DENVER—A 9-year-old Grand Junction student has been suspended for bringing a toy gun to school in his backpack, even though the principal says the boy apparently had forgotten it was there.
“We are here to educate kids, not punish them, but there is a state law that requires a child who brings even a facsimile of a gun to school to suffer consequences,” said Ann Ashwood-Piper, principal of Holy Family Catholic School, where the student was suspended.
The incident, first reported in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, occurred Thursday. Another student spotted the item and told a teacher. Police were called and quickly determined it was a toy and said they believed the boy meant no harm.
His name has not been released.
Schools across the country have imposed no-tolerance policies on weapons after the massacres at Columbine High School in 1999 and Virginia Tech this year. In both cases, officials were accused of ignoring warning signals from the killers.
Two Arizona students were suspended this month for drawing pictures of guns, one at a junior high in Chandler and another at a grade school in Mesa.
Both schools came under criticism. Psychologists say even nonviolent children can be interested in guns because they are so prevalent in the culture.
Holy Family’s policy, provided to parents and students in a five-page document, warns that any student who brings a weapon or anything capable of being used as a weapon to school will be expelled.
It also includes a broad statement on suspensions: “The primary purpose of suspension is to give the student, his/her parent(s), and the school the time needed for a resolving a problem.”
Ashwood-Piper said the school’s board will decide when the boy can return. The school manual says he would have to complete the work he missed during his suspension.
Holy Family offers preschool through eighth grade.
She emphasized that there was no interruption of school during the incident Thursday. “The kids in his classroom didn’t even know.
