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The latest idiocy by overly zealous school administrators


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Wow. Somebody has it in for this kid.

 

I have a scout who had his pocketknife in his backpack at a school. Not sure why it was in there but it was discovered and now he gets 5 days at home. Even the teacher argued against it but its a zero tolerance policy.

 

Of course in San Francisco, if the teen is an immigrant and is involved in drug dealing and other crimes, he is somehow not responsible for his actions and is given sanctuary by the City.

 

 

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You think this was bad. in 2002 a young man was EXPELLED from high school, because someone reported and adminstrators learned, he had a steak knife in the back of his truck in the high school parking lot. He never attempted to take it in school; he had carried it camping the weekend before and apparently didn't clean out his truck well. What made this really bad, was this young man was 18 yrs old, a senior and this happened in a rural county in South Georgia, three weeks before the young man was to graduate. He was not even able to graduate, because no school would allow him to transfer in and graduate, that close to the end of the year. He ended up having to take the GED and loose out on the state scholarship program for HS graduates with a 3.0 GPA. And that is the advantage of a school having a ZERO Tolerance policy. Yeah, and I am so glad, we only have a few more months before I don't have to deal with the school system anymore.

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You think this was bad. in 2002 a young man was EXPELLED from high school, because someone reported and adminstrators learned, he had a steak knife in the back of his truck in the high school parking lot. He never attempted to take it in school; he had carried it camping the weekend before and apparently didn't clean out his truck well. What made this really bad, was this young man was 18 yrs old, a senior and this happened in a rural county in South Georgia, three weeks before the young man was to graduate. He was not even able to graduate, because no school would allow him to transfer in and graduate, that close to the end of the year. He ended up having to take the GED and loose out on the state scholarship program for HS graduates with a 3.0 GPA. And that is the advantage of a school having a ZERO Tolerance policy. Yeah, and I am so glad, we only have a few more months before I don't have to deal with the school system anymore.

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Wow! This school must be the safest school in the country.

 

Furthermore, I assume that cafeteria cooks aren't allowed to use sharp knifes to cut food, there are no tug-of-war ropes in the gym, school administrators are not allowed to use pens, there are no razor blades in the classroom pencil sharpeners, computers do not have cables hooking them up, windows are boarded shut (using glue, not nails or screws) to replace the glass, that flagpoles are gone from the American flag in the corner of the room and that there is no water running in any of the toilets or sinks. People can be killed or injured using all of those things in various ways, accidentally or intentionally.

 

I stopped carrying a pocketknife in college shortly after the 9/11 attacks and I had to hand it over at a security checkpoint. I now go into government buildings and courthouses on a daily basis as part of my job - the hassle would be too much. I do have one in my car, however.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

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As I have posted in the past. My kid got suspended for having a small knife in his locker at school.

A prize he won for winning a pie eating contest one OA weekend. (That's my Boy!!).

I wasn't very happy.

The school also had a zero tolerance policy.

I got over my not being happy, when I remembered a really nice kid who was being bullied by some not so kids in the school where I worked back in London.

The good kid pulled a knife, one of the bullies went to punch him and ended up with a stab wound.

The next day the London tabloids were full of headlines about the "Blackboard Jungle".

 

In the light of what has gone in schools across the country, I think most of us are happy with a Zero Tolerance policy.

Zero means Zero.

Eamonn.

 

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Eamonn; Surely you do not think a knife stored with other emergency items in a vehicle is the same as carrying it on the school grounds. There is where the stupidity arises. As pointed out, the vehicle itself is more of a weapon, and other items within the car also are more dangerous if the intent is there. But the real issue is the severity of the whole thing, considering his record.

 

JMO

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In my state these suspensions occurs on a regular basis.

 

My son's school is overcrowded.

 

Fishing is a popular past time here and most tackle boxes have a knife. A girl on a drill team got suspended for the fake drill rifle she forgot in her car

 

This is not right, but the school officials are only reacting to what may happen and they want to avoid liability. The argument in my kids school is 'what if another kid got a hold of the knife'. Every time the school board gets sued our taxes get raised to pay the lawyers.

 

A few years ago a kid was killed by cops because he pointed a BB gun at them. Go figure what they were thinking. The cop was told it was just a BB gun by the way.

 

In talking to one of the school chiefs he told me about the incredible pressure that a majority of parents put them under for lots of things. State law doesn't protect the school admins.

 

Bottom line, if a student is aware that a knife on school grounds was not allowed they should follow the rules.

 

I wonder what Washington, Jay, Adams, Jefferson and Franklin would think of this

 

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The biggest reasons school districts have zero tolerance policies is not for safety. Its so administrators can wash their hands of any and all decision making. If you don't have a zero tolerance policy and you punish one kid (because he had the knife in the locker room and threatened another student), but let the straight A kid with a knife locked in his car off with a warning, then the kid in the locker room (and their parents and a good lawyer) will file a discrimination lawsuit on the district because the rule was not applied equally in two very different situations.

 

The largest problem is zero tolerance does not allow for two things:

 

1) The INTENT of the action

2) The fact that kids will make mistakes

 

Therefore we have the adults that are supposed to be guiding young minds into adulthood, instead leveling draconian rules against kids with the ever looming threat of screwing up your future for any minor slip up.

 

The girl who loans a friend an Ibuprofen because her friend is having menstral cramps gets the same punishment as the kid who is skipping out on math class to deal crack on the playground.

 

Administrators (and most law firms representing school districts) are too afraid to actually use JUDGEMENT to ascertain the INTENT of someone breaking a policy and then acting in an appropriate manner. Its much easier to throw the book at everyone and not be accused of special treatment or prejudice in a single given case. Besides, they can (and most often do) hide behind the mantra of, "Well its spelled out in the student handbook policies, every student is required to sign that they have read and will abide by said policy." So if you break the policy, you only have yourself to blame.

 

Its a sad state of affairs. To get suspended over something like that is rediculous. But so too are the parents that would have been on CCN that night crying "why didn't the school DO something" when the kid decided to take the knife out and stab somebody on campus with it. Its not fair and its not right, but its the way of the world.

 

I remind my 8 year old all the time - school is NOT a democracy, it a monarchy ran by the principle. You are in his kingdom durring the school day and you must abide by his rules even if I as an adult think some of them are quite stupid. Even if I don't agree with the rule, if you break it - I will side with the principle - end of story.

 

Bottom line - this kid getting in trouble sucks. But he did have a knife on school property when he shouldn't have had it. Period.

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This was in San Francisco? Well obviously the young lad should have told them he needed the knife to trim his medicinal marijuana or cut the duct tape for his S&M play with the adult teacher after school ... they probably would have not only let him go but made him a poster child for that ...

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