Zero Tolerance for 2″ Gun for Lego Figures at School
February 3rd, 2010
Big brouhaha over New Dorp boy’s tiny toy gun
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A 9-year-old New Dorp boy earlier today learned there is no wiggle room in the Department of Education’s “no toy gun” policy — even if the toy gun is just two inches long.
Patrick Timoney, a fourth-grader at PS 52, South Beach, was nearly suspended after playing with LEGOs during his lunch period because one of the action figures was carrying at toy machine gun.
He and his friends had planned a playdate with their respective toys, and were sitting around the cafeteria table when the principal walked in and saw the action figure carrying the fake gun.
While the action figure was a standard LEGO policeman figure, the brand of the gun could not be determined.
The brand of the gun could not be determined? Um, it’s not a gun.
It’s not even one of those life-sized replicas. It is one of those tiny things for Lego action figures. Similar to this:
The principal told the parents that she considered the little piece of plastic suspension-worthy, but a call to a security administrator resulted in only the little piece of plastic being confiscated and given to the boy’s parents.
A message left for Principal Evelyn Matroianni was not returned. However, Margie Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the DOE, said there is a no-tolerance policy when it comes to fake guns because they are considered harmful to the school community.
If someone put this in a movie about public schools it would be dismissed as a fiction. (Hat tip to the reader who sent this in.)
UPDATE: Comment on the NY Firearms board about the uncertainty over the brand of gun:
What about the year of manufacture, lots of potential laws broken here, hard to tell from the pic, but if that thing is not pre-ban, the student is looking at some felonies for sure.
Hilarious.
Tags: NY
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:20 pm
The lesson here, boys and girls, is you don’t have to be too bright to be in charge.
It’s a good life lesson to learn early.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:51 pm
“zero tolerance” can be translated directly to “zero thought required”… zero-tolerance policies exist specifically to free administrators from anything resembling responsibility, decision-making, reason, rationality, discretion, or common sense. they effectively reduce thinking people to brain-dead automatons. considering most people in officialdom are already brain-dead automatons goes a long way towards explaining the popularity of these policies.
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:18 pm
At least they did NOT suspend him, many in the NYC Dept of Ed would have. I think the securtity admin did the right thing based upon the rules that NYC has (and yes, every parent gets a copy at the beginning of every school year) – Take it away and give it to Mom or Dad – which is about what they used to do if you showed up with a matchbox car etc and was playing with it in class.
Principal – stupid
Security Admin trying to minimize it as much as they can under the rules – smart
The RULES – what do YOU think?
February 4th, 2010 at 2:27 am
I remember bringing GI Joe, Robotech, and other war based toys to school and playing with other kids. “My fighter shot your toy down.” “No, my gizmo’s more maneuverable.” “No, my SDF1 has a full shield that can stop anything.” There was much more arguing than playing actually. And now that is a suspension. Shouldn’t I be dead or horribly socially maladjusted?
Then again…
Well at least I never played Magic The Gathering.
February 4th, 2010 at 7:15 am
I did played Magic, and here I am today.
About the “gun”, it was a little overreaction but if it’s in the law it’s in the law.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:35 am
it was a little overreaction but if it’s in the law it’s in the law.
Would a “no students may bring cars or replicas of cars to school” preclude Matchbox cars?