Posted on 10/11/2005 1:01:00 PM PDT by Shermy
Seven students from a junior high school in southern Norway were caught at the border between Poland and the Czech Republic in an apparent attempt to smuggle home weapons. They'd obtained the arms during a so-called "peace tour" with their class.
The students, from Blomdalen Junior High School in Mandal, were travelling in Poland and the Czech Republic to visit former concentration camps and study the importance of peace.
The group and their adult chaperone were stopped at the border while on their way home Friday afternoon. Police found them carrying a Kalishnikov automatic rifle, brass knuckles, knives and other potentially fatal weapons, reportedly purchased in Prague.
'Unfortunate incident'
The students' travel leader, Tor Bernt Sunde, called it all "a most unfortunate incident." He told local newspaper Fædrelandsvennen that "we couldn't make the rest of the group wait, so they travelled on to Berlin."
The eight mostly young Norwegians ended up being held for 13 hours and all the weapons were confiscated. The border police decided against pressing further charges and the group was released.
"But you can safely say that everyone was nervous," Sunde said. All were relieved when they were allowed to leave the border patrol station at 4am Saturday, and take a taxi to Berlin.
The taxi trip cost around NOK 4,000 (USD 600), "which those involved will have to pay for," Sunde told Fædrelandsvennen.
He said he doesn't intend to pursue the matter further either, other than to call the parents of the students involved. All the parents of students in the class were also to be informed of the smuggling incident at a general information meeting Monday evening.
Alcohol abuse as well
Some of the students, Sunde confirmed, had also been caught drinking alcoholic beverages in Krakow, which prompted tour leaders to take them to the local police station for breathalyzer tests. Five of 11 tested positive, and one student was so drunk that he passed out.
"Unfortunately, there's often a small group of students that set themselves apart in a negative way," said Sunde, who's been taking students to Poland and Germany for years. "In the future, we must try to catch them at an earlier point and either refuse to allow them to come along or insist that their own parents are among the escorts."
I wonder if any of them were actually native Norweigians.
Protection against Muslims another possibility.
We used to purchase an assortment of illegal weapons on school trips to France, but an AK47?
This is such an odd sentence, because failing to go to war against Hitler and the Third Reich would have meant those concentration camps would have operated until the final goal was achieved. They should have been studying the importance of war.
In an elementary school where I very frequently substitute teach, they recite the peace pledge every morning and have a working program called "peacemakers", complete with a fully-paid staff member who goes from room to room with lessons about peace.
I have not noticed any difference in the behavior of the students, having been there 8 years and the programs were instituted later than that. They are the same as students at another school, where I work. Socio-economic backgrounds are similar for both schools.
I will not say which particular demographic of the teaching professions, find these programs to be useful. Actually everyone in the field is at least partially responsible for this utter tripe.
When they find that this program is not working, they will try another equally silly and ineffective program.
Excellant question. But if not, we will never get an excellant answer
GIVE PEACE A CHANCE THROUGH SUPERIOR FIREPOWER...YEAH BABY!!!
Sorry, had to do it.../snickers
Peace through superior firepower.
That would be my choice.
My kind of field trip! Those students should be welcomed as heroes!
Usually without ending the old silly and ineffective program.
"visit former concentration camps"
I would say that these students truly learned something and commend them! Armed people do not go to concentration camps at the very least they take some tyrants with them
You beat me to it.
I've been to Dachau...and I'll never go back.
/shudders
(was in the late 70's and the place still reeked of evil Nazism.)
Apparently, the peace message thing zipped right by these children. I makes you wonder who the Norwegian libs are going to blame. American video games, American TV, Tommy Hilfiger?
I do believe those po' chirlins misspelled "Kumbaya".
Oh, really?
Well, maybe your school tours were different from mine...
Maybe the kids had the right idea smuggling in weapons. Instead of studying the importance of peace, they should be getting taught the importance of defending freedom. Had that been the lesson taught to european and Brit children in the 30's, those prison camps may never have come into existance. By the way, anyoneknow where the kids found the kalashnikov? I could use a couple.
I wonder what part of them was elderly.
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