A toy used to make Bubbles. Pretty gentle bubbles are now being banned by Pennsylvania Educators as weapons of mass destruction. I can see if the Hello Kitty toy fired darts but a bubble machine created to blow bubbles with a trigger? Maybe the Educators need some education to clear the bubbles in their head.
Hello Kitty Bubble Gun
Now this is a real serious threat. A pink bubble gun.
Pennsylvania girl, 5, suspended for talk of 'shooting' a Hello Kitty 'bubble gun'
updated 10:49 AM EST, Tue January 22, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- A Pennsylvania school suspends a kindergarten girl for making a "terroristic threat"
- Her lawyer says she playfully talked of "shooting" a Hello Kitty bubble gun with friends
- The school later reduces the suspension, but still finds she made a "threat to harm others"
- A counselor says the girl has no risk factors for violence and had no "harmful ... intent"
(CNN) -- A 5-year-old girl chats up classmates while waiting for the bus after school. The topic: Playing with a Hello Kitty "bubble gun" that, with the flick of a finger, blows bubbles everywhere.
"I'll shoot you, you shoot me, and we'll all play together," the kindergartner says.
The next day, that remark -- which was made innocently, according to the lawyer for the girl's family, who related the story -- landed the young central Pennsylvanian child in the principal's office.
Soon after, she was sent home after being issued a 10-day suspension for a "terroristic threat," as indicated on the suspension form signed by Mount Carmel Area Elementary School Principal Susan Nestico. That and other documents were provided to CNN by Robin Ficker, the lawyer representing the girl and her mother.
Nestico did not respond to a request Monday from CNN for comment. The superintendent's office for the Mount Carmel Area School District did issue a statement, stating that "by law we cannot officially comment on the specifics," while expressing confidence that the story circulating in the media "may not be consistent with the facts."
"When given the opportunity in the appropriate forum, we look forward to presenting information that will portray our school district in a more positive light," the school district said.
While the girl and her family haven't spoken on the record -- and asked not to be identified -- their attorney, Ficker, has. He said the child has been very upset since the incident, even after the school system shortened the suspension from 10 to two days.
One piece of evidence he points to is a letter from a professional counselor, an appointment requested by the school, who talked to the suspended girl and her mother two days after the incident. In it, the therapist describes the child as an apparently "typical 5-year-old by temperament and interests" with no history of mood swings, irritability, depression, attention deficit disorder, learning issues or other problems.
Also, according to the counselor's letter, the girl had "no play guns or play knives," either in the bus line or at home, where her mother prohibited them.
"It would appear that (the girl) does not have those risk factors identified for violent behavior," the therapist wrote. "It would also seem that (she) had no harmful or predatory intent in the comments she made to her friends about the bubble 'gun' but did not recognize the heightened sensitivity and awareness of her friends and the response that may result from her comments."
The story began around 3:15 p.m. January 10, outside the school in Mount Carmel, a community of fewer than 6,000 people about 60 miles between both Harrisburg and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
That's where the girl and her friends, whom she "loves," began talking about a "princess" bubble blower and a Hello Kitty bubble gun. The reason, she told the counselor, was that one of her friends likes princess toys and the other likes Hello Kitty.
During this conversation, the kindergartner admitted she talked about shooting the bubble gun.
Then she went home happy, positive and outgoing, just as she'd gone to school, her mother told the counselor.
The next day, the girl was called in front of a teacher, according to Ficker. Then she sat down with a school administrator and, eventually, the principal.
The subsequent suspension form, issued that day, lists another girl as a "victim." It doesn't elaborate on what happened, but it does mandate a 10-day out-of-school suspension or a "medical/psychological evaluation given (the) nature of (the) offense."
On January 12, the suspended girl met with the counselor, both independently and with her mother The therapist wrote that he found no evidence or history of behavioral issues or poor parenting and determined "it appears (the kindergartner) engages in positive peer relationships."
The counselor also noted that the child was aware of last month'sdeadly shooting at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school that ended with 27 people -- including 20 children ages 6 and 7 -- dead.
As to her own feelings about talking about shooting in her conversation with her classmates, the girl told the counselor, "I didn't mean anything bad."
On January 14, the Mount Carmel Area Elementary principal issued a second suspension letter, which superseded the previous one. Noting no criminal complaint was made "due to (the) ages of the children," she cut the suspension down to two days while changing the categorization of the incident from "terroristic threat" to "threat to harm others."
Now that the girl has returned to school, her family has two goals, according to Ficker: to get an apology and to get the suspension expunged from her record in part so she can transfer to another school.
The school system hasn't done so, though the lawyer said there is a meeting involving him, family members and school officials set up for January 30 on the matter.
CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
600 West Fifth Street
Mount Carmel, Pa. 17851
(570)339-1500
Mount Carmel, Pa. 17851
(570)339-1500
also Officer Bubbles in Toronto
This little 5 year old will be arrested in 11 years for blowing bubbles of mass destruction in public.
About a year ago, Courtney Winkels blew some bubbles. Ten minutes later, she found herself trapped between lines of police in riot gear. Officers grabbed her, threw her against a brick wall, and arrested her.
She spent the next 50 hours in captivity, she said. She was finally charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. At her first and only court date last August, her charge was thrown out.
Ms. Winkels has had some time to think about what happened. Now the 21-year-old woman, whose peaceful act at Toronto's G20 protests made an Internet sensation out of "Officer Bubbles," has filed a lawsuit against the Toronto Police Services Board for $100,000.
She's claiming damages for false arrest, false imprisonment, assault and battery, as well as breach of Charter rights. The police services board is named as the defendant in the claim as the employer of all officers in the Toronto Police Services.
It's been almost a year since protests rocked Toronto's streets during the G20 summit, ultimately leading to the largest mass arrest in Canadian history. Ms. Winkels, from Caledon, was in town the weekend to act as a trained street medic during the protests. She told reporters on Thursday that she felt police actions that weekend were "absolutely unacceptable. There needs to be police accountability, and civilians, people that were there need to step forward and make sure that justice is served."
The subject matter is familiar territory for her lawyer, Davin Charney, the founder of the Centre for Police Accountability. He called the police force hypocritical for asking the public to come forward with evidence against Black Bloc protesters without holding to account the "Blue Bloc" of police officers who violated the law while corralling crowds during the G20 weekend's protests.
While two police officers have since been charged for their actions, Mr. Charney said the lawsuit aims to call on the senior leadership of the force for executing the orders that led to so many citizens' arrests.
"Let's not be satisfied with scapegoating of two police officers - foot soldiers, when the generals who gave the orders are getting off scot-free."
Ms. Winkels said she wasn't even aware she was being filmed when she blew bubbles at Constable Adam Josephs, who threatened her with arrest if one touched him. The video went viral, and Constable Josephs would later himself launch a lawsuit against YouTube and a number of the website's users for defamation over a series of cartoons that contained a person with his likeness.
"I thought [the original video]was kind of neat," Ms. Winkels said; she called the video "a very good way to see some of the ridiculousness of some of the police actions that weekend."
Mr. Charney is also representing a second plaintiff, Jason Wall, in a separate case in small claims court. Mr. Wall is requesting $25,000 for G20-related damages. Both claims were filed on Thursday.
The Toronto Police Services Board declined to comment because of the ongoing nature of the claims.
Now if she had a real Hello Kitty Bubble Gun she could have bubbled every officer there. Maybe even put a smile on their faces. This is overboard and an over reaction. Why was the female office so quiet as she looked bemused at Officer Bubble who was at her side?
Lady Gaga could be arrested for her new WMD Bubbles since she has a Bubble Machine Gun
She spent the next 50 hours in captivity, she said. She was finally charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. At her first and only court date last August, her charge was thrown out.
Ms. Winkels has had some time to think about what happened. Now the 21-year-old woman, whose peaceful act at Toronto's G20 protests made an Internet sensation out of "Officer Bubbles," has filed a lawsuit against the Toronto Police Services Board for $100,000.
She's claiming damages for false arrest, false imprisonment, assault and battery, as well as breach of Charter rights. The police services board is named as the defendant in the claim as the employer of all officers in the Toronto Police Services.
It's been almost a year since protests rocked Toronto's streets during the G20 summit, ultimately leading to the largest mass arrest in Canadian history. Ms. Winkels, from Caledon, was in town the weekend to act as a trained street medic during the protests. She told reporters on Thursday that she felt police actions that weekend were "absolutely unacceptable. There needs to be police accountability, and civilians, people that were there need to step forward and make sure that justice is served."
The subject matter is familiar territory for her lawyer, Davin Charney, the founder of the Centre for Police Accountability. He called the police force hypocritical for asking the public to come forward with evidence against Black Bloc protesters without holding to account the "Blue Bloc" of police officers who violated the law while corralling crowds during the G20 weekend's protests.
While two police officers have since been charged for their actions, Mr. Charney said the lawsuit aims to call on the senior leadership of the force for executing the orders that led to so many citizens' arrests.
"Let's not be satisfied with scapegoating of two police officers - foot soldiers, when the generals who gave the orders are getting off scot-free."
Ms. Winkels said she wasn't even aware she was being filmed when she blew bubbles at Constable Adam Josephs, who threatened her with arrest if one touched him. The video went viral, and Constable Josephs would later himself launch a lawsuit against YouTube and a number of the website's users for defamation over a series of cartoons that contained a person with his likeness.
"I thought [the original video]was kind of neat," Ms. Winkels said; she called the video "a very good way to see some of the ridiculousness of some of the police actions that weekend."
Mr. Charney is also representing a second plaintiff, Jason Wall, in a separate case in small claims court. Mr. Wall is requesting $25,000 for G20-related damages. Both claims were filed on Thursday.
The Toronto Police Services Board declined to comment because of the ongoing nature of the claims.
Now if she had a real Hello Kitty Bubble Gun she could have bubbled every officer there. Maybe even put a smile on their faces. This is overboard and an over reaction. Why was the female office so quiet as she looked bemused at Officer Bubble who was at her side?
Lady Gaga could be arrested for her new WMD Bubbles since she has a Bubble Machine Gun
