Cops: 3rd-Graders Aimed to Hurt Teacher

WAYCROSS, Ga. (AP) â?? A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job and assigning children tasks including covering the windows and cleaning up afterward, police said Tuesday.

The plot involving as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia was a serious threat, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said.

School officials alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had brought a weapon to school. Tanner said the students apparently planned to knock the teacher unconscious with a crystal paperweight, bind her with the handcuffs and tape and then stab her with the knife.

"We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely," Tanner said. "We feel like if they weren't interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don't know."

The children, ages 8 to 10, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said.

Two of the students were arrested on juvenile charges Tuesday and a third arrest was expected. District Attorney Rick Currie said other students told investigators they didn't take the plot seriously or insisted they had decided not to participate.

"Some of the kids said, `We thought they were just kidding,'" Currie said. "Another child was supposed to bring a toy pistol, and he told a detective he didn't bring it because he thought he would get in trouble."

Currie said the children are too young to be charged as adults, and probably too young to be sentenced to a youth detention center.

Police seized a steak knife with a broken handle, steel handcuffs, duct tape, electrical and transparent tape, ribbons and the paperweight from the students, Tanner said.

Currie said he decided to seek juvenile charges against two girls, ages 9 and 10, who brought the knife and paperweight and an 8-year-old boy who brought tape. He said all three students faced charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, and both girls were being charged with bringing weapons to school.

Nine children have been given discipline up to and including long-term suspension, said Theresa Martin, spokeswoman for the Ware County school system. She would not be more specific but said none of the children had been back to school since the case came to light.

The purported target is a veteran educator who teaches third-grade students with learning disabilities, including attention deficit disorder, delayed development and hyperactivity, friends and parents said.

The scheme involved a division of roles, Tanner said. One child's job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, he said. Another was supposed to clean up after the attack.

"We're not sure at this point in the investigation how many of the students actually knew the intent was to hurt the teacher," Tanner said.

He said the teacher told detectives the children involved weren't known as troublemakers.

"You can't dismiss it," Tanner said. "But because they are kids, they may have thought this was like a cartoon â?? we do whatever and then she stands up and she's OK. That's a hard call."

The parents of the students have cooperated with investigators, who aren't allowed to question the children without their parents' or guardians' consent, he said. Authorities have withheld the children's names.

Martin told The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville, Fla., that administrators would follow school system policy and state law in disciplining the students.

"From what I understand, they were considered pretty good kids," Martin said. "But we have to take this seriously, whether they were serious or not about carrying this through, and that's what we did."

Four mothers of other third-grade students at Center Elementary called for the immediate expulsion of the suspected plotters.

Stacy Carter and Deana Hiott both cited school system policy stating that any student who brings "anything reasonably considered to be a weapon" is to be expelled for at least the remainder of the school year.

"We don't want our children around them," Carter told the Times-Union. "The one with the knife could have stabbed my child or someone else's child at lunch or out on the playground."

"This is an isolated incident, an aberration. ... We have good kids," Center Principal Angie Coleman told the newspaper.
The Associated Press: Cops: 3rd-Graders Aimed to Hurt Teacher

I saw this story on the news this morning.....CRAZY! What type of punishment do ya give to a 3rd grader considering what the charges could be?

Have a good one!:jointsmile:

wtf! These kids must be crazy. I doubt they would have went through with it, but if they did I think should be sent to a mental hospital.

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Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud

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The children, ages 8 to 10, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said.

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I saw this story on the news this morning.....CRAZY! What type of punishment do ya give to a 3rd grader considering what the charges could be?

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What kind of punishment? I say give 'em "the chair!"

Damn,Them Kids is hardcore,I hope they get more than some time out.

Since I doubt these kids will get much more than a slap on the wrist and suspension, I'd say the parents should take away the kids computers and video games. Then again, that might be all the punishment needed to drive them to even more extremes:

MESA, Ariz. -- A teenager who confessed to killing his father last month told police he hated his dad for taking away his Internet access, according to a police report released Wednesday.

Hughstan Schlicker, 15, called 911 on Feb. 6 and told the dispatcher he had just shot his father in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun.

"I hate my dad, couldn't take it anymore," he said, according to the report.

Police: Teen Killed Dad For Banning Myspace


Kids... gotta love 'em. Can't live with them, can't live without them, can't shoot them, and might not be able to defend yourself against them.

Can't wait for Breukelen Advocaat to get ahold of this story --- not a big fan of the wee tots as it is. Ha ha!

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Can't wait for Breukelen Advocaat to get ahold of this story --- not a big fan of the wee tots as it is. Ha ha!

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Actually, it's the parents' fault. I enjoy seeing well behaved, well-adjusted happy children - but rarely do.

One of the problems regarding violence is the easy availability of guns - which apparently these parents have done a poor job in keeping out of the reach of their children's hands.

During the colonial, pioneer and frontier times in America, children were disciplined, taught correct behavior, boys were raised to be responsible men, and these incidents were almost non-existent. We're in a different age now, but similar approaches to the old days wouldn't be a bad idea. Of course, we're living in a different time, and updates would be necessary. The traditions of the past may be impossible to revive, without a total social upheaval - which would be for the better.

The Dutch immigrants probably had the best child-rearing methods in Europe, but those customs are all but forgotten. Even though times have changes, Denmark was still one of the safest countries I've ever visited - and also one of the friendliest and hospitable. Ireland was also very friendly and safe, at least in the areas where I visited in the Republic of Ireland. Since these trips were 10 or more years ago, I cannot say whether things have changed for the worse.

Another thing that seems to help discipline children, that many kids actually enjoy, is Marital Arts classes. There are many such schools in my neighborhood, and I sometimes look through the window to observe. I can see how this type of training could provide drug-free, therapy-free answers to many problems. When I was growing up, we never heard of terms like ADD, ADHD, hyperactivity and similar conditions. I am sure that many kids had them, but they were taught self-control - often by force. I don't know what, if any conditions like this I had, but it didn't always work so well for me.

Martial arts has helped the young son of a co-worker of my wife's who was hyperactive, and he looked forward to the classes. Whether their masters are Asian or from another background, they know how to handle problem kids, usually with very good results. These kids learn that if they want to attend and learn, they must behave and follow orders. If they don't, their instructor(s) will corrrect them real fast, lol.

Role models such as these, whether children encounter them in martial arts and athletic training, cultural disciplines such as music, dance, art or other areas, are essential to forming better young citizens and future role models.

Kids SHOULD be beaten!!! I turned out great:thumbsup:

Haha kidz are fuckin nutz these dayz...

i have a soon to be 13 year old daughter. i dont beleive in god or any of that other nonsense but the one thing i do beleive in comes straight from the bible i think, " spare the rod, spoil the child". and yes i did spank my daughter on several occasions. the one thing that honestly made me proud was go someplace and many times complete strangers would tell me how they thought my kid was polite and well mannered. i taught her to use the phrases "yes,sir" or "no, sir". she is a very outspoken kid but will show people due respect in the prosses.(hope she spells better than her old man tho)

but now to these brats. in a world where we didnt baby a kid till theywere 80 years old we would hold theyre parents responsible for their behavior and we should start enforcing this. discipline and respect starts in the home long before a kid enters school.

also as far as add and sich goes i was 31 when i was diagnosed with dyslexia. but when i was a kid noone knew what that was. i had to addapt improvise and overcome. they also told me my substance abuse problem was due to bein hyperactive and i was tryin to self medicate, to wich they wanted to put me on valium. think ill stick to herb

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Originally Posted by Breukelen advocaat

Another thing that seems to help discipline children, that many kids actually enjoy, is Marital Arts classes. There are many such schools in my neighborhood, and I sometimes look through the window to observe. I can see how this type of training could provide drug-free, therapy-free answers to many problems.

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I know it was just a typo, but you wrote "Marital Arts," instead of "Martial Arts," and that makes for a very hilarious paragraph!

It may be true that some children would enjoy learning the Marital Arts, but mostly kids are not mature enough for that sort of thing. And I must tell you that if you look through the window to observe ME while I am performing my Marital Arts, I will have you arrested! But you are absolutely right that the Marital Arts are a drug-free, therapy-free answer to many problems!

Excellent typo!

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

I know it was just a typo, but you wrote "Marital Arts," instead of "Martial Arts," and that makes for a very hilarious paragraph!

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:S2:

Ah, the unblinking eye of dragonrider. Good catch there, chief! Consider this sentence stolen and plagiarized. :D

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

I know it was just a typo, but you wrote "Marital Arts," instead of "Martial Arts," and that makes for a very hilarious paragraph!

It may be true that some children would enjoy learning the Marital Arts, but mostly kids are not mature enough for that sort of thing. And I must tell you that if you look through the window to observe ME while I am performing my Marital Arts, I will have you arrested! But you are absolutely right that the Marital Arts are a drug-free, therapy-free answer to many problems!

Excellent typo!

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That error was caused by a small hit of what little remains of my last purchase. :thumbsup:

Hey, I have watched some porno on occasion, but I'm no peeping Tom! :rasta:

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Originally Posted by Breukelen advocaat

That error was caused by a small hit of what little remains of my last purchase. :thumbsup:

Hey, I have watched some porno on occasion, but I'm no peeping Tom! :rasta:

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I am the king of the typo and transposed letter. I do it all the time. The best ones are those that form a real word that is totally inappropriate. I did some documentation for a softare product that had a Front Office suite and a Back Office suite --- luckily caught all instances of Front Orifice and Back Orifice before it went to print.

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

I am the king of the typo and transposed letter. I do it all the time. The best ones are those that form a real word that is totally inappropriate. I did some documentation for a softare product that had a Front Office suite and a Back Office suite --- luckily caught all instances of Front Orifice and Back Orifice before it went to print.

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A foreign-born "English as a second language" person, that I used to work with, used WordPerfect's spell check to correct her errors. She once sent a letter to her landlord that was supposed to be about "The leak in the kitchen". She spelled the words wrong, and she picked choices from the program that changed the sentence to, "The link in the chicken". The rest of the letter was just as bad, and she sent it out like that. She was promoted to a lower management position a few years ago, thanks to the company "Diversity" program. :cool:

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Originally Posted by Breukelen advocaat

A foreign-born "English as a second language" person, that I used to work with, used WordPerfect's spell check to correct her errors. She once sent a letter to her landlord that was supposed to be about "The leak in the kitchen". She spelled the words wrong, and she picked choices from the program that changed the sentence to, "The link in the chicken". The rest of the letter was just as bad, and she sent it out like that. She was promoted to a lower management position a few years ago, thanks to the company "Diversity" program. :cool:

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I had a coworker who spoke English as a second language and liked to use English euphemisms. She never quite got them right. She would say things like, "I heard it through the graveyard." Or, "Bob won't be able to attend the meeting because he is up to his head." It was a source of great amusement.

great now these stupid kids are gonna ruin it for the rest of us. Pretty soon there gonna ban video games like Grand Theft Auto and only play pg-13 movies. Anyone who thinks the violent media has an influence on their bad behavior is stupid. At most it desensitizes them. I mean when I was a kid my dad let me watch violent movies all the time and yet even as a small child I knew that they were only movies or video games. Even before Television and video games were invented kids were playing violent games of cops and robbers and if you really wanna go far back just look at what the children witnessed during the Roman Empire. Those shows were probably ten times worse than the ones we see today. Any kid who can't differentiate between fiction and reality should probably just go ahead and die.

These kids are way too young to be even thinking about soing that. The times they are a changing. Teachers deserve respect and a safe work envorinment.

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Originally Posted by Reefer Rogue

These kids are way too young to be even thinking about soing that. The times they are a changing. Teachers deserve respect and a safe work envorinment.

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I agree. Children should be older before they begin conspiring to murder their teachers. They grow up so fast!

and some people think school kills creativity! :wtf: