Second Grader Said He Had a Gun

I fear the child was possibly "testing the waters" here and I think there should be a serious consequence for this threat. I think an in school suspension or out of school suspension would be appropriate in this situation, this child has to learn that it is not acceptable. You can overreact to this situation but the worst thing to do is to UNDERREACT!

I would take it seriously if some one said that to my child , even another child. I would be shocked if my son said that to another kid and would want to know myself if that were the case.
Stay on it. Don't let it slide. Then the other child will think its ok to say things like that.
Maybe some people would ignore it but I'm not one of them.

I am curious what you think should be done in this instance? That is always the first step in customer service - find out what the customer wants to resolve the situation. Do you want the 7 year old suspended for fibbing? Do you want the parents made aware of it (they are)??
I think you may be overreacting. But you should definately be proud of your son and the school!
Your son did the right thing. He knew to tell an adult - when it turned out to be a false statement (aka a lie - which is what 7 year olds do sometimes for shock, effect, attention, etc.) the school followed through and did their due dilligence in letting you know what occured.
I do feel if you are still shaken up by this, you could consider removing your child from the bus. I fyou son is shaken up. I would possibly consider a talk with clergy or counselor one-on-one for him to help straighten out his feelings on the situation.

I didn't read all the responses but am I the only parent here asking WTH????

I don't think you are over reacting, you're not asking the school to divulge specific information about the child or his punishment. It sounds to me like your simply asking for their generic protocol on handling these types of weapon threats when a weapon is not present. Asking them to tell you their process for handling these situations is a valid request. The fact that they blew you off and "made it clear they didn't feel this was a big deal" would totally tick me off. I think it's a very big deal. Someone has threatened your son, and although the weapon wasn't present this time how are you to know that will be the case next time.

While I understand the school is not allowed to give you specifics on the other child for privacy reasons they should be doing back flips to ease your family's minds and assure you they are taking the situation seriously. I've read a few of the responses asking how would you feel if the roles were reversed and the school told the other parents what type of punishment your child received....I can tell you this, I wouldn't mind that one bit. If my child had done that not only would I be ok with the school telling the other parents that my child has been suspended, detention, kicked off the bus, whatever the appropriate punishment, I would also insist the school give the other parents my phone number so that I myself could offer my apologies and ensure my child did the same. I would want the opportunity to assure the other parents that we take that very seriously and what punishments would be delivered at home as well. I would want to do everything in my power to make amends and ease the other parents minds. Am I alone in that line of thinking? Wouldn't you want to make your child accountable and make amends?

If you are not satisfied with how the school is handling the situation perhaps a call to the superintendent or school board for further clarification of your district's policies in order. Good Luck and God Bless.

Ok- guns are scary and kids know that. 7 yr old boys can be jerks- we know that too. It was taken seriously by both the school counselor, you and the principal. You don't have the right to know the punishment for the other child, other than the fact that the child's parents would be notified. Beyond that, they really can't tell you what's happening. If the situation were reversed, you wouldn't want your child to be discussed openly with another parent. Please respect that responsibility on the part of the school.

As a former AP, I can assure that there will be a consequence, especially if mom and dad have to come to school to discuss this with the principal. This isn't going to be a fun experience for that child.

You're not over-reacting b/c essentially your son was threatened, but unless this is an on-going issue (then it's bullying) let it go and commend your son for knowing to tell an adult- very brave for a little guy!

You're only over-reacting until he brings a gun somewhere and actually shoot someone. Then..... no one did enough.

This is really frustrating, because how often do we hear about this???? Something happens where a child uses violence to solve their problem and the community is left to answer the question "why"? Then it all comes out and we find out ir eally started back in 2nd grade when the kid was threatening to shoot people on the school bus and no one did anything. And then suddenly the community is to blame for not 'stepping in' sooner. And the parents 'didn't know' etc etc etc.

Ugggggh.

Good for your son that he told the bus driver and shame on the school for not doing more to, at the very least, help this other child who obviously, at the very least, has problems determining appropriate ways to handle his frustrations in life.

*sigh*

I think that your son did the right thing.
I think the bus driver did the right thing.
I think the school took a positive step by letting the other boys family know what he said.
Hopefully, there will be repercussions from the parents for the boy.

I just want to say thank you for teaching your son gun safety and your son for doing exactly the right thing.

You all handled this really well. Your son did an excellent job.

The school will now handle this. There are privacy laws so that they cannot tell you what they will be doing with this child or what will go on his records.

Sometimes because of the very young age, it is a case by case basis. I am almost positive, they will require this child be evaluated and some sort of suspension will be required.. I just hope that child's parents take this seriously.. I am always amazed how parents of children that pull these stunts, think their little precious was just playing and should not be held accountable.

This should absolutely be taken seriously! There is a policy in many schools called zero tolerance and any mention of threat of violence like that there is a mandatory consequence no matter if the kid was just joking around or anything. This has to be in order to make it perfectly clear that it is unacceptable there can be no gray area. Pursue it until you are satisfied with the outcome/consequence that is given.

My niece had a 1st grader bring a BB gun to school and actually shot another kid after school. They both attended the after school program. NOTHING was done about this. When my brother asked the school about it they didn't even inform anyone other than the teachers that were on the play ground at the time. Their response was "the child already has a hard life living with Grandma and loser parents and we think it will only make matters worse for him!" WTH Since we come from a small community my brother called the school board and informed them of what happened and still no action was taken.

For the most part it is clear to see what kids need the extra help and schools seem to be turning their backs on them. (Or at least that how it seems where I grew up) :(

I do not think you over reacted and the school should take some type of action with this child AND his parents/care givers.

I realize the kid didnt have a gun, but threats like that are VERY serious and kids shouldnt be saying those things. I dont think you are overreacting and I would be pissed if the school acted like I was. The kid should have known better and I sure hope he does now. And yes it is your business to know if something was done about it.

That age is still a tender age and as possible as it is in today's world, you acted appropriately for the "presumed" threat, but children pick up so many things from TV, society, etc that they would say anything without even knowing themselves what trouble they are getting into.

I think once the school didn't feel it was a big deal, you should dismiss it and just keep an eye out for that type again. We don't want to under-react of course, but we also need to have a conscience and realize that kids this age do stupid things like this just because they are kids. As another M. mentioned, it is "testing the waters"..I would more consider any bullying that might be going on otherwise.

Regardless of if he had a gun or not, he not only threatened to shoot him but also claimed to actually have the gun. Your child handled it appropriately. So he didn't have a gun (this time), your child was naturally scared.

He won't have a "weapons" charge at school but should certainly have punishment for threatening another/younger student. Since it happened on the bus, he may also be suspended from the bus for at least a day or two. When he is back on the bus, demand that he be completely separated from your son.

Check the student/parent handbook to see what the guidelines state and insist punishment at least match that guideline. They should of course also get to the bottom of WHY he would threaten another child like that.

Also remember that he is only a 2nd grader and didn't have a gun.

My college age son was recently robbed at knifepoint so I definately get how you are feeling. That God you son was not in life-threatening harms way (even though he thought he was).

I don't think you are over reacting at all. Call or email the principal to find out exactly what they are supposed to do in this type of situation. Talk the the counselor too - it's understandable that you are still freaked out about this.

I'll tell you what happened to my daughter (2nd grader) on the bus ride home. Last Friday, a girl in her grade attacked her on the bus. The girl hit my daughter and pinned her to the seat. The bus driver stopped the bus and said knock it off, but otherwise did nothing. I called the principal immediately, but she had already left for the weekend. Monday was a holiday and I heard nothing (expected). Tuesday, I was actually in the school library volunteering, but didn't hear anything from the principal. I told the librarian what had happened and she went and did some investigating for me. She told me that the principal was in the process of interviewing my daughter, the girl who attacked her and another witness. The librarian was actually most helpful. She pulled the girl that attacked my daughter aside, told her how wrong it was to hit someone, regardless of why, pointed me out as the victim's mother and told the girl how upset I was. The girl apologized and promised not to do it again.

Wednesday of this week, I received a call from the principal. The principal told me that the girl hit my daughter because my daughter was "mean" to her. The principal said that both girls got a warning. If they get a 2nd warning, they'll be suspended from the bus. I asked her to explain. The principal said that the other girl had asked my daughter if she could talk to her, my daughter said no. So that's why the girl hit her. The principal said that my daughter's meanness didn't justify a hit, but that it essentially was my daughter's fault she got attacked. I told the principal that I disagreed with her. That if my daughter doesn't want to talk to someone or play with someone or be someone's friend, that she didn't have to and that she shouldn't be attacked for that.

So, I ended up telling my daughter that if this girl hits her again, she can punch her in the face because she'll be kicked off the bus anyway.

They punish the kids that don't do anything wrong and protect the perpertrators because these kids have "emotional problems".

Good luck to you.

well if this were back in the day we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Id assume the school is taking the proper action and maybe request that they give you something in writing stating what they did to resolve the issue. that may ensure they have taken proper action

You never know now days if a kid took a gun from home. Just awhile back a young child shot his sister, bandaged her up and put her to sleep then went to school the next morning pale as a ghost and told the teacher when asked. I think it went through her neck. Where were the parents this entire time and good thing the girl didn't die in her sleep. You did the right thing and I'm glad your child alerted the bus driver immediately.

No, I don't think your over reacting. Seems to me the boy should be at least suspended from taking the bus or something. What he said, now a days, should not be over looked. Geeze.

Hope they do something!

honestly when i was in school in MT we had a situation pretty much identical to yours. except not only were the parents called but so was the cops. there was NO gun but it was the what if. needless to say kid got kicked out of school for i think it was a week and had to take gun safety classes again. any ways i know you say it was a second grader but he should be suspended from school for 3-5 days.

I read both your question and what happened. The point is you get it and the school doesn't. You son had great models and also knows what is a serious threat. The other point I want to raise is the boy who made this threat is 2 yrs older than your son. I would request a meeting with the principal, the boy and his parents. If that is refused then contact the superintendent's office and or the school board.

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A threat like that is unconscionable-and should be taken very seriously. In some school districts in Maryland-even the freakishly liberal ones (Montgomery County) -the child may face expulsion.

You may want to get some counseling for your son to be preemptive and allay his fears.

With all the anti-bullying campaigns that seem to be going on in schools these days, I'm surprised they didn't do more. My daughter's in 2nd grade in a new school. On the playground, a girl told my daughter and another new girl that she "wished they were dead". The principal called me and told me what had happened, but not who the perpetrator was, and that she had talked to the girl's parents. She did not tell me what the girl's punishment was (and I didn't ask). My daughter received an apology note from her and said the girl had detention all week.

I was happy my daughter got the note, but I seriously doubt the "mean girl" learned from it. She had done other "psychological bullying" to my daughter at the beginning of the year, although as far as I know, without punishment. I was surprised to hear she had detention all week.

Maybe your son's school did punish the boy and just didn't feel they were required to let you know what it was, privacy is as big an issue as bullying. Or, maybe the school did not take the threat seriously, whereas, I think my daughters school may have gone overboard with the other girl's punishment - unless the school was also aware that this was not the first instance she had done something.

I think you should be proud of your son for knowing the serious nature of what the child said. He acted responsibly and did the right thing. I think you should suggets the school have the police come and speak to the students to educate them and maybe the other child will take his/her words seriously.