Update: The younger of the two students was officially expelled as of Jan. 24. The other student has opted to have the expulsion hearing after the trial next week.
Kids do stupid things.
It's a part of being a kid. The consequences of not thinking things through have come around to bite most of us in the rear many a time during childhood and adolescence.
I have a teenage brother, and last year he found himself spending his lunch hours scraping gum off desks because he thought it would be humorous to toss a water bottle out of a moving school bus.
However, these experiences (hopefully) make us into more intelligent, cautious adults. It's all part of the learning process.
The consequences of a prank pulled at Green Mountain High School in early December has been on a lot of minds in the Lakewood community, as the two teens involved are facing expulsion from school, as well as criminal charges.
According to reports by the
Rocky Mountain News, the two boys, ages 16 and 14, used common household materials to make a small explosive device, brought it to school and assembled in the cafeteria, then detonated it.
Diane Zaugg, a parent of a student at GMHS, posted
her thoughts on
YourHub.com about the incident. Is it fair, she asked, to punish two good students so excessively for a prank? According to Zaugg, the device was made of
vinegar and baking soda, and barely attracted the attention of other students in the cafeteria.
After the incident, the students were held at the Mount View Detention Facility and missed the last weeks of school (although they were able to take their finals, Zaugg said).
School safety is a big issue, especially for Jeffco Schools, in the wake of tragedies such as what happened Columbine High School in 1997 and Platte Canyon High School in September.
But where is the line? Would throwing these kids in juvie or expelling them from school really accomplish more than a punishment such as cleaning gum off desks? Or is it justified because of the connotations we have when "explosives" are involved?
Cindy Matthews from West Metro Fire Rescue points out, "Despite a person's character or likeability, our officers must enforce the law when, by definition, a crime has occurred; we cannot dismiss a crime of any severity simply because some feel it wasn't really a big deal."
Read her entire response
here.
The two students have a hearing on Jan. 22 to determine if they are expelled, so check back to see what was decided.
Read what a Green Mountain student thinks about the situation
here.
The e-mail from the school sent to parents Dec. 7:
|
"This is a message from Green Mountain High School. I want to make you aware of a situation that happened Wednesday at our school. Two GMHS students were arrested for allegedly activating an explosive device in the cafeteria. There were no injuries. The device was a small, homemade explosive which was made from baking soda and vinegar and brought to school by the two students. We are cooperating with the Lakewood Police Department and West Metro Fire Department in their investigation. If you have questions, please call Barb Goings at GMHS and know that the safety of our students is my most important priority." |
| Response from Jefferson County School District: |
"While the district can't comment on the case of these students specifically, nothing is more important to our staff than the safety of our students. Jeffco Public Schools takes any action or threat to students very seriously." -- Lynn Setzer, executive director, Jeffco Communications Services |