libertyjam
06-12-2013, 11:14 AM
Got to condition those minds young!
http://www.examiner.com/article/toy-gun-buyback-violates-school-policy-sends-conflicting-message-to-students
An elementary school toy gun “buyback” conducted Saturday in Hayward, Calif. offered children a chance to win bicycles in exchange for violating a school policy that does not authorize exceptions.
"Playing with toys guns, saying 'I'm going to shoot you,' desensitizes them, so as they get older, it's easier for them to use a real gun," Strobridge Elementary Principal Charles Hill maintained in a Mercury Daily News report, with absolutely nothing to substantiate his ignorant, offensive and absurd claim.
"If we want older kids to not think guns are cool, we need to start early," Hill proclaimed, revealing his interest is manipulating the way children entrusted to his care perceive and react to issues, that is, by adopting the beliefs that agree with his. In other contexts, this would rightfully be perceived as educational malpractice and psychological child abuse.
Responsible Citizens of California Press Secretary and Oakland Gun Rights Examiner Yih-Chau Chang rightfully objected, arguing “this doesn't really educate children about guns or gun safety [and] guns … are more often used in defensive ways which prevent violent crime from occurring in the first place."
The Hayward “buyback,” misnamed because the "purchasers" did not own the toys in the first place, did more than pump children's heads full of deceptive propaganda designed to affect their current and future behavior, beliefs and choices, however: It also blatantly violated published school policy.
The Strobridge Elementary Student Handbook dictates to students and parents (in English and Spanish) that “The following items are deemed dangerous objects and are prohibited. If a student possesses, offer [sic], sell [sic], furnish [sic] or brandish [sic] these items, they will be confiscated and are grounds for immediate suspension and recommendation for expulsion. Items will not be returned and may be used as evidence in an expulsion hearing or turned in to the Police Department. (State Education Codes 48800 and 48815)”
Among those prohibited items with such draconian consequences are “real weapons, imitation weapons [and] replica weapons,” with no exceptions carved out for those ignoring the rules under the urgings of Charles Hill. Stated first in the “School Values” section, handbook readers are reminded “No weapons, real, toy or pretend.” There is no caveat specifying "unless the same people who will punish you for violations offer you a chance to win a bike."
In other words, students are being shown firsthand that adults who impose the rules and punish them for violations are free to do the exact opposite when it suits their agenda. While the unintended consequence of that example may be a lesson in the way the adult world works, at least when “progressives” have their way, this isn’t the first time this column has highlighted such contradictory hypocrisy on the part of education officials: A school “gun safety” contest held in South Carolina rewards kids for drawing pictures of guns when the message disparages them, while students drawing guns in any other context are subject to discipline.
This is nothing less than political brainwashing under the authority of government, and is demonstrably destructive to the ends of true gun safety, as avoidance, ignorance and fear have never been rational substitutes for education and training.
That should tell us all we need know about the methods and motives of those who run Strobridge Elementary.
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A new GUNS Magazine "Rights Watch" column is now online. Click here to read "Police State Europe.”
If you're a regular Gun Rights Examiner reader and believe it provides news and perspectives you won't find in the mainstream media, please subscribe to this column and help spread the word by sharing links, promoting it on social media like Facebook (David Codrea) and Twitter (@dcodrea), and telling your like-minded friends about it. And for more commentary, be sure to visit "The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance."
http://www.examiner.com/article/toy-gun-buyback-violates-school-policy-sends-conflicting-message-to-students
An elementary school toy gun “buyback” conducted Saturday in Hayward, Calif. offered children a chance to win bicycles in exchange for violating a school policy that does not authorize exceptions.
"Playing with toys guns, saying 'I'm going to shoot you,' desensitizes them, so as they get older, it's easier for them to use a real gun," Strobridge Elementary Principal Charles Hill maintained in a Mercury Daily News report, with absolutely nothing to substantiate his ignorant, offensive and absurd claim.
"If we want older kids to not think guns are cool, we need to start early," Hill proclaimed, revealing his interest is manipulating the way children entrusted to his care perceive and react to issues, that is, by adopting the beliefs that agree with his. In other contexts, this would rightfully be perceived as educational malpractice and psychological child abuse.
Responsible Citizens of California Press Secretary and Oakland Gun Rights Examiner Yih-Chau Chang rightfully objected, arguing “this doesn't really educate children about guns or gun safety [and] guns … are more often used in defensive ways which prevent violent crime from occurring in the first place."
The Hayward “buyback,” misnamed because the "purchasers" did not own the toys in the first place, did more than pump children's heads full of deceptive propaganda designed to affect their current and future behavior, beliefs and choices, however: It also blatantly violated published school policy.
The Strobridge Elementary Student Handbook dictates to students and parents (in English and Spanish) that “The following items are deemed dangerous objects and are prohibited. If a student possesses, offer [sic], sell [sic], furnish [sic] or brandish [sic] these items, they will be confiscated and are grounds for immediate suspension and recommendation for expulsion. Items will not be returned and may be used as evidence in an expulsion hearing or turned in to the Police Department. (State Education Codes 48800 and 48815)”
Among those prohibited items with such draconian consequences are “real weapons, imitation weapons [and] replica weapons,” with no exceptions carved out for those ignoring the rules under the urgings of Charles Hill. Stated first in the “School Values” section, handbook readers are reminded “No weapons, real, toy or pretend.” There is no caveat specifying "unless the same people who will punish you for violations offer you a chance to win a bike."
In other words, students are being shown firsthand that adults who impose the rules and punish them for violations are free to do the exact opposite when it suits their agenda. While the unintended consequence of that example may be a lesson in the way the adult world works, at least when “progressives” have their way, this isn’t the first time this column has highlighted such contradictory hypocrisy on the part of education officials: A school “gun safety” contest held in South Carolina rewards kids for drawing pictures of guns when the message disparages them, while students drawing guns in any other context are subject to discipline.
This is nothing less than political brainwashing under the authority of government, and is demonstrably destructive to the ends of true gun safety, as avoidance, ignorance and fear have never been rational substitutes for education and training.
That should tell us all we need know about the methods and motives of those who run Strobridge Elementary.
------------
A new GUNS Magazine "Rights Watch" column is now online. Click here to read "Police State Europe.”
If you're a regular Gun Rights Examiner reader and believe it provides news and perspectives you won't find in the mainstream media, please subscribe to this column and help spread the word by sharing links, promoting it on social media like Facebook (David Codrea) and Twitter (@dcodrea), and telling your like-minded friends about it. And for more commentary, be sure to visit "The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance."