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Students Banned From Bringing Pencils To School

mernilio writes "According to UPI: 'A Massachusetts school district superintendent said a memo banning sixth graders from carrying pencils was written without district approval. North Brookfield School District interim Superintendent Gordon Noseworthy said Wendy Scott, one of two sixth-grade teachers at North Brookfield Elementary School, did not get approval from administrators before sending the memo to all sixth-grade parents, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported Thursday. The memo said students would no longer be allowed to bring writing implements to school. It said pencils would be provided for students in class and any students caught with pencils or pens after Nov. 15 would face disciplinary action for having materials 'to build weapons.'"

3 of 426 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Fear mongering 101 by jav1231 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Teachers as a demographic of college graduates represent the lower half of the GPA pool. In short, while there are thankfully notable exceptions, they are generally the dumber of our nation's college students. I give you this article as yet another clear illustration. As Boortz has said, sending your children to a government school in the U.S. is tantamount to child abuse.

  2. Re:The pen[cil] is mightier than the sword! by erroneus · · Score: 0, Troll

    Did murder STOP? No. I didn't attempt to compare rates.

  3. Re:The pen[cil] is mightier than the sword! by erroneus · · Score: 0, Troll

    Idiot. Seriously. That is not what I said. Where Japan is concerned SPECIFICALLY did I say that violence has been changed? No. Specifically, the context I speak of Japan is that related to whether or not it has stopped. Previous to my mention of Japan, I was speaking in generality.

    So no. I definitely did not.

    Guns have been controlled in Japan for so long, there can be no effective study related to increases or decreases as the Japan prior to and after the U.S. occupation are two very different cultures.

    With all that said, I have spent a considerable amount of time in Japan. The news papers are filled with gruesome stories of killing by means of knives and bludgeons.

    And what does that say about the real problem? It's not the tools that are used, it's the people.

    The only effective studies that can connect changes in gun laws and changes in the rates of crime can be done for rather specific populations in shorter periods of time. For example, Texas enjoyed a remarkable decrease in crime after the CHL was made available. Same for other states. Please name a state where crime went up after CHLs were made available? I can certainly not name any. In the other direction, however, it can be shown where increased gun control has connections to increased crime. Have a look at some of the N.E. US for wonderful examples of such increases in spite of the fact that crime in the U.S. is generally decreasing. While I am sure there are factors other than gun control at play, increasingly prohibitive gun laws seem to follow the direction of the crime rate in every single region affected. And what's more, the guns used are most often illegal and not used by any registered owners. I think the picture painted there is pretty clear.