4 yr old drawing causes dad's arrest (shared through another member)

[buddy]

Another member shared this and I thought I'd post it here. Some people have lost all common sense.

http://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/...b_ref=post_bottom&fb_source=profile_multiline

 

[susiestar]

I am glad that teacher never saw what Wiz was drawing. He filled reams of paper with drawings of people (usually Jess or I or husband) strapped to bombs, being shot, tied up, about to be hit by trains, even one with me tied to 4 horses that were going to all run in different directions. He did have a problem with violence, but we got help for it and he didn't actually DO those things. He did once create a "stink bomb" but he didn't quite understand what it was. He cut a piece out of his bedsheet, put about half a cup of various spices into the center, tied it shut and tried to throw it and make it "explode' with stink. he ended up with a room that smelled pretty bad because he did it in his room, not in the room of the person he was mad at.

this was stupid. in my opinion it is part of the problem that stems from hiring people just out of college who have no real world experience. no one has any clue what they are doing and they arrest people because their kids are creative.

 

[keista]

Just WOW!

 

[tiredmommy]

Duckie once drew a picture of the Devil in a bikini... can't imagine the reaction for that one if it would have been in a parochial school! (On a positive note, we would have been sure at a young age she didn't need to exorcised, lol!)

 

[buddy]

I think I have said this somewhere but my friend (taught with her at the school for d/hh kids) has two kids with Autism. Her hubby is from Iran. They decided to move there to help the boys understand their culture and get to know that side of the family well. After two years, she told hubby she was moving back to the USA because there was no understanding in the schools for her son (and she was working as a teacher there) she said he can come if he wants to. He loves them so he did. (she was afraid they would end up hating their culture rather than what their goal was).

So at home (they were still young, he is now graduated as of last year) he drew a picture of a plane over the school with bombs coming down. Instead of thinking of the middle eastern culture he had learned about, some of the fears and anxieties, etc... they said it was a threat. Now, this kid is truly autistic. He tests low but has always received a's and b's in classes and his high interests tend to be in political/social areas and he really does think about this stuff all of the time.

It was so beyond ridiculous. This peaceful, loving family. This child with high anxiety and autism. Just crazy that they didn't just talk to him about it.

I think the zero tolerance thing, along with people who have no common sense and likely for some of our kids there is some racial/cultural profiling going on too.....it all makes for a very sad situation.

If, what people said was, gee I am concerned and then there was talk, with the parents, and if they agreed, with the child, etc...so much more could be done to find the real kids who may in the future grab guns and hurt people, or be living with people who hurt them, etc.

Yet for this little girl, I suspect she is just going to be scared to confide in anyone. If I were her parents I may even encourage her to not tell things to the police in the future, just out of fear. This teacher and especially those who actually over-reacted beyond her level....did a real disservice to this child, family and probably the kids around her

 

[Hound dog]

Ridiculous. Personally, I hope the man hires a D@mn fine lawyer and sues the hold hades out of them. (and I'm normally not fond of lawsuits)

I think if anyone knows children, probably 99 percent of what they draw has little or nothing to do with reality, it's going to depend on the child. This is a ridiculous over reaction that started with the teacher and went totally out of control.

I had a step brother once who loved to draw men with guns shooting each other, bloody...violent scenes, bombs the whole deal. He drew these consistently. Teacher became concerned because it was ALL he drew. She had a conference with my step dad and mom. Step dad explained that my 6 yr old step brother loved war movies, he wanted to be a general when he grew up....... Ahhh, makes sense. The child did have access to several guns, except he was taught from toddlerhood not to go near them, taught what harm they could do, taught safety.......had his own gun to go hunting and target shooting with his dad. And didn't have a single inkling to pick one up and take it to school. After the talk with the teacher, he did make some attempts to draw other things for variety, but the bulk of what he drew was still blood and gore. lol

This type of thing in my opinion is NOT going to prevent a kid from bringing a gun to school. In my hometown alone we had to incidences in HS, and in both cases neither set of parents even owned a gun. The kids picked them up by other means.

 

[trinityroyal]

This incident happened in a town not too far from me.

I'm treading carefully, because I don't want to stray into political territory. Canada has VERY strict gun control laws, and the province of Ontario more so than most. The mere thought of a gun induces out-and-out panic, hence the over-reaction from all of the agencies.

If the little girl had drawn a battle axe or a sword, none of this would likely have happened. But because she drew a G-U-N, there was utter chaos and overreach by the agencies and the police.

As for pursuing this through legal means, the likelihood of his suit being successful (even though he`s RIGHT) is slim. Very slim.

 

[TeDo]

Thanks for putting it in perspective Trinity. I guess that is one HUGE difference between our countries. I know I tend to "globalize" things at times only to be proven totally wrong. If this had happened in the US, it would have caused an outcry.

 

[Hound dog]

Hmm. I didn't realize this happened in Canada. That's what I get for reading before I finish my coffee. lol Your gun laws are vastly different from ours, as are many countries.

It puts it more into perspective, but still a horrible over reaction, none the less. It would have been sensible to at least speak to the parents first, I'd think.

 

[DammitJanet]

I realize it was Canada...but it was a toy gun they found...and that was after they arrested the man. Are your laws such that you can be arrested prior to having the facts investigated first? Im not saying that here it always works like it should but ideally, the crime should be investigated to know whether or not such a thing even occurred. A simple child's drawing should have been investigated more deeply before actually arresting this man.

 

[trinityroyal]

I realize it was Canada...but it was a toy gun they found...and that was after they arrested the man. Are your laws such that you can be arrested prior to having the facts investigated first? Im not saying that here it always works like it should but ideally, the crime should be investigated to know whether or not such a thing even occurred. A simple child's drawing should have been investigated more deeply before actually arresting this man.

Janet, I am 100% in agreement with you. The school teachers and other officials went WAY over the top in their reaction to the drawing, especially since the father was well known and apparently well liked at the school. They arrested him, arrested his wife, took 3 of their 4 children into police and Children's Aid custody for questioning, and were going to put the couple's baby in foster care, but the mother in law was able to take her.

The teacher saw a gun and panicked. And then the agencies got involved and also panicked. And now they're falling back on the "for the good of the children" excuse. The Minister of Education for the province has been in full-blown CYA mode.

TeDo, there WAS and IS a huge outcry, and rightly so. My point was really that because of our gun control laws and the way our legal system works, the father doesn't really have a prayer of getting any satisfaction from the courts. He would be put through the ringer for nothing.

 

[DammitJanet]

That is just plain awful. You know, truthfully, because it is Canada, I would have thought that your authorities would have been a bit more laid back. You do have stronger gun laws which would make it much more uncommon for their to be an illegal gun involved. I would have thought they would have jumped faster at a drawing of a kid hanging or a kid slicing and dicing. Kids see people with guns everywhere these days. Even cartoons have guns. And I am amazed someone could actually decipher a 4 year olds drawing that well. Must be a very good artist. Most 4 year olds are doing good to get a circle, two lines for legs and maybe two lines for arms if you are lucky.

 

[trinityroyal]

That is just plain awful. You know, truthfully, because it is Canada, I would have thought that your authorities would have been a bit more laid back. You do have stronger gun laws which would make it much more uncommon for their to be an illegal gun involved.

There's a lot of fear surrounding guns, especially in urban areas where very few people own guns. People are unfamiliar with them and I think as a result they're very scared of them.
Strangely enough, the way the gun laws are written it's so difficult to own a legal one that the only people who have them are the criminals.

None of the newspapers have printed an image of the little girl's drawing, so I don't really know what the gun she drew looked like. Remembering my own childhood scribbles, I suspect it was a stick-gun, just like 4-yr-olds draw stick-people.

 

[HaoZi]

I would try expressing my own version of how overreacting and overreaching I think this is, but I think it's all been said already.

 

[HopeRemains]

I had just left CM, you got me sucked back in for a minute, =). That article was outrageous. I hope they sue and win.