# Principal removes army men from 3rd grader's cupcakes. Right or wrong? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 11, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605 "2013-03-11T03:07:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/21 "2013-03-11T15:49:57Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > We now live in a country where kids have to receive “counseling” due to the horrific sight of a Pop-Tart chewed into the shape of a (_gasp_!) _gun_. Seriously? I missed that story. Oy, vey. > [@stolatt](#): > > At what point in a child’s life do we explain that soldiers exist and they exist for a reason? I think that’s a great question and perhaps worthy of its own thread. I think we’re at real risk of creating a terrible anxiety problem when we remove the imaginary tools by which children face and defeat their imaginary demons. As good ol’ GK Chesterton said, “What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.” But now we’re taking away St. George (in combat fatigues). So who is left to kill the dragons? Never mind. Killing is bad. Buy a new iPad and you won’t notice the dragons… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/22 "2013-03-11T17:19:44Z")
I think the principal was wrong but I am neither surprised or offended by it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/23 "2013-03-11T22:31:14Z")
I think the principal must be insanely retarded. What the hell is she going to do when the kids open a history book? Is she going to take sharpies to all pictures of guns? :rolleyes: (God, I remember when I was in first grade I dressed up as a cowgirl for Halloween, complete with gun belt and a toy pistol. Lord only knows how that would go over today!) ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/24 "2013-03-11T23:00:56Z")
I’m not outraged or anything, but I think this is an example of the principal having to choose her battles, and her choosing incorrectly. Sure, someone would have complained if the soldiers had stayed on the cupcakes, but would it have made such a stir? I suspect not. The complainer probably wouldn’t have gone to the media, lest he/she be seen as a killjoy or (worse) not supportive of the troops. So while I don’t really have a problem with the principal from a hygiene/safety/cultural point of view, it was probably way more trouble than it was worth to remove the toys. I wouldn’t have done if I had been in her place. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/25 "2013-03-12T01:24:02Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > We now live in a country where kids have to receive “counseling” due to the horrific sight of a Pop-Tart chewed into the shape of a (_gasp_!) _gun_." A legislator somewhere recently put in a bill mandating counseling for school administrators who “cannot discern a gun from a picture of a gun”. He’s obviously going for a laugh, but I kind of like it. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/26 "2013-03-12T01:27:35Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > My experience with little kids is that slightly-used toys are among the \*least \*filthy things they’ll be willing to put in their mouths. You make an excellent point, but I’d STILL prefer not to eat anything that has had a toy on it, whether the toy is new or slightly used. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/27 "2013-03-12T04:32:13Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Seriously? I missed that story. Oy, vey. [When Pop-tarts are outlawed, only outlaws will have Pop-tarts.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2013/03/05/pop-tart-gun-suspension-seriously-folks/) I’m ashamed to say I’m from the same state in which this happened. We should just ban the state of Maryland because it looks like a gun. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/28 "2013-03-12T12:50:41Z")
> [@Sally\_Mander](#): > > [When Pop-tarts are outlawed, only outlaws will have Pop-tarts.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2013/03/05/pop-tart-gun-suspension-seriously-folks/) > > I’m ashamed to say I’m from the same state in which this happened. We should just ban the state of Maryland because it looks like a gun. :smack: I really really really hoped you were being hyperbolic. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/29 "2013-03-12T13:40:27Z")
You forgot option C: Principal is neither right nor wrong, but Dad is a total WTF from beginning to end. I mean, _honestly_. If you’re going to put a cheap shitty plastic toy on top of a cupcake, you make it some kind of cheap shitty plastic toy that can stand alone, like a ring or one of those ball-bearing games or something. Even if the cupcakes hadn’t been altered, what do the parents think kids are going to do with one green plastic army man? That’s like having one Lego. It’s gonna get pitched or otherwise destroyed by the end of the day. And alerting the goddamn media because the cheap shitty plastic toy that nobody wants got taken off your kid’s cupcakes? Seriously? That’s something you bitch to your friends about, maybe call the principal over, and then let go. Unless, of course, you’re a total drama llama. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/30 "2013-03-12T13:50:48Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I think the principal must be insanely retarded. What the hell is she going to do when the kids open a history book? Is she going to take sharpies to all pictures of guns? :rolleyes: > > (God, I remember when I was in first grade I dressed up as a cowgirl for Halloween, complete with gun belt and a toy pistol. Lord only knows how that would go over today!) When I was a kid 40 or so years ago, my dad and I made a crossbow out of an old auto spring from plans in a 1950s home mechanic magazine (he did the hard stuff like cutting the spring down but I did most of the woodcarving). I happily took it into my grade 6 class. The teacher and the kids all loved it. In fact, we took it outside for a demonstration shot at a target on a tree. We then spent the afternoon learing about medieval knights and the importance of the crossbow. These days, he’d be in jail, I’d be in councilling, my dad would be interviewed by social workers, and the whole matter would be on the news. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/31 "2013-03-12T13:57:27Z")
I think it was reasonable to ban toy soldiers from school, not because they’re soldiers, but because they’re toys. The kids are going to be playing with them when they’re supposed to be listening to the teacher or doing schoolwork, and that’s going to be disruptive. As long as no disciplinary action was taken beyond removing the toys, I don’t see a problem. Which is not to say that the principal’s reasoning was reasonable, just because it ended up at a reasonable conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/32 "2013-03-12T14:57:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think it was reasonable to ban toy soldiers from school, not because they’re soldiers, but because they’re toys. The kids are going to be playing with them when they’re supposed to be listening to the teacher or doing schoolwork, and that’s going to be disruptive. In my experience, party-related activity is almost always held at the end of the school day, at least in elementary schools. So it’s a moot point. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/33 "2013-03-12T20:17:56Z")
Army Men are one of the most classic toys. They’re like Lincoln logs and Legos. It’s pretty sad when paranoid adults decided they are a violent symbol and can’t be on a kids cake. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/34 "2013-03-12T20:34:10Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I think the principal was wrong but I am neither surprised or offended by it. This, pretty much. If the toys were removed because the school had a policy against small toys in the classroom, fine. To remove the toys because of tiny, fake guns is ludicrous. By the way, the response from the school includes the line: > [@](#): > > Living in a democratic society entails respect for opposing opinions. Um, no, it doesn’t. Democracy means majority rule, period. It’s pretty much the antithesis of respecting opposing opinions. Democracy in it’s purest form entails “might makes right”. The US, however, is not a democracy. It is a representative republic - which still doesn’t “entail” respect for opposing opinions. In our efforts to be PC, once again we miseducate. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/35 "2013-03-12T21:19:44Z")
In addition for castigating the father for calling in reporters over an insignificant decision, we should also take the press to task for printing it. I’m certain there are more important things happening in that community that they could report on. I really hate yellow journalism. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/36 "2013-03-12T21:34:59Z")
It got reported because it’s one more example of paranoid silliness about kids and toy guns. Theres been several examples of kids getting in trouble for drawing gun like objects, tearing paper into the shape, or even pointing a finger and thumb in a gun like gesture. We’ve got to settle down and relax. Sandy Hook was one abhorrent event perpetrated by a madmen. It’s time to move on and stop freaking out when kids are doing kid like things. Imagination is a kids best toy. They can create a entire pretend world from the simplest things. Playing cops and robbers, soldiers, or cowboys is all part of natural child’s play. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/37 "2013-03-13T03:28:58Z")
The principal should be fired, and committed to a psychiatric hospital, as well. So, I guess I’ll vote ‘wrong’ in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/38 "2013-03-13T04:11:11Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > (On a side note, back 50 years or more ago then I was at high school, there were real firearms at my school – they were owned by the army cadet corps and air cadet corps. I don’t think any of us were traumatised by them. And, of course, ammunition was not stored at the school – if the cadets needed practice firing those weapons, they went to a rifle range to do so. But we – I was an air cadet for a year, so I can say “we” – did have drill practice using those old rifles.) 43 years ago for me. We had Army JROTC; I don’t know where the ammunition was stowed, but the rifle team did their shooting in the school’s basement. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/39 "2013-03-13T04:14:10Z")
> [@Sally\_Mander](#): > > [When Pop-tarts are outlawed, only outlaws will have Pop-tarts.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2013/03/05/pop-tart-gun-suspension-seriously-folks/) > > I’m ashamed to say I’m from the same state in which this happened. We should just ban the state of Maryland because it looks like a gun. Actually, I think the Pop-Tart looked more like Idaho than a gun… ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605/40 "2013-03-13T04:42:40Z")
Are toy guns prohibited in most schools these days? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-removes-army-men-from-3rd-graders-cupcakes-right-or-wrong/652605.md?page=3)