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- PatrickFisher, on 10/12/2007, -5/+240Here's the phone number for the front office at the school:
(815) 230-9920
I can't find an e-mail, but please, anyone who can, call this school and tell them what ***** this is. - grimreaperev, on 10/12/2007, -4/+90Here are the emails of Troy Middle School's Principal and Assistant Principal. PLEASE, email them and let them know what you think of this outrageous expulsion in response to a responsible action by this young boy.
jlibowitz@troy30c.org - Principal
snugent@troy30c.org - Assistant Principal - one1plus1one, on 10/12/2007, -2/+82@ PatrickFisher
Thanks for the phone number. I just called and left a message with the middle school, explaining how I think their school made a very poor and absurd decision in this matter.
Ryan Morgan did the right thing. He has my support, and the support of thousands for his action. - BigAmish, on 10/12/2007, -6/+81Our public schools continue to be a mess seven years after Columbine, and I see no reason to believe that they'll improve. Our children are guilty before proven innocent which, if other trends in our culture are to be sustained, appears to be the new American Way.
- NoStoppingUs, on 10/12/2007, -5/+80"Ryan Morgan, 13, says he pocketed a pellet gun he and a friend found in their school's bathroom to keep people safe. Morgan's mother says a short time later Morgan gave the gun to the Troy Middle School assistant principal"
A) why did he put it in his pocket?
B) define "short time later"
C) if there isnt more to this story, what message does that send to kids who do the right thing? - bobbknight, on 10/12/2007, -6/+77What would be great is if a collection were taken to allow 1000 students to attend private school in Plainfield IL, this would put economic pressure on the school board.
With the hopes of reason being used by school administration.
Progress
This would be funny if it weren't so true.
Scenario: Jack pulls into school parking lot with rifle in gun rack.
1963 - Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack's rifle, goes to his car and gets his to show Jack.
2006 - School goes into lockdown, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.
Scenario: Donny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1963 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends Nobody goes to jail, nobody arrested, nobody expelled.
2006 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Donny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.
Scenario: Little Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.
1963 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by Principal. Sits still in class.
2006 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.
Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his father's car and his Dad gives him a whipping.
1963 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2006 - Billy's Dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. Billy's sister is told by state psychologist that she remembers being abused herself and their Dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.
Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some headache medicine to school.
1963 - Mark shares headache medicine with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2006 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.
Scenario: Susie turns up pregnant.
1963 - 5 High School Boys leave town. Susie does her senior year at a special school for expectant mothers.
2006 - School Counselor calls Planned Parenthood, who notifies the ACLU. Susie is driven to the next state over and gets an abortion without her parent's consent or knowledge. Susie given condoms and told to be more careful next time.
Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.
1963: Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2006: Pedro's cause is taken up by ultra-liberals. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he can't speak English.
Scenario:Donny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.
1963 - Ants die.
2006 - ATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Donny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Donny's Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.
Scenario: Jack falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Joan, who hugs Jack to comfort him.
1963 - In a short time Jack feels better and goes on playing.
2006 - Joan is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison.
And this is what they call progress? - sahaskatta, on 10/12/2007, -22/+74i highly doubt the school would expel someone for no reason. There is probably more to this story than what the article says.
but if not then this is just plain ridiculous. - wacki, on 10/12/2007, -2/+46@sahaskatta
"i highly doubt the school would expel someone for no reason."
One of the kids in my boyscout troop was expelled because he handed in a swiss army pocket knife (that he accidentally forgot was attached to his keys) to a teacher on a weekend band trip. Think about this:
1) He wasn't on school grounds
2) He was a straight A student
3) He was a boyscout handing in a tiny boyscout swiss army $10 keychain pocket knife to a teacher.
He was expelled. But a public uproar reduced it to a 2 week sentence. During the same time period a football jock accidentally forgot a shotgun in his car. The shotgun was found and he got in trouble. But the jock never missed a football game. And I don't think he was officially suspended either. If memory serves me right he had to "call in sick" to avoid mandatory rules that would bench him during the game.
I believe this news story. And since everyone seems to be referring to this BB gun as a real gun I have that much more reason to believe this story. I've seen crazier school boards. - mariowario, on 10/12/2007, -6/+43the education system is corrupt
- bonked, on 10/12/2007, -4/+39@Kinser.... you sir (or ma'am) are an idiot. What happened to common sense in this country? The dumbing down is working this well?
- NoStoppingUs, on 10/12/2007, -5/+40p.s. people should at least wait to hear all of the details before causing havoc on their phone system and email. you're going to feel ***** if it turns out the school made the right decision.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+35Then they would have blamed him for planting the gun there before going to get officials to show them. Either way, its a lose-lose situation for the kid. The logic that this society runs on anymore ***** blows.
- MannyHills, on 10/12/2007, -3/+28It's difficult to really make a decision from the lack of details given in the article.
"Ryan Morgan, 13, says he pocketed a pellet gun he and a friend found in their school's bathroom to keep people safe. Morgan's mother says a short time later Morgan gave the gun to the Troy Middle School assistant principal."
I wonder what "a short time later" really means. I'd be willing to bet it meant going to show it off to his friends first or something like that which is the reason for the expulsion. - SvnX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25Ok...from someone who actually has a child that attends that school.
My child reported the entire thing to my wife and I the day it happened. From what she said, the young boy found...what they thought was a gun, and not a bb gun, and took it to the office. There wasn't a delay in the process. After the young man got in trouble, numerous children went to the office to let them know 'WHO' actually brought the gun to school.
There was no question in any of the students minds as to 'WHO' the gun belonged to. At the school they don't use paper towels in the bathrooms to dry their hands. Thus, they don't typically use the garbage cans in the bath room either. The child who actually brought the gun to school thought that it would be a GOOD PLACE TO HIDE IT. Guess he was wrong. And the 'good' kid is the one in trouble. Go figure... - SundayTrain, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25@sasha
I don't know because the problem lies in the stupid wording of the school rule.
He had purposeful possesion because he pocketed it, but to give it to the administrator. It does say "careful consideration" which the board failed in doing unless there are more mitigating circumstances.
"purposeful possession of weapons is a serious offense and deserves careful consideration by the administration and the school board." - Barlo_Mung, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23Let me expand on bonked's comment because I'm not sure you will get it.
I would rather have the gun in the hands of a responsible person who intends to turn it in than to have them LEAVE IT THERE for anyone to pick up while they go get an adult.
This kid did the adult think imo. - InsaneMachine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21expulsion != suspention
Expulsion means he got kicked out of school for at least the rest of the year. - Barlo_Mung, on 10/12/2007, -5/+24"Problems with schools should rarely be handled on the federal level. The whole purpose of federalism is to leave such matters to the states and local governments to deal with."
...And how's that workin out for ya?
It's not the 19th century any more. We are one country. We should have one standard for schools, and elections for that matter.
What I hate is that republicans want it both ways. When states enact laws (marijuana, end of life issues, gay marriage) they don't like, state's rights go out the window. - brianbennett, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18That's ***** up... like they say, no good deed goes unpunished.
- BGog, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21Why should we give them time? They were asked for a statement and CHOSE not to make one. They chose to hide behind the cop-out "We can't comment on an active blablabla."
It wouldn't surprise me if they were that foolish. Zero Tolerance means Zero intellegence. It leaves no room for reasonable exceptions. For example at my sons school a 8 year old was suspended because his mom gave him his Dads luch by accident and it had a butter knife in it. In that case Zero Tolerance means let's punnish a little 8 year old because his mom made a mistake. Screw them. Start calling people. - Xeth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17The administrators and school board can't back down on this and admit to a mistake. Egos are at stake here.
- InfamousX241, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18I bet the administration was dumbfounded when they learned he /didn't/ pop a cap in the principal's ass.
Bigots. - tito13kfm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Just wait till Jesse Jackson and the ACLU catch wind of this. This school district will fold faster than superman on laundry day.
Edit: I once got a 1 week suspension for bringing a knife to school. It was a 2 inch blade that I used to whittle wood. I hate the public school system. - markperia, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20@davidsmero
Thats not helping. We need to get to them not render their contact line useless. How can we let them know what we think if you're gonna keep their line busy the whole time or filling up their email with spam? - dunezone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16According to ABC 7 News in Chicago, the kid claimed he had the gun for ten minutes before turning it in, so theres your time frame.
- mementh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15bobbknight that was SUCH a serious and egregiously offense to me that i will have to add you to my FRIENDS LIST!!! (seriously man great job on a good before and after)
- nj2005, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Regardless of if a short time later is 5 minutes or 5 years you have to look at the outcome of the situation.
Did anyone get hurt?
No.
Was the Pellet Gun used on anyone?
No.
Was the Pellet Gun turned into the school's office?
Yes.
Has the kid had any disciplinary issues?
No.
No crime was committed here, yet the school is literally trying to ruin this kids life on the assumption that having a gun in your possession, regardless the time or the intention, makes you a delinquent. To me that is unacceptable, and should require the district to look at action against the staff involved.
A simple solution to this issue would have been to tell the kid the following, "Thanks for turning in the gun to the office. If this happens again, it would be best to come to us first and have us retrieve the gun, so nobody will misperceive your intentions."
The kid would have learned the way the office would prefer the situation handled and the issue would be done and over with. - computerdude33, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Watermelon slices...
If anyone got that reference, well done. - Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Wow, you took a potentially funny comment and used it in a manner that it absolutely has no way to be funny.
Good job. - fitchmicah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10I think that the federal and state governments cannot successfully run blanket manage schools, but they can better manage and increase the funding!
it's very hard for federal or state governments to control schools successfully because they just start pushing garbage standards based curriculum that kids at private schools don't have to deal with.
schools need to be controlled by good teachers fewer/better administrators/less bureaucracy, and that means that we need to attract high quality people to teach in and manage these public schools.
the only way to do that is to increase federal and state funding and make sure that it gets allocated properly (more money and attention to hiring strong leaders at struggling schools)! how many people want to teach on a salary of $22,000 a year!?
the federal government can spend billions of dollars on wars, so why can't it spend a little money on our schools!? why are we taking money/good teachers AWAY from struggling schools!??????? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I used to work at a gas station and found crack cocaine in the bathroom. I flushed it down the toilet and never said a word to my co-workers because of the possibility of a similar incident occuring.
- gmprunner, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Expulsion usually means that you cannot continue to go to that school, right?
- redfan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Leave it to the local levels and you get moronic school administrators like the ones mentioned in the story.
Not saying that schools should be controlled at the federal level, but it seems that the founding fathers were so concerned with federal tyranny that they ignored the idea that putting untrained "local" monkeys in charge of everything would raise a whole new set of problems.
Either way, the principal, superintendent, and every member of the board deserves to be suspended without pay for quite some time over this. And have their names dragged through the mud to boot. - bennyboy371, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8This really reminds me about how if a group of people decide to jump you one day, even if you don't fight back you get the same punishment they do. School rules have been down the crapper for some time. The punishment never fits the crime, and you can be damn sure it never will.
- MurderMystery, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13All children are potential murderers dont cha' know?
/sarcasm - RatTrap, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Perfectly stated thank you.
- shadus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8If i were a parent of that child I'd be in court. You don't punish someone for doing the right thing, it teaches exactly what we DON'T need to teach to our children. In fact, it teaches them the exact opposite, that you should let other people get hurt, never help anyone, never do the right thing cause all you get is screwed... people become jaded and cynical early enough, they don't need some idiot to ***** them over early and make it worse.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"School board officials issued a statement Wednesday night saying due to confidentiality reasons they can't discuss the specifics of this case, but that "purposeful possession of weapons is a serious offense and deserves careful consideration by the administration and the school board.""
The kid's "purpose" was to turn in the gun that he found. Isn't motive more important here? The kid was trying to do good!
They "can't discuss specifics", but it seems they rushed their decision and made the wrong one. Perhaps they're simply UNABLE to give a decent reason for what they did. So much for "careful consideration".
You know the it's screwed up when someone tries to do the right thing and he gets shafted for it. - cloudyskies41, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9black... gun... i don't see what the problem is...
- xelloss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7My friend found a knife at school and he turned it in, then got suspended. Its stupid rules but the schools have to enforce them. But there should be so "I found it" rule that won't get you in trouble.
- h0dg3s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7No good deed goes unpunished.
- Jubii, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Ok ok, I will say this after watching the attached video (aside from just reading the article) they SHOULD RELEASE any disciplinary action since the were able to prove the student didn't bring the gun to school. They know who brought it, then they know this kid did not intend to hurt anyone. That is ***** that whey are still punishing the kid.
I do still believe that in the future, weapons should not be picked up. Stand by the weapon and call for help if you have to, just don't touch it. - ShrimpCrackers, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Although this sounds ludicrous, lets give it some time people, many of you went down on the Duke Lacrosse team saying they were guilty (and soon later DNA evidence proved that they didn't rape the stripper), in this instance many of you are taking it out on the school without full information.
Hold on a second before we leave more victims in our wake. - fitchmicah, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I'm glad that your colorblindness is making you blind to racial inequalities, that's real helpful to the overall situation.
This is in Chicago (or maybe the suburbs?). Have you SEEN the segregation in Chicago??? Clearly the thing that people perceive as race IS an issue whether you like it or not. The civil rights movement is not finished, you just think it is because people like you have stopped it from continuing successfully. - Kale, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Dude, this is not an "us against them" thing. We're not out to annoy them, just to let them know how illogical this situation is. What you did was just childish.
- 022A, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8'A) why did he put it in his pocket?
B) define "short time later"
C) if there isnt more to this story, what message does that send to kids who do the right thing?'
A) Because someone would have seen him with the "gun" out and figured it for another Columbine otherwise. Then the school's reaction would have been even more extreme.
B) It doesn't matter. It was concealed. It's not as if he was searched and them claimed he was "going to turn it in".
C) The same message that most people who are in the habit of doing "good deeds" learn the hard way, particularly those likely to be stereotyped.
Mind your own business and be as complacent/aloof as everyone else or expect a strong chance of getting ***** over when you can't do it completely anonymously. - h0dg3s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6In elementary school some kids at school picked a fight with me. There were at least 5-8 of them and the teacher was looking straight at us, didn't do a thing until I started hitting them back. Then it was suddenly all my fault, and according to the principal they claimed that I started the fight. Yeah, because I'm going to pick a fight with 5-8 people. What do you expect them to say? I think you're required to have an IQ of less than 80 to run a public school.
Luckily my father who isn't an idiot came down and talked sense into the principal but the other students still got off without even detention. - sulthernao, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Explusion means that you cannot continue in that district.
- c0deblue, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I went to this same middle school and I am now 21. i can say that the school is not without its racial problems. There is a mix of urban Joliet kids and rual Channahon kids that make up the school along with suburban Shorewood. My best freind was assulted in the lunch room for being white. I heard about this at work today and when I came home to see it on digg I knew it was big. Some questions are unanswered like the time until the pelet gun was turned in but this was a horrible choice by the school. The district has many great teachers as I would know but the administration always have their heads in thier asses. Not doing anything when a bus driver I had allowed qoute "anything as long as you don't get blood on the seats", and overreacting when something less dangerous happens.
@ fitchmicah
The school is in Joliet, by no means Chicago, nearly 45 min Southwest. -
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