The dreaded "chicken finger" has caused the suspension of a young boy in, of all places, Jonesboro, AR. Note the threatening way this young hooligan brandishes the offending piece of poultry.
DAMN! The links both died. Will try to pick it back up from their archive.
CHICKEN STRIP SUSPENSION Christopher Kissinger, 8, a first-grade student at South Elementary School in Jonesboro, holds up a chicken strip Tuesday at his residence. He was suspended from school for three days after an incident last Wednesday where he apparently pointed a chicken strip at a teacher at the school cafeteria and said "Pow, pow, pow."
Go here for the story: http://www.jonesborosun.com/article.php3?idnum=3&&db=news
Food 'gun' nets youth suspension
Sun photo by AARON SADLER
CHICKEN STRIP SUSPENSION Christopher Kissinger, 8, a first-grade student at South Elementary School in Jonesboro, holds up a chicken strip Tuesday at his residence. He was suspended from school for three days after an incident last Wednesday where he apparently pointed a chicken strip at a teacher at the school cafeteria and said "Pow, pow, pow."
By AARON SADLER
A Jonesboro boy suspended from a local school for pointing a chicken finger at a teacher has at least learned not to play with his food.
Christopher Kissinger, an 8-year-old first-grader at South Elementary School in Jonesboro, was suspended last Wednesday after an incident in the school cafeteria where school officials said he aimed a breaded chicken strip toward a teacher and said "Pow, pow, pow."
His mother, Kelli Kissinger is outraged that her son could serve a three-day suspension for an incident she saw as harmless. Christopher said he was only having fun with a classmate.
"The teacher thought I was pointing it at her, but I was pointing it at my friend," he said.
"I think a chicken strip is something insignificant," the boy's mother said. "It's just a piece of chicken.
How could you play like it's a gun?"
South principal Dan Sullivan said he was prevented by law from discussing the boy's suspension and refused to answer any questions specifically regarding the event.
According to a school discipline form provided by the boy's mother and signed by Sullivan, the child was suspended because he "took a chicken strip off his plate, pointed it at (a teacher) and said 'Pow, pow, pow,' like he was shooting her."
Sullivan said five students have been suspended for threats at the school during this school year. He said the Jonesboro district adheres to a zero-tolerance policy against weapons and threats, but discipline as a result of the policy is always within reason.
"It depends on the tone, the demeanor, and in some manner you judge the intent" of the threat, Sullivan said. "It's not the object in the hand, it's the thought in the mind. Is a plastic fork worse than a metal fork? Is a pencil a weapon?"
The boy served his suspension on Thursday, Friday and Monday at the Rivendell Day School, an alternative school set up for students suspended from their regular classroom.
The boy told The Sun he had been called down for talking in the cafeteria and was sitting at a lunch detention table when the incident took place.
Mrs. Kissinger said she had no reason to doubt the sincerity of her son, who denied he was threatening the teacher. She admitted that she thought a suspension might have been merited, but she was disturbed that her son received a three-day suspension at Rivendell for the offense.
"I don't doubt that he did it," she said. "But like his psychiatrist said, (the school) needs to be able to tell the difference between a threat and a playful act ... Chris has never been a violent child. He has an active imagination, but he's never been violent."
She said her son had been disciplined at the school before, for "little boy stuff" such as pushing another student or talking in class. Also, she added that Christopher's older brother was suspended from school earlier this year because he told another student a pellet gun was in his possession on school grounds.
Mrs. Kissinger added that she believed the suspension of her older son was warranted, but "this is a totally different situation."
Sullivan stressed that he discusses school policies with students, and policy handbooks are sent to parents each year. The school has zero-tolerance rules, he added, because the public believes those policies are necessary.
"It's got to be intimidating for a little kid to come to school these days," he said. "We've got a policeman on campus, but all these things are here because it's real. Most of these policies were put in place after the fact. People saw real threats to the safety and security of their students."
The principal said he decides on disciplinary action regarding threats by speaking with both parties involved in any incident and by determining whether the threat was made in a "frivolous or defiant" manner.
[Edited by jimpeel on 02-01-2001 at 02:20 PM]
CHICKEN STRIP SUSPENSION Christopher Kissinger, 8, a first-grade student at South Elementary School in Jonesboro, holds up a chicken strip Tuesday at his residence. He was suspended from school for three days after an incident last Wednesday where he apparently pointed a chicken strip at a teacher at the school cafeteria and said "Pow, pow, pow."
Go here for the story: http://www.jonesborosun.com/article.php3?idnum=3&&db=news
Food 'gun' nets youth suspension
Sun photo by AARON SADLER
CHICKEN STRIP SUSPENSION Christopher Kissinger, 8, a first-grade student at South Elementary School in Jonesboro, holds up a chicken strip Tuesday at his residence. He was suspended from school for three days after an incident last Wednesday where he apparently pointed a chicken strip at a teacher at the school cafeteria and said "Pow, pow, pow."
By AARON SADLER
A Jonesboro boy suspended from a local school for pointing a chicken finger at a teacher has at least learned not to play with his food.
Christopher Kissinger, an 8-year-old first-grader at South Elementary School in Jonesboro, was suspended last Wednesday after an incident in the school cafeteria where school officials said he aimed a breaded chicken strip toward a teacher and said "Pow, pow, pow."
His mother, Kelli Kissinger is outraged that her son could serve a three-day suspension for an incident she saw as harmless. Christopher said he was only having fun with a classmate.
"The teacher thought I was pointing it at her, but I was pointing it at my friend," he said.
"I think a chicken strip is something insignificant," the boy's mother said. "It's just a piece of chicken.
How could you play like it's a gun?"
South principal Dan Sullivan said he was prevented by law from discussing the boy's suspension and refused to answer any questions specifically regarding the event.
According to a school discipline form provided by the boy's mother and signed by Sullivan, the child was suspended because he "took a chicken strip off his plate, pointed it at (a teacher) and said 'Pow, pow, pow,' like he was shooting her."
Sullivan said five students have been suspended for threats at the school during this school year. He said the Jonesboro district adheres to a zero-tolerance policy against weapons and threats, but discipline as a result of the policy is always within reason.
"It depends on the tone, the demeanor, and in some manner you judge the intent" of the threat, Sullivan said. "It's not the object in the hand, it's the thought in the mind. Is a plastic fork worse than a metal fork? Is a pencil a weapon?"
The boy served his suspension on Thursday, Friday and Monday at the Rivendell Day School, an alternative school set up for students suspended from their regular classroom.
The boy told The Sun he had been called down for talking in the cafeteria and was sitting at a lunch detention table when the incident took place.
Mrs. Kissinger said she had no reason to doubt the sincerity of her son, who denied he was threatening the teacher. She admitted that she thought a suspension might have been merited, but she was disturbed that her son received a three-day suspension at Rivendell for the offense.
"I don't doubt that he did it," she said. "But like his psychiatrist said, (the school) needs to be able to tell the difference between a threat and a playful act ... Chris has never been a violent child. He has an active imagination, but he's never been violent."
She said her son had been disciplined at the school before, for "little boy stuff" such as pushing another student or talking in class. Also, she added that Christopher's older brother was suspended from school earlier this year because he told another student a pellet gun was in his possession on school grounds.
Mrs. Kissinger added that she believed the suspension of her older son was warranted, but "this is a totally different situation."
Sullivan stressed that he discusses school policies with students, and policy handbooks are sent to parents each year. The school has zero-tolerance rules, he added, because the public believes those policies are necessary.
"It's got to be intimidating for a little kid to come to school these days," he said. "We've got a policeman on campus, but all these things are here because it's real. Most of these policies were put in place after the fact. People saw real threats to the safety and security of their students."
The principal said he decides on disciplinary action regarding threats by speaking with both parties involved in any incident and by determining whether the threat was made in a "frivolous or defiant" manner.
[Edited by jimpeel on 02-01-2001 at 02:20 PM]
