Crime and Punishment

A New York city fourth-grader was sent to the principal's office and nearly suspended for bringing a 2-inch toy gun to school.

Nine-year-old Patrick Timoney and a friend were playing with Legos in the cafeteria at Public School 52 in Staten Island when Patrick produced the tiny plastic machine gun and put it in the hands of a plastic police officer.

After Patrick's mother got a call from the school, his parents met with the principal and persuaded her not to discipline him if he agreed to leave the toy gun at home.

The boy's father, a retired policeman also named Patrick Timoney, says principal Evelyn Mastroianni "went overboard."

The boy's mom is still burned up over the whole issue. "The principal called me and said, ‚ÄòI'm sorry, I never meant for it to go this far,‚'" said Laura Timoney, who also received a call from the superintendent.

"She sounded upset," said Timoney, unmoved by the call from Public School 52 Principal Evelyn Mastroianni. "I think she is sorry that this is happening. I wish she was sorry for Patrick."

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." We can imagine a 21st century adaptation that applies to this situation: "A 2-inch plastic toy is not a weapon, you idiot."

In continuing coverage of this little drama, the phrase "handled badly" comes to mind.

Remember when a first-grader kissed a girl he liked without asking her first and got suspended? Then one middle-schooler shared a Midol with another and was practically accused of drug dealing?

One unfortunate casualty of the escalation of violence in our schools seems to be common sense. Yes, our children need to be protected, but being rash has taken over responding rationally; drastic action should only be taken when the situation requires it.

Interpreting policy is part of a Principal's job description-or it used to be. So I say let the policy-makers leave the educators some "wiggle-room," and let them get on with their real job: educating our future. That ought to be a sufficiently difficult assignment, all by itself.

Source: New York Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com



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