DEL.ICIO.USThe Associated Press
Published on: 04/01/08
Waycross, Ga. -- A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job and assigning children tasks including covering the windows and cleaning up afterward, police said Tuesday.
The plot by as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia was a serious threat, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said Tuesday.
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"We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely," Tanner said. "We feel like if they weren't interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don't know."
The children, ages 8 and 9, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said.
They could be expelled, but a prosecutor said they are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law.
Tanner said school officials alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had brought a weapon to school.
Police seized a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape, electrical and transparent tape, ribbons and a crystal paperweight from the students, who apparently intended to use them against the teacher, Tanner said.
Theresa Martin, spokeswoman for the Ware County school system, said nine children had been given discipline up to and including long-term suspension. She would not be more specific. She said none of the children had been back to school since the case came to light.
The alleged target is a veteran educator who teaches third-grade students with a range of learning disabilities, including attention deficit disorder, delayed development and hyperactivity, friends and parents said.
Tanner said the scheme involved a division of roles. One child's job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, he said. Another was supposed to clean up after the attack.
"We estimate between six to nine students were involved. ... We're not sure at this point in the investigation how many of the students actually knew the intent was to hurt the teacher," Tanner said.
The parents of the students have cooperated with investigators, who aren't allowed to question the children without their parents' or guardians' consent, he said. Authorities have withheld the children's names.
Police expected to forward the results of their investigation to prosecutors, Tanner said.
Children in Georgia can't be charged with a crime unless they are at least 13, District Attorney Rick Currie said.
Martin, told The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville, Fla., that administrators would follow school system policy and state law in disciplining the students.
"From what I understand, they were considered pretty good kids," Martin said. "But we have to take this seriously, whether they were serious or not about carrying this through, and that's what we did."
Four mothers of other third-grade students at Center Elementary called for the immediate expulsion of the suspected plotters.
Stacy Carter and Deana Hiott both cited school system policy stating that any student who brings "anything reasonably considered to be a weapon" is to be expelled for at least the remainder of the school year.
"We don't want our children around them," Carter told the Times-Union. "The one with the knife could have stabbed my child or someone else's child at lunch or out on the playground."
"This is an isolated incident, an aberration. ... We have good kids," Center Principal Angie Coleman told the newspaper.
More on ajc.com
- 3 children face charges in plot to attack teacher (04/02/2008)
- Pupils accused of plotting to attack teacher (04/02/2008)
- Algebra too high a leap for most eighth-graders (09/29/2008)
- LEARNING CURVE (09/29/2008)
- Lunch for juvenile diabetes camp (09/29/2008)
- Schools could get alternative accreditation next month (09/26/2008)
- Audit upholds math standard (09/23/2008)
- Audit: Math tests that students failed were not flawed (09/22/2008)
- Schools seek alternate accreditation (09/22/2008)
- State needs plan for ailing school boards (09/18/2008)
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Comments
By Carl
Feb 26, 2009 3:50 PM | Link to this
I agree with wat Katie said dont Blame Video Games for parental incompitance
sure they do make some violent Games but it is a parents responcilblity to make sure there child doesnt play such games
i mean ive played rated m games since i was 16 but im not plotting againest my teachers
its not the games fault its the parents fault 4 leting there child play games that r rated to high 4 them
By denise
Dec 29, 2008 2:18 AM | Link to this
It was a joke to see this 'child' lying on National Television WITH her grandmother saying they were making a pie to throw in the teacher's face!
She wants 'special' treatment because Momma is in Iraq and thinks that throwing something at a teacher is OK too.
Give me a break! This has got to be a joke
By kimberly
May 20, 2008 6:27 PM | Link to this
dammmm!!!this kids should be in jail because thats a crime...but where are the perents when they should be there???
By kimberly
May 20, 2008 6:27 PM | Link to this
dammmm!!!this kids should be in jail because thats a crime...but where are the perents when they should be there???
By Katiee
May 18, 2008 10:20 PM | Link to this
Don't blame the TV and video games for these 3rd graders actions. Blame the parents, including yourselves for letting your children play extremely violent games or watch violent television shows. The only time parents like you say anything about how violent everything is, is when something crazy like this happens. I bet all of your kids have watched or played these games, so please don't be hypocritical :)
By Pariss
May 2, 2008 11:33 PM | Link to this
Every time somebody do something the first thing people do is blame the media. They don't ever just say "Oh. This kid is responsible for his/her own actions." It's got to be TV and video games' faults. I've watched violent TV shows and played violent video games all my life and I have never even considered plotting to kill someone. The problem with people today is that they don't ever want to take full responsibility for their own actions. And Shell kids were saying they didn't want to go to school long before the Naked Brothers' Band came out. That's what's wrong with you people today. You want to blame everything on someone else besides the person who is actually to blame.
By christine
May 1, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this
first of all i do blaim t.v shows and video games for the kids actions. and sometimes i blame the parents. some parents dont care about what their kids watch or play. if these kids see the things on tv and video games, then they are going to think that thats ok to do because they see other people doing it, and thats not right. Tvs and videos games are getting so out of control i have to watch and play the games before i give it to my kids, because it gets so out of control. And some parents do their best to try to teach their kids right from wrong but kids are so hard headed these days cause they do not listen. but it is about what they put on tv and video games that makes these kids act the way they act. and i blame them and parents who dont tell or show their kids right from wrong.
By christine
May 1, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this
first of all i do blaim t.v shows and video games for the kids actions. and sometimes i blame the parents. some parents dont care about what their kids watch or play. if these kids see the things on tv and video games, then they are going to think that thats ok to do because they see other people doing it, and thats not right. Tvs and videos games are getting so out of control i have to watch and play the games before i give it to my kids, because it gets so out of control. And some parents do their best to try to teach their kids right from wrong but kids are so hard headed these days cause they do not listen. but it is about what they put on tv and video games that makes these kids act the way they act. and i blame them and parents who dont tell or show their kids right from wrong.
By Jimmy
Apr 29, 2008 9:45 AM | Link to this
Don't blaim T.V and video games on their actions. They were just some stupid kids that apparently didn't have parents that disciplined them correctly!
By JesusFreak
Apr 20, 2008 2:53 PM | Link to this
This is what happens when parents don't have God in their life. The parents bad actions turn on their children and cause them to do unthinkable things.
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