A 7-year-old is now facing a serious punishment from his school after bringing two toy guns – a Nerf gun and a water gun – to his Virginia elementary school.
Second-grade student Josiah Green was first suspended for 10 days earlier this spring when he was caught with the toy guns, according to WAVY-TV news. The school has a strict policy, according to the station, which says, “Weapons-related behaviors prohibited on school property include bringing a toy/look-alike gun to school/school-sponsored event.”
Following the suspension, Green is apparently now facing expulsion from his elementary school. “I was emotional and shocked. I understand that he’s suspended, but now you’re throwing that he could be expelled on the table,” mom Audreyann Davis says, according to WAVY-TV.
Davis adds, “I blame myself. The one day I didn’t think about making sure he left his toys in the house.” She goes on to tell the press, “He’s small and he made a mistake. He didn’t know what he was doing. He doesn’t even understand what’s going on and why he can’t bring his toy guns to school.”
But the school system has come out in defense of its policy and, according to the news station, notes, “There are a wide-range of options available in addition to expulsion for the School Board to take appropriate action.”
While I think expulsion might be a little bit extreme for a 7-year-old in this case, especially because it may have been an innocent mistake, I have a hard time blaming this school for taking action. I think anymore, schools can’t be too careful about kids bringing anything resembling a weapon to school. With all of the mass shootings in recent years – including those in schools – educators need to be on guard, even if that means staying true to the policy on toy guns.
What do you think about this situation? Do you think the school took the punishment too far, or are they in the right for punishing this second grader?
