Laser pointers are now defined as guns by our educators.

[Epidemic]

I heard about this on the radio but I can not remember the show.

Basically a kid was suspended from school for playing with another kids laser pointer. According to accounts he shined it around the room for about 20 to 30 seconds.

He has been suspended for one year along with his friend for posessing a "Gun Facsimile"

Now do not get me wrong I think that laser pointers are a little dangerous and definitely distracting. But they are not guns or gun lookalikes. Take the item and give him detention for breaking a rule. but the threat from this was minimal and the impropriety of it was likewise. The punishment should not be this excessive. The threat posed by a child with a gun is far and above the threat posed by a laser pointer.

These stupid 0 tollerance laws have to go or at least be moved into the realm of realism.

If a kid has a di-cast gun on a key ring this is not a threat to society. To not allow the kid to have this is Abridging freedom of speech. If a gun looks real enough as to instill fear in the person who views it I guess you could restrict having it. But If you want to wear a button with a picture of a gun on it which says guns don't kill people do then you have no right to restrict freedom of speech.

0 tollerance = 0 intelligence IMHOOC.

0 tollerance for real threats, I have no problem with that.

But when you start saying that certain words or toys are banned because they look like or are distantly related something you do not like, you now boarder on the absurd.

However look out corporate america. Your meetings and demonstrations are obviously all NRA propaganda. Your laser pointers are gun facsimiles and you are promoting the killing of children. Save us.

What is IMHOOC? Didn't hear that word before and not in my dictionary.

I agree with the general observations though.

Laser pointers can be dangerous if aimed at the eyeball.

[U-96]

stare into a laser pointer for 5 seconds and tell me if it's dangerous

[willy_ph]

The school board in my area banned them over 4 years ago. Certain laser pointers can cause irreversible damage to the eye.

[Epidemic]

No question on the observations that have been noted by all of you. I do not question the fact that they can be dangerous.

On the damage they can cause I believe that the power they are restricted to will required a rather sustained period of contact with the eyeball. The main point of this is that they are not saying that they want the kid suspended for risking sight. They have the stated that he is being suspended under the 0 tollerance of firearms. They say it looks like a gun.

I am sure they would not suspend a kid for a year for tossing a pencil to a friend or blowing a spitball. Both can cause irreversable damage to the eyes. To damage an eye with a laser pointer you must shine it in the kids eye for something on the order of 5 seconds. The discompfort of the bright light would probably make you look away in less than a second.

I think they are a distraction and a greater risk than neccesary so they should not be allowed. But the punishment for that even is extreme. detention and taking it would probably have been enough. At worst a week long suspension.

Here is an article which seems to say even I am exaggerating the danger of the laser pointer.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/iyh/products/laser.html

[Epidemic]

http://www.drgreene.com/21_591.html

[Quidam]

It's been a long time since I was in school. Why does a student need a laser pointer?

[Epidemic]

No reason at all.

The point of my rant is that these 0 tollerance laws are stupid.

I do not mind banning laser pointers in school. I do not mind punishing people for bringing them into school. I do however think that punishing the kid the same as if they had brought a gun into school is rediculous and stupid and basically idiotic.

[swamp-fox]

Maybe the laser pointer was mounted on a 30-06.
lol




On another note they won't allow any drugs OTC or otherwise. (midol, tylenol, asprin) whatever. My girls told me they can bring them, but have to give it to the nurse and the nurse will dispense the narcotics. Sheesh it's getting bad. It seems the logic is lets punish everyone instead of really punishing the drug dealer's. Same with your pointer episode epidemic.

Swamp

[Quidam]

Ep

I agree with you. Discipline was called for, but to categorize it as a "gun violation" was an easy way to apply a harsh penalty.

I feel compelled to draw an analogy to labeling US citizens as security risks and combatants because that makes it easier to sequester them and interrogate without supervision.