Thursday, May 02, 2002

Pencil Stabbing Freak

In light of Geoff's behavior over the past couple of months, I just read this news story and it kind of unnerved me. Is this our future? I think the pudding throwing kid could have done this, and I don't doubt that Geoff is capable.

Meh! I'm not psyched about the possibilities. Geoff's behavior has improved markedly in the past couple of weeks, but once he gets into a school situation again, I can hardly imagine what he may do. Read on... and pray for this kid and my kid. [Emphasis added below is mine].

ANTHONY, Fla. A 7-year-old boy has been charged with aggravated battery, a felony, for allegedly stabbing four elementary school classmates with a pencil after he was asked to share his crayons.

No one was seriously hurt during Tuesday's incident about 70 miles north of Orlando, police said.

The boy began yelling during class after he was asked to share his crayons, police said. The 7-year-old then began chasing students and stabbed a classmate in the back, causing a puncture mark. The boy also stabbed three other children, causing red marks, authorities said.

"Everyone went ballistic," Kristin Irvin, the substitute teacher overseeing the class, told the Ocala Star-Banner. "All the other students were afraid of him. He was making threats."

The boy said he stabbed his classmates because he "didn't like them," police said.

...

The boy has had discipline problems in the past but has never attacked other students, school officials said.

...

In January, an 8-year-old boy at another Marion County school, Fessenden Elementary, was arrested after school officials said he stomped on his principal's toe.

The stomping on the principal's toe thing is kinda funny. I mean, principals ask for it sometimes. Principals should get combat bonuses in certain schools. But this is kind of scary to think that a kid is going to go ape and stab people with a pencil.

Geoff got mad at a kid who picked on him one day but waited three days to punch him in the nose when the kid didn't expect it. I sure hope we can have his behavior in full control by the time he starts school for real.

He has an appointment June 5 to see a behavioral neurologist and have a CORE evaluation done. They told me they didn't think they needed to see him, I argued back and said he did need to see them because I needed to start the screening process.

They recommended we take him to a psychiatrist. I agree. He should be seeing someone. And we're waiting to hear back from a few people, notably our insurance company, as to whom we should see. I'll keep you posted.

Seriously though, his behavior has been so much better since I've been home. So getting laid off was more of a blessing than I ever think I could have admitted or accepted before. Let's hope he keeps up the good work.

When I was subbing, (note, the teacher above was a sub as well. I feel her pain; I wore her pudding) I noticed that compasses don't have points anymore.

They have these dull, stubby, metal tips which look absolutely useless.

When I was in school, back in the days of dangerous playgrounds, hooded sweatshirts with strings and no seatbelt laws, compasses had these two-inch long death points which were awl-sharp, eye-piercing in appearance and shape.

I always thought then, and still think now, that they were the most dangerous classroom based instruments aside from the Bunsen Burner, which I later grew to fear greatly.

I remember dropping a compass on the top of my foot in elementary school one day while wearing sandals. I recall the point puncturing the flesh, the swift pain and astonishment, and seeing the spot of dark red blood appear around the tip.

My teachers always had band-aids in class, I remember getting my share of them over time.

We used to have to put cardboard under the paper when drawing circles because they would damage the desks.

These things were wicked. I am not amazed that someone finally said "Jesus H. Christmas, lookie here at these dangerous math and science related tools!" The new ones don't look like they require cardboard to stay on the page. They look like they'll slide all over if you go to whip up a good circle... but at least, they are now less dangerous than the old Ticonderoga Number Two. I wonder what they'll do next for kid protection in the class. Pencils = Death.

I shouldn't joke.

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