File photo of a classroom. (credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images)
DYER COUNTY, Tenn. (CBS Charlotte) – A high school student was allegedly suspended after breaking a class rule of saying “bless you” after a classmate sneezed.
Kendra Turner, a senior at Dyer County High School, said bless you to her classmate who sneezed and the teacher told her that the term was for church.
“She said that we’re not going to have godly speaking in her class and that’s when I said we have a constitutional right,” Turner told WMC.
When she defended her actions, the teacher told Turner to see an administrator. The student said that she had to finish the class period in in-school suspension.
The girl’s parents were told by school leaders that their daughter shouted “bless you” across the room and that it was a classroom distraction.
School officials told her parents Tuesday that the teacher claimed that their daughter was aggressive and disruptive.
But Becky Winegardner, Turner’s youth pastor, disagrees with the school’s actions of in-class suspension.
“There were several students that were talking about this particular faculty member there that was very demeaning to them in regard to their faith,” Winegardner told WMC. “This was something that had come up previously in the last few weeks just since the beginning of school and I shared with all of those students what their rights were.”
WMC reported that there are other expressions that are banned as part
of class rules and they are listed on the teacher’s white board along with “bless you.”
Some of Turner’s classmates supported her Tuesday by wearing hand made bless you shirts. She explained that she doesn’t want trouble for her teacher but that she’ll stand up for her faith no matter what.
“It’s alright to defend God and it’s our constitutional right because we have a freedom of religion and freedom of speech,” Turner told WMC.
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SUMMERVILLE, SC (WCSC) -
A 16-year-old Summerville High School student says he was arrested Tuesday morning and suspended after writing about killing a dinosaur using a gun.
Alex Stone said he and his classmates were told in class to write a few sentences about themselves, and a "status" as if it was a Facebook page.
Stone said in his "status" he wrote a fictional story that involved the words "gun" and "take care of business."
"I killed my neighbor's pet dinosaur, and, then, in the next status I said I bought the gun to take care of the business," Stone said.
Stone says his statements were taken completely out of context.
"I could understand if they made him re-write it because he did have "gun" in it. But a pet dinosaur?" said Alex's mother Karen Gray."I mean first of all, we don't have dinosaurs anymore. Second of all, he's not even old enough to buy a gun."
Investigators say the teacher contacted school officials after seeing the message containing the words "gun" and "take care of business," and police were then notified on Tuesday.
Summerville police officials say Stone's bookbag and locker were searched on Tuesday, and a gun was not found.
According to Gray, Stone was suspended for the rest of the week. Gray says she is furious that the school did not contact her before her son was arrested.
She says her son followed directions and completed an assignment.
"If the school would have called me and told me about the paper and asked me to come down and discussed everything and, at least, get his point-of-view on the way he meant it. I never heard from the school, never. They never called me," said Gray.
Stone and his mother say they understand the sensitive nature of what he wrote, but they say it was a rash reaction to an innocent situation.
"I regret it because they put it on my record, but I don't see the harm in it," Stone said."I think there might have been a better way of putting it, but I think me writing like that, it shouldn't matter unless I put it out towards a person."
According to police, when Stone was asked by school officials about the comment written on the assignment, he said it was a joke.
Summerville police officials say Stone was disruptive and was told that he was being detained for disturbing schools.
Stone was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. District officials say the student has been suspended.
Copyright 2014 WCSC. All rights reserved.
Cops Guns Down Unarmed White Boy In Salt Lake City, Mainstream Media Goes Silent (KUTV Video)
(Before It's News)
By Josey Wales
This is very similar to what happened in Ferguson Mo.
Dillon Taylor, 20 from Salt lake City, was leaving a 7 eleven store around 7 pm when police received a call about a man with a gun. Upon responding to 7 eleven they saw Dillian leaving the store and ordered him to lay down on the ground. Dillon had his ear phones in and did not hear what the cops said. When Dillon grab his pants to pull them up the cops opened fire.
Dillon was pronounce dead at the scene.
“It came in as a 911 call that there was a man with a gun,” said South Salt Lake Police Sgt. Darrin Sweeten. “He was verbally challenged and ultimately was shot.”
Sweeten would not release any more details of the incident.
It has been rumored that the Cops were not White cops. If true you have exactly the same situation as in Ferguson Mo, except the cops were not white and the victim was white. Where’s the outrage over this incident?
A day after Salt Lake City police shot and killed a man whose family claim he was unarmed, questions about the shooting remain unanswered.
“They’re here to protect and serve. More like shoot and kill,” said Jerrail Taylor, Dillon Taylor’s older brother. “Anybody in this house or anybody on the streets, if we kill someone, we’re doing 25 years to life in prison. I’d like this cop to lose his job and do the same amount of time like a regular human being.”
Dillon’s brother and cousin claim they were on their way to visit his parents’ graves and that Dillon was surprised by the police presence. He was not aggressive, they said.
“He had headphones in, and he couldn’t hear [anything], and then they finally surrounded him,” Jerrail said. “They’re like, ‘Get on the ground,’ and [he] pulled up his pants and [they] shot him.”
Thayne believes police might have thought his cousin was reaching for a gun when, in reality, he grabbed his cell phone.
“I was in shock, because he was wearing a white t-shirt and there was blood all over it,” Thayne said. “They ran up and handcuffed him. He wasn’t moving.”
A witness’s video shows police yelling for the two men to remain on the ground as Thayne repeatedly screams that they have shot his cousin.
The two men were taken to the police station, but released hours later without being charged or cited.
Family said Dillon had had struggles throughout his teenage and adult life, including a criminal past, after losing his parents at the age of 12.
They hope to remember him as a loyal friend and devoted father-to-be. His girlfriend is just a couple months pregnant, Jerrail said.
“He was the funniest kid ever,” Jerrail said. “His own baby will never meet him.”
The family has set up an account to help pay for funeral expenses. Wells Fargo Bank is accepting donations to the “Justice for Dillon” account #6386866385.
Family and friends are planing a vigil at 7 p.m. at the 7-Eleven where he died.
Where’s the outrage from mainstream media on this shooting? It seems they pick and choose which shootings they televise, why is that? How many more innocent kids need to be gunned down by the police before communities hold these public servants accountable?
Critical Reads: More News Mainstream Media Chooses To Ignore By Josey Wales, Click ...