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| -Short Attention Span Theater- | |
| Boy Suspended Over Alleged Peanut Allergy Plot | |
| 2004-04-23 | |
| EFL - a new WMD = Skippy A sixth-grader was suspended after school officials accused him of threatening to expose a highly allergic teacher to peanut butter cookies, the boy’s father said Thursday. Loubert Gabriel said his son, 12-year-old Jules, had been kept out of class since April 2, after a girl in his social studies class at South Orange Middle School told the teacher that Jules had made the threat. The father said Jules was carrying a snack packet of Nutter Butter cookies and made a comment about having "something dangerous" but never said he had a weapon. "They mishandled this," Gabriel said. Does the 2nd Amendment cover Keebler products? Gabriel said the boy has not been allowed to return to classes pending a May 13 hearing by the district. The family had believed the suspension would be for 10 days, he said. School superintendent Peter Horoschak said several classmates who were interviewed said the boy — with the teacher out of the room — waved the cookie over his head and said he would use it against the teacher as protection from receiving detention or any other penalties. "We’re very concerned about the teacher’s welfare, and how the teacher was threatened by this," Horoschak said.
He’s a criminal mastermind. | |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #9 Peter Horoschak? I remember a character with a similar name on the TV series "Welcome Back Kotter" with Gabe Kaplan, and John Travolta? So he grew up to be a school administrator eh? Figures. Just get the kid out of the teachers class. The kid is a moron, and so is his father for not telling him nonesense like this is unacceptable. When my son gets out of line with foolishness he is told that his actions are "Mean and unacceptable". His dad should have done more of that. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4052 2004-04-23 5:27:00 PM |
| #8 Chris - Thankfully I'm not allergic to peanuts, but people who are have severe reactions to them that could kill them. It sounds weird, but they literally cannot be anywhere near peanuts. Why do you think you can't get them on most flights anymore? Or if you can, there are special "peanut free" rows? It's not like they just break out in a rash, get some cortisone cream, and get on with it. Inability to breathe is scary sh**. Trust me on that. I'm sure she expected some dumbass comments, and has heard plenty of them. And yeah, no one expects 12 year olds to be mature individuals, but she and the school probably figured the best way to keep her from inadvertently getting an allergy attack (ie. Johnny decides to eat his peanut butter sandwich in class) was to tell the kids and hope that they would show some common sense. Not all kids that age are completely shtoooopid. Why the school didn't just suspend the idiot and move him out of her class is beyond me, though. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2004-04-23 5:18:00 PM |
| #7 The teacher should never have made it an issue in the first place. Nobody in the school had any reason to know that she has a peanut allergy. What does she expect? She tells the whole class all about an allergy that IS bizarre any way you slice it. Then she expects junior high school kids NOT to make a joke out of it? Has she never seen a 12 year old boy before today? I would EXPECT to hear snide comments or attempts at wit after making a revelation like that to a bunch of smartassed jr. high schoolers. Sure, he was indirectly threatening her but let's be serious. He should be thoroughly questioned and perhaps even psychologically tested (if it's feasable; no clue on the financial situation of the school or the family). But making sure he's just a prankster and not a crazy nut (no pun intended) shouldn't take a month. |
| Posted by: Chris W. 2004-04-23 3:49:21 PM |
| #6 this is not a joke. im agree with steve white. i have an ex girlfrend allergy of peanuts and she got real sick one time she eat chinese food that use peanut oil and had go to hospital. she alway ask at restaruant if any peanut products in food after that. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-04-23 3:34:18 PM |
| #5 Peanut oil allergy is a life-threatening medical condition for a few -- I've seen a couple in my practice, and the precautions they observe are rigorous. None of us would want to live that way if we could help it, let me assure you. The young lad in question knew this was an issue and used it. Whether he's just a normal teen with the usual mix of hormones, teen idiocy and modern upbringing, or whether he's a budding malcontent and sociopath, is something the school will have to figure out if they can, and I have no great faith in the ability of a school hearing board to do so. But there has to be some consequences for his actions -- if the teacher's allergy is severe, he really is threatening her life. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-04-23 11:26:23 AM |
| #4 I think our consideration for people with oddball allergies has gone WAY overboard. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-04-23 9:47:41 AM |
| #3 Do you have a link for the part about the health teacher? Schools are unbelievably cautious about this stuff now - it's hard to believe a teacher would hand out any peanut products to kids, or that even tenure would protect one who did. It's serious stuff - a friend of mine lost his daughter when an exchange student gave her a piece of candy "from home" that turned out to contain just a trace of peanut oil. |
| Posted by: VAMark 2004-04-23 9:42:38 AM |
| #2 Peanuts as a weapon of mass distruction, I blame Jimmy Carter. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-04-23 9:37:48 AM |
| #1 This is what you get when you have zero tolerance. This is absurd. The part you're not seeing in this article is that these cookies were handed out to everyone by the health teacher, doesn't that make him a weapons proliferator? Shouldn't the teacher be punished for arming the kids? Oh thats right! If your a teacher in NJ and have tenure and the NJEA behind you, you couldn't get fired or reprimanded on a bet. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-04-23 7:28:55 AM |