Empty Blank Shell Casing Gets Boy Suspended

[tomc]

This week’s outrage comes to us from Winchendon, Massachusetts where, in yet another case of “zero-tolerance” enforcement defying common sense, fourth-grader Bradley Geslak was suspended from Toy Town Elementary School for bringing a Memorial Day souvenir to school.



According to a May 29, Telegram.com article, a uniformed veteran gave the 10-year-old two empty rifle shell casings from blanks used during the town’s Memorial Day celebration Monday morning. Bradley gave one of the empty casings to his grandfather and kept the other as a souvenir. The trouble began when he took his souvenir to school the next day.



“He was just playing with it at lunch,” explained Crystal Geslak, Bradley’s mother. “He wasn't showing it to anyone; he had it in his hand and was playing with it.”



A teacher saw him with the harmless piece of brass and confiscated it. Ms. Geslak was then called at work and told to come and pick up her son, who had been suspended for five days!



Ms. Geslak arrived at the school to find her son in tears. “I was totally shocked. I couldn’t believe this was happening,” she said. “It was just an empty shell, not even from a real bullet. A sharpened pencil would be more dangerous than this piece of metal.”



“He was so proud to have been given them. His dad’s a veteran, his uncle’s a veteran, both his grandfathers are veterans. Memorial Day is a big thing to us. It’s a very important holiday and we have a big celebration every year,” Ms. Geslak said.



Ms. Geslak, who will be forced to miss work in order to stay home with her son, says she is worried about what having a “weapon-related suspension” on his school record will mean to his future.



To add insult to injury, the family says a school official told them that the shell would not be returned, and that the next step might involve assigning a probation officer to Bradley! Yes, you read that right, a probation officer.



A young boy punished over a harmless souvenir. By any standard, that’s outrageous
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[lunkerhunter2]

That's bullsh!7! They need to exert more time and resources getting the 9mm's out of the schools. If it were my child in that case, i would tell the school to stick it where the sun don't shine.[mad]
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[davetclown]

That is out ragous, the school and teacher should be sued.

at the vary least the boy should be pulled from that school along with all the rest of the children....

ignorance of todays society only makes the next sheep slaughter even more shocking and terrifying...

I my self had been fired from a job where I had an empty shell box that I had been using to put my spent cutting carbid in a machien shop.... "a shop where I built parts for Tanks and other vehicals that are now deployed in Iraq"

50 years ago the teacher and principle would have both been fired on the spot for being anti-patretism, anti-american, and defaming the integrity of an american vetrain, and damn near deported for disrespect to fallen veterans.

In my veiw, it is a decrase, I wont doubt that now the teacher and principle has put the notion in to the heads of the schools children that this is unexceptable behavour, one of those kids I expect will take it to heart and do something and it will be no ones fault but the administration behind this action.....

they had the oppertunity to turning this spent shell in to an educational peice but decided to take the low road and chastize an american vetran symble.....

they are lucky I didnt have a kid in that school, I would have yanked him so fast they couldnt clear the paper work before I publicaly demanded the fireing of those involved.....

If there is going to be zero tollerance, then there shold be zero tollarance to ignorance as well.....[crazy]
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[Santaaa]

zero tolerance is pretty bad. I graduated 2 years ago. I nearly wound up in court for defending myself. I was attacked by a nut case. What happened was I was being harassed by this kid throwing a note book at me and I threw it back at him and he flipped out and started hitting me I stood there for 10 punches before I decided to do something. It was in a study hall too where the teacher was supposed to be watching us and she was not she was in her office thumbing her butt. We are not allowed to fight back and the minute I tried to keep him from killing me by grabbing his neck to get him to stop she came running out and I was written up too. They called it a scuffle just so they did not have to call the state police on the both of us. If it is called a fight the state police have to come and arrest me. Yes they were going to call the cops on me for defending myself. They told me I would be fined if I fought it. The Assistant Principal at the time was cool though he gave me community service 2 hours and well he never enforced it either to tell you the truth he knew I would not pick a fight. He told me though the stance of the school was that I was to do nothing but "Get in the Fetal Position and wait for help to arrive." I am sorry but I am not ever going to get in the fetal position and let someone beat on me. Also, I should have never been in a position where I needed to defend myself considering the teacher was supposed to be watching us not in her office with the door open and not paying attention to what the heck was going on. She had more then enough time to help me and it was right outside her door literally that she should have done something especially since I stood there for 10 punches. So I did the right thing and defended myself. I was not going to let him beat me to a pulp. Zero Tolerance needs to be done away with and you need to be able to defend yourself. Zero Tolerance turns school into a prison for kids. It is stupid.
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[davetclown]

to bad, that insodent went on your perminant record,

teachers have a way of wanting to be bought off much like our polititions these daze.... "I do mean daze"

you should have asked if that was what I was suposed to do then why didnt america drop down in to a fetal position when plains were used to crash in to our country?

you did the right thing in my book, you could have recieved perminant injuries in personal attacks if you dont defend your self. Lord only knows you can walk away only so many times before an abuser gets up enough courage and political suport to come after you head on....

sounds like you would have had a good law suit against the teacher. she should not have been out of the room leaving you unattended for any reason....

I my self hated study hall, aint no studying ever gettin done there, I rather had been pushing a broom down the hall as to set in there... after a couple weeks, I convinced my counslers I would be better off as an assistant working in the school libary for that hour.... thats where I ended up for the year... learnt more there than any classroom. "to bad it wasnt spellin"[:p]

I agree, it is better to take kids aside and give them a chance to work out their frustrations in a mannor that is not going to harm any one... sencless rules help no one, you need a way to suport the rule before some one realy ends up shot or worse.....

and yes there are kids who end up as vegitables because they lay down and take kicks in the head every year, yet we never hear about them in school, "no gun used" "You never even hear about the knivings either" If its not a gun you never hear about it...

Thank god you are not a sheep..... then again if you were you wouldnt be yackin here...[cool]

I would probably have done the same thing, If you sit there and take abuse for too long you will end up like those shooters..... any one would, and they are lieing if they say otherwise....
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[davetclown]

there was an artical on the news last night on this subject.

It was a Phycologist who was studing these studant shooters....

he stated that 100% of the mass shooters that were still living to talk about it reported they were constantly bullied, and cryed for help from school administrations and were shuned away....

It was an informative artical in that all of the shootings could have been avoided if it werent for preasure from the "studant eliets"

I am not condoning the shooters actions, they were in a loose loose situation.... backed in to a peirpreasure situation....

I say if they want zero tollarance they start with the bullying.
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