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The [policy is the policy leaving the administrators in the building no room for interpreting the situation on a case to case basis. I cannot believe that the BOA or whoever is in charge has hired a bunch of administrator they do not trust to make a decision without applying racial or other biases, that's too bad.
As an assistant principal in a PK-8 school I have seen cases where a knife brought to school was more a weapon and less a novelty, tool item and have suspended as policy states I must. I have also seen situations similar to this one when I have taken the item called the parent, informed them of our policy and asked them to pick up the item after school. I then have a conversation with the student. I have never had a student bring such an item a second time. Zero tolerance rules are BS because every year we see cases like this one where kids are subjected to consequences that are far too extreme. But again, the administrators have no choice when the policy is written as this particular policy sems to have been.
#341 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:35 PM EDTThe [policy is the policy leaving the administrators in the building no room for interpreting the situation on a case to case basis. I cannot believe that the BOA or whoever is in charge has hired a bunch of administrators they do not trust to make a decision without applying racial or other biases, that's too bad.
As an assistant principal in a PK-8 school I have seen cases where a knife brought to school was more a weapon and less a novelty, tool item and have suspended as policy states I must. I have also seen situations similar to this one when I have taken the item called the parent, informed them of our policy and asked them to pick up the item after school. I then have a conversation with the student. I have never had a student bring such an item a second time. Zero tolerance rules are BS because every year we see cases like this one where kids are subjected to consequences that are far too extreme. But again, the administrators have no choice when the policy is written as this particular policy sems to have been.
doesn't it make you wonder, have they not heard of re-writing a bad policy in such a way that it could become a good policy? that would mean leaving some room for commons sense like you seem to display in your opinion on this. kudos!
I think the parent should be sent to reform school. There is no excuse for her to allow her 6-year-old son to carry what is essentially a jack knife to school. If her excuse is that she didn't know he had it on him, well, that just screams negligence. She should always know what her 6-year-old has on him. I'm still trying to figure out who in their right mind would even allow a 6-year-old to have access to a Swiss Army knife anyway. The mom, the Boy Scout leader... idiots. Unfortunately, it's all too common that parents pass the buck and blame everyone but themselves. It's too bad that the child will ultimately pay the price for the stupidity of the adults around him.
#342 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDTright on
is this supposed to be a fasceteous remark? because in my wildest I cannot believe it came out of the brain of a normal adult. are you a parent? you obviously do not know how much one does not always see or observe, even when a good parent. we are not the God-cops of the world, we are parents, and do our best to stay on top of things. The same things are not important to all people, obviously if you read any of these posts. What is it with "the parent should be sent to reform school?" This is totally off base and an uncalled for remark. shame on you!
You don't realize what it was he brought to school. It was not a normal Swiss Army Knife. It was something similar in design. A combination of a fork, spoon, bottle opener and knife. They are used for camping to eat with. No plastic, to throw away. You re-use them. The knife is also extreamly dull. My daughter had one for Girl Scouts but she never took it to school. The parents should have made sure he was aware it was only for home or camping.
If a child brings his/her hands to school I think there should be a zero tolerance policy. After all, they could be used as weapons to hit someone with. Think about how much safer it would be in schools if children were forced to only attend school wearing handcuffs.
The reality is if we ban so-called "weapons" from schools and create gun free zones in schools, they become a paradise for crazies to go and commit acts of violence knowing there is nobody at the school with any form of protection to use against them!
In my ideal world the teachers would be trained and allowed to carry handguns for the protection of their students whom they are charged with caring for. There have been incidents where teachers have used firearms to protect their students from some crazy who has come to school to harm/kill people.
Common sense could go a long way toward solving these problems, but today common sense is not found very much among decision makers.
CD
#343 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDTsorry no tollerance is what it says and shame on you mom and dad for not explaining ALL rules and safety maby you should spend the 45 days with him sorry
#344 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDTARRRRGGGGHHH Stop the madness
#345 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDTin regards to the schools zero tolerance policy, the severity of the situation and the indiviual circumstances should be considered when imposing the consequences for such violation.
it is not a fit all, in this case it is clear this was a honest mistake made by a 5 year old child it was not an intentional crime, do you think it is reasonable for a small child to be capable of understanding this?
just as it is in court the totality of the circumstances are fully considered when a decison is made so why not here?
In regards to the need for safety and to limit the potentially hazardous situation from occuring I think the key here is communication, now that Parents and kids are more aware of the policies they can comply.
this child and his Parents should not be made an example of, but this should be used as an educational tool with proper accountability in place.
I think in this case a written warning notice should be given and a safety class should be implemented to discuss the dangers of weapons, use positive strategies for enforcemnet not sever punishment this benfits no one and confuses the child.
#346 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDT....and folks wonder why private and home schools are on the rise....
#347 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDTMy son had been victimize by the same "zero tolerance policy without consideration for anything else". It doesn't matter that the kid comes from a good family, has good grades, well-regarded by teachers, etc. This knee-jerk/overreaction by teachers and school authorities to seeing anything resembling a weapon has to stop and needs to be reviewed. Before further disciplinary action is implemented, it has to be reviewed on a case-to-case basis - school authorities don't seem to realize they are ruining/tainting children's records and lives forever - it doesn't matter if the child made an honest mistake. Even criminals and felons are treated fairly in the justice system "innocent until proven guilty". With this "blind zero tolerance policy", children are not given the same chance. Yet the schools are saying they care for our children's mental and emotional health - is this how they do it?
#348 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDTThe worst legacy of eight years of Bush/Chaney is the fear that permeates our society. This sad story is a testament to that legacy.
#349 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDTHUH??? Most of the school shootings that started all this nonsense happened during the Clinton/Gore administration, not that I hold them responsible either.
ITS A KNIFE OMG i dont understand you people.
#350 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDTYou have got to be joking about this! Waste of time... This poor child was doing nothing wrong and sometimes you need to let common sense prevail... Give me a break people. If I were his mother I would take this to the tippy top and make sure that innocent children do not get warped like our adults seem to be in this country. What is this world coming to?
#351 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDTI believe the kid should be suspended. He's not missing out on school work and he's learned an important lesson. If he had been a brown or black 6 year old kid no one would have cared about him being sent to reform school. I agree with the rules of the school in order to not allow any subjectivness of age, race, gender, religion, or social class. In this case it was the parent's responsibility to know school rules and inform their child. Unlike other comments stated the sad fact is that a lot of children do not have competant parents whom teach them well. Hence school is the only other place a child will learn about life if a parent is not going to step up to the plate.
#352 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:37 PM EDTIt's wrong and unfair for a policy to exist that only some kids have to obey and other kids don't. If a knife of any kind, shape or form is against the rules, then it's against the rules. He should not get a pass because he's cute, in the cub scouts, gets good grades, whatever. Perhaps the policy is a bad policy and needs to be looked at. But if he's allowed to bring a swiss army knife to school, then every kid should be allowed to bring a swiss army knife to school. Once you start introducing subjective criteria "well, he's a good kid" well, good by whose standards? He's a better kid than who? MY kid?? I don't think so. Rules should apply to everyone and should be applied to everyone the same way. If it can't be, then the rule needs to be changed.
#353 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:37 PM EDTagree
Political correctness run amok.
Take his pencil, ckildren have been stabbing each other for years.Take his back pack, he can put rocks in it and swing it over his head and hurt somebody.
Cut the straps off his backpack and take hie belt and laces, he could strangle somebody. Lord, when will this nonsense end!
#354 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:37 PM EDTThe fact we're even debating whether it's a "good idea" to totally destroy a SIX YEAR OLD BOY'S LIFE because he brought his Cub Scout knife to school makes it disturbingly clear Lord Darken Obama and the ObamaReich are well on their way to fulfilling his Master Plan of turning the U.S. into a Totalitarian Police State in which the "Citizens" are actually "Serfs", with precisely as many rights as Medieval Serfs (which is to say, "none").
I give it two years before this country is either in the middle of another Civil War, or in full, military lockdown with U.S. citizens who voted "wrong" required to show "papers" if they want to do such "subversive" activities as going to the store. I think it's pretty clear from the comments in this forum which option you Obammies crave...
#355 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:38 PM EDTI'll bet you a dollar it won't be showing papers
thank you honey you are the only normal human being on this website.
#356 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:38 PM EDTThe people or whatever you want to call them that we have entrusted to run this nation are dumbing us down, slowly and surely little by little and gradually turning the law abiding citizens into blithering submissive robots by safetying us to death with this kind of trash. It's been going on since the late 60s when the anti war movement was successfully squashed and continues to the present with the government and the media fabricating all kinds of fears and force feeding them to the public......WAKE UP AMERICA AND LEAVE THAT BOY ALONE!...
AND JUST REMEMBER PEOPLE..........
Any system that seeks punishment of an individual for 'wrongs' comitted against no one but the law itself is not interested in peace or equality, but in being able to control and manipulate it's citizens........and then..............................................
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living in society, they create for themselves in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it, and a moral code that justifies it.
The committee members should immediately be dismissed. We need thinking human beings on these committees not computer robots.
#358 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:39 PM EDTwhere are you from badkarma are you from the south?
#359 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:39 PM EDTGuess where I am from? How about you? Guessing you do not spend much time in the outdoors. I would say from a large city, where you jump at the slightest sound.
I believe the kid should be suspended. He's not missing out on school work and he's learned an important lesson. If he had been a brown or black 6 year old kid no one would have cared about him being sent to reform school. I agree with the rules of the school in order to not allow any subjectivness of age, race, gender, religion, or social class. In this case it was the parent's responsibility to know school rules and inform their child. Unlike other comments stated the sad fact is that a lot of children do not have competant parents whom teach them well. Hence school is the only other place a child will learn about life if a parent is not going to step up to the plate.
#360 - Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:39 PM EDTBS! The track record indicates that a "black or brown kid" is more likely to bring in a steak knife or some cheap POS in a bad color to turn another "black or brown kid" INTO lunch.
Anybody that thinks this has nothing to do with "urban" spawn off on a toot combined with middle class affirmative action dumbasses applying totalitarian enforcement is kidding themselves.
HoneyJoRumples is a laughable Stupe.
So your saying a white kid with a knife should be more tolerated simply due to statistical reasons of him being less harmful compared to a black kid?
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However, the parents should be held responsible. What responsible parent gives a 4 year old a knife of any kind? Surely not I!