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14 Year old boy to be charged as a criminal

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Salty

Salty

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Andrew Mikel II, currently in the JROTC was planning on attending the Naval Academy. However, that dream may end if he is convicted of assault.

What dastardly action did Mikel do, to demand a criminal record.

He had the audacity to throw spitballs. The school has a zero tolerance policy.

Now, I am not suggesting that the kid get off scott free, but a criminal conviction? Even a 12 month suspension is too much.

Do you agree with the 1 year suspension - if not, what punishment would you dole out, if you were the principal?
 
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MamaCW

New Member
I can see why school's would want to up their punishments (just look at the kids today...i was in middle school between 1997-2000, freshmen 2001, and I know how ruthless kids were when i was in school...I see the people my sister who's a freshmen goes to school with and they are just ridiculous..)..however.. assault conviction with a 1 year suspension? WOW..that's a little overboard..
 
carpro

carpro

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Salty said:
Andrew Mikel II, currently in the JROTC was planning on attending the Naval Academy. However, that dream may end if he is convicted of assault.

What dastardly action did Mikel do, to demand a criminal record.

He had the audacity to throw spitballs. The school has a zero tolerance policy.

Now, I am not suggesting that the kid get off scott free, but a criminal conviction? Even a 12 month suspension is too much.

Do you agree with the 1 year suspension - if not, what punishment would you dole out, if you were the principal?
Click to expand...


Ridiculous.
 
S

sag38

Active Member
I would have been under the jail if these over-reactive rules had been in place when I was in school. Whose to blame? You can blame parents and lawyers who love to sue, sue, sue anytime a child is deemed to have been treated unfairly. School administrators were no longer allowed to use discretion. Discretion has been tossed out the window in today's lawsuit happy environment. So, the schools had no choice but to enact zero tolerance rules that have no leeway whatsoever.
 
Benjamin

Benjamin

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Maybe the laws have changed, but it used to be that when one turned 18 he could have his juvenile destroyed. At 18 my recruiter told me I would not be allowed in with a record and that they could check even though it was a juvenile record, so I went down town and exercised my right to have it destroyed, then signed up.
 
R

rbell

Active Member
"Zero Tolerance" is for school administrators that lack the morals to make wise judgments...and for administrators that lack the backbone to stand for anything.

Essentially, "Zero-tolerance" policies are for monumentally stupid and morally stunted administrators who have their heads firmly ensconsed in, shall we say, a cavity that was never intended for a human head to inhabit...
 
Salty

Salty

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rbell said:
"Zero Tolerance" is for school administrators that lack the morals to make wise judgments......
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or for schools that have had to endure lawsuits.....
even if the school wins - it will cost a lot of money for the defense
 
R

rbell

Active Member
Salty said:
or for schools that have had to endure lawsuits.....
even if the school wins - it will cost a lot of money for the defense
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It's time for some "loser pays" justice...frivilous lawsuit? You pay the cost for the other guy...
 
G

Gina B

Active Member
I'd wonder at the whole story.

First, what he brought to school is considered ammunition. Its original use appears to be for airsoft guns, which can cause *some* degree to people if used from the gun.

But no gun...sounds like he left the gun at home and just brought the ammunition (very different from a spitball!) and that's what turned his pen into what they're calling a weapon.

Was he asked to stop?
Did he stop when asked?
Did he argue with the teachers?

I can't believe an honor student wouldn't know that bringing ammunition to school is against the law. Wouldn't he know that it would immediately bring concern that he also brought the gun? He's 14 and an honor student in high school, not some silly, hair-brained 5 year old.

Were there other things taken into consideration? Did he have a past history of any threats or violence?

From the little bit allowed to be shared on the news, it definitely does sound like a major over-reaction. This is more punishment than kids get for physical violence.

That's why I gotta wonder if there's more.

I would hope there isn't, for his sake, and that this can get resolved. Being an honor student is great, but there's a lot of smart criminals out there too. Unfortunately there's also a lot of people out there without much common sense who will criminalize relatively normal behavior before heaven forbid anyone deviate from a written policy, we might all melt.

Weird. The whole thing is weird and something's not right either way.
 
S

sag38

Active Member
A plastic ball is not real ammunition. Yes, he should be punished. But, to give him a criminal record? Give me a break.
 
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freeatlast

New Member
There really is not enough information to know. They have a zero tolerance policy on weapons and they should. Someone might debate if this was a weapon, but I think it was. it could have put someone's eye out.
The punishment does seem extreme on the surface, but the story is also one sided. This is why parents need to be deeply involved with school boards and if they are unhappy with them boot them off.
 
Salty

Salty

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Administrator
freeatlast said:
They have a zero tolerance policy on weapons and they should..
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Would you consider a fingernail file a weapon?

what about candy canes?

So Free at Last - do you still believe in Zero tolerance!!!!

BTW, zero tolerance in NY State for a BAC in regards for a teen while driving is that he can have no more .02 BAC (that means a teen could actually have up to one 12 oz beer and be legal! - The real purpose of that is for otherwise leagl sustances that could produce a BAC.
 
F

freeatlast

New Member
Salty said:
Would you consider a fingernail file a weapon?

what about candy canes?

So Free at Last - do you still believe in Zero tolerance!!!!

BTW, zero tolerance in NY State for a BAC in regards for a teen while driving is that he can have no more .02 BAC (that means a teen could actually have up to one 12 oz beer and be legal! - The real purpose of that is for otherwise leagl sustances that could produce a BAC.
Click to expand...

Yes I do believe in zero tolerance on weapons.
 
Crabtownboy

Crabtownboy

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1. The title is misleading. A plastic ball, even a small one, is not a spit ball. A plastic ball could cause pretty severe damage to a person's eye. They had enough force to cause welts on a female student's arm. [ http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/022011/02032011/604793 ]

I remember my brother perfected a way of shooting real spit wads through the metal tube taken out of a ball point pen. He could get a lot of force and they hurt when they hit. I remember that well.

2. He is 14 and young, even older teenagers, do not think before acting. It is normal. Their brain has not fully developed and thinking of consequences is not part of their thinking ... and probably their ability to think.

3. It does seem a bit excessive to throw him out for the rest of the year. Let him have a short expulsion and then perform 200 hours of community service.

4. Seems a lot of people on the BB who claim to be conservative and law and order folk are taking a liberal stance on this one. I find that ......... :laugh:
 
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