Story Archive

No Tolerance

“They know it’s wrong in this day and age to do something that can only be provocative and will upset and excite other students,” said Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School Superintendent Richard Gross. “To do that is just foolish.” Indeed, Tito Velez, 16, and his girlfriend, Jamie Pereira, were foolish: they posted a photo of themselves online in formal attire, holding rifles — toy rifles — just before heading to the school’s Homecoming dance. The young couple compete in airsoft tournaments, and the toy guns were theirs. That wasn’t really the foolish part, though: rather, it was adding the caption “Homecoming 2014” to the photo that got them into the most trouble. It happened to be the same day that a student in Washington state shot five students, killing two of them and himself. Officials at the Taunton, Mass., school called the police, and suspended both of the kids pending an expulsion hearing. “If you do stuff that upsets your peers and colleagues there will be consequences,” Gross said. (RC/Taunton Gazette) ...Many parents are quite upset, so what are Gross’s consequences going to be?