says in their letter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BU9hzLjCUAAVdbC.jpg:large

Something I don't understand about this letter:

It is important to note that the students in question were witnessed taking aim at other students, not just from private property but in the streets of their neighborhood as well - all while awaiting the arrival of their school bus.

Were they AT the bus stop or not? Were they firing at people AT the bus stop?

If the school's jurisdiction is limited to the physical confines of the bus stop, then the only relevant question is: Were they or any involved parties at the bus stop at the time?

 

[her209]

Lucky for the kid, the other kids weren't carrying otherwise he may be shot dead already.

 

[Brainonska511]

Something I don't understand about this letter:



Were they AT the bus stop or not? Were they firing at people AT the bus stop?

If the school's jurisdiction is limited to the physical confines of the bus stop, then the only relevant question is: Were they or any involved parties at the bus stop at the time?

What if the bystanders were just walking to the bus stop? Where is the demarcation line for the school's jurisdiction? Why should this jackass be able to harass people on their way to school with impunity? His record clearly shows that his hands are not squeaky clean.

 

[Brovane]

So if they're on private property and targeting people walking to or at the bus stop, that's okay? There isn't a force field at the edge of private property protecting those waiting for the bus.

If the kids where targeting people at the bus stop or walking to it then why where criminal charges not filled? That would rise to the level of criminal activity and police involvement.

 

[Brainonska511]

If the kids where targeting people at the bus stop or walking to it then why where criminal charges not filled? That would rise to the level of criminal activity and police involvement.

I can see that thread now: "Virginia Beach Police wasting tax payer money by going after children with toy guns"

If they were harassing people going to the bus stop, then I don't see an issue with the school taking the lead on punishing the children in question.

 

[her209]

What if the bystanders were just walking to the bus stop? Where is the demarcation line for the school's jurisdiction? Why should this jackass be able to harass people on their way to school with impunity? His record clearly shows that his hands are not squeaky clean.

What if he was wearing a hoodie?

 

[Dannar26]

The woman that reported this just doesn't like to see boys with toy guns?

She should be charged with making a false report and, more importantly, wasting the time of people whose heads don't reside in their asses.

 

[Brainonska511]

What if he was wearing a hoodie?

To use some P&N logic: The children should have stood their ground then against these thugs and we'd have a couple of bodies on the ground.