6 year old suspended for kissing girl on hand.

[Figs]

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/gen-politics/colorado-6-year-old-suspended-kissing-girl/ncHGD/

DENVER —
The suspension of a 6-year-old boy for kissing a girl at school is raising questions about whether the peck should be considered sexual harassment.

The boy's mother said officials at Lincoln School of Science and Technology in Canon City, a southern Colorado city of 16,000, are over-reacting. Jennifer Saunders said her son was suspended once before for kissing the girl and had other disciplinary problems, and she was surprised to find out that he would be forced out of school again for several days.

First grader Hunter Yelton told KRDO-TV that he has a crush on a girl at school and she likes him back.
"It was during class, yeah. We were doing reading group, and I leaned over and kissed her on the hand. That's what happened," he said.

Saunders said she saw nothing wrong with her son's display of affection. She said she punished him for other problems in school, including rough-housing. She was shocked when the school's principal brought up the term "sexual harassment" during a meeting.

"This is taking it to an extreme that doesn't need to be met with a six year old. Now my son is asking questions. what is sex mommy? That should not ever be said, sex. Not in a sentence with a six year old," she said.
District superintendent Robin Gooldy told The Associated Press on Tuesday the boy was suspended because of a policy against unwanted touching.

"The focus needs to be on his behavior. We usually try to get the student to stop, but if it continues, we need to take action and it sometimes rises to the level of suspension," he said.
He said officials have not heard from the girl's parents, and no legal action is anticipated because it was only a violation of school policy.

In recent years, Colorado and other states have been moving to relax zero-tolerance disciplinary policies blamed for increasing the dropout rate and giving students criminal records for relatively minor infractions. However, those policies have dealt mostly with safety issues, such as students fighting or bringing a replica gun to school, not sexual harassment.

Dr. David Welsh, a school psychologist, said some policies that bar bullying, harassment and weapons on public school campuses may go too far, but school boards are being forced to develop strict policies and follow them to the letter because of a large number of complaints being reported by students and teachers who face consequences if they keep silent.

"If you have a policy and procedure and you don't follow it, it's hard to defend," Welsh said.
The boy's suspension ended on Tuesday. School officials refused to say if the he was back in class, and his mother did not return a phone call seeking comment.
A child psychologist told KRDO that tough love in this case could have negative consequences. She said kissing is normal behavior for children of that age.

"For most 6-year-old boys, absolutely. That would be a normal behavior," said Sandy Wurtele, a child clinical psychologist who specializes in child sexual development and the prevention of childhood sexual abuse.
Wurtele said she was surprised to hear the school suspended him.
"That really gives mixed messages, negative messages to the kids," she said. "This part of development is just as important if not more than their academic subjects."
Wurtele said children at that age are simply curious about the differences between boys and girls

 

[jonathancrane]

Sometimes, I wonder if the world has gone insane.

 

[Fallen Angel]

A regular Casanova he is.

 

[Dark Raven]

One day men are going to be branded as sexually harassing women for simply asking them out on a date. Sometimes it already feels that way.

 

[Victarion]

How lewd.

 

[Slushy]

Chivalry is dead.

 

[Xeno]

Child's play has been criminalized in the US.

 

[jonathancrane]

There's a universe of a difference between a grown man doing it and a six year old. I pity the mother having to explain or divert discussion of sex with a kid. Sheeesh.

 

[jmc]

They may have over reacted but I don't see the issue in having a discussion with a kid about it.

 

[GRangerPrimeNYC]

America's sexual repression strikes again, jeez

 

[GENERAL RAAM582]

He's gotten more action than I have.

 

[Figs]

He's gotten more action than I have.

They may have over reacted but I don't see the issue in having a discussion with a kid about it.

Overreacted?? That was way more than an overreaction. It was a simple sign of affection and they flip out and suspend him as if he grabbed the girl's ass.

 

[Warhammer]

I would love to see ONE person come in this thread to seriously defend this suspension.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

I would love to see ONE person come in this thread to seriously defend this suspension.

And sentinelmind is 3...2...1

 

[Tropico]

The epidemic of grade school pregnancies has to be stopped sometime. Boys impregnating girls with their cooties is running rampant in our schools, I applaud that someone finally had the courage to take a stand. The hand is a very private place, you don't go around touching to other people or exposing it to just anyone, kissing it is clearly harassment.

 

[Hal_Jordan]

Apparently this kid can't keep his hands to himself. If you read the article, this is not an isolated incident.

"Sexual assault" is a ridiculous charge, but disciplinary action against repeated bad/unwanted behavior is not at all.

 

[KevanG]

Sometimes, I wonder if the world has gone insane.

Why wonder? Just ask DJ.

 

[Fallen Angel]

it was the girl she clearly led the fool on. sticking out her hand.

 

[jmc]

Overreacted?? That was way more than an overreaction. It was a simple sign of affection and they flip out and suspend him as if he grabbed the girl's ass.

I understand that but the situation is such now that the mother is probably better off explaining to the child the why's of the situation than tip toeing around it. Not saying the kid did anything wrong, it was harmless, but the situation is what it is and all parties involve will just have to deal with it in the best way.

 

[Ant-manic]

i blame the kids who shot up Columbine. that zero tolerance stuff started there.

 

[Ant-manic]

I would love to see ONE person come in this thread to seriously defend this suspension.

there's no defense. but an explanation was given in the article. this was in response to complaints by parents. some people will call a boy getting in trouble for kissing a girl ridiculous. then those same people would flip their **** if a little boy kissed their precious little boy. that's how these zero tolerance policies arise. there's an incident. a parent holds the school accountable. a policy is born to cover all eventualities. it's not just stupidity on the school system's part. there are parents out there who are just as stupid and reactionary.

 

[Boy Scout]

The article does say that he'd been suspended once before for kissing the little girl, and had a history of being disciplined by the school, so it's not like he was entirely innocent. I imagine he had been told before that he shouldn't be kissing his classmates, and the fact that he did it again probably encouraged them to take further action.

That said...I don't think he should've gotten suspended. It's really not that big of a deal. It was a kiss on the hand. Who gives a damn?

 

[Teelie]

Suspending him over this is beyond stupid but it's only part of a larger disciplinary problem. Using the term "sexual harassment" to describe it and applying it to a child kissing another child's hand is a bigger problem than anything he's gotten up to.

These are six year-olds so the vagueness of it all only compounds the situation but it's clearly stated, "a policy against unwanted touching" which brings me to the question, did any of them actually ask the girl who was kissed on the hand if she felt it was inappropriate to her? He claims she likes him too then I find it unlikely she would be bothered by his kissing her hand.

That's normally something I would expect to be asked in any allegation of inappropriate touching viewed by someone else; if the one touched actually felt it was inappropriate.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Wow, makes my the boys who took part in games of kiss chase when I was at school look like a rapist invasion army

 

[RetrogradeOrbit]

Hopeful, I am going to be sending you an invoice for loss of earnings against injuries I received falling off of my chair while laughing when reading your post...