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Instagram gun photo 'like' sparks alarm, suspensions at Butler County school
Situation resolved for one student who explained his 'like' was harmless
It doesn't say if the airsoft gun had an orange tip and I can't find the picture online yet. The caption was the word "Ready." Unknown if the instagram said anything else.
On Thursday, school officials at Edgewood Middle School in Trenton suspended the 13-year-old student after discovering he liked a picture of a gun online.
"My wife called and said he'd been pulled in to the office, and he was being suspended because he liked a picture on Instagram that his friend posted .. of a weapon, of an airsoft gun," Marty Bowlin said about his son, Zach. "It was 10 days suspension with the possibility of expulsion. I'm like, 'For liking a gun? Did he make a comment or threat or anything?' And it's like, 'No. He just liked a picture.' I'm like, 'Well, this can't happen.'"
Bowlin said his son's decision to like the photo of the gun, which included the caption "ready," was harmless.
"I mean, I figured he'd cleaned his gun and was ready, wanting to play and stuff," Zach Bowlin said.
Zach says the photo shows an airsoft gun that shoots pellets.
"The young man that posted it and my son, and probably four or five other kids, play airsoft in our field," Marty Bowlin said. "So I pretty much knew what it was about. So I really wasn't concerned."
While Zach's parents weren't worried about their son's decision to like the image, it was a much different story for school leaders.
"When you're dealing with school districts nowadays and there are pictures of guns, regardless of the kind of gun it is, it's a gun," Edgewood City Schools Superintendent Russ Fussnecker said. "And there are certain images or words, I can't determine if that's playful or real. And until I can get to an investigation, I have to look into it, those students have to be removed."
That meant suspensions for Zach Bowlin and the young man who posted the photo online.
"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. . . Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them."
- Thomas Paine
"Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem."
If I had to sell everything I owned I would sue them for their entire budget.
Former Navy and ANG
CCW holder/Instructor
NRA Basic pistol instructor
Range Safety Officer
Personal Protection inside and outside the home instructor
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Defensive pistol instructor
I'm sure this will upset other parents in the district. But, mad enough to attend school board meetings and raise a stink about this PC gone amok? Probably not, they might miss an episode of "The Bachelor" or something equally important.
Quit worrying, hide your gun well, shut up, and CARRY that handgun!
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1911 and Browning Hi Power Enthusianado.
This was plain and simply, None Of Their Business...
No, I am not a policeman. I am a mercenary praying for peace on Earth.
I don't want a tactical advantage. I want the bad guys to repent and find a new line of work.
747tech wrote:If I had to sell everything I owned I would sue them for their entire budget.
I would do everything humanly possible to ensure that those responsible could no longer occupy their present positions, or any future position in the "educational" industry.
I would make them VERY aware that they were under a microscope and that if they BLINKED wrong it would be the subject of intense publicity and possible civil action.
By the time I was done with them, they'd look like twitching WWI shellshock victims.
Life comes at you fast. Be prepared to shoot it in the head when it does.
Since when does a school district have the authority to police the things that you do and say outside of school? This is an alarming trend that really needs to end. I agree with those above - sue the district and make an example of them.
“Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”― George Carlin
scottb wrote:Since when does a school district have the authority to police the things that you do and say outside of school? This is an alarming trend that really needs to end. I agree with those above - sue the district and make an example of them.
They DON'T, and if father has a brain and gonads, they'll find out in civil court.
And that of course doesn't count the vicious negative publicity campaign he should be waging against the perpetrators. If he's got any sense, he's digging up dirt on them with a back hoe.
Life comes at you fast. Be prepared to shoot it in the head when it does.
Why would it make any difference if the gun was real or not? I would be shopping for lawyers and looking for a judgment that would require a new school levy to pay off.
Below is the statement given to FOX19 NOW by Superintendent Russ Fussnecker:
“Concerning the recent social media posting of a gun with the caption “Ready”, and the liking of this post by another student, the policy at Edgewood City Schools reads as follows:
The Board has a “zero tolerance” of violent, disruptive, harassing, intimidating, bullying, or any other inappropriate behavior by its students.
Furthermore, the policy states:
Students are also subject to discipline as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct that occurs off school property when the misbehavior adversely affects the educational process.
As the Superintendent of the Edgewood City Schools, I assure you that any social media threat will be taken serious including those who “like” the post when it potentially endangers the health and safety of students or adversely affects the educational process.”
We have reached a new level in the pussification of America. Not only eating a Pop Tart into the shape of a gun, or using the old pointer & thumb "hand" gun will get you suspended or expelled, but merely "liking" anything related to guns....even toys appearing as guns, will threaten/trigger the little snowflakes.
Below is the statement given to FOX19 NOW by Superintendent Russ Fussnecker:
“Concerning the recent social media posting of a gun with the caption “Ready”, and the liking of this post by another student, the policy at Edgewood City Schools reads as follows:
The Board has a “zero tolerance” of violent, disruptive, harassing, intimidating, bullying, or any other inappropriate behavior by its students.
Furthermore, the policy states:
Students are also subject to discipline as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct that occurs off school property when the misbehavior adversely affects the educational process.
As the Superintendent of the Edgewood City Schools, I assure you that any social media threat will be taken serious including those who “like” the post when it potentially endangers the health and safety of students or adversely affects the educational process.”
We have reached a new level in the pussification of America. Not only eating a Pop Tart into the shape of a gun, or using the old pointer & thumb "hand" gun will get you suspended or expelled, but merely "liking" anything related to guns....even toys appearing as guns, will threaten/trigger the little snowflakes.
Keep in mind sticking your hand in your pocket during a robbery and making the victim think you have a gun takes it from robbery to aggravated robbery.
I am not a lawyer. My answers are based on research, knowledge, and are generally backed up with facts, the Ohio Revised Code, or the United States Code.
JediSkipdogg wrote:Keep in mind sticking your hand in your pocket during a robbery and making the victim think you have a gun takes it from robbery to aggravated robbery.
JediSkipdogg wrote:Keep in mind sticking your hand in your pocket during a robbery and making the victim think you have a gun takes it from robbery to aggravated robbery.
While that is true, I fail to see your point.
We perceive allot to be worse than it is as we as the public allow it under the law. If we support the idea of the appearance of a gun in a pocket without actually seeing said gun then how do we not support the idea that liking a gun online does not equate to possibly using it down the road in a threat.
Keep in mind I do not support this idea, but after columbine allot has changed. The two involved there basically laid out their entire plan online and nobody picked up on it not days, but months prior to the attack. It simply at that time was at what point do you stop them. ANF that leads us to today's article and problem. It's a fine line for schools and law enforcement and one in a decision I wish to not make.
I am not a lawyer. My answers are based on research, knowledge, and are generally backed up with facts, the Ohio Revised Code, or the United States Code.
School administrators are well paid because they supposedly posses superior intelligence, education and judgement. Then they blindly follow some brain dead zero tolerance policy. Ridiculous. No excuse. Might as well go get a monkey and train it to push the expel button any time it sees anything resembling a gun.
That said, I can understand how we got here. Whenever there is a shooting in a school, a mass shooting anywhere for that natter, there is a lynch mob comes out to search for someone to blame OTHER THAN THE ACTUAL SHOOTER. School administrators are right in the line of fire. no wonder they are paranoid.
I believe in American exceptianalism
Fear the government that fears your guns
NRA endowment life member