Colour me surprised

[Gob]

An Alabama mom is furious that her five-year-old daughter was forced to sign a contract saying she will not hurt herself or anyone at school after she pointed a crayon at a classmate.



The incident occurred at E.R. Dickson Elementary School in Mobile. The mom, only identified as Rebecca, said the school asked her toddler, Elizabeth, whether she was depressed, which the little girl did not understand. 'They told me she drew something that resembled a gun,' Rebecca told WPMI-TV. 'According to them she pointed a crayon at another student and said, ''pew pew''.'

The angry mother said the school then had her daughter sign a Mobile County Public Safety Contract without her consent. 'While I was in the lobby waiting they had my 5-year-old sign a contract about suicide and homicide,' Rebecca said. '(They) asked her if she was depressed now. 'Most of these words on here, she's never heard in her life. 'This isn't right. She's 5-years-old.'

State law in Alabama outlines that minors cannot sign a contract. The school also reccomended Elizabeth see a psychiatrist. Rebecca is now fighting to have the incident removed from her child's record, but is also dealing with the aftermath at home. 'My child interrupted us and said, ''What is suicide mommy? Daddy what is suicide?'' Rebecca told WPMI-TV. 'As a parent that's not right. 'I'm the one should be able to talk to my child and not have someone else mention words like this in front of her at all.'

[MajGenl.Meade]

Ridiculous - there's no terminal illness exception

[Lord Jim]

I'm going with "ridiculous" full stop...

I'm particularly surprised to see this particular type of brain dead idiocy in a public school system in Alabama...

This is the kind of thing I'd expect liberals to come up with...

[wesw]

in high school i used to break down my shotgun and take it some Fridays so I could ride home with my friend and we could hunt Saturday morning.

in elementary school we played pretend guns regularly, they probably still do around here

[Big RR]

Ridiculous. And would a child of five even understand what a contract was, not to mention suicide/homicide? the contract wouldn't stand up in court.

[Sue U]

the contract wouldn't stand up in court.

I wouldn't be so sure about that, BigRR ...

[Lord Jim]

[Big RR]

Ah, but there was no mention of such breaches of playground etiquette. Indeed, I doubt a deal with the principal or other school official would be so-governed; such contracts are only valid between minors according to the case of Spanky v Alfalfa (both agreed to not pursue Darla or any other girls or suffer corporal punishment if they did (also known as the "He Men Women Haters Club case"), which sets out the criteria for enforceable playground pacts.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Ah, the Wooking Po Nub exception!

[Big RR]

BTW sue, that "Touch black, no give back" is an interesting thing--in NY we used that phrase to seal a deal and something the asphalt on the street was touched. When I moved to NJ I heard it used as "Blackjack, no give back" and, as I recall (I was older then and it didn't come up much) the person reciting it had to touch something black like someone's jacket or pants (or even a pen)--the street did not count. The common law of childhood is pretty interesting.

[Sue U]

BTW sue, that "Touch black, no give back" is an interesting thing--in NY we used that phrase to seal a deal and something the asphalt on the street was touched. When I moved to NJ I heard it used as "Blackjack, no give back" and, as I recall (I was older then and it didn't come up much) the person reciting it had to touch something black like someone's jacket or pants (or even a pen)--the street did not count. The common law of childhood is pretty interesting.

Not just childhood, BigRR. I'm litigating pretty much the same issue in the federal courts: different circuits have different rules for whether and exactly what magic words have to be used in a health plan contract.

[Big RR]

Not all that surprising. I've seen similar things with intellectual property licenses and assignments. I guess we're all just big kids.

[Lord Jim]

Of course there's no question that a Pinky Swear is absolutely binding...