13 year old suspended for drawing picture of a gun.

[Sterling]

MESA, Arizona — Officials at an Arizona school suspended a 13-year-old boy for sketching what looked like a gun, saying the action posed a threat to his classmates.

The boy's parents said the drawing was a harmless doodle and school officials overreacted.

"The school made him feel like he committed a crime. They are doing more damage than good," said the boy's mother, Paula Mosteller.

The drawing did not show blood, bullets, injuries or target any human, the parents said. And the East Valley Tribune reported that the boy said he did not intend for the picture to be a threat.

Administrators of Payne Junior High in nearby Chandler suspended the boy on Monday for five days but later reduced it to three days.

The boy's father, Ben Mosteller, said that when he went to the school to discuss his son's punishment, school officials mentioned the seriousness of the issue and talked about the 1999 massacre at Colorado's Columbine High School, where two teenagers shot and killed 12 students, a teacher and themselves. Mosteller said he was offended by the reference.

Chandler district spokesman Terry Locke said the crude sketch was "absolutely considered a threat," and that threatening words or pictures are punishable.

This is total Bullshit! School administrators have been given way to much power and actually think they are gods. What kind of threat could they have taken froma kid drawing a picture of a gun. Hell, I did the same thing when I was growing up. The NRA should get involved here and fight for the future of our country. When offical take away our right to simply draw a picture of a gun what do you think is next?

Here's a link to the article which shows the picture of the gun the kid drew. It's not even a good drawing.

FOXNews.com - Arizona School Suspends 13-Year-Old Boy for Drawing Gun - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

[Haul Asp]

One could argue that it isn't a gun at all. They have taken the Columbine and other nutjob cases to the wall, so they can limit parental authority and increase the state authority. It's big brother thought police plane and simple.

[chrish]

I wonder what they'd do with me now if I was 8 years old and drawing swastikas on all my school papers and starting up my own "Adolph Hitler Club"

The nuns weren't too thrilled with it back in the late 60's. Somehow I think they might get a little more upset about it these days.

It's good I'm not growing up (physically) in today's world.

[Haul Asp]

Me too. I think I'd be in prison or drugged up on the latest cure for all your kid's ailments.

[battlebot]

Colorado's Columbine High School, where two teenagers shot and killed 12 students

Columbine has nothing to do with anything. With that logic, no one could draw an image of a middle eastern man because of 9/11/01, where half a dozen men killed three thousand plus defenseless citizens.

Or a car considering Princess Diana in London, where a drunk man and a support column collided which killed her.

Or a glass of water because of that woman in California, where she drank like 15 bottles of water killing her.