Freemont Elementary Parents Call To Expel 1st-Grader For Bullying

Can you be too big a bully in the first grade? Parents at Fremont Elementary School in Montebello say yes, and are calling for the expulsion of a first-grader they say is a danger to their children.

The child allegedly stabbed a classmate before Christmas with a utility device. A mother at the school, Irene Vasquez, says she is concerned for her son's safety.

"Every day I come home and I have to ask my son about his day, what happened, is everything okay, did anything bad happen? And that worries me."

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Comments

[Ayang801]

11:13 PM on 02/08/2011

It's not bullying anymore. That's literally "assault" on another student with a potentially deadly weapon. The kid is probably mentally unstable or easily agitated to an excessive state.

[EmmaLib]

04:00 PM on 01/23/2011

I can understand why parents would be concerned. I am also kind of surprised the school has not taken certain steps, such as have the boy assessed by professionals. I hate to say it, but some kids are just missing something.... and they really have no clue to the harm they inflict upon others. Many serial killers when their life is reviewed can be seen to be expressing such anti-social behavior very early on. What is a shame is when adults brush it off as "boys will be boys" and that they will grow out of it. That's not the case, these socio-paths, and I am not suggesting this kid is one, just become very good at hiding their anti-social bullying behavior.

[Naithom]

08:28 PM on 01/18/2011

I work at an alternative school for children with behavioral issues. It's first grade through twelfth. We have six and seven year olds who have attacked other children, teachers and administrators. In alternative schools the kids can get therapy, anger management and counseling as well as education.

With hope, this child is getting the assistance he so desperately needs.

[ZubinTomato]

12:46 PM on 01/18/2011

Hey, it was just a "love stab" o-KAY?

[Num1Christy]

12:41 PM on 01/18/2011

This story is clearly lacking. But based on what is made available here my first and only question is... where is this boys parents?

[SrAN]

12:33 PM on 01/18/2011

There really isnt enough information here to form a real opinion. First of all this is a 1st grader. I highly doubt that he is motivated to simply do harm for no reason other than to inflict pain. Usually when children act out it is in response to something going on outside of school, more than likely at home. Is this child being abused, has this child gone through a seriously traumatic event in his life, is the home a structured and safe environment? These should be the first questions we as posters should be asking. Until those questions are answered I think expulsion seems a bit too harsh. If there is something else going on in his life then expulsion is only going to fortify the feeling that help is nowhere to be found and he is only going to punished for things out of his control which in turn will only perpetuate the violence he uses to draw attention to himself. Instead he should be seperated from the other children, for their safety, and given counseling to get to the root of the situation. We shouldn't just lock him up and throw away the key when he could be helped (I take this same approach with our prison systems).

[sfbbmom]

05:04 PM on 01/22/2011

I would prefer that the child be removed from the classroom and the school investigate the home situation as soon as possible. The child should have one on one instruction away from other children. The district owes this to the child. The parent[s] must also be held accountable. We should not throw away 6 year olds, but we must keep all the other children safe.

[Jdaddy1951]

10:53 AM on 01/18/2011

Some quotations from the 1956 horror movie, "The Bad Seed", which is about a psychotic little girl who looks like a perfect little angel: Christine Penmark (Nancy Kelly): Rhoda, what happened to old Mrs. Post in Wichita? Rhoda (Patty McCormack): There was ice on the steps and I slipped and fell against her, and that was all. Christine Penmark: That was all? Rhoda: No. I slipped on purpose. Christine Penmark: You hit him (Claude Daigle, one of Rhoda's classmates) with the shoes, didn't you? You hit him with the shoes, that's how he got those half moon marks on his forehead and on his hands. Answer me Rhoda. ANSWER ME!

[Jdaddy1951]

10:29 AM on 01/18/2011

A utility device? The child's drawing looked sort of like a Swiss Army Knife.

Whatever the little thug used, he does not belong in a classroom with other kids. Children have a right not to be physically abused --- by adults or other children. Remove the kid from the classroom and protect the other children from him. THEN get some psychological therapy for him to find out what's wrong with him, why he can't appropriately deal with anger control issues!

[EmmaLib]

04:06 PM on 01/23/2011

That was my thought as well..... I thought these schools had a zero tolerance weapons policy. We had an incident in school, where a child got suspended for bringing a plastic spork to school to eat his pasta lunch, Forks were forbidden, but his mom thought a spork would be okay. Some go too far with their policies, that was one case. Others do not go far enough, as in this case it looks like a knife, and cork-screw among many other dangerous tools.

[Jdaddy1951]

06:14 PM on 01/23/2011

The schools that go "too far" --- banning plastic toys that resemble guns and knives --- are the exception, not the rule, and are few and far between. Most schools do not have the zero tolerance rule in effect. Their first purpose should be to PROTECT the other students and not allow a kid bringing a genuine weapon to be on the school grounds, once he or she is identified.

[Ezzy666]

03:52 PM on 01/17/2011

There are children like this all over the country. Sometimes they just hurt the teachers, and the public never hears s about it. The teacher is blamed for having poor behavior management and is told to reward the child more often through out the day. When the child starts to hurt other children then you find out who is important by who has her child moved to another classroom. Many times it is a kindergartner, once in a while an older child. There was a second grader at our school who still had the scars on her face from when she was attacked in kindergarten.

[asiclilpup]

01:54 PM on 01/17/2011

Now who is bullying who? Adults can act like 6 yr olds when given the venue.

[Lisbeth35]

03:22 PM on 01/17/2011

agreed. Well said.

[O K Ali]

01:14 PM on 01/17/2011

There isn't enough detail to give an honest opinion. I stabbed a classmate with a pencil when I was in the second grade. It was an accident, I spent the rest of the day in the principal's office and still became friends with the kid. If the children were of different races, would it be considered a hate crime? The devil IS in the details.

[KDMac]

02:00 PM on 01/17/2011

Depends on what race the stabber was and what race the stabbee was.

[SOD]

04:23 PM on 01/17/2011

Why does that matter?

Oh by the way, I believe that the idea of a hate-crime/speech is an artificial social construct designed to control interaction with "special" groups of people.

[bryan broome]

12:54 PM on 01/18/2011

I doubt that children that age are even aware of different races. My granddaughter is 6 and has never described any particular child in her school in any way other than name.

[O K Ali]

02:29 PM on 01/18/2011

I didn't mean to imply that it was a racial issue. I was pointing out that the only ones doing the talking are the parents and, in my opinion, they're probably making a mountain out of a molehill. What probably was an minor incident between two children, is being made to look much larger than it is. Just like the zero tolerance policy on drugs and weapons in elementary school, kids get in trouble for pointing their fingers like a gun. Takes the fun out of Cowboys and Indians, dontcha think?

[Lisbeth35]

11:06 AM on 01/17/2011

it saddens me to think that a pack of adults are piling on to a 6 year old whose sibling has just passed away, instead of coming together to find ways to support a grieving family.

[KDMac]

12:01 PM on 01/17/2011

You might change your mind if it were your 6 year old who was stabbed, or if your 6 year old witnessed it. Yes, we should feel sympathy and hope he gets the help he needs, but your number one priority as a parent is your child, plain and simple.

[Jdaddy1951]

10:36 AM on 01/18/2011

Huh? What did I miss here? Where does it say in this article that the kid has lost a sibling?

In any case, many people --- including children --- lose family members and they don't act out by stabbing other people. You can be sympathetic all you want, but the kid is still a threat to other children and needs to be separated for the safety and well-being of the other kids. Get him out of the classroom and into psychotherapy to find out what the heck makes him act out in this dangerous, unnatural way.

[RosieRobot]

11:02 AM on 01/17/2011

I understand the reaction of the parents if this child has been choking and stabbing other kids. But by taking it to the media this kid's right to privacy has been blown all to hell. Blame that on an unresponsive administration who should have reacted sooner to protect ALL of the children.

[VanTroi]

05:37 AM on 01/18/2011

His name isnt mentioned

[Jdaddy1951]

10:39 AM on 01/18/2011

Hey, if one of my kids or grandkids was stabbed by one of his or her classmates, I'd do everything I could to make sure people know where the threat is coming from. The kid should have been removed after the first incident. How can kids do well in school if they're worried about who the kid is going to stab next?

[kudzumaster]

10:46 AM on 01/17/2011

There isn't enough meat to this story to even know what's really happening, much less the best way to handle it.

[HeywoodJableaume]

10:34 AM on 01/17/2011

Clearly we need to ban tweezers. I would also venture to guess that the political rhetoric pushed this kid over the edge.

[Jdaddy1951]

10:40 AM on 01/18/2011

So you don't think a kid stabbing other kids is an unhealthy situation? You want to make fun of the situation by banning tweezers?