Modesto school suspends five year old for "terrorist" threat

[NewYorkExpress]

http://www.sfgate.com/news/education/article/California-school-suspends-boy-for-terroristic-12215570.php

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Has this school never heard of the idea that five year olds have hyper-active imaginations?

[SoLongAtlas]

Better safe then sorry. Before everyone jumps my s**t Atlas style, this is done all the time in the ME, esp. using kids and backpacks or vests as pawns. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine a cell using these tactics in the US or elsewhere or being inspired by radicalism online.

Hyperactive imagination, probably. Guess wrong though and open the bag and the switch trips if the kid was actually telling the truth, then at least the people in the immediate blast radius are dead.

[dead0man]

If he was a Muslim this would have a been a world wide news phenomenon when it happened a month ago.


(also, OP, your link is broken and your quote is all messed up)

[Sirius_]

I find it pretty insane that we hold 5 year olds to the same level of scrutiny as adults when it comes to terrorism. We all know, there have been so many child suicide bombers in the US, right? Children tend to have very active imaginations, and shouldn't be suspected of terrorism without any evidence of an actual weapon.

[SoLongAtlas]

I find it pretty insane that we hold 5 year olds to the same level of scrutiny as adults when it comes to terrorism. We all know, there have been so many child suicide bombers in the US, right? Children tend to have very active imaginations, and shouldn't be suspected of terrorism without any evidence of an actual weapon.

So let's just trust everyone with a claim of an bomb, even kids, be the claim right or wrong. Sounds like a great security protocol. For the record, every bomb squad in the military or police takes every claim seriously because if it's a fake, you won't know until the inspection and if it's real, people would need to be cleared out anyway. The school was right in making this kid have a day off to think about it and hopefully FBI is doing further investigations to see where he got the idea of saying what he said, movies or TV shows or possibly overhearing his parents or people he knows say similar things. This kind of thing is very real and should not be taken lightly.

[Sirius_]

I find it pretty insane that we hold 5 year olds to the same level of scrutiny as adults when it comes to terrorism. We all know, there have been so many child suicide bombers in the US, right? Children tend to have very active imaginations, and shouldn't be suspected of terrorism without any evidence of an actual weapon.

So let's just trust everyone with a claim of an bomb, even kids, be the claim right or wrong. Sounds like a great security protocol. For the record, every bomb squad in the military or police takes every claim seriously because if it's a fake, you won't know until the inspection and if it's real, people would need to be cleared out anyway. The school was right in making this kid have a day off to think about it and hopefully FBI is doing further investigations to see where he got the idea of saying what he said, movies or TV shows or possibly overhearing his parents or people he knows say similar things. This kind of thing is very real and should not be taken lightly.

Let's just ignore the fact that I said five year olds and not everybody. Also, no inspection was ever done of the child's backpack. There was no evidence, no due process, no prior reason of suspicion, and as far as I can tell, no incidents of a child ever committing an act of terror in the US. I would be fine with it if they had ANY good reason to send them home, but all they have is an empty threat from a five year old who didn't want to give his backpack to his teacher.

[MasterJedi]

There's nothing wrong with giving the kid a short suspension at that age, it's not like they expelled him. Good way to teach him how what he did was a very bad thing.

[Santander]

You have to take this kind of threat seriously. It's not the same as suspending a kid for bringing a water pistol to school or some of the other crazy things we've seen in the news in recent years.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I literally hate how big of a pussy most school boards are but this is over the line. 

It's the suspensions for shooting a kid with your finger, or some other such nonsense that drive me crazy.

This kid needs to cool his heels for a bit.  Shame the parents can't be disciplined.  They're often the problem.

[Mike Thick]

You have to take this kind of threat seriously. It's not the same as suspending a kid for bringing a water pistol to school or some of the other crazy things we've seen in the news in recent years.

Bingo. Even if it seems like overkill, the younger that kids learn that this is a terrible thing to do, the better.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

There's nothing wrong with giving the kid a short suspension at that age, it's not like they expelled him. Good way to teach him how what he did was a very bad thing.

Have you ever met five year olds?

[SteveRogers]

I find it pretty insane that we hold 5 year olds to the same level of scrutiny as adults when it comes to terrorism. We all know, there have been so many child suicide bombers in the US, right? Children tend to have very active imaginations, and shouldn't be suspected of terrorism without any evidence of an actual weapon.

So let's just trust everyone with a claim of an bomb, even kids, be the claim right or wrong. Sounds like a great security protocol. For the record, every bomb squad in the military or police takes every claim seriously because if it's a fake, you won't know until the inspection and if it's real, people would need to be cleared out anyway. The school was right in making this kid have a day off to think about it and hopefully FBI is doing further investigations to see where he got the idea of saying what he said, movies or TV shows or possibly overhearing his parents or people he knows say similar things. This kind of thing is very real and should not be taken lightly.

I don't think anyone is saying that the backpack shouldn't have been checked out, only that the utility in punishing the kid once the backpack was determined not to be a threat is dubious.

[dead0man]

I don't think anyone is saying that the backpack shouldn't have been checked out, only that the utility in punishing the kid once the backpack was determined not to be a threat is dubious.

Apparently the only way to teach a 5 year old things are bad is to kick him out of school for a few days and then have a national news story made of it.

[Santander]

I don't think anyone is saying that the backpack shouldn't have been checked out, only that the utility in punishing the kid once the backpack was determined not to be a threat is dubious.

Apparently the only way to teach a 5 year old things are bad is to kick him out of school for a few days and then have a national news story made of it.

It sure as hell would get the parents' attention and make them educate their kid on the subject, which is a more valuable lesson than anything he'd learn in school. (I'm not saying it's the parents' fault) Plus, when I was in school, getting suspended was cool. He'll be a 5-year old Steve McQueen when he goes back.

[Reaganfan]

I literally hate how big of a pussy most school boards are but this is over the line. 

It's the suspensions for shooting a kid with your finger, or some other such nonsense that drive me crazy.

This kid needs to cool his heels for a bit.  Shame the parents can't be disciplined.  They're often the problem.

Yeah gotta agree with this one.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I think a meeting with the parents, the principal, the student, and the teacher together would be the best.  That many "authorities" all agreeing that what happened was no laughing matter would probably be enough for a 5 year old to "get it".

[Cactus Jack]

If he was a Muslim this would have a been a world wide news phenomenon when it happened a month ago.

Well, let's not lie to ourselves: had he been Muslim, he probably would have been expelled.

In any case, a lesson needed to be taught, although I doubt if suspension was the way to go. Small children are impressionable little s**ts as a general rule, so bizarro behavior like this isn't worth making into a huge spectacle.