Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Hand-Gun Fired: Nebraska School Says Deaf Toddler’s Name Sign Violates Weapons Policy


Hand-Gun Fired: Nebraska School Says Deaf Toddler’s Name Sign Violates Weapons Policy

RT
August 28, 2012

A Nebraska public school is barring a deaf three-year-old boy from using sign language to sign his name because, it claims, the gesture resembles a gun.
The school’s policies have prompted outrage from parents, rights groups and ordinary citizens.
­Hunter Spanjer’s parents were informed by the Grand Island Public School that the way their child signed his name was a violation of the school’s weapons policy.
He’s deaf, and his name sign, they say, is a violation of their weapons policy,” the boy’s father Brian Spanjer told Nebraska Central News (NCN).
The three-year-old uses Signing Exact English (SEE), a manual communication system mostly used by deaf children and based on the American Sign Language (ASL).
Spanjer crosses his index and middle fingers to show that his name sign is uniquely his.
It’s a symbol,” his father stressed. “It’s an actual sign, a registered sign, through SEE.
But the Grand Island Public Schools board policy 8470 prohibits students from possessing, handling or transmitting a “firearm, weapon” or anything that “looks like a weapon.”
Such items will be considered weapons for the purposed (sic) of this policy,” the document states. “Students who are in possession of the aforementioned articles will be subject to mandatory suspension or expulsion procedures.
The school has so far failed to produce an adequate explanation for how a three-year-old’s crossed index and middle fingers could be grounds for expulsion. A spokesperson for the facility said it was trying to arrive at the “best possible solution” for the child.
number of civil rights groups derided the school’s policies, which effectively mean that the child would either have to change the way he signs his name or be deprived of the right to education.
A name sign is the equivalent of a person’s name, and to prohibit a name sign is to prohibit a person’s name,” Howard Rosenblum, the CEO of the National Association of the Deaf was quoted by The Huffington Post as stating.
The American Civil Liberties Union also sent a letter to the local school district, asking it to rethink its policies.
Brian Spanjer also started a Facebook page to garner support for his son to be able to keep his name sign. Most of the commenters were amazed by the school’s extreme policies.
What is this world coming to?” Facebook user Louise Arsenault Lanyon Kissinger noted. “There is so much more wrong in this world they could be worrying about [than] this little [boy's] name in sign language. Oh please…
Stacey Coar Philips remarked that the policy was right out of classic dystopian novels 1984 or Brave New World. Many others complained that the school was devoting too much attention to trivial issues instead of concentrating on real issues like education and actual security.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The audacity of this kid. Making a hand sign that looks like a gun. I can't believe Homeland Security hasn't arrested him yet. This needs to be on national news to make the public aware that "signing" can get you killed. So be on the outlook and call your local authorities if you see someone doing this. We need to protect our country from these evil people.

Unknown said...

One of my biggest pet peeves is frivolous lawsuits so I don't exactly go around suggesting that people sue at the drop of a hat like those commercials during daytime television suggest they do.

But to me, this is such a reprehensible violation of this child's rights that I believe a lawsuit is definitely in order. If I were the parent of this child, I would sue for legal fees and the immediate removal of the superintendent and all members of the school board.

I understand why the rule was implemented, though I don't agree with it. Our nation has an aversion to any association of guns with schools but this is absolutely ridiculous and goes against the spirit of the rule that they created. And were this suit to go through and the superintendent and the school board to be removed, it would serve as a lesson to the same in other towns not to try and go above their pay grade to try and make a statement like this ever again. They should be ashamed of themselves using this poor kid to try and politically grandstand.

Anonymous said...

Argh.
My opinion is, it's stuff like this that made me change what I was doing and now I take a long time to register my young'un.

People look at me all crazy like I'm the problem for still filling out paperwork they finished in 2 minutes.

I sit back and think 'judge not that you are not judged'.
As they judge me for taking to long, so can they be judged for not taking long enough when registering within that system.

I give notice on all papers that my young'un is not a legal fiction, which means it cannot be a statutory person nor a student which by definition is a statutory person.

I also make sure they know All Rights Reserved, and I taught my young'un to sign with a capacity so they don't 'presume' a person or legal fiction.

Presidents sign as President,
CEO's sign as CEO so if you go after them it can only be in the capacity they are role playing.

This parent/guardian (defined as a person, and for their purposes a person is statutory) is being treated in a subordinate position of serf and not as a sovereign or freeman.
He was born free or emancipated and they are using some contract he signed with the school to enforce these barbaric rules on him and the media is using this story to instill the fear and enforce "he illusion' that they have control over us even the sick and shut-in and deaf.

It's the contracts.
Enrollment requires signature, and signature is first clue it's a contract.

You are who you are waiting on.

By signing things without protecting your rights, they will 'govern' you on what you can and cannot do in the game.

Unless you believe you have no rights, then fine, I'm not talking to you and I would never tell you what to do.

Dan said...

Now to protect the people in this country ALL Deaf people should be put in Prison.

Maybe the word "GUN" should be banned, so anyone who says that word is no different than al-Qaeda individuals.

Recently a story came out on infowars that a Deaf woman was attacked in her home and when the police arrived she was using a Deaf users computer to talk with the police.
http://www.infowars.com/police-taze-deaf-woman-that-called-9-1-1/
Then she was advised the officer was in front of the building and she was told to come out side.
When she did she moved quickly towards the officer and then the officer pulled out his taser gun and used it on her, then handcuffed her.
According to the police she was attacking him, yet he claimed he put up his hand for her to stop.
In other words you are to SPEAK Proper English and have the Officer come towards you.

Dan said...

Maybe ask the police if they can show a person "Pointing" at something can be considered a TERRORIST ATTACK!
NEVER POINT YOUR FINGER WITH THE INDEX FINGER EXTENDED AND THE OTHER THREE BENT EVEN WHEN YOU POINT TO HEAVEN IF YOU ARE RELIGIOUS!

Anonymous said...

more stupid bullshit, the school was probably paid to barr that poor little kid just as another distraction from the bigger picture, nevertheless to say a little deaf boy could EVER cause harm to anyone or anything in any shape form or fashion with his one little hand is ridiculous. might as well ban wheelchairs because you could get your toe ran over.

Anonymous said...

Clearly the entire country has gone F*CKING nuts. I QUIT!!!