First Grader Punished for Bag of Dirt Mistaken for Marijuana

A teacher thought a bag of clover, rocks and dirt made by a first grader in Missouri was a bag of marijuana. The student ended up getting detention for making a drug look-alike as part of a zero tolerance for drugs policy.

Sikeston, Missouri --A Southeast Missouri first grader finds herself in big trouble after playing with a plastic bag she found on the playground.

It happened last tuesday during recess at Mathews Elementary in Sikeston, MO.

The girl's mother says her daughter used the bag to make her friend a present. But, her teacher didn't see it that way.

Tuesday Heartland News spoke with 6-year-old Michaela Boyd, and her mother Michele. They tell Heartland News teachers confused a hand-gathered gift of nature's goodies with a bag of marijuana.

KFVS TV

Zero tolerance drug policies in schools are becoming ridiculous. To think a first grade student making a bad of dirt and clover in a school playground actually intended to make a "bag of pot" lookalike is insane.

What is wrong with these people…

Are people really so paranoid that they feel a need to give strict punishments to little kids for completely harmless acts. These people needs some serious reality checks.

I hope people realize that those little "baggies" are used for things other than distributing weed. When I braided hair, I use to buy special beads in those little "dime sacks" and rubberbands and other hair things in those baggies. Now that I am crafter, I have a large supply of "baggies" that I use to organize my crap.

Assuming that a child knowingly made up a bag of drugs because of the little baggie is just wrong. Most women and girls will probably agree with me that when we are younger and some of us still we like the littlest smallest things we can find and I can totally understand how this innocent child must have felt making up her special bag of rocks and dirt for her friend.

That reminds me now, my son keeps his rock collection separated in little baggies, hope that doesn't get him in trouble someday.

I think some firings are in order here. This will stick with this child the rest of her life & it wont be a pleasant experience to remember. These individuals need to pay for damage they have caused to this child & her family.

How the hell do people like this get hired to work in a public institution? Don't bother answering, I know they hire their own kind.

A funny thing about drugs is they may cause psychotic reactions in those who have never taken them.

I had a similar experience tho I was a freshman in high school at the time. Rather than a bag of dirt and clovers, I had a bag with a burnt book inside. I was taken from class and the vice principal told me my locker and bag were going to be searched. They had received a tip that someone had been seen giving me some pot the day before.

During the search of my locker, when the book in the bag was pulled out I said this must be what they had seen.
I was told I could be suspended for this (the book) and that I should not have it on school property.

Last week my twelve year old niece got suspended for calling another girl a lesbian. Does that mean the school determined being a lesbian is a bad thing? What if she would have called her a heterosexual, would that have been okay? (just kidding)
But seriously, back in 1985 my five year old son was suspended for peeing in the playground. Today they would probably call it sexual harassment.
The worlds gone crazy!

Its propostrous. Everything borders on the ridiculous lately. Its almost as if the fact that we're at war gives anyone in authority (or presumed authority) the ability to wrongfully accuse people and get away with it. I suppose the first grader is lucky he's not labeled a terrorist. If i was the parent i'd march right to the school and make a few headlines myself.

Hmmm, ok, 1st grade is rather extreme I do admit.

Anyways, some schools are hyper sensitive, ie no tag for someone is "it".

ANyways, hope the parents sue, finally have a lawsuit with some backing to it.

I would like to know how someone mistook clover, dirt and rocks for freaking weed? Did they not bother to smell it or better yet look at it? If i was a principal with this evidence brought before me I would have laughed the nonsense off after a quick whiff of the baggie and perhaps a closer inspection of its contents. Since they so easily mistook a bag of basically nothing for weed I wonder if a labelled bag of sage packed with weed would get past their amazing powers of deduction?

I'm not understanding the logic here, Wouldn't the little girl have to know what a bag of pot looks like , before they suspend her for making something that looks like pot to them(which i doubt dirt looks like pot). It's criminal to suspend the little girl and prolly scar her over the whole ordeal. ANd come on Who doesn't Know what real Pot Looks like,She's a kid they do stuff like that, they bag up worms,ants ,DIRT, Leaves!!! It's enough to drive you insane

Yes, definitely time for a certain 'teacher' to be fired.

Teacher ? - I wouldn't trust this PC-obsessed cretin to train my cat to use a kitty tray :shk:

And stop and consider that these "school officials" are not only responsible for monitoring your child's "drug use habits," but educating them, as well. Comforting, huh. Home schooling, anyone?

ran across this story today, but it seems this kid is not going to be punished

Fourth-Grader Takes Gun, Empty Crack Bags To School

ignorance is no excuse for the law. the kid is 6 years old and should have known not to do it. they should kick the kid out of the school because the next thing you know they will be bringing in a fake gun or fake knife. then the parents will sue over the school disciplining them for that and it will go on forever at a cost to the taxpayers. if the kid is this into marijuana now their gonna grow up into a nobody anyway. give the kid a headstart on the road to nowhere and throw him out of the school.

the kid didn't have any weed... didn't you read the post title, you feklar?


as for the teacher... anybody that can mistake a bag of dirt and clover for a bag of Marijuana needs a job where they are not responsible for making these kinds of decisions.

i didn't say he had it at school...but to pretend to have it is just as bad and will eventually lead to the real thing. this kid is a soon to be criminal and must be stopped.

Originally posted by Odd
... anybody that can mistake a bag of dirt and clover for a bag of Marijuana needs a job where they are not responsible for making these kinds of decisions.

Exactly. People who think they have the responsibility to police this sort of thing should at least be required to be able to recognize the substance they are trying to prohibit. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.