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11-Year-Old Girl Suspended For 'Dangerous' Cartwheels At School
local6.com ^ | November 12, 2004

Posted on 11/12/2004 10:20:00 AM PST by grundle

http://www.local6.com/news/3913357/detail.html

11-Year-Old Girl Suspended For 'Dangerous' Cartwheels At School

November 12, 2004

An 11-year-old girl in West Covina, Calif., was suspended from her school from doing "dangerous" cartwheels and hand stands during lunch time, according to a Local 6 News report.

Deirdre Faegre, who is a Student of the Month at San Jose-Edison Academy in West Covina was dismissed from the school this week after school authorities warned her for the last time to stop doing gymnastic stunts during lunchtime.

Administrators at the school said they were concerned about safety of their students.

They said gymnastics on the playground creates an unsafe situation.

"I thought they were absolutely weird, because I see other kids playing baseball and soccer and I think that's more dangerous than gymnastics," Faegre said.

Deirdre's parents are giving the school's actions a failing grade. The family says they'll continue to stand by their daughter.

"I don't think they care about the children at all," father Leland Faegre said. "What sort of a parent or administrator would ever enforce a rule that would proscribe a child from using her arms and her legs? We have got to fix this mess because we have to let children be children."

Her parents said they will home school Deirdre until they find a more "reasonable" school.

Calls to school administrators went unanswered.

Copyright 2004 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com.


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1 posted on 11/12/2004 10:20:00 AM PST by grundle
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To: grundle

I have a very strong feeling that if Deidre was hurt doing this the school would have been sued for allowing it.


2 posted on 11/12/2004 10:22:04 AM PST by Mears
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To: grundle
Her parents said they will home school Deirdre until they find a more "reasonable" school.

They won't find a more reasonable school so they might as well just homeschool.

3 posted on 11/12/2004 10:22:06 AM PST by CzarNicky (The problem with bad ideas is that they seemed like good ideas at the time.)
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To: grundle

What the hell is wrong with these lefties?


4 posted on 11/12/2004 10:25:03 AM PST by exnavy
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To: grundle

I guess the school considered her cartwheels 'dangerous' because she did it without carrying a condom. Either that, or they were afraid that the other students, unable to do cartwheels, would feel inadequate.


5 posted on 11/12/2004 10:25:23 AM PST by COBOL2Java (If this isn't the End Times it certainly is a reasonable facsimile...)
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To: grundle
we have to let children be children.

Tell that to the attorneys lined up to sue on your behalf.

6 posted on 11/12/2004 10:25:46 AM PST by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: grundle

The school further explained that current smoking, illicit drug activities and miscellaneous hate crimes would continue to be permitted on the playground. </sarcasm>


7 posted on 11/12/2004 10:26:33 AM PST by UseYourHead (Smith & Wesson: The original point-and-click interface)
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To: Mears

This is not what it appears. She was asked on multiple ocassions to stop with the cartwheels before someone gets hurt.

This was for being insubordinate, not for cartwheels.


8 posted on 11/12/2004 10:27:15 AM PST by freedumb2003 (Democrat credo: If we win, we win: if we lose it is theft!)
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To: grundle

"Children are an at-risk group for obesity. They need to have better meals, play outside more, and above all exercise as often as- Hey! Deirdre! Stop that right damn now! - ... as often as possible in any way they can."


9 posted on 11/12/2004 10:27:31 AM PST by theDentist (Proud Member of FreeRepublic 's "Pyjama-Hadeen")
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To: grundle
We have got to fix this mess because we have to let children be children."

Precisely. Better have at HHS as well, or they'll be up-at arms because the parents "neglect" their child by allowing her to do such "dangerous" activities.

IMHO, these people get their training from the same sociologists, shrinks, and overzealous do-gooders in College.

10 posted on 11/12/2004 10:27:33 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (I'm from North Dakota and I'm all FOR Global Warming! Bring it ON!)
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To: grundle
Administrators at the school said they were concerned about safety of their students.

They said gymnastics on the playground creates an unsafe situation.


These administrators must have been beaten around the head and ears with a stupid stick.
11 posted on 11/12/2004 10:27:53 AM PST by aruanan
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To: Mears
Agreed. Also, if another child was hurt and the Admin knew about it and didn't try to stop it, those 'rents would sue.

This is just not a big deal and I side with the school on this one. If they don't want the kids performing gymnastics at lunch, they should stop. Save it for PE or the gymnasium.
12 posted on 11/12/2004 10:28:22 AM PST by Bob J (Rightalk.com...coming soon!)
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To: grundle

tHEY COULD'VE USED A taser!


13 posted on 11/12/2004 10:29:27 AM PST by Red Badger (Give someone enough EU-ROPE and they will hang themselves......out of pure frustration......)
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To: exnavy
What the hell is wrong with these lefties?
That may be easy for you to say exnavy, but as someone who was seriously injured in an adolescent crab walking incident, silly modes of locomotion are no laughing matter.  To this day I still suffer gastronomic maladies brought on through what I thought was nothing more than a childhood game.
Do you have any idea how many life threatening injuries are inflicted on unsuspecting double dutch competitors every year?  And don't even get me started on the monkey bars, the avotior of the playground!

Owl_Eagle

" WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH"

14 posted on 11/12/2004 10:29:38 AM PST by Owl_Eagle (John Ashcroft for Supreme Court!)
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To: exnavy

>>>What the hell is wrong with these lefties?<<<

It's what is wrong with everything in this country...LAWYERS


15 posted on 11/12/2004 10:30:02 AM PST by bjmorris
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To: grundle

Misleading Headline Alert!

She was suspended for not obeying the school administrators when they asked her to stop a particular behavior.


16 posted on 11/12/2004 10:30:37 AM PST by dmz
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To: grundle
Jeez... She's lucky they didn't tazer her...
17 posted on 11/12/2004 10:31:41 AM PST by Dead Corpse (My days of taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle)
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To: Red Badger

You beat me to it... kudos...


18 posted on 11/12/2004 10:32:13 AM PST by Dead Corpse (My days of taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle)
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To: exnavy

What the hell is wrong with people who read only headlines, and not the rest of the story?


19 posted on 11/12/2004 10:32:26 AM PST by dmz
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To: Mears

Yeah, I agree. The problem is that here everybody sues everybody, and institutions (like schools) are defensive. Looks like there is no notion of "accident" in this country. Everything is "negligence". I doubt she could kill someone; the most that could happen was a broken arm, and there would be a lawsuit against the school. Come on!, who hasn't broken bones as a child due to accidents?. Let's all be more reasonable.


20 posted on 11/12/2004 10:32:42 AM PST by angelanddevil2
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To: grundle
What ever happened to taking the least oppressive means in resolving a problem?

Lets review

1) verbally tell the girl that such acts pose a possible risk to herself and others, ask her to stop.

2) If it continues, call the girl into the principals office and state the same thing.

3) If it continues, phone the girl's parents and explain the same thing.

4) If it continues, notify the girl and parents in writing.

5) If it continues, have the school lawyer draft for formal notification that the school will hold the girl and her parents responsible and liable for any accidental injury to either property or other people, and that the school will not support any claims of injury from the girl's actions.

Sheesh - sometimes we have to let people make mistakes so they can learn the hard way.
21 posted on 11/12/2004 10:33:15 AM PST by taxcontrol (People are entitled to their opinion - no matter how wrong it is.)
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To: Mears
I have a very strong feeling that if Deidre was hurt doing this the school would have been sued for allowing it.

And is everything about your "feelings"?

22 posted on 11/12/2004 10:34:27 AM PST by Oztrich Boy ("The first priest was the first knave who met the first fool". - Voltaire)
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To: aruanan
MaryLou Rettin to star in her next movie....."Lethal Weapon"

Great fight scenes involving costars Olga Corbett, Cathy Rigbie, and an evil death squad of assasins from Bella Khorolli's School of Tumble.

23 posted on 11/12/2004 10:36:21 AM PST by blackdog (Can we possibly have just one more "Kidz-Bop"?)
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To: grundle

I don't like it when my twins do their cartwheels in the kitchen, but suspended? Dumb-ass "admistrators" at it again!


24 posted on 11/12/2004 10:37:08 AM PST by Fierce Allegiance (Stay safe in the "sandbox" Greg! THANK YOU TO ALL VETERANS!)
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To: dmz

What the hell is wrong with a school where a child is penalized for playing on a playground?


25 posted on 11/12/2004 10:37:34 AM PST by Dead Corpse (My days of taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle)
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To: COBOL2Java

Cheerleaders do this crap all the time.

The school administrators are morons anyway.


26 posted on 11/12/2004 10:38:13 AM PST by Jaded ((Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. - Mark Twain))
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To: grundle

When cartwheeling is outlawed, only outlaws will be able to cartwheel.


27 posted on 11/12/2004 10:39:01 AM PST by O.C. - Old Cracker (When the cracker gets old, you wind up with Old Cracker. - O.C.)
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To: dmz; exnavy
What the hell is wrong with people who read only headlines, and not the rest of the story?

Thing is. This story has been posted before, so we know what the authority sychophant argument is going to be.

28 posted on 11/12/2004 10:40:26 AM PST by Oztrich Boy ("The first priest was the first knave who met the first fool". - Voltaire)
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To: taxcontrol

Actually, before your #2 I would put:

- Find a less crowded (preferably unpaved) area of the school property on which she can practise safely; or failing that,

- Suggest other activities that she could enjoy without posing a risk to the people around her.

Jeez louise, when did we get to the point where kids aren't allowed to engage in any form of recreation that isn't organized, supervised, regimented and sanitized by adults?


29 posted on 11/12/2004 10:40:54 AM PST by Squawk 8888 (Earth first! We can mine the other planets later.)
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To: Dead Corpse

So you're of the opinion that children should not have to listen to the adults in charge?

You don't have kids, do you? Or if you do, do you let them slide time after time for blowing you off?

On another thread, we might be decrying the lack of respect for authority evidenced by this child. But since the authority was a "government" school, it was obviously justifiable insubordination.


30 posted on 11/12/2004 10:42:38 AM PST by dmz
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To: grundle

In my hometown, a 6 year old boy was recently killed when he rode his bike out in front of a school bus, now all children are forbidden to ride their bikes to school.


31 posted on 11/12/2004 10:43:11 AM PST by mel
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To: grundle

We often criticize schools, but we shouldn't when a school merely tries maintain order and decorum.

This girl can practice her cartwheels and handstands and all other kinds of freedoms after school hours. Her parents need to back the school and teach their daughter that there is a time and a place for everything. Flaunting school rules is insubordination, and discipline goes out the window when students won't obey.

Schools' primary task is to teach, and creating a safe and disciplined atmosphere is one step in that process. Betcha throwing spitballs isn't allowed either.


32 posted on 11/12/2004 10:43:15 AM PST by Jedidah
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To: grundle

Did she have razor-sharp spurs on her tennis shoes? How are cartwheels dangerous. Just get out of the way and let the kids play.


33 posted on 11/12/2004 10:43:20 AM PST by rabidralph (Your car's not as cool in person as it is on TV.)
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To: blackdog

LOL!


34 posted on 11/12/2004 10:44:30 AM PST by rabidralph (Your car's not as cool in person as it is on TV.)
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To: Mears

You are probably right....the school would have been sued had she hurt herself. But I think suspension is a wee bit on the harsh side.


35 posted on 11/12/2004 10:45:49 AM PST by Blue Scourge (Off I go into the Wild Blue Yonder...)
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To: grundle
"What sort of a parent or administrator would ever enforce a rule that would proscribe a child from using her arms and her legs? We have got to fix this mess because we have to let children be children.

Subtle hint for Mr. Faegre:

Get the hell out of California - now!

36 posted on 11/12/2004 10:46:24 AM PST by brewcrew
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To: Dead Corpse

Good grief. We spent HOURS at school doing cartwheels in the Dark Ages. Not ONE person ever got hurt.


37 posted on 11/12/2004 10:46:52 AM PST by Politicalmom ( Since Bush was selected in 2000, shouldn't he be able to run again in 2008?)
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To: rabidralph

Duh, read the story.

The young lady was doing these--AFTER BEING TOLD REPEATEDLY TO STOP--in the LUNCHROOM.


38 posted on 11/12/2004 10:47:03 AM PST by jra
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To: always paddle your own canoe
Ping.

Remind you of anyone? ;-`)

39 posted on 11/12/2004 10:47:34 AM PST by CARDINALRULES (Democracy is where you can say what you think even if you don't think.)
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To: grundle

I saw this report. The girl was being purposely defiant to the school with the encouragemnt of her father, which you could just tell is one of those backwards hippie liberal.

She deserves the suspension for the mere fact that she thought she was above the rules and was asked to stop multiple times for fear of liabilty to the school, herself and her fellow students.


40 posted on 11/12/2004 10:48:23 AM PST by Tempest (Click on my name for a long list of press contacts)
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To: jra

WHY DON'T *YOU* READ IT? IT WAS "AT LUNCHTIME" *NOT* "IN THE LUNCHROOM".


41 posted on 11/12/2004 10:48:44 AM PST by Politicalmom ( Since Bush was selected in 2000, shouldn't he be able to run again in 2008?)
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To: Smokin' Joe

You're not getting the whole story with this report. The girl deserved to be suspended and paretns should be sterilized.


42 posted on 11/12/2004 10:50:01 AM PST by Tempest (Click on my name for a long list of press contacts)
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To: grundle

This story was posted yesterday in a different article and that article stated clearly that the kid was told numerous times not to do the cartwheels and she continued to do them. Sounds to me like she should have been suspended. Typical of many parents today that they go to the newspaper to complain about the school whenever their undisciplined, unruly and ill mannered children get in trouble. It's NEVER the kids fault.


43 posted on 11/12/2004 10:50:14 AM PST by pgkdan
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To: Politicalmom

I say the news report this morning. The girl deserves to be suspended.


44 posted on 11/12/2004 10:51:08 AM PST by Tempest (Click on my name for a long list of press contacts)
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To: Politicalmom

Alright, I stand corrected on that. However, she was told NOT TO DO IT, and clearly it was a judgement call by the school authorities.

If she continued to do it--and from the story it appears that she did--then she asked for it.

Period.


45 posted on 11/12/2004 10:51:41 AM PST by jra
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To: Jedidah
Schools' primary task is to teach, and creating a safe and disciplined atmosphere is one step in that process

School or ComradeCitizenbot factory?

46 posted on 11/12/2004 10:52:46 AM PST by Oztrich Boy ("The true character of liberty is independence, maintained by force". - Voltaire)
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To: Politicalmom

So did we. And a lot of other things. I'm sure there's more to this story. Has to be. Suspension seems to be a bit much. Back in the good old days, the girl could have had a spankin', and that would have been that. :)


47 posted on 11/12/2004 10:55:13 AM PST by petitfour
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To: jra
a judgement call by the school authorities.

School authorities don't make judgement calls

48 posted on 11/12/2004 10:55:52 AM PST by Oztrich Boy ("The true character of liberty is independence, maintained by force". - Voltaire)
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To: jra

Where do you draw the line? If girls are told to stop doing cartwheels and handstands, are they allowed to play jumprope? What about hopscotch? Are kids allowed to run "unsupervised" on the playground?

Where do you draw the line and say, "Ok, that is just ridiculous, let the kids play!"


49 posted on 11/12/2004 10:57:26 AM PST by Anitius Severinus Boethius
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To: Tempest

Please, tell us more. I would like to have more context. Was the girl in the lunchroom? Does she misbehave often?


50 posted on 11/12/2004 11:01:21 AM PST by petitfour
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