Students in Louisiana thought this math symbol looked like a gun. Police were called.

jazz lady

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
A discussion among students at Oberlin High School in Oberlin, La., about a mathematical symbol led to a police investigation and a search of one of the student’s homes, according to the Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office.

On the afternoon of Feb. 20, detectives investigated a report of terroristic threats at the school, where they learned that a student had been completing a math problem that required drawing the square-root sign.

square root.png

Students in the group began commenting that the symbol, which represents a number that when multiplied by itself equals another number, looked like a gun.

After several students made comments along those lines, another student said something the sheriff’s office said could have sounded like a threat out of context.

Police searched the student’s home, where they found no guns or any evidence that he had any access to guns. Authorities also wrote there was no evidence the student had any intent to commit harm.

“The student used extremely poor judgment in making the comment, but in light of the actual circumstances, there was clearly no evidence to support criminal charges,” the department wrote, adding that the school board had been contacted to determine any disciplinary action for the student.
Click to expand...

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article201604224.html


:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
 
L

limblips

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
It doesn't bother me so much that they said it looked like a gun because in a abstract sort of way it does but it does bother me that high school students wouldn't know what a radix is.
 
Rommey

Rommey

Well-Known Member
This is the comment the student made according to this website:
"The students were working together, and a student made a math symbol of a square root sign, which kind of looks like a pistol. And he was helping a weaker student, and the student said, 'Well, that looks like a pistol!' And he just made a comment, you know, ‘Let's just get to work before I shoot you with a pistol.’”

Like the old game of Telephone, rumors began to spread at school and through social media that the student was planning a school shooting. The sheriff’s department was called in and the boy’s home was searched for weapons. Sheriff Doug Hebert said the search turned up no evidence that the student was a danger to his classmates.

“He did not commit a crime,” said the sheriff. “He did not commit anything remotely criminal, nothing to remotely suggest any intent to do actual harm.”

However, the incident spurred the district to rewrite its rules, as Doucet explained:

"The first thing we're going to do is remove that student from the premises with proper authority. Then, we're going to have a home visit done by detectives of the sheriff's department, and if no charges are filed, we're going to conduct a threat assessment on the student.”

KATC reported, “Any student accused of talking about guns or school shootings will be investigated by three entities: the school board, the sheriff's department, and the district attorney's office.”

The student who made the joke is banned from campus and will enter a hearing to determine if he will be expelled from the entire school system.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top