Four students suspended for throwing Pop-Its on school sidewalk

Four students suspended for throwing Pop-Its on school sidewalk

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SALT LAKE CITY — A parent wants the rules reviewed after his child and three others were suspended for throwing Pop-Its onto a sidewalk at an elementary school.

An adult at Whittier Elementary in Salt Lake heard the snaps and cracks of Pop-Its on the sidewalk and called four students inside.

They each received three-day suspensions for throwing "explosive devices." The Pop-Its had fallen from another boy's jacket.

One of the boys' father, Ben Blume, said his 11-year-old son Ethan does not deserve this punishment.

"When I was in the principal's office, they brought him in and he was visibly upset. He had tears in his eyes. I comforted him and told him he was going to be OK. I wasn't mad at him. I didn't think he did anything wrong," Ben Blume said.

What are Pop-Its?
    Trick noisemaker "rocks" that pop when they are stepped on or thrown against a hard surface.
  • Look like tiny paper-wrapped rocks.
  • Rock or sand is soaked in small amount of silver fulminate, which is explosive.
Source: How Pop-It Snappers Work.

He said if Ethan had a firecracker that would have been a different story.

Salt Lake City schools said Pop-Its contain a tiny bit of explosive powder and they are clearly forbidden on school grounds.

Ben Blume wants a change in code.

He said teachers and administrators should give a warning first, like, "Please don't bring toys to class. Give it back to them at the end of the day if it's a harmless toy. If it's not harmless, then you get parents involved and suspend the kids. But this is a harmless little Pop-It."

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