Plastic cupcake soldiers induce hysteria.

[Alceste]

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.

The school didn't "bring criticism on themselves". The Dad called the newspaper. I always wonder about people who do that, and also wonder about the accuracy of their version of events.

 

[Draka]

The school didn't "bring criticism on themselves". The Dad called the newspaper. I always wonder about people who do that, and also wonder about the accuracy of their version of events.

Actually, had the dad in question not thrown a tissy, you can almost bet some other random parent would have upon getting the toy sent home with their child instead. They would have called the school, throwing a fit about allowing little kids to have toys depicting guns or some other stuff, and maybe taken it to the media themselves. People are just getting nuts these days. Honestly, can't we just trust in parents nowadays that if their kid comes home with some random toy they, for some reason or another, don't approve of, to just take it away and have it done with? Everyone tip-toeing around everyone else's delicate little sensibilities is just getting insane. People need to man-up and stop whining like, and worse, than their children.

 

[Twilight Hue]

The school didn't "bring criticism on themselves". The Dad called the newspaper. I always wonder about people who do that, and also wonder about the accuracy of their version of events.

I think it was defensive on the fathers part. Seems the school crossed a line interfering with his childs private affairs.

Personally I don't see how a toy soldier can cause that type of response yet again if it interfered with a childs studies i can side with the school. I remember my teachers desk full of confiscated toys that were returned at the end of the day.

If that was the case, then this is blown out of proportion by the media IMO.

 

[Alceste]

I think it was defensive on the fathers part. Seems the school crossed a line interfering with his childs private affairs.

Personally I don't see how a toy soldier can cause that type of response yet again if it interfered with a childs studies i can side with the school. I remember my teachers desk full of confiscated toys that were returned at the end of the day.

If that was the case, then this is blown out of proportion by the media IMO.

It just seems silly to me that -

1) A parent would get so upset about this that they would call the newspaper.
2) The newspaper would mistake it for a news story
3) We're talking about it as if it is a news story.
4) Many of us seem to be interpreting this isolated incident as a national epidemic of political correctness.

 

[Falvlun]

I wonder how they teach history in that school. Do they blot out the photo of Iwo Jima too?

 

[Falvlun]

4) Many of us seem to be interpreting this isolated incident as a national epidemic of political correctness.

There does seem to be an outbreak, what with the poptart gun, toy guns, gun sketches, etc resulting in heavy-handed school responses. But then again, maybe schools always were this stupid but just now we are hearing about it.

 

[Father Heathen]

It just seems silly to me that -

1) A parent would get so upset about this that they would call the newspaper.
2) The newspaper would mistake it for a news story
3) We're talking about it as if it is a news story.
4) Many of us seem to be interpreting this isolated incident as a national epidemic of political correctness.

It's the fact that the school feared possible backlash from parents who might've been outraged over the fact that their child was exposed to plastic depiction of WW2 soldiers. It's not a legitimate, rational concern. I think this window into society's mindset (paranoia, hysteria, etc.) is news worthy.

 

[Alceste]

There does seem to be an outbreak, what with the poptart gun, toy guns, gun sketches, etc resulting in heavy-handed school responses. But then again, maybe schools always were this stupid but just now we are hearing about it.

Perhaps there is an outbreak of hysterical parents realizing newspapers will print their petty complaints.

The US is a big country. 300 million people. It seems to me that one altercation over a pop tart and one altercation over toy soldiers is not enough data to draw any conclusions about the general attitude of childhood educators in America.

 

[dawny0826]

The school didn't "bring criticism on themselves". The Dad called the newspaper. I always wonder about people who do that, and also wonder about the accuracy of their version of events.

Or the accuracy of our jacked up media? You never know.

I think it's ridiculous to run to the media over this, but whenever we do something that opposes another we open ourselves to criticism.

 

[Alceste]

Or the accuracy of our jacked up media? You never know.

I think it's ridiculous to run to the media over this, but whenever we do something that opposes another we open ourselves to criticism.

That much is true. Schools are filled with petty disputes, questionable decisions and over-reacting parents. Pretty much anything you do as a teacher is going to delight one parent and annoy another. It's a tough job.