http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/03/20/sixth-grade-girl-stops-classmate-from-cutting-himself-then-gets-a-shocking-punishment/
"When sixth-grader Adrionna Harris noticed a classmate cutting his arm with a razor blade, she convinced him that his behavior wasn’t a good idea and managed to get the blade from him — and she threw it away.
Apparently no teachers were around during the incident last Thursday, and Harris viewed the circumstances as an emergency.
Turns out her actions were officially recognized by Bayside Middle School in Virginia Beach, Va. — but Harris won’t be tucking any certificates into a scrapbook.
She got a notice of a 10-day suspension and threat of expulsion after telling the administration last Friday what happened — and it’s apparently due to the school’s zero-tolerance policy regarding weapons on campus,WAVY-TV in Hampton Roads, Va. reported.
“I took the razor blade, and then I threw it away immediately…I didn’t carry it around the school…I didn’t use it against anyone…I threw it away,” she told WAVY..............
“I felt she did the right thing,” Harris’ mother told WAVY. “Under the circumstances, she thought he would bleed out, as he was cutting himself, and there was no teacher in sight. It was a 911 situation, and there wasn’t time to find a teacher.”.......................
Harris told WAVY she’d do it all over again: “Even if I got in trouble, it didn’t matter because I was helping him…I would do it again even if I got suspended, yes.”
Even without having read the actual policy, I can state with more than reasonable certainty that this student did not in any way violate it's prohibition of the possession of weapons on school property, yet people who earn their living running a school would rather pretend to be under the impression that she did. Why? Because it's easier to let students harm themselves (and potentially others) than to admit that a brave act that took initiative was the right thing to do. Rather than stand up to insurance companies and reiterate that students are told to avoid contact with any dangerous items but that even this policy must be exercised with a degree of discretion, they take the cowardly way out and suspend her.
I plan on emailing administrators of this brave young lady's school to let them know that they are acting in a manner that is a disgrace to their profession as well as being unjust to someone who sought solely to prevent a fellow student from harming himself. A post regarding a similar earlier event is included here:
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Many friends and readers emailed the school district treated in the previous post (below) and although I never was able to find out if the punishment was lifted, I can assure you that they caught a lot of hell for their similar move.
[NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING IS FROM AN EARLIER POST. IT IS LISTED TO PROVIDE EXAMPLES OF WHAT COULD BE INCLUDED IN A MESSAGE TO THE SCHOOL OFFICE WEBSITE LISTED ABOVE.]
On a school bus, a high school football player pulls a gun on fellow student. Three students step in to stop the assault. One of the three was able to wrest the gun away.
The latter student's thanks for this brave act?
-a three day suspension for being involved in a weapon-related incident.
Our Leftist society is needful of turning young men into sheep. Our boards of education unwilling to deal with complaints and lawsuits from parents of students who commit crimes. Our administrators write policies in a manner that allows them to hide behind the rules while punishing the good kids.
No one can affect to be under the impression that school administrators were so ignorant of the facts that they needed to take actions that are provided in district policies for situations that are true emergencies. I have no doubt that there were quite a few fellow students who were chomping at the bit to tell everyone what happened.
These actions will, as the intellectual elite are aware, only cause more people to be hurt and killed. They know fully well that the best way to make everyone helpless victims is to make potential sheepdogs afraid of getting into trouble.
If I were a police chief, I would send this kid a a letter telling him to stay out of real trouble and, on the very day he reaches the minimum age, to apply for a job at my agency
A representative of the district administration, utilizing a common practice of today that is effectively an admission of wrongdoing, cites a law and pretends to believe (Or pretends that we will believe) that his answer provides justification for his apathy, cowardice, and failure to stand up for what is right:
"We cannot discuss specifics involving students," said district spokesman Alberto Rodriguez in a statement. "Florida law allows the principal to suspend a student immediately pending a hearing."
The intent of emergency suspensions is to prevent a dangerous or violent act from occurring. If a student is acting violently, has been reported to have a weapon, or is believed to be planning to otherwise harm someone, then laws and policies such as these should be employed in order to keep students safe. These may occasionally be utilized to prevent further violence if a situation appears to be ongoing, but this incident in no way fits this criteria.
This is a disgrace.
I am locating the district website and, via email, explaining to the district officials what they need to do:
-Apologize to the student.
-Rescind the suspension and remove it from his record
-Commend him for his actions
-Change school policies to prevent an innocent from being punished before any effort is made to get a preliminary gathering of the facts
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