The Green Brick Giant Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 (edited) The USA ashames me at times... a lot of the time.... An irate Staten Island mom blasted a grade school principal Wednesday for treating her son like a pint-sized Plaxico Burress after he brought a 2-inch-long toy gun to school."This principal is a bully and a coward, and needs to be held accountable," said Laura Timoney, 44, after her teary fourth-grader was nearly suspended for playing with the tiny toy at lunch. "The school should be embarrassed. This is a common-sense issue." Patrick Timoney, 9, was terrified when he was yanked into the principal's office to discuss the teeny-weeny plastic "weapon." "The gun was so little," the boy said. "I don't understand why the principal got so upset. I was a little nervous. They made me sign a statement." Patrick and a friend were playing with Lego figures in the school cafeteria on Tuesday when he pulled out the faux machine gun and stuck it in the hands of his plastic police officer. Boom! Trouble ensued, with Patrick's mom getting a phone call from Public School 52 Principal Evelyn Mastroianni saying her son had somehow gone from straight A's to the NRA. "I was in disbelief," the still-fuming mother said. "Why didn't anyone step up with an ounce of common sense and put an end to the harassment of my child?" Timoney said her boy loved the toy figure because her husband is a retired police officer. The elder Patrick Timoney, a former 72nd Precinct cop, couldn't believe his son was nearly busted over something so obviously inauthentic. "It's a 2-inch gun," he said. "She went overboard. She should have said, 'Put the toys away,' and that would have been the end of it." After a meeting between the principal and the parents, the boy was spared any disciplinary action. City school officials said Patrick agreed to leave the "gun" at home. "I'm never bringing a toy to school again," said Patrick, whose favorite subject is math. Laura Timoney remained upset. Her son, a typically eager student, asked to stay home yesterday because he thought the principal was mad at him. The mother said she expects an apology and may sue. "The toy gun is not the issue," she said. "A lack of common sense is the issue." Several parents at the school felt the principal overreacted, including Kim O'Rieley - whose son was playing with Patrick in the cafeteria. Her boy's Lego man was toting a tiny ax, which the principal deemed less threatening. "It's ridiculous," said O'Rieley, 36. "He felt so bad for his friend. They're taking things way too far ... No one is saying guns are okay. "Come on, it's a Lego." Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/educat...l#ixzz0ebeb9jN6 http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/educat..._son_buste.html Kid with Lego ax was not dealt with at all, also it isn't a LEGO as we all know. Edited February 4, 2010 by The Green Brick Giant
Big Cam Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 It's truley embarrising to live here at times.
Etzel Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 The boy should of course be suspended - he playing with clone brands
The Green Brick Giant Posted February 4, 2010 Author Posted February 4, 2010 The boy should of course be suspended - he playing with clone brands For all we know maybe the axe was a clone brand too?
brickme Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 Amazing... This is just... I can't even put into words how I feel about this. Hopefully that 9 year old is not on this site.
MrTools Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 Big Cam sure is right, my gosh to me it seems like they had nothing better to do than to pick on the kid
Omicron Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 (edited) He wasn't suspended. The boy should of course be suspended - he playing with clone brands Wasn't a clone brick toy either. Looks more of a GI Joe type gun. -Omi Edited February 4, 2010 by Omicron
prateek Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 (edited) Whatever. This happens all the time. Almost all schools have strict policies about bringing anything to school that resembles a firearm, so I'm not surprised he got suspended, eventhough it was only 2 inches long Edited February 4, 2010 by prateek
Fugazi Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 Wow, talk about an overreaction! Imagine if it had been one of those replica life-size Lego guns... the poor lad would have been sent to Guantanamo by now!
Omicron Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 This happens all the time. Almost all schools have strict policies about bringing anything to school that resembles a firearm, so I'm not surprised he got suspended, eventhough it was only 2 inches long It was like that when I was in elementary school, and that was over 15 years ago. -Omi
not-in-use-anymore Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 Wasn't there something just like this except with an adult and a bigger gun about a month ago?
Omicron Posted February 4, 2010 Posted February 4, 2010 Wasn't there something just like this except with an adult and a bigger gun about a month ago? He was assembling a full scale handgun made out of Lego. That is something to take serious with when you see that from a distance. -Omi
prateek Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 It was like that when I was in elementary school, and that was over 15 years ago.-Omi It's still like that across North America. I think after 9/11, everyone stepped up security and rules for no reason, even if they had nothing to do with terrorism
hewkii9 Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 This is possibly the best thread title I've read in a long time.
Captain Genaro Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 Stuff like this makes me really mad. I could cause more trouble with safty sissors than a 2 inch plastic gun. Some people will over react to anything.
Tom Bricks Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 The typical overprotective school. The principal deemed the ax less threatening, what he didn't know was that the gun wasn't loaded.
Omicron Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 It's still like that across North America. I think after 9/11, everyone stepped up security and rules for no reason, even if they had nothing to do with terrorism I know. It is no different than it was 15 years ago (Live in America btw) when I was in school. And its not much 9/11 aspect, its more of the Columbine shootings that people are touchy when you have the word "gun" and "school" in the same sentence. -Omi
CMP Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 No, it's not solid plastic, there's a tiny mechanism inside that shoots bullets.
The Green Brick Giant Posted February 5, 2010 Author Posted February 5, 2010 Whatever. This happens all the time. Almost all schools have strict policies about bringing anything to school that resembles a firearm, so I'm not surprised he got suspended, eventhough it was only 2 inches long What happens if I play cops and robbers? Maybe cowboys and idians? All I'm using there are my hands, are they going to cut my hands off? It's 2 inches, it could go to a GI Joe, it's just megablocking crazy!
dr_spock Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 I think most school systems have a zero tolerance policy now. It doesn't matter if it was 6 inches or 2 inches.
RileyC Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 Thats just over reacting to the max. Its really terrible how it seems the USA is so paranoid about terrorists but they could have easily prevented them by not invading Iraq
Trexxen Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 Although I really feel for the principals (especially since there was a shooting at a school not far from where I live about a year ago), I really, REALLY believe that this is way overboard. I know schools aren't fair (5th grade, I got punched in the face, guess who got in trouble and who didn't?), but really? I'm glad the boy didn't get suspended and I hope that principal is forced to make a public apology...stuff like that can really mess with a kid, to see adults do something so [to them] horribly wrong and unfair and not be reprimanded. Just my two studs, though. ~Trexxen
Omicron Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 Thats just over reacting to the max. Its really terrible how it seems the USA is so paranoid about terrorists but they could have easily prevented them by not invading Iraq If you are referring to the events of 9/11, that has nothing to do with Iraq. -Omi
vexorian Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 While reading I was actually praying that it was a prank from theonion. Too bad it wasn't.
The Brick Rat Posted February 5, 2010 Posted February 5, 2010 "The toy gun is not the issue," she said. "A lack of common sense is the issue." This pretty much sums up the whole thing. There's a serious shortage of common sense in the world today.
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