Friday 10 February 2012

When You Can’t Rely On School Hoplophobia, Whip Some Up!

An 11-year-old schoolboy was shot in the back of the head with a plastic pellet gun in a Bournemouth classroom.
Ouch! Still, he wasn’t harmed.
Details of the shooting have only just come to light after concerned parents contacted the Daily Echo.
Oh, why? Did the school not deal with the issue correctly?
The Echo understands both sets of parents have been to the school to discuss the events and are happy with the way it has been dealt with.
Well, that’s that, then? Surely?

Ah. Silly me:
Views from outside the college gates

• Grandmother Pamela Povey from London said: “It’s terrible. I’m really shocked to hear about this.
“It could have had caused terrible damage if the victim had been shot in the eye.”
•Taxi driver Ray Smith, 63, who lives in Branksome, said: “It’s very worrying to think that something like this can happen inside a school.
“I’m surprised the boy concerned managed to get the toy gun into school.”
• Portuguese Rafael Goncalves, 29, and his wife Sonia, 35, who live in Charminster also expressed their horror.
Rafael said: “There should be a policy banning children from bringing items like toy guns into schools.”
*sigh*

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It could have caused terrible problems for society if it had been a whitey shooting a non-whitey, though thankfully the other way round is less of a concern.

Lynne said...

And to think that my pals and I used to have fun fights with plastic guns that fired dried peas. Never a parent or busybody in sight. They certainly wouldn't have picked up the phone and reported it to the local rag. But then, no one in those days had ever heard of the god of 'elf 'n' safety, let alone worshiped at the shrine.

WV ponse which sums up the attitude of those santimonious prats.

Anonymous said...

Sgt: "Harmed Police!"
Inspector: "Armed Police, yer fool"
Sgt: "This the harmed police, yer fool. Put down the guns or Teach gets it."
Inspector: "Teacher gets it yer bloody fool - oh never mind".

Captain Haddock said...

"And to think that my pals and I used to have fun fights with plastic guns that fired dried peas" ...

Not to mention the 1950's version of WMD's .. the humble Spud gun .. ;)

blueknight said...

Yes the Sekiden gun that came with it's own ammo, but could fire dried peas. The Spudmatic that could shoot bits of potato or squirt water and fire caps.
The most prolific weapon at our school was a blow tube created by pulling the ink cartridge and end plug from a biro pen. The 'pen' could be used to blow a grain of rice the length of a classroom with some force. Silent in operation, almost undetectable among other pens and very painful if administered to an ear or the back of the neck....

Anonymous said...

soggy paper fold fired by elastic band into the back of the head ..... quality.

Simple twatting around the ear with a ruler takes some beating.

Failing that a knee in the bollocks.

bpuk said...

"Ouch! Still, he wasn’t harmed."

Well, except for 'psychological trauma' and the potential no-win no fee payout.

""...after concerned parents..."

I'm assuming that concerned parents are similar to 'concerned citizens' - in the Pratchett sense of the term "where 'traditional values' meant 'hang someone'".

"... both sets of parents ... are happy with the way it has been dealt with."

Ah, yes indeed. We do indeed have an etymological link there.

"... shot in the eye"

Oh! for crying out loud!As I've said before, and will no doubt say again, ad infinitum, if someone is genuinely worried about 'being shot in the eye' with a firearm (or reasonable facsmile thereof) they are missing a few braincells.

"“It’s very worrying to think that something like this can happen inside a school. "

*cough* Methinks this poor taxi driver is woefully ignorant of what happens in schools.

“I’m surprised the boy concerned managed to get the toy gun into school.”

Hmm, 'tis a plastic toy gun - which wouldn't show up on metal detectors if fitted (thankfully very few schools in the UK have subscribed to this particular form of lunacy) - even if fitted it's hardly a difficult task to smuggle this most basic of items past the level of security expected in a school.

I wonder if the commentators to the Daily Echo also read the Daily Wail.

As a side note, about a dozen years ago an attack was carried out at the high school I then attended using a ballpoint pen. This resulted in the victim being taken to hospital and requiring surgery. At the time this was considered a serious incident and appropriate measures were taken (involving the police).

The daily incidents involving spud guns and empty biro's with wads of paper were treated with the respect they deserved - to wit "Oi! Stop doing that you little ". The second offense was usually followed by a piece of chalk hitting you in the forehead. The third offense usually resulting in a board rubber... By some strange co-incidence there were very few fourth offences.

There may be more to this incident than is apparent from the newpaper report - but on the limited evidence available it appears that jobsworths are out in force along with perennial complainers.

“There should be a policy banning children from bringing items like toy guns into schools.”

Yikes, nearly missed this one. Alas, the cuppa cheer did not miss the keyboard.

Gyah, longer reply than inteded. I'll be quiet for a bit

JuliaM said...

"The most prolific weapon at our school was a blow tube created by pulling the ink cartridge and end plug from a biro pen. "

Children are damned inventive, aren't they? ;)

"I wonder if the commentators to the Daily Echo also read the Daily Wail."

They do seem to draw from the same pool...

"The daily incidents involving spud guns and empty biro's with wads of paper were treated with the respect they deserved - to wit "Oi! Stop doing that you little ". "

Fond memories from my childhood...