The stupidity of liberalism in academia knows no bounds

[regulator 0]

(CNN) -- Ten-year-old Nathan Entingh doesn't understand why he got suspended from school for three days.

According to his father, Paul Entingh, one moment the boy was "goofing off" with his friends in fifth grade science class, and the next the teacher was taking him out of the classroom invoking Ohio's zero-tolerance policy.

The offense? Nathan was "making his fingers look like a gun, having the thumb up and the pointed finger sticking out," said Entingh, describing the February 26 incident.

"He was pointing it at a friend's head and he said 'boom.' The kid didn't see it. No other kids saw it. But the teacher saw it," he said. "It wasn't threatening. It wasn't hostile. It was a 10-year-old kid playing."

The next morning Paul Entingh escorted his son Nathan to the principal's office, where they met with Devonshire Alternative Elementary School Principal Patricia Price.

"She said if it happened again the suspension would be longer, if not permanent," said Entingh, who also received a letter explaining the reason for Nathan's suspension as a "level 2 look alike firearm."

The letter, which Entingh shared with CNN, read, "Nathan put his fingers up to another student's head, simulating a gun, and said, 'BOOM,' "

Price's office referred CNN's call to Columbus City Schools spokesman, Jeff Warner.

Price "has been warning the students for some weeks," said Warner. "We've had a problem at this school. The boys have gone around fake shooting and making paper guns at class. It's inappropriate. She has sent notes to parents for the past three weeks alerting them of the problem."

Entingh said he never received a notice, but was aware of school authorities telling students, including Nathan, that any gun-related behavior would have serious consequences.
"I don't know if it's to the point it happened so much they needed to punish somebody to set an example, I don't know, it blows my mind," said Entingh.

Warner acknowledged there was likely no ill-intention in Nathan's actions, "I know he (Nathan) felt it was funny and in jest, but the teacher felt it was inappropriate given the warnings that were given."

Warner said Nathan wasn't singled out as an example, but that he was the first incident after Pierce gave "her final notice last week."

Common sense?

Ohio's "zero-tolerance" rules in public schools came under attack in January when state Sen. Charleta Tavares introduced bill SB 167 to reverse or reform the original 1998 law introduced as part of SB 55. The 1998 bill mandated schools "adopt a policy of zero tolerance for violent, disruptive, or inappropriate behavior, including excessive truancy."

SB 55 also called for schools to "establish strategies to address such behavior that range from prevention to intervention," but Tavares believes schools have opted for punishment strategies instead.

"We have moved away from common sense, ensuring that the punishment fits the infraction," said Tavares. "We should maintain the highest form of punishment which is expulsion or suspension to those cases that cause the most harm."
Ohio Department of Education statistics show Nathan isn't alone.

According to state disciplinary figures for the 2012-2013 school year, a total of 419 statewide students, from various grade levels, were suspended because of an incident in the category of "firearm look-a-likes," and an additional 38 students were expelled.

In the Columbus City Schools District, where Nathan goes to school, 12 students were expelled because of incidents in the "firearm look-a-likes" category, while 69 students were suspended. Contrast that with categories such as harassment and intimidation, in which zero students were expelled, though 1527 were suspended district-wide.

Tavares has been trying to build consensus for her bill arguing that the current law is outdated because it doesn't take into consideration other factors like behavior and mental health.
"The bigger issue is that we need more behavior health and counseling at school so we can look at the root cause of why this child is acting out and being disruptive," said Tavares.
Entingh agrees and said he is planning to reach out to Tavares. He has struggled to help Nathan make sense of what happened.

"How much of a threat can it really be for a 10-year-old to hold up his fingers?" said a frustrated Entingh. "I would like for somebody to explain this to me because apparently I don't get it. This is way over the boundary. A teacher could have talked to him and sat him down, given him detention, but a three days suspension?"

Entingh is the father of five children, including Nathan, and he says none of them have ever gotten in trouble at school. Until now.

When asked what has Nathan learned from this incident, Entingh paused, then scoffed: "He's learned never to make his fingers like a gun a school again. I don't know if you consider that a life lesson."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/04/us/ohio-boy-suspended-finger-gun/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[quade 4]

Funny how you ascribe strict adherence to a discipline policy to "liberalism."

The article says they had a school-wide discipline problem. It says the kids were told not to screw around. A kid was screwing around and got disciplined.

BFD.

Seriously. Change the words, "made a finger gun" to "made a monkey face" and see if that changes anything for you. Admittedly, that wouldn't feed into your NRA fueled hatred of all things even vaguely related to anti-gun (or get CNN quite the readership), but it's a who f'ing cares of a story.

Dude, you just got played by BOTH the CNN and NRA viral marketing machines.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[grue 1]

Remember when kids were allowed to have childhoods? Those were the days.


Anyone who brings a child into today's world is committing an act of cruelty.

cavete terrae.

[quade 4]

grue

Remember when kids were allowed to have childhoods? Those were the days.

Anyone who brings a child into today's world is committing an act of cruelty.

Well, THIS is possibly true.

That said, I still got disciplined for screwing around in class.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[skinnay 0]

grue

Remember when kids were allowed to have childhoods? Those were the days.


Anyone who brings a child into today's world is committing an act of cruelty.

You realize that conservatives of every generation say this when they get to a certain age, right? Even generations in which blacks were lynched, and women couldn't vote. The only way for society to progress is for conservatives to get old and die off.

Do you think you, just by chance, were the one generation in the history of mankind that got things right?

And no I'm not saying I condone whatever happened or even that I spent the time to read the article. There will always be over reactions as society tries to curb school shootings.

[shropshire 0]

It's got fuck all to do with pigeon holes like 'Liberalism' or any other ...ism.

It's about stupid people making stupid inappropriate decisions.

Kids need boundaries but they must be sensible and logical. They need to understand the rules and what is right and what is not. This rule makes no sense and the punishment is disproportionate.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[grue 1]

skinnay

***Remember when kids were allowed to have childhoods? Those were the days.


Anyone who brings a child into today's world is committing an act of cruelty.

You realize that conservatives of every generation say this when they get to a certain age, right? Even generations in which blacks were lynched, and women couldn't vote. The only way for society to progress is for conservatives to get old and die off.

Do you think you, just by chance, were the one generation in the history of mankind that got things right?

And no I'm not saying I condone whatever happened or even that I spent the time to read the article. There will always be over reactions as society tries to curb school shootings.


Haha what?

I'm just saying that kids are expected to act like adults these days and it's pathetic. Kids have backpacks the size of hiking packs, have to sit like little perfectly behaved statues in class, and then have hours of homework to do the moment they get home, and even if they succeed in doing it all and passing, most of them are getting a fairly shitty education in the end.

On top of that, in what little free time they have is so wrapped in padding and shielded from all risk, it might as well be a rubber room. But hey, at least they get participation medals.

Then, once they're all done being taught nothing useful, they can spend over half of their waking life working, or traveling to or from work.

Some "progress".

cavete terrae.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

In the US I thought you guys had "The right to Bear Arms". But I see I was mistaken. You only have "The right to Bare Arms" and don't ever think of doing anything with your fingers that the Progs will disagree with.

What a joke. The Edu'crats are out of control.

As stupid as this event is, it's still not as messed up as when the Edu'crats had the father of a six year old girl arrested after the girl drew a rather crude looking picture of a man holding what appeared to be a gun (you know how refined the drawings a six year old can be). When asked what the picture was the little girl replied "It's my daddy fighting monsters" and for this the Prog Edu'crats had the father arrested.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[billvon 2,925]

>Remember when kids were allowed to have childhoods? Those were the days.
>Anyone who brings a child into today's world is committing an act of cruelty.

Lots of people say that nowadays. And your parents said it, and their parents said it. It's a pretty timeless sentiment.

[grue 1]

billvon

>Remember when kids were allowed to have childhoods? Those were the days.
>Anyone who brings a child into today's world is committing an act of cruelty.

Lots of people say that nowadays. And your parents said it, and their parents said it. It's a pretty timeless sentiment.

Perhaps so, but I'm not gonna commit said act of cruelty. I'm opting out. I'm not giving the educational system another kid to ruin, and I'm not creating another worker for the government to steal from.

cavete terrae.

[kelpdiver 2]

billvon

>Remember when kids were allowed to have childhoods? Those were the days.
>Anyone who brings a child into today's world is committing an act of cruelty.

Lots of people say that nowadays. And your parents said it, and their parents said it. It's a pretty timeless sentiment.

and yet, I think it's a pretty demonstrable difference in the experience I had in the 70s and what kids now see. We played outside unattended a lot more, made up our own "play dates" as we saw fit, and I suspect got injured more (no helmets).

Nothing actually prevents kids from having nearly the same childhood- this is parents collectively acting. I'm sure some still run wild.

But no 'gun' play at school. I wonder how many days off you get for giving the principle the bird? If it's less than 3, we have a consistency problem.

[kallend 1,936]

"Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research."

If you think 5th grade is academia, it reflects rather poorly on your own educational level.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[sfzombie13 323]

best reply yet to this one

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Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes

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billvon

And your parents said it, and their parents said it. It's a pretty timeless sentiment.

I think you are assuming.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

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kallend

"Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research."

If you think 5th grade is academia, it reflects rather poorly on your own educational level.

I knew you would attempt to disarm this thread as a misnomer.
I know many teachers in Texas and all of them minus one are staunch liberals. It begins in the most prestigious colleges and universities and filters down to all forms of education like a virus. Do you think school administrators with a conservative background would have suspended this kid for something so stupid?

[turtlespeed 212]

regulator

***"Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research."

If you think 5th grade is academia, it reflects rather poorly on your own educational level.

I knew you would attempt to disarm this thread as a misnomer.
I know many teachers in Texas and all of them minus one are staunch liberals. It begins in the most prestigious colleges and universities and filters down to all forms of education like a virus. Do you think school administrators with a conservative background would have suspended this kid for something so stupid?

I guess trickle down is working.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[skinnay 0]

regulator

***"Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research."

If you think 5th grade is academia, it reflects rather poorly on your own educational level.

I knew you would attempt to disarm this thread as a misnomer.
I know many teachers in Texas and all of them minus one are staunch liberals. It begins in the most prestigious colleges and universities and filters down to all forms of education like a virus. Do you think school administrators with a conservative background would have suspended this kid for something so stupid?

LIBERALS HAVE INFECTED THE EDUCATION SYSTEM!!!!

Conservatives must continue to only consult their bibles, fox news, and the blaze to ensure that they never are infected with any kind of education

But just out of curiosity.. why do you think it is that liberals have been able to dominate prestigious universities?

[billvon 2,925]

>I think it's a pretty demonstrable difference in the experience I had in the 70s and
>what kids now see. We played outside unattended a lot more, made up our own
>"play dates" as we saw fit, and I suspect got injured more (no helmets).

Right. And I am sure your parents had the same observations about their childhoods. We made our own clothes, not like the throwaway, care about nothing attitude kids have now in the 70's. We cherished our wooden toys, rather than buy these cheap plastic crap toys that last a year. We listened to the radio and used our imaginations, we didn't just stare at a TV. We respected our elders, not like today's hippies and filthy, stinking commie dropouts. We served in wars, not like today's kids who never have to worry about being drafted. Etc etc. Every generation has their own changes they have to live through.

>Nothing actually prevents kids from having nearly the same childhood- this is
>parents collectively acting. I'm sure some still run wild.

Right; that's one of the decisions parents make. And the number of good parents vs bad parents is probably about the same today as it was in the 1970's (and the same as it ever was . . . .)

>But no 'gun' play at school.

On the other hand, no soldiers shooting and killing students. That's a good change. In the 1970's in my schools teachers were going insane over pot. Any suspicion of smoking at all and you were suspended - and from that point on you were a drug addict, with treatments "prescribed" by school administrators. Nowadays things are a lot more relaxed, at least around here. Things change - some good, some bad.

[quade 4]

Anybody remember when THIS was considered shocking, radical and almost certainly "Communist?"

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[LyraM45 0]

Quote

But just out of curiosity.. why do you think it is that liberals have been able to dominate prestigious universities?

I'd actually like to hear an answer to that too. Just something I always wondered when I hear of this 'liberal take over' of the education system.

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[kelpdiver 2]

regulator

Do you think school administrators with a conservative background would have suspended this kid for something so stupid?

Under the Zero Intelligence policies in place, they really don't have a choice in the matter. And where do these policies come from? The School Board. Which is an institution that the Religious Right started targeting in the 90s as a means to promote their viewpoints.

No, not saying these policies are their brain child. But if you think public schools are run by "wild liberalism," you haven't been paying attention.

[Gravitymaster 0]

Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

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Gravitymaster

Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

When I was in school just about all of my professors were extremely well recognized in the professional and scientific community. Many were active directors at commercial firms. Surely you have a real explanation?

[quade 4]

Gravitymaster

Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

And those who can't teach . . . do tandems.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Gravitymaster 0]

skinnay

***Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

When I was in school just about all of my professors were extremely well recognized in the professional and scientific community. Many were active directors at commercial firms. Surely you have a real explanation?

Right, recognized and perhaps on the BoD but none were CEO's nor ran their own business.
Reminds me of the guy who was always the "assistant" Manager but never the Manager.