Imaginary Weapon, Real Suspension

These days, guns and school safety are the biggest hot button topics around.   No one wants innocent children being harmed, whether it be by a crazed gunman or some other student who decided to bring a parent”s pistol to school.  But, at some point, we must remember that we can’t abandon common sense in the name of safety.  That advice goes particularly to a Colorado elementary school that suspended a second grader who was exercising his imagination during recess by pretending to stop imaginary bad guys with an imaginary weapon.

The seven year-old boy was playing a game he made up called “rescue the world” at Loveland, Colorado’s Mary Blair Elementary.  During the course of this game, the boy threw an imaginary grenade into a box where his imaginary evil forces were hiding.   There were no threats to other students.  There was no real weapon or dangerous object involved.  Just a boy pretending to be a hero.

So, why exactly, was the boy suspended?  Apparently, the school has a list of “absolute” safety rules that result in automatic suspension if broken.  The list proscribes fighting and weapons, which makes perfect sense.  The list also bans “imaginary” fighting or weapons.  So we’ve got a school that can suspend kids for the strict liability crime of using their imagination.

It might be time for everyone to step back and take a deep breath.