Nebraska toddler being asked to change his name

F

Falcon5NZ

New member
So this was brought up on YotaTech (a Toyota 4X4 forum I frequent.)

Long story short a 3 y/o deaf boy is being asked to change his name because of the way it is signed.

... because the way he refers to himself in sign language resembles “weapons.” Apparently the Grand Island school district has a policy that prevents students from bringing “any instrument…that looks like a weapon” to school, and now hands can be considered “instruments.”...
Brian Spanjer, the boy’s father, added: “It’s a symbol. It’s an actual sign, a registered sign, through S.E.E. [Signing Exact English]”
Hunter signs his name by crossing his middle and index fingers– leaving his thumbs up– and then wagging his hands.
Click to expand...

I mean come on, It's his name! It's not like he'll be running round doing that to other kids yelling "Bang! You're dead"

When I was at school (which wasn't THAT long ago) we had a conservation area that was planted in natives and allowed to grow fairly wild. We turned it into a warzone. Cricket bat/hockey stick rifles, dirt clod and concrete lump hand grenades etc. It was fierce. Divided the school. I mean those concrete grenades drew blood! After having a few too many trips to the first aid room we were told "No more concrete" (obvious in hindsight but I was 9 or 10 at the time) and that was it. Now to see a kid is being asked to change his name because it resembles a gun when signed? There is political correctness and there is ridiculousness!
 
I just saw this on Yahoo news. Ya beat me too it, Falcon!

Over the years, I had thought that I had seen just about everything there was to see, and get highly agitated about, PC Zero Tolerance.

Well, I was wrong.

School asks deaf preschooler to change his sign language name

Three-and-a-half year old Hunter Spanjer, who is deaf, signs his name by crossing his forefinger and index finger and moving his hand up and down.

To his family, friends and those who know the Signing Exact English (S.E.E.) language that the Grand Island, Neb., boy uses, that gesture uniquely means "Hunter Spanjer."
Click to expand...

It seems that the school thinks this is some kind of facsimile of a gun (there is a video attached to the news report) and therefore the 3 1/2 yr. old child must change his sign!

We all knew that Zero Tolerance and PC was running amok... But this just has to take the cake.
 
What do you expect in my home state? My neighbors still fear the eclipse! That's what I get for living in a state founded by circus freaks :D:D
 
I saw a follow-up article on this that (to me) typified current educational thought processes. I read it three times, and the best I could get out of it was that the school department spokesman said that the school would never ask a student to change their name, they just don't want him to use his name.

:confused:
 
Wow so many possible legal ways to attack this in a law suit. The parents should file immediately, against the school and any individual that spoke against the child using their name.

The settlement should include all persons that spoke out against the child from every using/speaking their own name again.
 
If it was my son, I would tell the school that I respectfully agree. Then I would tell my son that going forward he should replace the sign for his name with the middle finger sign..... :)
 
From the article:
Sheard told NCN the school is working with the family. He said first priority is protecting their student.
Click to expand...

It appears their real "first priority" is CYA.
 
Mark Twain Would Have Loved This

We might as well elevate this thread to a higher level by including a timeless observation of one of America's greatest sons.

"In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards." Mark Twain, Following the Equator; Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar
 
A short, well thought out 1 or 2 sentence email to the superintendent and district communications guy (email addresses on their website) would likely have a more positive effect of helping the youngster out.

Having been on the receiving end in a different situation, (where all involved are ever mindful that all of those emails do become public record), 5-10 well written emails could change the tide for Hunter.

Simple themes (such as their district really looks silly in your local paper, or what are their districts priorities) are more likely to drive the point home to management level decision makers than calling them "Jane, you ....... ...." from an old Saturday Night Live Akroyd / Curtin skit.

Just a thought...
 
jimbob86 said:
http://www.1011now.com/home/headline...167784235.html

School backed down from it's PC stupidity.
Click to expand...
That's the follow-up article I referred to several posts above yours, and I don't interpret it as the school board backing down. What they're really saying is "We aren't asking him to change his name, we're just requiring him to use a different [sign] language to say his name in."

In other words, they're trying to say one thing while doing another.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top