Seven Year Old Suffolk Boy Suspended For Bringing Toy Gun On Bus

WTKR ^ | 12.21.2005

[Hadean]

A seven year old Suffolk student is in big trouble for brandishing a toy gun while on his school bus.

According to Suffolk police, the seven year old was riding bus 194 down Shoulders Hill Road, on his way to Florence Bowser Elementary, when the other students noticed he had a gun.

The bus driver pulled the bus over and took the first graders backpack which had the gun inside. Police identified it as a toy gun, but the penalties for having a toy weapon, can be as severe as having the real thing.

Like most schools, Suffolk has a zero tolerance policy. Kristine Stewart's daughter attends Florence Bowser and she agrees with the policy."I don't think they should tolerate that. It's well put out that the kids shouldn't bring guns to school any kind of gun. Last year a note did come home saying that they're not going to tolerate not toy guns not water guns, nothing, cause there are too many toy guns that look real." she added.

Over the past few years, the number of students bring "look-alike" weapons to school in Suffolk has been on the rise. In 2000, just five look-alike weapons were confiscated, but last year, the number escalated to 24. "Often a toy gun can look like a real gun and threaten people and scare people so we have included that in our zero tolerance, but zero tolerance means that every student in every case is treated the same," said school spokesperson Bethanne Bradshaw.

In most cases the child is suspended, as in this case. But age also plays a factor. And school administrators offer advice to keep other children from ending up in a similar situation in 2006.

In this case school administrators suspended the first grader. However, because he's under ten years old he will have an administrative hearing to determine what the final disciplinary action will be. Had he been 11 years old, he'd now be facing an expulsion hearing.

In hopes of preventing situations like this from happening in the future, Suffolk schools offers this advice.

"Its Christmastime and we know some children might be getting toy guns or toys tat look like knives. We hope that they will keep those home and not bring them for show and tell, because we do have a zero tolerance policy," Bradshaw said.

School officials say children under ten could also face an expulsion hearing "if" they threaten someone with the look-alike weapon or if it's their second offense.

[The Red Zone]

that's so obviously fake, look at the doodads at the back, they are molded into the plastic.