Please tell me other people think this is unbelievable.
A 13 year old student in Orange County, Fla., was suspended for 10 days and could be banned from school over an alleged assault with a rubber band, according to a WKMG Local 6 News report.
Robert Gomez, a seventh-grader at Liberty Middle School, said he picked up a rubber band at school and slipped it on his wrist.
Gomez said when his science teacher demanded the rubber band, the student said he tossed it on her desk.
After the incident, Gomez received a 10-day suspension for threatening his teacher with what administrators say was a weapon.
"They said if he would have aimed it a little more and he would have gotten it closer to her face he would have hit her in the eye," the boys mother said.
Rojas said she was shocked to learn that her son was being punished for a level 4 offense-- the highest level at the school. Other violations that also receive level 4 punishment include arson, assault and battery, bomb threats and explosives, according to the Code of Student Conduct.
The district said a level 4 offense includes the use of any object or instrument used to make a threat or inflict harm, including a rubber band.
The mother plans to fight the ruling, but her son still faces expulsion. "It's ridiculous, it's a rubber band," she said. The schools principal could not comment because the case is still under investigation. A district spokesman said there is still a series of meetings the district will have before Gomez is officially expelled.
Originally posted by OmnislashThat's what happens when common sense is killed. You can blame it on lawyers! Sorry, marauder, but it's true
Please tell me other people think this is unbelievable.
A 13 year old student in Orange County, Fla., was suspended for 10 days and could be banned from school over an alleged assault with a rubber band, according to a WKMG Local 6 News report.
Robert Gomez, a seventh-grader at Liberty Middle School, said he picked up a rubber band at school and sl ...[text shortened]... there is still a series of meetings the district will have before Gomez is officially expelled.
Originally posted by OmnislashI don't know the situation, so I won't say I think it's unbelievable.
Please tell me other people think this is unbelievable.
A 13 year old student in Orange County, Fla., was suspended for 10 days and could be banned from school over an alleged assault with a rubber band, according to a WKMG Local 6 News report.
Robert Gomez, a seventh-grader at Liberty Middle School, said he picked up a rubber band at school and sl ...[text shortened]... there is still a series of meetings the district will have before Gomez is officially expelled.
Originally posted by OmnislashWe used to use the little rounded nails you use to attach wire to poles and shoot them at each other in class with rubber bands.
Please tell me other people think this is unbelievable.
A 13 year old student in Orange County, Fla., was suspended for 10 days and could be banned from school over an alleged assault with a rubber band, according to a WKMG Local 6 News report.
Robert Gomez, a seventh-grader at Liberty Middle School, said he picked up a rubber band at school and sl ...[text shortened]... there is still a series of meetings the district will have before Gomez is officially expelled.
Our teachers just ducked.
Originally posted by flexmoreYes!
this reminds me of games with rubber bands, that lead to games with rubber bands firing paper projectiles, that lead to rubber bands firing ball bearings - that you knew were very dangerous.
what did the kid do .... EXACTLY what did the kid do?
The kid might be saying he just 'put it on the desk'. The teacher might be saying something very different.
Frankly, if you tried taking aim with a rubber band and letting it fly at full speed, you really could someone a lot of damage if your aim was good.
I'd love to know what "tossed" meant. How did he toss it?
Originally posted by shavixmirFor a period in 6th grade we used to shoot all kind stuff at each other using rubberbands, you know how boys like to act out their private version of "Lord of the flies".
We used to use the little rounded nails you use to attach wire to poles and shoot them at each other in class with rubber bands.
Our teachers just ducked.
It stopped when one of us got a very very black eye from a hit.
From the brief summary of the story it sounds like the teacher and school are overreacting. To my experience; a rubberband alone can not substain a high velocity for long - you have to shoot from close hold to cause any serious pain. If you use the rubber band to propel a small dense object it's something else.
The story talks of the boy shooting the rubber band to the teachers desk - does not sound that bad.
Only in America.
Cut off his hands, they are weapons too you know. I'll be sure not to fly to America with a rubber band, or I could be in serious trouble. Perhaps there should be scans every day at school to make sure no-one is smuggling rubber bands.
Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. What next? "Little boy suspended for trampling dirt into carpet at school. Dirt was believed to have several forms of bacteria and was assumed to be a purposeful act of terrorism."
Originally posted by Omnislash
The mother plans to fight the ruling, but her son still faces expulsion. "It's ridiculous, it's a rubber band," she said. The schools principal could not comment because the case is still under investigation. A district spokesman said there is still a series of meetings the district will have before Gomez is officially expelled.
All jokes aside.
If you take a rubber band, bend a drawing pin around it (used as the 'arrow' ) and shoot, it is EXTREMELY painfull, infact very dangerous. Grew up in a boys school, so I know.
my 2c
Originally posted by SiskinBut surely if you take that attitude then that means we should clamp down on hunting, using pesticides to kill rodents and fireworks.
it's the zero tolerence theory ... if you don't clamp down on rubber bands, two or three steps down the line it's an AK-47 and another Columbine
When I transferred schools in 7th grade, I found myself in the midst of serious warfare in social studies class. Two groups of boys lined up on either side of the classroom and fired rubber bands at each other. Occasionally one side would find itself on the defensive, having sent all its weapons to the other side.
I introduced new weaponry, teaching my colleagues how to fold paper into a small projectile that could be hurled across the room with a rubber band. The ensuing arms race was the most important social studies lesson that year.
Originally posted by pcaspianNobody else here went to any schools with boys, so it's no wonder that rampant rubber band assaults continue unchecked across the nation. It's about time someone stood up to these monsters, while there is still time to keep our nation's moral fabric from unravelling.
All jokes aside.
If you take a rubber band, bend a drawing pin around it (used as the 'arrow' ) and shoot, it is EXTREMELY painfull, infact very dangerous. Grew up in a boys school, so I know.
my 2c