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Bringing Novelty Gum to School Could Get Student Expelled
Filed under: In The News, Weird But True
Bear in mind this is not the kind of novelty gum you used to order off the back of your comic books -- you know, the kind that tasteed like garlic. This is weapons-grade novelty gum. It gives off a mild electric shock.
Like a joy buzzer.
Fortunately, a 13-year-old at Andrew Jackson Middle School in Cross Lanes, W.Va., did not bring a joy buzzer on a school field trip. That might have landed him in Guantanamo Bay. Because we're talking novelty gum, he may get by with just being expelled from school.
For novelty gum?!
Times have changed. WOWK, the CBS affiliate in Charleston, W. Va., reports school officials consider any gag items that give off electric shocks to be potentially deadly weapons. A joy buzzer could presumably kill someone with a heart condition.
The gum-packing hooligan apparently wasn't considering such a grim possibility when he brought the gum on a school field trip last month. WOWK reports a teacher confiscated the gum, and the boy was immediately suspended for 10 days -- pending an expulsion hearing.
Kanawha County School District Superintendent Ron Duerring refused to answer questions from the station on the case. He simply cited state law that school districts are required to follow in such cases.
"Obviously, I'm upset, because my son has never been in trouble before," the boy's father, Harry Glaspell, tells the station. "It's a toy. I don't understand how they consider it a deadly weapon. It's not a gun or a knife."
Glaspell tells WOWK school officials recommend his son be expelled for 12 months.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 3)
6-13-2011 @ 5:21PM
Ty said...Stuff like this makes sharia law seem very reasonable.
Reply
6-13-2011 @ 6:29PM
Luis said...WAS THE PRINCIPAL COLORED OR JEWISH, just wondering...
6-13-2011 @ 2:51PM
Debbie said...There should be a way to block responses that have hyperlinks. Beyond annoying.
Reply
6-13-2011 @ 4:20PM
Simzee said...Are you kidding? They get a paycheck for doing this.
6-13-2011 @ 3:10PM
jcjksimba said...I have a better punishment. I was in a very large H.S. When ever I sat down in the auditorium the bottom of the seat was covered with old gum. ALOT of the classroom chairs were too. We lived in a mid to high class city. (Glad I moved.) Anyway, make these kids clean off the chairs. It is not cruel. And for the kids who then put their gum anywhere they want, (to make it a worse punishment), keep an eye on them better. If the teacher has to check each student when they enter their classroom, then so be it! Too many people these days take advandage of things. They throw trash because 'the prisoners will pick it up'. Or "Oh they pay someone to clean that." Our lives would be alot easier if people helped each other out. Ever see the movie, "Lean on Me"? Excellant.
Reply
6-13-2011 @ 6:10PM
dougalcandy said...As a teacher and dean, I always thought this was a great idea too. Then I found out it is considered "corporal punishment" and parents go insane if anyone makes their precious darling do anything resembling cleaning. Sad how schools are not allowed to punish in creative ways in which the child might actually learn a lesson.
6-13-2011 @ 3:11PM
sandy said...Look-that is such a line a crap -however just think how lucky you would be kid to get out of the evil school system! Then you could get a real education in home school--sweet
Reply
6-13-2011 @ 3:26PM
BILL said...MEXICAN CHILDREN BORN TO ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE NOT ONLY CHOKING OUR SCHOOL SYSTEMS BECAUSE OF THEIR OVERBREEDING BUT THEY BRING ALL SORTS OF WEAPONS AND DRUGS TO SCHOOL , REFUSE TO SPEAK ENGLISH ARE VERY DISRUPTIVE AND NO ONE EVEN SAYS A WORD TO THEM
Reply
6-13-2011 @ 6:30PM
Taylor said...The last name is Glaspell so this has NOTHING to do with Mexicans. Last i checked there were just as many white boy punks out there with guns. Also maybe take your keyboard to get fixed, the Caps lock seems to be stuck and it makes you seem like one of those ignorant racists who wont shut up.
6-14-2011 @ 3:59PM
Amy said...I'm not sure if you are making a point for or against us. If you are thinking that our name (Glaspell) is Mexican I can assure you it is not. Everyone on this end is 100 percent American made and legally born right here in the good ole US of A. : )
6-13-2011 @ 3:56PM
Irene M said...So what if it isn't a gun or a knife? It's a deadly weapon if used on anyone with a heart condition or a pacemaker. Not everyone knows at that age whether or not they have a congenital heart condition, as signs often don't show up until later in life. I have no sympathy for this kid. He brought the gum to school intending the consequences to fall on everyone except him. Let him find out the hard way, if need be, that there are consequences for his actions, and HE is the one who is going to face them.
Reply
6-13-2011 @ 4:38PM
kathryn said...The article said a joy buzzer could be deadly to someone with a heart condition....COULD be, and the boy had gumnot a joy buzzer!!! Get real!!! This country is now officially insane!!
6-19-2011 @ 1:14AM
IRISH said...After someone gets hurt, they will say "I didn't know the gum was loaded!"
6-14-2011 @ 8:08AM
Charlene said...Then someone who pops a bag filled with air behind someone is not expecting it will potentially great a deadly weapon. Or for that matter, someone who sneaks up behind someone and yells "Boo" has also done the same and should be expelled. THis is just as ridiculous. Take the thing away from the kids and tell him he will get it back afterschool, and for him to take it home and not come back. I really feel sorry for kids today who aren't taught socially and treated like criminals for the most minor things. Kids are not allowed to be kids anymore or have the opportunity learn from possible mistakes in a forgiving environment.
6-13-2011 @ 5:52PM
Rich said...A ball point pen can be used as a weapon to kill. Do we abolish them as well?
6-13-2011 @ 7:44PM
Linda said...Irene, are you serious? How much of an electric charge can a piece of novelty gum give off? I'm sure it's in no way enough to set off someone's pacemaker. It's probably far less than a static shock you'd get from crossing carpet in the winter. People have gone nuts. Let's just wrap up everyone in cotton and put them on shelves. There's a nice life for you. The kid's detention time is plenty enough punishment. This is not worth explusion. There are lots of worse things kids can do -- believe me, I was a teacher. I know.
6-14-2011 @ 4:03PM
Amy said...Sorry, Irene, but you are wrong. What my son took to school was a harmless pack of novelty gum. I can say harmless because it is not capable of producing enough "shock" to harm anyone. It is powered by four 1.5 volt batteries that are only capable of producing .07milliamps of so called shock each. It takes 1 milliamp for the human body to register that it's touched something and 500 milliamps to fibrilate the heart or interfere with a pacemaker. A cell phone is more dangerous than the toy in question. We are not asking for, nor do we want your sympathy. What we do want is people with common sense to rise up and let the Board of Education know how ridiculous this is. He purchased the toy last year in a gift shop on a field trip with the teacher standing at the register monitoring what was purchased to make sure they didn't buy any of the toy guns and knives that were sold at the gift shop. She never said a word about not being allowed to buy the gum. She and other teachers even played along with it with my son and several other boys. Flash forward one year and he takes it to school to make his buddies laugh between classes. NOT to harm anyone. He lets one of his buddies take it to class and it got taken by the buddies teacher. Now suddenly the same toy he bought and played with at school last year is now a deadly weapon. No he should not have taken a toy to school but the punishment far outweighs the crime here.
6-13-2011 @ 4:44PM
Don Ranski said...If it takes a village to raise a child we are witnessing village idiots run amuck. In grade school in the early 50's we brought mercury to school to play with. In the 60's I brought asbestos powder home for my kids to play with (wet it can be molded like play dough). We're still all alive an healthy. Can you imagine what would happen today in these cases.
Reply
6-13-2011 @ 5:10PM
J.H. said...Asbestos and mercury are dangerous, but a buzzer is just an old practical joke. I mean, the kid had a double "weapon", the buzzer (which we ALL had) and garlic-flavored gum (just to see the look on the victim's face when he chews it is priceless). The thing is we as a society have became too paranoid. Kids have played practical jokes on each other for millions of years. Time to get the head out of the sand.
6-13-2011 @ 5:16PM
FRAN said...YOU ARE CORRECT, IN THE EARLY 60'S ALL THE CHILDREN OF DOCTORS AND DENTISTS WOULD BRING IN SMALL JARS OF MERCURY TO SHARE WITH THE OTHER STUDENTS TO PLAY WITH AND COAT COINS WITH. AND IN THE 70'S AND 80'S ASBESTOS SHEETS AND IN ROLLS WAS SOLD EVERYWHERE IN HARDWARE STORES ETC TO LINE FIREPLACES, COOKING AND GRILLING AREAS ETC.