Taunton Teens Suspended Over Airsoft Homecoming Photo

[Cedar]

Two high school students from Bristol Plymouth Regional Technical School were suspended for 10 days after posing for a picture holding rifles that shoot plastic pellets. On Oct. 24, Tito Velez and Jamie Pereira posed for a pre-homecoming dance photo holding Airsoft-style rifles, which resemble assault weapons, and posted the photo to Facebook, according to the Taunton Daily Gazette.

“It's not like it happened at school, we had the guns [at home] and that's where the pictures were taken and they said it didn't matter.”  The Airsoft rifles look dangerous, but they shoot plastic pellets. Tito Velez, 15, often competes with a team as a hobby, CBS reports.

The school is suspending them for 10 days and possible expulsion.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/10/28/taunton-students-suspended-after-posing-with-airsoft-rifles-on-facebook/

http://www.whdh.com/story/27129211/taunton-teens-suspended-over-airsoft-homecoming-photo

Cedar

[archer]

dont even think about guns these if you are in high school or less. they will suspend you!

[SOprep]

While I do not think that it justifies a suspension, and certainly not an expulsion, posting with the caption "Homecoming 2014" does raise some eyebrows.  The environment is just so much more restrictive than when I was in HS (14 years ago).  We had people with hunting rifles in the truck on school property and no one raised an eyebrow...

[Cedar]

And then there is this...

"The controversy is in stark contrast to a policy approved last week by a Nebraska school board to allow students to pose with guns in a “tasteful and appropriate” fashion in their senior portraits. Broken Bow Public Schools board members voted unanimously to allow graduating seniors the option of submitting photographs so long as the student has permission to reproduce the picture from the original photographer, he or she is wearing attire that complies with district standards and does not include drugs, alcohol or tobacco. The school has a rifle-shooting team, and Superintendent Mark Sievering told FoxNews.com that hunting is a “part of life in the rural community."

http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/broken-bow-school-district-lets-students-pose-with-guns-in/article_e25a4c6e-593c-11e4-ae63-001a4bcf6878.html

Cedar

[d3nni5]

It is about zero tolerance...."better safe than sorry".  It's crazy, but it is the world we are living in.    The kid had it right, they didn't leave the house with them, they didn't do anything wrong.   But put the "Homecoming 2014" caption in the title, and now the school thinks it is on them to get involved.   But, the school itself is not mentioned, is it?   Sure, the kids friends all know where they go to school, but the caption itself is generically titled in my opinion.

Here is another way to think about it.   How many other toys depicting violence does that school's students have on their Facebook pages.   What about all the video game top scores, the gory Halloween pictures etc etc.

And finally, how did the school even NOTICE that this photo was posted.   Is it the school's business to read every student's social media post?  Sort of freaks me out to think that the school would be reading my kids Facebook page, like it is any of their business.

[archer]

I've heard of schools monitoring FB posts of students.

[DrJohn]

Just because you can, does not mean you should. 

Do I think the punishment = the crime - nope.  Do I think supreme poor judgement was used, by both the school and the kids/family - yep, but you have to remember this happened in Massachusetts.

[ShannonB]

Wow.  Bug has a tshirt she wears to work out at school says "due to the rising costs of ammo, warning shots will no longer be fired."

On a side note, an outside vendors took her senior photos this year. One for the yearbook and one for the program, we also purchased a package deal that included 5 poses with 3 different outfits. One of the poses we picked was an outdoor scene, she wanted to have her bow in the picture. She has been shooting for 8 years and hunting with it for 5. The photographer told us that it was against school policy. This is an OUTSIDE vendor. NOT a school association, not on school property and I paid for the sittings. SMH. We ended up going to another photographer to get the pictures taken.

[Kayakmom]

clearly a photo taken in a private home and not on school grounds or at a school function. How does the school think they have any business monitoring or interfering with these kids?
I thought their function was to educated our kids, not police them in their own homes.
ridiculous.

[Oil Lady]

First Amendment all the way. The photo is a First Amendment expression of speech/art.

[Alan Georges]

In other news, it is now forbidden for children in Massachusetts to bring any state-themed quarters to school.


OK, I'm only kidding about the quarters.  But in all seriousness, how is this any different?

[Chemsoldier]

The school has gone full retard.  The article claims the school did not become aware until afterwards, no immenant threat.  They are morons.

The students, while not full retard (necesarily) have engaged in poor taste to do that while wearing their homecoming outfits and especially depending on captioning. 

I think the level of this should have been along the lines of getting called to the principles office to be given the modern American educational equivelant of "You are freaking stupid, perception is an MFer and that was in poor freaking taste.  Now get out of my sight...if you mess with the bull, you get the horns."  and there it should have stopped...

[d3nni5]

In other news, it is now forbidden for children in Massachusetts to bring any state-themed quarters to school.


OK, I'm only kidding about the quarters.  But in all seriousness, how is this any different?

This is a perfect point.   +1

[Josh the Aspie]

"Assault Weapons" oh yay, this phony term again.

May as well talk about "hackers" like crackers (those that gain unlawful entry to a system they don't own) are no different from those that modify their own equipment by hacking it.

[Rangeboss]

Not much you can say. I live in CA on the Left Coast. Idiocy knows no bounds. Hysteria is the norm.

[gopack84]

According to this copy of the letter supposedly sent by the school, they found out about the picture when students and parents of students started calling the school freaking out and wanting to know what was going on. Based on that, the school suspended the two students because the situation would "materially and substantially disrupt the order of the school". They have a hearing scheduled to discuss the ongoing suspension with the students and parents of the two students.

http://www.alloutdoor.com/2014/10/28/airsoft-photo-students-suspended-possibly-expelled/#

They list the reasons they took the "emergency action" of removing them from school immediately in that letter as well. Our schools are now run by this:

[cmxterra]

I am not one who usually scream "sue them" but in this case I would make an exception.

[gopack84]

In a sane world, after about the first 2 parents called the school, the school administrators should have called the kids to the office and put them in a chair and said, "You guys sit here while we call your parents." And then you call the parents. And you find out what's going on. And once you're satisfied, you give the required lecture about "abundance of caution" and "misunderstanding" and "blah,blah" and then you send the kids back to class and you give your office people a script to read to the next 100 idiot parents calling in in a froth explaining that the picture was taken by the Dad, the guns are toys (more or less, don't want to offend the Airsoft forum ), and nobody is in danger but we appreciate your concern and feel free to call us anytime.

What is completely and utterly unacceptable is the knee-jerk suspension, the questioning without parents present, the calling of the police and further questioning without parents being notified or present. That to me is completely unacceptable. I've told my kid that if she ever gets pulled into a situation like this that she is to repeat one phrase and one phrase only regardless of who is in the room until one of us walks in the door. "My parents have told me not to answer any questions until they are in this room with me. I'll not say anything else until you call them and they are here and then we will all talk." I live and work about 8 minutes from the school and it's a private school, not public. The school is very accountable to the parents. If they want to expel her because she won't talk to the police without me being there, then all it does is save me the trouble of firing them.