Kid suspended for twirling pencil like a gun

[Smokepole]

A kid in N J was suspended for "twirling a pencil like a gun". REALLY??

NJ Student Suspended, Given Psych Eval for 'Twirling Pencil' Like a Gun

How does one "twirl" a pencil like a gun?

Thirteen-year-old Ethan Chaplin, who attends school in Vernon, New Jersey, was suspended for two days and will undergo a psychological evaluation after another student complained that he was "twirling a pencil" like a gun.

According to News 12 New Jersey, Chaplin said he was "just twisting around a pencil with a pen cap on it when a student behind him yelled, 'He's making gun motions, send him to juvie.'"
Chaplin told officials he had repeatedly been bullied by the student who complained and that the complaint about the pencil was just an extension of that. But the school suspended him anyway, "pending the outcome of a psychological evaluation."

I think the school "officials" are the ones that need psych evals for thinking that a pencil can be twirled like a gun and handling the situation in this manner. This country needs an enema in the worst way.

 

[Arthur Dent]

How, exactly, does one twirl a pencil like a gun? But then, it is in New Jersey.

 

[BogWalker]

Sounds like the kid behind him was just being an smart ass.

 

[jedi]

This country needs an enema in the worst way.

Sadly that won't save us anymore.

 

[Smokepole]

Sounds like the kid behind him was just being an smart ass.

In the article it said that the boy with the pencil said the smartass had been bullying him previously. what a way to give kids to get back at each other. I think the smartass deserves a little taste of his own medicine.

 

[Big Guy]

That just shows you how far things have gone in our shools. The discipline starts at home, and when kids go to school they constantly push the boundaries of common sense. Remember that old saying, "spare the rod, spoil the child". Who really knows what was actually going on in this case, but a lot of kids in general have gotten out of hand.

 

[MCgrease08]

First of all, is there state law mandating that this kid get a psych eval? Is it a school policy? If so, were the parents aware before hand? Seems like a load of

Then again, when you have people in charge saying stuff like...

Vernon Schools Superintendent Charles Maranzano indicated that "school policy and the law requires [sic] him to investigate when anyone in school feels uncomfortable or threatened by another student." He said, "We never know what's percolating in the minds of children. And when they demonstrate behaviors that raise red flags, we must do our duty."