A ninth grader in a Spotsylvania, Virginia, high school has been suspended and placed in a “diversion program” by police for hitting three classmates with spit wads. Andrew Mikel has been expelled for the remainder of the school year, ordered to take substance-abuse and anger-management counseling, and perform 24 hours of community service for blowing soft tiny plastic balls through the body of a plastic pen.
School administrators and board members classified the plastic pen and balls as a weapon, and along with the expulsion, filed assault charges with the sheriff’s department.
In a December 10 letter to the boy’s family, Spotsylvania High School assistant principal Lisa Andruss explained the administration’s action:
“This action results from ‘assaulted three students; and possession of projectiles and device to propel projectiles’ which are violations of Student Code of Conduct section B, article 3, item b … and item g.”
Section B, article 3 of the code addresses “violent criminal conduct; item “b” addresses “killing, shooting, stabbing, cutting, wounding, otherwise physically injuring or battering any person; and item “g” addresses any weapons or objects “used to intimidate, threaten or harm others, any explosive device or any dangerous article(s) shall subject the student to a recommendation of expulsion.”
According to Mikel’s father, the boy is an honor student who has never been in trouble and is active in both the Junior ROTC program and his local church.
“He took a plastic pen apart and shot little balls through the body of the pen. The balls are … less than a quarter inch in diameter … [and] weigh one fifth of a gram. You’re lucky if you can get them about four to six feet using a pen to blow them.
My son realizes what he did was foolish.… It wasn’t appropriate, it was horseplay…. If they gave him a couple of days detention I would understand, but to classify him as a violent criminal bringing weapons to school and using them to harm kids, it’s just ridiculous.
To the school, a weapon is anything that can fire a projectile. They gave Andrew the same punishment as somebody who brought a rifle or crossbow to school.”—Mikel’s father, a former Navy Seabee Marine officer, and engineer
Mikel’s father said that his son had planned to attend the U.S. Naval Academy after high school, but he’s been told the incident will keep the boy from being admitted.
“I don’t know how kids survive in schools nowadays…. We’ve been fighting zero-tolerance cases since the mid-1990’s, and it’s getting worse. There’s a very dangerous, monolithic mindset; there’s no freedom in schools.”—John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute
In a December 21, 2010, hearing, the Spotsylvania County school board ruled Mikel’s criminal charges will be expunged upon completion of the “diversion program” for first-time offenders.
Riddle me this: a kid hits three kids with spit wads he blew though a plastic pen and four state agencies—school administration, sheriff’s department, Department of Juvenile Justice, the Commonwealth Attorney—are called in to render justice.
Political correctness is a psychiatric disorder. Sufferers should be treated with understanding and compassion, but never listened to or taken seriously.
I.M. Kane
For more on the story, see Zero tolerance ‘insane madness’ in Virginia high school.
IN DEFERENCE TO THE ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
Posted in Latest Commentary on January 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »
“Journalists” who write for Propagandist or Gatekeeper publishers are constrained by editors who represent and protect the publishers’ interests and world view. Editors who work for left, moderate, or right leaning publishers either downplay or ignore stories and opinions that challenge or conflict with those held by their publishers.
The truth be damned when it is at odds with the publishers’ personal or political bent. When the truth gores the publishers’ proverbial ox, editors will spin it, bury it, or omit it; but rest assured, they will never allow it to appear unvarnished to their readers.
Readers who seek the truth, discover it piecemeal. Alternative media stories and opinions often provide readers with additional information, and a better chance to find the truth. Because the alternative media lack editorial constraints, they can provide stories and opinions that would otherwise be deleted from editor queues at the Propagandist and Gatekeeper publishers.
Lacking the constraints imposed by editors for the Propagandist and Gatekeeper publishers, the alternative media are unleashed to pursue stories and express opinions with impunity, or until the Ruler can impose his “universal Internet ID” program that will track, monitor, and control the activity of all Internet users.
The Propagandist and Gatekeeper publishers would like nothing more than to silence the alternative media outlets that refuse to tout the accepted storyline or regurgitate the established politically-correct opinions.
As long as the Internet remains free of government control and censorship, the alternative media will remain the lone source of free speech, dissent, and unfiltered information.
I urge my readers to visit the following alternative sites to check out their opinions and stories. They’re good guys who’ve routinely endorsed my commentaries and news stores and my work at The Millstone Diaries:
The guys at MichNews.com, who feature my news stories and commentaries, offer a plethora of conservative columns, cartoons as well as national and international news events;
The guys at Chuck on the Right Side, who were instrumental in getting Colonel Allen West elected to Congress, offer daily conservative social and political commentaries;
Scott Ryan at the Table of Wisdom offers his social, political, and economic commentaries. His piece Cal & Nevada: The New Soddom & Gomorrah is worth reading;
The anonymous professor at elvisnixon.com provides conservative opinions, including his own perspective on politics and current events. His recent interview with Pundit Press is worth reading; and
The Circuit Rider at The Circuit Rider’s Range and the blog Musings of a Maverick brings his religious perspective to current events and politics. His musing, “The Issue Is Not the Ability to Serve, But Rather a Moral One!” is worth reading.
I.M. Kane
Obama Nation plan for Internet Drivers Licence 5:20 Video
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