Derby Boy Suspended

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Eight year old Austin Spohn of Derby, KS was suspended three days from school for bringing this Chuck E. Cheese noisemaker to class in his backpack.

According to the Derby School's policy notebook, a weapon is considered anything that has a projectile, like a firearm or an explosive, or a switchblade, knife even a throwing star. But the toy gun was found in Austin's backpack. It's a toy, a noise maker from Chuck E. Cheese that the principal at Park Hill Elementary believes is dangerous.

Read Derby's Weapon's Policy

"She said its any kind of a gun, anything that resembles a gun, anything in a gun form," says Austin's stepfather Daryl Green.

According to the district, this falls under the district's no tolerance policy. "I asked if while I understood the policy could it be applied with some judgement and some common sense," says Green.

Green says Austin is a slow learner with ADHD and missing three days of school will only put him further behind. "Austin has never been a discipline problem, their own form shows that this is the first incident."

Austin's parents believe administrators are trying to make an example out of their son instead of teaching him a lesson.

"This goes in his records and other schools are going to see this when he moves, middle school, high school and there going to have him flagged as some delinquent child," says Green.

His parents say Austin should not have bought a toy to school, but he's far from dangerous.

I'm beginning to think school administrators live for this sort of thing - "Oh, boy, we get to enforce policy! Common sense be damned!"

But, I'm one of those Bible and gun clingy types who just doesn't get nuance, so I'm probably highly prejudiced in this regard. Of course it makes sense to get yer panties in a wad over a freaking noisemaker. It looks like a gun. It's for The Children®.