Young children suspended for harmless hand gesture

In the wake of several high-profile mass killings perpetuated by lone lunatics with guns, there is no denying Americans are embroiled in a contentious debate over how best to deal with such violence.

Barack Obama and the gun-grabbing left have their ideas, as do conservative patriots concerned with protecting our Constitutionally protected liberties.

When it comes to dealing with innocent children, though, almost everyone agrees we must diligently pursue a path to ensuring they can attend a safe school. Leave it to school administrators to take that idea to a level of absolute idiocy.

Such is the case with a disturbing trend of suspending very young children for making a hand gesture countless kids before them innocently made.
As you might have guessed, I’m referring to the thumb-index finger combination meant to playfully represent a gun.

Recently, three six-year-old students were suspended in two separate incidents at elementary schools in Maryland. What used to be an almost expected behavior – especially among young boys – is now grounds for serious punishment. It’s obvious first-grade aged kids do not intend to make any threats against others; they are just playing!

Nevertheless, overreactions abound and the children are sent home without fully understanding why. While the suspension of the first child was overturned, about two weeks a school in the same state imposed the same suspension on two schoolmates for the same reason.

A child psychologist weighed in on the decision, saying, “I do not believe maliciousness was involved here.” While he understood “that’s not a type of play they are going to endorse,” he added, “that’s where we educate the time and place for doing things.”

I might support a ban of the imaginary finger gun when used as an annoying greeting by adults, but targeting children for playing is a giant step in the wrong direction. Any attempt to create an environment devoid of any potentially offensive gestures is not only utterly impossible but will create a generation of Americans unable to handle the real world. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that horse has already left the barn.

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