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6-Year-Old Brings Gun to School Update: Who Should Be Punished, The Child or His Parents?
Police cars surround Ross Elementary
Houston Police spent the day at Ross Elementary School in Northwest Houston. They were there to reassure everyone that the school is safe after three children were injured when, investigators say, one of them brought a loaded gun onto the campus yesterday.
As Strollerderby reported yesterday, a 6-year-old brought a loaded gun to school, and when it fell from his pocket in a crowded cafeteria, it fired one shot. He said the boy who brought the weapon was apparently shot in the leg, while a 6-year-old boy and a 5-year-old female classmate were injured by debris from the gunshot.
Investigators haven’t released where the boy got the gun, but officers are in the process of interviewing his parents and other witnesses, so a decision on filing charges against the parents will likely be made in the coming days. The parents, whose names have not been released, were allowed to go to the hospital to be with their injured son.
Juvenile officers say the child would likely be moved to a disciplinary alternative education campus that is available for elementary kids who bring weapons to school or cause other problems. Police cannot discuss disciplinary matters, but the district’s code of conduct states, “Students under the age of 10 who bring firearms to school shall be expelled for a term of one year, and the term of the expulsion shall be modified in order to allow for their education in an alternative education program for a year.”
Although bringing a gun to school is a very serious matter, I think six years old is too young to expel a student. It would likely cause more harm than good, at this point. If it’s true that the boy got the gun from home, I think the parents are solely to blame and should be the only people facing disciplinary action. The boy was injured, spent time in the hospital and is likely scared too death. He’s been through enough.
What do you think? Is six old enough to know better? Should the boy face discipline involving a year of expulsion and be placed in an alternative program with troubled kids?
Image: Click2Houston.com
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2 Comments
goddess commented on Apr 20 11 at 7:00 pmPersonally, I wouldn’t want a kid in my own kids’; classes that had access to and was able to smuggle a gun to school. The lack of supervision and discipline indicates potential risk for all sorts of accidents- and not limited to firearms either.
In fact, Id’ protest strongly and loudly= perhaps putting my own child in another school, if need be.
SimplyAmy commented on May 05 11 at 12:28 amIf the gun was found by the child, in the parents home, then yes they should face criminal charges. If it was not, then they should be charged as stupid for not teaching their son to touch guns.
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