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Schools

Maryland Lawmakers React to Apparent Gun-Shaped Food

The Reasonable School Discipline Act of 2013 was introduced in the Maryland Legislature.

7-year-old boy at Park Elementary School in Anne Arundel County recently was disciplined after he reportedly made his food look like a gun, according to a teacher.

Glen Burnie Patch reported about the incident in March, quoting Assistant Principal Myrna Phillips' letter to parents that said the student "used food to make inappropriate gestures that disrupted the class."

The Washington Post and a number of other national media outlets reported the incident as a student shaping a strawberry-filled pastry into a gun, and it captured national attention with political commentator George Will naming the child the "Pop-Tart Terrorist."

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The Post also reported that in the almost three months since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, two Washington, DC-area children have been suspended for pointing their fingers like guns. It also reported that a 10-year-old in Alexandria was arrested for displaying a toy gun and a 5-year-old girl in Pennsylvania was suspended for talking about shooting her Hello Kitty bubble gun.

Late last week, Maryland Sen. J.B. Jennings (R-Baltimore) introduced Senate Bill 1058, The Reasonable School Discipline Act of 2013, according to The Post.

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The bill would disallow the suspension or expulsion of students who make “a hand shape or gesture resembling a gun” or bring to school "any other object that resembles a gun but serves another purpose.” The bill’s language does make exceptions for cases in which students use the items in “a direct act of violence against another student.”

Jennings told The Star Democrat that "[these] kids can't comprehend what they are doing or the ramifications of their actions," and “we really need to evaluate how kids are being punished.”

The bill did not pass Maryland's General Assembly.

Tell Us: Do you think disciplining a child for shooting a make-believe gun is appropriate?

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story also attributed facts of this story to The Washington Post.

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