The Associated Press

Posted May 11 2001

OLDSMAR -- A boy was taken from his elementary school in handcuffs after his classmates turned him in for drawing pictures of weapons.

The 11-year-old fifth grader was not charged with a crime in the Wednesday incident. His name is not being released to protect him, school officials said.

``There were some drawings that were confiscated by the teacher,'' Oldsmar Elementary School Principal David Schmitt said. ``The children were in no danger at all. It involved no real weapons.''

Still, Schmitt refused to discuss details of the boy's case.

``All I can tell you is it was a threat . . . against students,'' he said. ``Nobody in particular, but students in general.

``We just need to get it through kids' heads that there are certain things you don't say and there are certain things you don't draw,'' he said.

The boy was handcuffed by school police for his safety, according to Pinellas County School District spokesman Ron Stone.

``That's normal procedure in a situation like this,'' Stone said. ``The primary concern was to make sure we get appropriate services for the child.''

Making threats is not unusual for students in elementary and middle schools, said Nancy Zambito, a director of school operations for the school district.

Depending on the severity of the threat, Zambito said, the outcome for the student can be a number of things.

Those possibilities range from disciplinary action by the school _ like suspension or expulsion _ to being arrested, or taken to a hospital under Florida's Baker Act, which allows for the involuntary commitment of people who threaten or try to hurt themselves or others.

``It's nothing unusual and we address them all seriously because, of course, we don't know,'' Zambito said. ``And in most cases, our prime goal is to let those students know what is appropriate to say and what is not, and how to be angry and cute and funny without alarming people.''