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12yr old bought a bb gun on school trip!

36 replies

ashamahay · 25/05/2016 23:17

Am I right to be fuming that my 12yr old was left unsupervised in a market place long enough to buy a bb gun! I knows they done wrong and I am not excusing my childs behaviour, I asked him what they were thinking and they said loads of other children on the trip bought them. What shocks me is this was on a day trip to france and on the return to the coach the teacher had asked the children if they had anything that they felt they shouldn't have and a few kids handed in bb guns. The teacher did not supervise them around the open market and who knows how many kids bought weapons, there were also knives readily available my child tells me. I'm really concerned that there was no supervision to prevent this from happening, and why, after having evidence that weapons had been purchased did the teacher not check all students thoroughly, they went through french customs with these weapons! I was not at the school to collect my child but I have not been contacted by the school to warn that the children may have purchased weapons. So my question is what do I do now? I know my child has to shoulder alot of the blame but I am very concerned at the lack of supervision and the failure to warn parents of the possibility that they have purchased a weapon. There could well be yr 7s wondering the halls tomorrow with bb guns and knives. Advice please.

OP posts:
HSMMaCM · 26/05/2016 14:55

When DD went to France they were told they couldn't buy weapons and not even flick combs (like flick knives). Anyone who did would be excluded.

Most schools send kids into the market in groups and I bet they were all told what not to buy and it sounds like the staff asked them all afterwards too.

Your son broke the rules and then didn't hand it over when asked.

uggmum · 26/05/2016 15:07

In France you can buy BB guns in all toy shops. They sell a large range especially for children with no age restriction. You can bring them through French customs without an issue.

My ds bought 2 last time we went and we brought them home on the Eurostar without a problem. French customs were lovely and jokingly offered to swop his real gun for the Bb gun and put it in his holster.

My ds uses his responsibly at staged events though and he has a large section of guns ranging from handguns to machine guns. They are transported only in appropriate holdalls and not in plain sight in public.

Blu · 26/05/2016 15:13

You can't complain to anyone in France, OP - there is no 'underage'. They are sold as toys, not weapons. DS won one in France on a fairground stall when he was 5!

Blu · 26/05/2016 15:27

HappyNevertheless - I doubt they were those ones.
They are far more expensive. Though who knows....

The ones usually sold and bought for kids are generally made of plastic and spring loaded, not with gas cartidges, so far weaker firing, the pellets don't go as far. And the ones sold here don't look like 'real guns' so much, either. Like this or this. They sell targets with a sticky surface that the plastic pellets stick to. Like this

I am not advocating for BB guns as a suitable toy, far from it, but I don't think that 12 year old boys being driven to buy one when they saw one on sale, is the worst thing that can happen. Presumably they saw it as a legal, exciting offer, and may have felt resentful to have a teacher confiscate it if they had not been specifically told in advance.

HappyNevertheless · 26/05/2016 16:51

Ah, now I'm with you.
Basically they are toys and look like toys?
I'm afraid I can get annoyed about it.
If, before leaving, the children were told they weren't allowed to buy some, then they should have followed the rule.
For the rest, they've bought a toy. I wouldn't go and see the school because of that, nor would I grumble about children been left on their own in the market.

BoneyBackJefferson · 26/05/2016 16:55

MoonfaceAndSilky

"So the teacher 'supervising' is not to blame, at all, for not supervising?"

How do you know that the teacher wasn't supervising?

Do you know what the teacher to child ratio was on the trip?

more to the point why should the teacher take the blame for what someone else did?

HappyNevertheless · 26/05/2016 17:40

And why is it that 12yo needs supervising in a market?
At that age, they shouldn't need an adult behind them all the way. They should be trusted to behave appropriately.

And what we are talking about us being a TOY. One they shouldn't have bought, but just a toy.
It's not the end of the world.

SlinkyVagabond · 26/05/2016 18:07

Our list for the year 7 French trip has just gone home. The list was reallly long and comprehensive, firearms, knives, alcohol, tobacco are at the top, (and includes flour filled balloons.) Punishment for infringement is made very clear.

Blu · 26/05/2016 21:08

A BB gun is not a 'firearm'.

Needmoresleep · 26/05/2016 21:21

Fond memories. DS went on a school ski trip aged 7. (I know - they went by coach as well!) He brought me back a lovely bottle of wine. Apparently he was too short to reach for a less expensive bottle as these were on higher shelves.

Cross-cultural experiences...perhaps an opportunity to discuss with your DS why you think it is wrong, and why the French may not.

DD was asked by her family on her French exchange whether she preferred cider doux or sec. Doux obviously, if you are 14. Their much younger son agreed.

DayToDayGlobalShit · 26/05/2016 21:29

Are BB guns illegal now? My dc had them, they are late teens now. Used them for shooting tin cans in the garden.

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