Overreacting To A Mischievous Child

Back in the days of dinosaurs when I was young, children sometimes got into mischief. Car windows were occasionally soaped, yards were occasionally toilet papered, cherry bombs were occasionally set off, etc. Admittedly, some of these activities were not totally safe or constructive, but they were considered part of childhood mischief. Parents were informed, and appropriate actions were taken. End of story. Somehow we have gotten away from that basic concept–parents are no longer called, and sometimes dealing with childhood mischief (which can be a pain in the neck) is delegated to a higher authority (not necessarily an authority with wisdom). That is what happened in a recent incident in Virginia Beach.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted an article yesterday about a student playing with a pellet pistol in his own front yard. He is facing expulsion from school for a year because of his actions.

The article reports:

A suspended seventh grade Virginia Beach student will find out soon if he is expelled for the rest of the year for shooting an airsoft gun.

Like thousands of others in Hampton Roads, Khalid Caraballo plays with airsoft guns. Caraballo and his friend Aidan were suspended because they shot two other friends who were with them while playing with the guns as they waited for the school bus.

The two seventh graders say they never went to the bus stop; they fired the airsoft guns while on Caraballo’s private property.

If Caraballo shot as his friends while they were playing, he needs to be strongly disciplined–he does not have to be expelled from school for a year. If he was simply playing in his own yard, it is none of the school’s business. At the very least, I think I would replace the pellet gun with a nerf gun and teach the child never to point a weapon at another person.

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