Cops: 3rd-Graders Aimed to Hurt Teacher

[Psycho4Bud]

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:

Psycho4Bud Reviewed by Psycho4Bud on 04-02-2008. 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 Rating: 5

[apocolips31]

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.

[dragonrider]

...

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.

...

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?

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

[StickyfingahZ]

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

[Mr. Clandestine]

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.

[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!

[Breukelen advocaat]

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!

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.

[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. 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.

[zeitgeist]

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

[smok3y]

Haha kidz are fuckin nutz these dayz...