Well before I get started with the complaining .. I have to give a little shout out to Denmark,  if we had had a contest on the most readers from countries other than the US, Denmark certainly won yesterday :) Still not sure why, but alrighty then, Thanks Denmark.


Moving right along to the pressing issues of the day.
This is a bit of older news, but I just heard about it.  This 14 year old boy was expelled from school, for the entire year, for spit balls.   here is a link


http://weblogs.dailypress.com/news/columnists/herenowblog/2011/02/va_school_makes_pea_shooter_a.html


I really do believe that the school was right in having a no tolerance policy on weapons.  But for weapons.  No one was hurt, the boy in question had never been in trouble before and if I heard correctly had dreams of joining ROTC and eventually going to Westpoint.  He can probably forget that now.  The boy does have a good lawyer so you never know.
But, I can't believe that a pen that has been taken apart to use to "shoot" spitballs, even if they were little tiny plastic disk things, should be considered a weapon.
Now I really hated when I was a kid and would hear adults say things like "when I was a kid..." but I have to go there.  When I was kid and granted it has been quite awhile.  You really had to work at it to get kicked out of school.  Bill and I talked alot about it and he thinks it has alot to do with the size of the school.  He is probably right.  My graduating class had 40 people in it,  His had a few thousand.  So I can see were you might need to be alot stricter at bigger schools, I really do get that.  But, this was a 14 year old boy.  14 years old.  He is a boy.  Yeah it was stupid of him to do that, I am sure he gets that now.  But, really expelled for the entire year?  Most 14 year olds do stupid stuff.  I did stupid crap like that when I was 14. Expulsion? Not a fitting punishment.  Detention seems alot more fitting. Perhaps it would have been a fitting punishment if he had been bullying another kid or if he had taken a crossbow to school.


It makes me nervous that the school in question, who does have alot of room to interpret the Gun Law, choose to classify this as weapon.
It makes me even more nervous when I think about my kids going to school.  Especially my youngest who seems to excel in stupid behavair.  But he is also being a boy.
Another case that really bothers me is a case of some kindergartens who were on the play ground and were using their hands as 'guns' and they were pretending to shoot each other.  5 and 6 year olds.  Yes it is not appropriate behavior, but these are little boys.  They were also kicked out of school.  I may be confused a little about why kids go to school, but isn't it to learn?  How about the teacher take the boys aside, call in their parents and everyone can sit down and discuss why you don't pretend to shoot someone.
Kicking a kindergartner out of school for that seems a bit harsh.  I saw that and am very concerned about my boys.  They are pretty rowdy.  Should I just plan on homeschooling them because I am sure they will do things that are stupid.  Do I need to worry about them getting kicked out of school because Aden has a thing about screaming and throwing a fit if someone doesn't play a game the way he wants it to be played?  Or that Evan will get kicked out because he really hasn't played much with anyone other than his brother, so we do have some social graces that will need to be learned?  He has been known to hit and while we have solved this problem at home that doesn't mean that in a new environment he won't do it again. What about if Aden takes a toy away from another kid?  Will this be considered assault? Will he be arrested?  What if Evan hits another kid with a toy?  Is he going to go to jail?  Should I start saving up bail money?
I have probably made it sound like my kids are really violent.  They are not.  They are just young boys and they are brothers who are very close in age. They fight.  They are still learning what is and what is not acceptable.  That's part of growing up, doing stupid shit and learning why you shouldn't have done the stupid shit in the first place.
My boys have learned that it is really really bad to embarrass me in public.  Things just go better for everyone involved, if they act really good in public.  So, we have had very few instances of tantrums being thrown in stores.  Its only been a total of 3 times in their entire little lives that I have been mortified by their public behavior.  So I am very lucky there. Maybe that will keep them from getting kicked out of school.  Home however is another story.  Evan will jump off anything, throw stuff, jump on the dog and act like a monkey who has drank an entire truckload of mountain dew.  Daily, this is a daily thing.  Aden is a bit more subdued, but sneaky.  He can basically be trusted.  But he is the instigator in most cases.  He likes to tell Evan to do stuff that he knows isn't allowed.  He will pester Evan until Evan hits him so he can tattle on him.  If Evan is playing with a toy, Aden has to have it.  Typical little boy stuff.  I know I shouldn't worry to much about them in school,but I do.  The crap we pulled as kids will land you in jail now.


I guess there is no sense in worrying about it now.  But just in case, I am going to start saving up bail money and checking out homeschool programs :)