FAWN GROVE, PA – A fifth grader was suspended for violating a school’s zero tolerance policy on weapons when he pretended that he was shooting a bow and arrow. Johnny Jones, 10, was suspended and threatened with expulsion from South Eastern Middle School when a teacher sent him to the principal for a “firearms related” incident.
A civil libertarian law firm, the Rutherford Institute, has taken up the case and has written a letter to the school, asking them to rescind the suspension.
The letter reads, “We request that you rescind the suspension and immediately remove all reference to it from Johnny’s permanent school record. There is no reason that Johnny should be stigmatized and branded a miscreant due to the school’s unreasonable application of its zero tolerance policy against him,” states the letter.
President of the Rutherford Institute John W. Whitehead believes the school is trying to “criminalize childish behavior and punish all offenses severely, no matter how minor or non-threatening the so-called infraction may have been. We all want to keep the schools safe, but I’d far prefer to see something credible done about actual threats, rather than this ongoing, senseless targeting of imaginary horseplay.”
The Rutherford Institute is advising the parents wait for the school to respond to their letter until December 13th, before advising them on any further action.
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