Plastic cupcake soldiers induce hysteria.

[Father Heathen]

Dad outraged after Mich. school removes plastic soldiers from son's birthday cupcakes - Washington Times

What do you think; was the school's actions rational or excessive?

 

[Revoltingest]

Put me in the excessive camp.
(You may interpret that both ways.)

 

[Me Myself]

Tink the school is being ridiculous.

 

[Kerr]

I guess I can understand the schools actions, but its still pretty ridiculous.

 

[BSM1]

Are you kidding? Every try to chew one of those things.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

While tying them together with the Sandy Hook incident is absurd, the less militarized the mentality in our schools the better. It's not like they suspended the kid, or anything else that was rash. They simply removed the toys and sent them home with the kid. Seems they handled it rather well.

 

[dawny0826]

While tying them together with the Sandy Hook incident is absurd, the less militarized the mentality in our schools the better. It's not like they suspended the kid, or anything else that was rash. They simply removed the toys and sent them home with the kid. Seems they handled it rather well.

A WWII soldier is a depiction of American history. I could argue that the school is comprised of dumb dumbs who miss out on opportunities to incorporate toys into history lessons.

 

[ChristineES]

We have a word for that, it's called paranoia. It is somewhat (notice I said "somewhat") understandable after what happened in Connecticut, but that's going too far because it isn't even close to the same thing. It is silly.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Simply another symptom of human beings' overall inability to accurately determine relevance and causation. This often results in overreaction in ways which are ridiculous and nonsensical, and underreaction in ways which are more relevant and useful.

In the case of gun violence and mass shootings, it results in silliness like this, instead of a rational, reasonsed, and honest approach to understanding and mitigating the factors which actually result in gun violence. Of course, our style of public discourse which seems to primarily be based on rhetoric, paranoia, and mindless reactiveness, doesn't really lend itself to productive discussion and solutions.

 

[Revoltingest]

Schools & teachers should refuse to allow or accept pictures of violent war makers & terrorists.....

 

[ChristineES]

When are stores going to ban G. I. Joe? (Sorry)

 

[YmirGF]

Well, at least the kid wasn't nibbling a Pop Tart in the shape of a mountain, that a deranged teacher saw as being the shape of a gun. I wonder if the kids at the school above needed to have the Trauma counselors called in to assuage their horror stricken feelings at the sight of little toy soldiers?

 

[4consideration]

I think it is silly to make a big deal of it, either way.

But, it strikes me as a little odd if even the public schools (government run schools) consider its own representatives (soldiers, and little plastic ones at that) to be some sort of bad guy, or enemy. Apparently no distinction can be acknowledged in a "no tolerance" environment between the perpetrators of violence and the defenders.

I think we have a whole generation of kids that will eventually grow up and realize that the people running things really are complete idiots.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think we have a whole generation of kids that will eventually grow up and realize that the people running things really are complete idiots.

Every generation realizes this.

And then they go on to become the new generation of idiots running things.

 

[arhys]

Anything not to get sued. Paranoid school officials are is just a symptom of a larger societal disease.

 

[Alceste]

I'm shocked and disgusted that this story made it into a newspaper.

 

[Draka]

From what I read on it, their reasoning was that some parents didn't allow their children to play with or have any toy that was gun related so they removed them to prevent the children from taking them home and having upset parents calling the school and complaining. They would prefer sending the toys home with the original child, with the parents that obviously didn't have issue with them, rather than take the chance that some other parents would flip out over them. Can't win for losing.

 

[NIX]

The icing is far more dangerous to the children than the plastic figurines.

Unless they were planning to eat them.

 

[dawny0826]

From what I read on it, their reasoning was that some parents didn't allow their children to play with or have any toy that was gun related so they removed them to prevent the children from taking them home and having upset parents calling the school and complaining. They would prefer sending the toys home with the original child, with the parents that obviously didn't have issue with them, rather than take the chance that some other parents would flip out over them. Can't win for losing.

I think the school meant well and did their best. I really do. It was quite reasonable and fair to offer another solution for the cupcakes.

But, it does trouble me when school officials have to be so concerned over "assumed" offenses. It's a toy and it's genuinely harmless and it depicts no less violence than our history books. Unless we want to forget all about WWII, I really don't understand why a small plastic man is that big of a deal.

Though they meant well and I disagree that this type of story should have been a "story" to begin with...the school did, to an extent, bring criticism upon themselves.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I think we have a whole generation of kids that will eventually grow up and realize that the people running things really are complete idiots.

I suspect they already know.

I still remember the rifle club in my school, dressing up in period costumes with muskets and such..........

Hard to believe just how dense and addle minded educators have become, but there you go.