Parent of Student Playing Pretend Guns Says Schools Are Going Too Far

By: Connie LeGrand | News Channel 7
Published: May 27, 2008

Five-year-old Easton Keller attends kindergarten at Oakview Elementary in Simpsonville. When his dad received a phone call from school, Mike Keller says he was alarmed. "My immediate concern was is my son ok? Are any other students hurt? What happened?" Keller says he was told Easton and two friends had been sent to the principal's office for playing pretend guns on the playground. Easton’s family said he had just been given a box of Star Wars toys from his Uncle Steve, and was pretending to play Star Wars, using pretend weapons. His dad doesn't understand why his son was reprimanded. "There was no physical contact. They were just having fun - five year olds being five year olds, “ says Keller.
Oakview Principal Phillip Reavis told News Channel 7 the boys were told to stop playing guns, and it continued. Reavis issued this statement via email, “Oakview elementary, like all schools, establishes age appropriate rules for student behavior. When behaviors arise that can cause disruptions at school, the faculty works closely with students and parents to communicate clear expectations and provide a path for improvement.”
Family counselor Dr. Roger Rhoades says schools have to have rules. “That’s how you have learning. You have a structure. In that structure and those boundaries, kids have an environment in which they can learn. When people are doing fifty different things, kind of working on their imagination, I call that play at home or play at the neighborhood, not school."
Although Keller doesn't agree with it, he says he'll make sure his son keeps it in the backyard. “Call me if my son is doing something wrong. I'm his parent. I'll take care of that. Don't take him to the principal's office and put the fear of God into him. It scared him to death.” He says it was just boys being boys.
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Roger Rhoades is lead counselor for the P.A.C.E. Center of Mental Health America/Piedmont & Carolina Counseling: http://www.mhapiedmont.org/news.htm
Oakview Elementary: http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/oakview/