Family Outraged After Colorado 3rd Grader Suspended for Sniffing Shirt With Marker on It

 

The family of a Colorado third grader is furious after he was suspended for sniffing his shirt. School administrators accused 8-year-old Eathen Harris of trying to get high by huffing a stripe of magic marker on his shirt, MyFOXColorado reported.

Harris’ teacher reported him for misbehaving and Harris Park Principal Christopher Benisch handed him a three day suspension.

James Harris, Eathen’s father, insists the punishment is too extreme.

“[The school] automatically assumed that he was huffing a marker,” James Harris told MyFOXColorado. “He is in third grade, he's 8-years-old. And I think that's a ridiculous assumption.”

When James Harris went to the school to argue his son did not know any better, the suspension was reduced from three days to one. He still does not think the school has done enough.

Principal Benisch stands by his decision, telling MyFOXColorado he believes the markers pose a serious safety issue if misused.

He says Eathen Harris’ punishment stems from repeatedly sniffing the marker on his shirt, even after being told to stop.

"We really want to send a clear message to that student and the other students that we're responsible for that,” Benisch told MyFOXColorado. “This is a real true danger.”

Machete-Wielding Teens Attack Australian High School; 19 Injured

 

Five teenagers brandishing baseball bats and machetes rampaged through a suburban school Monday and hit a teacher over the head, police said. Eighteen students were treated for minor injuries.

The drama unfolded as hundreds attended an assembly in an outdoor area of Merrylands High School. As the attackers moved in, teachers rushed the students back to class, where they sought refuge behind locked doors, under desks, even in a cupboard.

"I find it very difficult to believe the brazenness of how they entered the school," Police Detective Inspector Jim Stewart said. Such school violence is rare in Australia.

The teens, between the ages of 14 and 16, were arrested and likely would be charged with assault and other crimes, Stewart said.

Police refused to say whether the teens were students at the school. They were still being questioned by police late Monday.

A 43-year-old teacher was treated at a hospital after being hit on the head with a bat when he tried to stop the attackers, and 18 students were treated for cuts from broken glass and other minor injuries, Stewart said.

Two of those students -- a 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl -- were taken to a hospital for further treatment, police said. No one was seriously injured, Stewart said.

Some students reported the gang was armed with two machetes.

"We were having an assembly and a bunch of guys walked in with some machetes and baseball bats and they said they were looking for some kid," an unnamed male student told Ten Network television news.

"Teachers made an announcement; they rushed us all into the class rooms, locked us in," he added.

Another student said children panicked in the classrooms and hid under tables and desks as teachers barricaded doors.

Worried parents rushed to the school as students flooded the airwaves with mobile phone calls and news of the attack was broadcast.

A mother later told Ten that "children were passing out -- fainting because they couldn't breath for panicking."

Stewart said the attackers defied teachers who tried to stop them, but did not challenge police when they arrived, and surrendered their weapons without a struggle. The raid lasted just six minutes, the Education Department in New South Wales state said.

Education Department regional director Tom Urry apologized to the concerned parents who had to wait at the school gates for hours before seeing their children.

"It is a very confusing situation," Urry told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"Once the police are on site, it's a crime scene, so it's a combination of two departments trying to make sure that when we do release students, we actually release them to people who are their parents," he added.