10-Year-Old Suspended for Making Gun With Fingers
A 10-year-old boy was suspended for pointing his fingers in the shape of a gun while at school. His family is fighting the suspension and says that the adults are the ones acting like children in this case.
"I was just playing around," Nathan Entingh told The Columbus Dispatch. "People play around like this a lot at my school."
However, Principal Patricia Price said that she has told the students on numerous occasions not to pretend to play with guns or even use their hands as weapons. It's part of a continually growing national trend that has a zero-tolerance policy for guns or weapons, even the pretend version. Students across the nation have been suspended or disciplined for drawing guns, eating food into gun shapes, or in this case, using one's fingers as a "weapon."
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"The kids were told, 'If you don't stop doing this type of stuff, there would be consequences,'" district spokesman Jeff Warner said. "It's just been escalating."
While Price did not witness the incident, nor did the other student Entingh "aimed" at, a teacher did and informed the principal. Entingh was given a three-day suspension, which his father said is a bit much given that the boy has never been in trouble before.
"I would have even been fine with them doing an in-school suspension," Paul Entingh said. "He said he was playing. It would even make more sense maybe if he brought a plastic gun that looked like a real gun or something, but it was his finger."
Senator Charleta Tavares is currently working to overturn a 1998 state law mandating that schools adopt a zero-tolerance policy. Students like Nathan would no longer be suspended for merely playing around; more serious offenses would lead to heavier punishments such as suspension and expulsion.
"Many of us on both sides of the aisle want to find something that will give school administrators flexibility so they can be reasonable, remain safe and keep students in school," Tavares said.
