Deaf preschooler asked to change name sign, sign looked like gun

"He's deaf, and his name sign, they say, is a violation of their weapons policy," explained Hunter's father, Brian Spanjer.

It's more "zero tolerance" awesomeness:

Grand Island's "Weapons in Schools" Board Policy 8470 forbids "any instrument...that looks like a weapon,"

"We are working with the parents to come to the best solution we can for the child," said Jack Sheard, Grand Island Public Schools spokesperson.

Because just letting the kid sign his name is out of the question apparently.

Not even special needs children are exempt from bureaucratic lunacy. link


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Sorry, folks are idiots. Only sane response I can give.

lucky his name wasn't the alternate short form of richard.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


For Christ's sake! This is the extreme of insane! Did adults actually sit around and discuss this with a straight face? What kind of person is so steeped in ignorance and boredom, that they brought this up to school authorities? Who goes after a 3-year-old to prove a point?

I doubt they will be able to forbid this kid from saying his name.

Why do you post these threads!? To get me riled?

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

Why do you post these threads!? To get me riled?

Pretty much. You and everyone else. Maybe with constant agitation the next time some politician or whining constituent starts moving in a "zero tolerance" direction the bud can be nipped before it makes its way to policy.

As a side note: Letter H Beware those hedgehogs. They be packin'.

I like this response and I agree wholeheartedly.

I hope he changes his name to the bird so he can flip off GIPS until he graduates !

Zero tolerance policies are retarded.

They remove the responsibility of those in charge of having to do any kind of free thinking on their own.

Its a cop-out for being a responsible administrator and using common sense.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Surely the educators who enforced this 'rule' are not fit to be left in charge of children?

Shouldn't the board or state be looking at removing them?

So if a speaking child was named Gunner, would he be banned from saying his name?

I know people like looking at the Darwin Awards. Can we have a new one? Dunce Awards? I want the teacher and anyone that defends this - to have their names and quotes linked to the story for all time. It seems like every day someone lowers the bar on stupidity.

You know some teacher saw him make this gesture and thought he was threatening to kill her, took it to the school principal and threatened to suspend him. His parent probably then explained he is using sign language and then they asked the parents to change his name.

I cannot believe I just typed that. Armageddon PLEASE PLEASE come soon...

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Oops! Looks like we should have a zero-tolerance hedgehog policy and ban hedgehogs. I can hear the opposing slogans now: Hedgehogs don't kill people, Deaf hedgehogs do!

I just made an unfortunate connection.

Not only do these policies serve as cop-outs for administrators but they also put god-like power into the hands of the ignorant.

It was no doubt some person ignorant of sign language who freaked and saw a gun that resulted in this mess.

Just as it was ignorance on the part of police that got a bunch of dancers assaulted at a football game. link

Stupidity and ignorance were once largely harmless. Now a persons stupidity paired with authoritarian position and bureaucratic policy can effectively destroy your life.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Im curious to know if that school system has that particular Jan Brett book in any of its libraries.

I dont think children should be exposed to such violent images.

If I were the parent, I'd be blasting them in the newspapers and on television and would fight to let my kid sign his name as he should!!

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Don't forget the letter "G".

I wonder if a def black kid who calls himself "G" would get the same treatment?

reply to post by benrl


Down here, during the hunting seasons, all the kids (forget the teachers) had their shotguns in their gun racks out in the parking lots. These kids would get in "race riot" fights, and no guns were ever brought in to shoot up anyone. So the gun intolerance laws don't do what the lack of law did.

Wow finally a REAL case the ACLU can fight, but where are they?

Well obviously the only logical solution is cutting of the boys hands lest he sign something offensive. Im clutching my pearls so hard theyre turning to dust.

When we reach the point where a kid signing his name is considered a "threat"... then we certainly must have reached a point of understanding that this PC garbage is not an answer to anything and that we must begin to address the real, underlying problem...

We are a violent society with severe social and economic woes. Let's deal with those things so that a kid signing his name in class can no longer be deemed improper or threatening.

Thicker skins and focus upon the real problems.. this micromanagement of symptoms and perceived offenses is just ridiculous.

~Heff

In the country that proudly boasts the 2nd amendment? Does not compute.
How many times is this kid being asked to show his name in sign where it's become a problem?
Or they don't want all the other kids to sign the 'gun' while getting his attention?

I'm not sure they would even understand what it means...and even if they did?