Our Horrible Children
Maybe we'll get some definitive direction if the Supreme Court hears the case of some kindergartners who were suspended for 3 days for 'making threats' while playing cops and robbers during recess at school. The reason for the legal action has been to get the suspension record removed from the kids records. Their lawyers claim violation of First, Fifth, Eighth and 14th Amendment rights.
The student and three others were suspended in March 2000 when they were playing during recess at the school. The boys reportedly pointed their fingers at one another, pretending to use guns, and the student now involved in the case allegedly said to another, "I have a bazooka and I’m going to shoot you."
"When public school authorities claim first graders playing 'cops and robbers' on the playground are engaged in 'threatening' and 'dangerous' activity, one wonders whether it is the children or the adults who can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality," Whitehead said. "The right to freely express oneself is a fundamental right protected by the First Amendment - whether one is 8 or 80."
The student and three others were suspended in March 2000 when they were playing during recess at the school. The boys reportedly pointed their fingers at one another, pretending to use guns, and the student now involved in the case allegedly said to another, "I have a bazooka and I’m going to shoot you."
"When public school authorities claim first graders playing 'cops and robbers' on the playground are engaged in 'threatening' and 'dangerous' activity, one wonders whether it is the children or the adults who can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality," Whitehead said. "The right to freely express oneself is a fundamental right protected by the First Amendment - whether one is 8 or 80."
# | September 27, 2003