Houston School Thinks $2 Bill is Counterfeit, Calls Police on 13-Year-Old Girl
Though rarely produced, the $2 bill is still a perfectly acceptable and legal tender in the United States. However, according to one school in Houston, Texas, $2 bills are counterfeit currency.
13-year-old Danesiah Neal waited in her school’s lunch line to pay for her chicken nuggets. When the time came for her to make payment, she handed her lunch lady the $2 bill her grandmother had given her that morning. Believing the rare but legal form of currency to be fake, the lunch lady denied Neal her lunch and sent her to the office.
However, when Neal was sent to the office it wasn’t to give her side of the story to her principal or another school administrator. Instead, Neal was met by police officers who told her that she could be in big trouble for attempting to use counterfeit money.
“She’s never in trouble, so I was nervous going in there,” Neal’s grandmother, Sharon Kay Joseph told ABC after the school called her and asked her to come in. After trying to explain the situation to officers, the police were not buying the story Joseph gave them. “’Did you give Danesiah a $2 bill for lunch?” Joseph was asked by officers. “He told me it was fake.”
The bill Joseph had given to Neal that morning dated back to 1953, and as such, the counterfeit pen did not work on the bill. However, after an extensive investigation the officers realized that the bill was, in fact, an acceptable form of currency and handed it back to Joseph.
“He brought me my two dollar bill back,” Joseph said. He didn’t apologize. “He should have and the school should have because they pulled Danesiah out of lunch and she didn’t eat lunch that day because they took her money.”
Misunderstandings happen, we are all human and prone to error. However, the most concerning aspect of this situation is the fact that police were called to come deal with an 8th grade girl who had not committed any form of criminal wrongdoing. If any member of the faculty had suspected that the $2 bill was counterfeit, a simple trip to the office to straighten out the situation would have been sufficient enough to calm all concerns.
This story reflects a trend occurring in this country where police officers are routinely being called in to deal with disciplinary actions involving students in K-12 institutions. A few months ago, police were called on another young student because her use of emoji’s on social media were viewed as threatening by school administrators.
Additionally, this is a 13-year-old girl was not permitted to eat lunch that day because of ignorance on the part of school officials, and not because of any fault of her own. Treating school-age children as if they are criminals because of a simple misunderstanding trains them to live in a world of overcriminalization.
Instead of assuming the worst, school administrators should be doing all they can to protect the interests of their students, instead of treating them like common criminals.
Filed under: General Problems
What do you expect from Texas, home of Ted Cruz and the Bush family. I spent time in Texas when in the army at Ft. Sam so I know first hand about the IQ of the average Texan.
People are ignorant. Getting cynical in my old age!
I just wonder how much the total price for everyone’s time alone for this ? Before the lawsuit costs come in ?
I would sue them all for emotional duress and demand a public apology along with free lunch for the remainder of her time in that school. I’m sure that there are lawyers running over each other to represent this little girl and her grandmother.
The common ground is this country anymore is the exact opposite of what the constitution and the Bill of Rights promised us all. We are no longer innocent until proven guilty, now it’s shoot first by the police and find a reason to justify the shooting. Remember the good old days when we were able to approach a law enforcement officer for directions or simply to have a conversation without the fear of being shot? Boy, where did those days go?