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Post by gatormom on Dec 11, 2008 12:16:11 GMT -5
I am a little confused by this. Two kids bring an air gun to school but they meant no harm, even though they loaded it (judging from the bb's found) at school. I say they had some plan whether it be windows or just to mess around with friends or not such good friends.
The Aurora Police Department spends the day, wasting how much money?, searching the school and looking for the air pistol. A day of education is lost for our students and yet, they are charged with a misdimeaner, disorderly conduct.
A couple years back a child brought a mercury thermometer to Waubonsie and it broke. That family had to pay for the clean up. There wasn't even a rule in the book stating, don't bring mercury to school but there were consequences.
I wonder what the consequences are going to be here.
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Post by momto4 on Dec 11, 2008 12:27:43 GMT -5
I am a little confused by this. Two kids bring an air gun to school but they meant no harm, even though they loaded it (judging from the bb's found) at school. I say they had some plan whether it be windows or just to mess around with friends or not such good friends. The Aurora Police Department spends the day, wasting how much money?, searching the school and looking for the air pistol. A day of education is lost for our students and yet, they are charged with a misdimeaner, disorderly conduct. A couple years back a child brought a mercury thermometer to Waubonsie and it broke. That family had to pay for the clean up. There wasn't even a rule in the book stating, don't bring mercury to school but there were consequences. I wonder what the consequences are going to be here. Yes, we do have to wonder at the intent of the students and hope that the consequences are somehow fitting for the problems they caused. What is the cost of a wasted day of school for thousands of students and dozens of educators and administrators? And for the parents? I hope that this was actually a useful exercise for local law enforcement as long as this did not keep them from more urgent matters and all turned out well.
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Post by gatordog on Dec 11, 2008 12:36:01 GMT -5
The disorderly conduct charge is what they were hit with yesterday. They could still be charged with more things, if the prosecutor feels its warranted. We have to trust the prosecutor's office to do their job now, just like the law enforcement officers and school admin did yesterday for us.
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Post by wvhsparent on Dec 11, 2008 15:01:32 GMT -5
FWIW I was informed that it was an airsoft pistol. It however looked like the real thing to the student who saw it.
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Post by gatordog on Dec 11, 2008 16:04:26 GMT -5
FWIW I was informed that it was an airsoft pistol. It however looked like the real thing to the student who saw it. A friend who is a shooting enthusiast asked that very thing. they asked "was it an Airsoft Pistol"? I was told they are designed and marketed to look just like real weapons. But they are airguns shooting some plastic pellet. (boy, there is great product for the market place )
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Post by asmodeus on Dec 11, 2008 16:16:40 GMT -5
Saying they had no intent is naive at best. We have no idea what they had planned, other than bringing a weapon and ammo to school.
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Post by wvhsparent on Dec 11, 2008 18:57:38 GMT -5
Saying they had no intent is naive at best. We have no idea what they had planned, other than bringing a weapon and ammo to school. No, that is an experienced police officer making that assessment after the event concluded, and knowing the "weapon" and "ammo" were toys........... Still a very stupid/reckless act by the kids.........
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Post by asmodeus on Dec 11, 2008 19:58:28 GMT -5
I thought BB guns could cause physical harm -- is that incorrect?
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Post by gatormom on Dec 11, 2008 21:53:25 GMT -5
I thought BB guns could cause physical harm -- is that incorrect? You'll shoot your eye out!
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Post by wvhsparent on Dec 12, 2008 8:56:55 GMT -5
I thought BB guns could cause physical harm -- is that incorrect? I am assuming you have never experienced an AirSoft gun......and I don't mean that in a bad way. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoftwww.airsoft.com/I suppose you could poke an eye out. They shoot plastic "BBs" not metal.......I think you would hard pressed to break the skin with one of the ones sold here in the US. The real problem with these "toys" is their realistic look. Many have taken the liberty to darken the orange tip. I have several in evidence, that if you were to put the airsoft gun next to the real thing, you would have a hard time tellling them apart, even at fairly close range.....That IMO is the really scary part......
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Post by concerned on Dec 12, 2008 12:55:43 GMT -5
When my kids played with their airsoft guns it was under strict rules. Only to be used in our backyard and they were to wear goggles. These BB's could cause eye damage and I have seen many of bruises on faces of kids hit by these. Could they cause serious injury no, but they should not be in school.
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Post by gatordog on Dec 12, 2008 13:43:02 GMT -5
There was talk about metal detectors. Interestingly enough, I dont think metal detectors would have prevented this problem. I would be willing to bet if you removed the gas cylinder, there woulnt be enough metal in an Airsoft to set one off. Depending on sensitivity of the metal detector, even keeping the small pressurized gas bottle, that may have not set of the metal detector either. (wvhp may know better)
We are back to the point that you have to be incredibly stupid to bring this to school. And not only will the law deal with you, but no doubt we will be providing for alternative education for these boneheads.
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Post by gatordog on Dec 12, 2008 17:15:56 GMT -5
the superintendent's message from district email:
This has been a challenging week for our community with Waubonsie Valley High School placed on lockdown on Wednesday. This was the first time one of our schools was placed on a major lockdown. I would like to commend our staff and the police for the job they did in keeping our children safe. I would also like to thank the Waubonsie Valley students and parents for their patience and cooperation during what was a very stressful time. Thank you also to the many community members who have sent supportive emails and phone calls to both the school and the district.
We provided parents updates via phone calls, emails, and information posted online. We also had district representatives, along with the Aurora Police, providing information and answering questions to all those who gathered at the Eola Community Center. But in situations such as this, the one piece of information that we all anxiously waited for was the "all clear" from the police.
During the coming days we will continue to debrief with our staff and with the Aurora Police Department to learn from Wednesday's activities. Although we hope there will never be a "next time", our meetings will help us focus on lessons learned and discuss areas that could be handled differently in the future.
I encourage you to take a moment to talk with your children about the serious consequences associated with making threats and/or bringing weapons or look-alike weapons to school. There is nothing more important than keeping our children safe, and the decisions our students make are critical to our success.
Thank you for your continued support.
Stephen Daeschner Superintendent
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Post by title1parent on Dec 16, 2008 6:23:39 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/opinions/1332536,6_4_NA16_LETTERS_S1.article Sun LTE 12/16/08Gun scare shouldn't overshadow concert The events at Waubonsie Valley High School last week were, without a doubt, sad and disturbing. Sadder still is the fact that two students, using extremely poor judgment, caused so many young people and their parents to endure a day filled with misinformation, fright and terror. And, while I understand that the events of that day are headline-grabbing, last evening's magnificent Prism dress-rehearsal and upcoming concerts also deserve headline status. On Wednesday night, after a day in which the entire student body at WVHS was locked down for more than five hours, some 700 students, teachers, and parent volunteers came together for a final dress-rehearsal for the annual Prism concert. It was truly an awe-inspiring evening to watching these young people share their passion and joy for music with our community, despite the adversity which filled their day. During the finale, which included each and every one of their smiling faces, beautiful voices and instruments, the audience was moved to tears by the beauty of their sound and the peace which filled the auditorium. I hope that we, as a community, will celebrate the accomplishments and hard work of all the WVHS students and staff and especially those who put together this spectacular concert! Sheila Sandgren Naperville
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Post by title1parent on Dec 16, 2008 6:28:48 GMT -5
Totally agree with this LTE. The Prism Concert helped the week end on a positive note.
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