Video: 6-year-old faces 45 days in reform school
posted at 10:12 am on October 13, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Zero tolerance policies do nothing but allow schools and school districts a way to avoid using proper judgment in settling issues on campuses. If one needed any more proof of this, look no further than the six-year-old boy who may spend 45 days in reform school for bringing a Cub Scout camping utensil tool to school. Yes, it contains a knife … and a fork … and a spoon:
The New York Times asked the salient question this weekend:
Spurred in part by the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings, many school districts around the country adopted zero-tolerance policies on the possession of weapons on school grounds. More recently, there has been growing debate over whether the policies have gone too far.
But, based on the code of conduct for the Christina School District, where Zachary is a first grader, school officials had no choice. They had to suspend him because, “regardless of possessor’s intent,” knives are banned.
But the question on the minds of residents here is: Why do school officials not have more discretion in such cases?
“Zachary wears a suit and tie some days to school by his own choice because he takes school so seriously,” said Debbie Christie, Zachary’s mother, who started a Web site, helpzachary.com, in hopes of recruiting supporters to pressure the local school board at its next open meeting on Tuesday. “He is not some sort of threat to his classmates.”
Still, some school administrators argue that it is difficult to distinguish innocent pranks and mistakes from more serious threats, and that the policies must be strict to protect students.
Well, here’s the first problem. Policies don’t protect children; teachers and administrators protect children at school. It’s almost as if the districts use their policies as totems or charms, thinking that if they wave them at everybody, they’ll all be safe without having to take responsibility for using judgment in applying them. It’s the new bureaucratic superstition, and it leads to absurdities such as tossing a six-year-old into reform school for taking his new Cub Scout accessory to school.
Real security requires judgment and adults willing to take some responsibility. At its heart, the slavish devotion to the letter of zero-tolerance policies is nothing more than passing the buck, a craven attempt at CYA while posing as defenders of children. There is a vast qualitative difference between a child who brings a Cub Scout utensil and another who waves a switchblade at other kids, and to treat them the same is not just insane, it’s counterproductive to the end goal of school safety.
The school board meets tonight at 7:30 pm in the Christina School District in Newark, Delaware. Hopefully the Christies get plenty of support from their community and stop the assignment of Zacahary to a reform school for nine weeks.
Update: Radio Vice Online highlights another case of Zero Tolerance/Zero Sense.
Update II: There is a website for Zachary’s supporters to express their outrage over this ridiculous decision, HelpZachary.com.
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Religious_Zealot on October 13, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Again. It was a swiss army pocket knife. What was he going to do give a student a paper cut? All men use to carry a pocket knife 20 years ago. It is not like he brought a 9mm loaded to scholl. this was a folded swiss army utility set.
good grief. I am in fear for our society
unseen on October 13, 2009 at 10:53 AM
This is what happens in a society that believes that weapons commit crimes, that blames weapons for the actions of their owners.
The ideas that these folks are going to be attempting to put into this kid’s head for the next 12 years are far more dangerous than ANY eating utensil.
29Victor on October 13, 2009 at 10:54 AM
I read a book a long time ago called “The Death of Common Sense” by Phillip Howard. I don’t remember a lot of it, but the basic problem, and it applies here, is that the strict and even application of rules allow bureaucrats to defend themselves against charges of favoritism.
We are at this point of schools having these Zero Tolerance rules because it has evolved from a small and isolated rule into a large and comprehensive rule, via the constant charge of favoritism or ‘discrimination’ in case after case, and what usually follows after each charge: a lawsuit or threat of one. (Need I modify that with “expensive”?) The path of least resistance has been followed here.
Of course, in the book this point was used, as I remember, to highlight the strict and unbending application in such venues as development reviews, minimum widths of roads for fire purposes, exemptions to codes, etc, but it applies here as well.
This problem here is accentuated by the centralization of schools. The ruckus is heightened because the parents have little recourse. In better world, the parents could give the school the one finger salute and move the child to a school that has more reasonable policies and uses more discretion and common sense.
I sympathize with the parents and the kid. There is a terrible lack of common sense in the application here, but this is just a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.
Dusty on October 13, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Only if you are a card-carrying member of the New Black Panther Party.
UltimateBob on October 13, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Ya see, while I have nothing good about teacher’s unions (in 16 yes in ed. I have never joined) teachers for the most part are not even allowed to use common sense. Not two weeks ago I received a mild reprimand from my principal for leaving a gym door open during my PE class. The reason for the reprimand was obvious: liability.
And this is a Catholic School, in town 400, in Iowa.
Goody2Shoes on October 13, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Zero Tolerance is just plain stupid. We need to take back our schools.
roux on October 13, 2009 at 10:55 AM
We had a gunman fire shots on our campus last week… he apparently didn’t realize that we have a strict “no tolerance” policy here!
/sarc
Actually, they should actively arm the good kids. I’d rather have a few scouts armed with knives in my classroom than a bunch of administrators armed only with “good intentions” and liberal talking points should some nutjob show up.
mankai on October 13, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Back in my day, nobody made a big deal of it. I carried a knife throughout my schooling, including first grade.
Vashta.Nerada on October 13, 2009 at 10:56 AM
End result of this irrational hysteria (after forks have been banned, also:
Someone could spoon somebody’s eyeball out!
The children should only be allowed to eat with their fingers!
No! Fingers are also rather pointy!
Make them eat with mittens on!
profitsbeard on October 13, 2009 at 10:57 AM
When I was in high school I used a girl scout pocket knife as my keychain. The dean of women-let’s call her “JE”-knew I had it and did….absolutely nothing.
I benefited from her judgment on other occasion when I got a referral for swearing at a teacher. Since my problems were academic-not behavioral-I was called in to explain myself.
Her verdict was while I shouldn’t have snapped…that I did was understandable. She had me fill out call slips for her the next day-and the matter was dropped. I was warned that if it happened again she would give me “in-school”.
It didn’t.
At the end of that year-I was a senior-the district demoted her to gym teacher because parents were were complaining that she was too tough on their “little angels”.
Twenty plus years later-the school has gone to hell.
annoyinglittletwerp on October 13, 2009 at 10:57 AM
I carried a switchblade in my sock for 5 yrs of high school. I never killed anyone. I miss the days when people werent insane.
di butler on October 13, 2009 at 10:58 AM
I’ve never even heard of such a thing as reform school for a 6 year old. Just the thought is scary.
Pity the poor parents who have kids in school these days. Even my 2 school-teacher brothers think this zero tolerance stuff is idiocy.
Gang-of-One on October 13, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Most of us still do in Texas.
E9RET on October 13, 2009 at 10:59 AM
The school needs to ban serving steak or any meat larger than bite-size in the cafeteria, because the kids need “weapons” to cut it. Come to think of it, yank all their teeth out, because the kids might bite each other!
/sarc
This is ridiculous. Give the kid a warning not to bring the Cub Scout knife to school again, but skip the reform school, which would more than undo the beneficial effects of Cub Scouts.
Now we know why the PC crowd is so afraid of the Scouts–not because they don’t allow gays to be Scoutmasters, but because the Scouts routinely use knives, axes, fire, and rope, all of which can be lethal weapons.
They are also taught how to handle them safely, and also first aid and rescue techniques. When somebody is seriously injured and a “Good Samaritan” shows up out of nowhere, he/she is usually a Scout or a former Scout, as are most police and paramedics.
Steve Z on October 13, 2009 at 10:59 AM
This story and others like it, and the incipient liberalism that infests public schools has finally convinced my wife that home schooling is the way to go with our kids.
If the idiots running these schools told me the sky was blue I would still have to go outside and verify.You really have to wonder what went wrong with these people
Sugarbuzz on October 13, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Of course in reform school the kid’s peers be able to educate him in how to turn any eating utensil into a proper weapon.
29Victor on October 13, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Absolutely, right?
The problem is, again, apparently related to race. From the cited Times article:
unclesmrgol on October 13, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Heh…I was just reminded of something that happened to me one time when I was deploying. I was leaving from an Air Base in Germany on a chartered flight routed directly into the war zone, and I got taken aside and had to explain why I had a knife in my checked baggage. Heaven forbid I take a knife with me to go to war, right?
Apparently, their issue was that I still had access to my bags after entering their secured area because they weren’t manned to have baggage handlers other than their passengers…but come on, expecting people to not bring knives with them to a war?
James on October 13, 2009 at 11:02 AM
One of the elders in my church used to bring his rifle to High School every day (he was on rifle team) and put it in his locker.
Weapons in schools aren’t the problem.
29Victor on October 13, 2009 at 11:03 AM
You are making the assumption that teachers and administrators (aka failed teachers) are capable of discerning appropriate action. It’s easier to point at zero tolerance rules but it could well be equally true that these “teachers” are so disengaged from the children that they are incapable of understanding that a spork-carrying (not even threatening) 6-year-old is not the precursor to the next Virginia Tech massacre.
highhopes on October 13, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Good insight.
JakeRightThought on October 13, 2009 at 11:06 AM
Yeah…. School lunches are all good fun, until someone loses and eye.
UltimateBob on October 13, 2009 at 11:06 AM
2 years ago I got a phone call from my son’s principal telling me that the fish hook he had on his hat was considered a weapon and she had taken it from him and I had to go to the school to get it back. I asked her how long it took him to get the hook off the brim of his hat due to the fact that anyone who put one of those things on their hat know how hard it is to get them off. Anyway, I questioned the whole “weapon” thing due to the fact that the week prior to this all the kids were asked to wear a red ribbon in support of something. I asked the principal how the ribbons were attached to the kids and she told me they were pinned on with a pin. These ribbons were handed out by the teachers and so were the pins.
Based on that information I told her that she was a total idiot due to the fact that the week prior she and other staff members “armed” all of the children in the school by giving them pins.
Stupidity at its best.
milwife88 on October 13, 2009 at 11:07 AM
ProudPalinFan on October 13, 2009 at 10:47 AM
–Congrats on putting your boy in Scouting, it’s a wonderful program. You wondered if this boy could have had this training yet: no! At his age (6) he is just beginning to learn about Scouting as a Tiger Cub.
.
HarryStar on October 13, 2009 at 10:49 AM
I understand the distinction about the type of knife, but my point was that the Scouts have spent time weighing the responsibility of using a tool such as a knife vs. the circumstances and abilities of the persons involved. Why can’t school systems do the same common sense approach? BTW, that is purely rhetorical at this point. I know full-well why they don’t.
.
Thank God my family is in one of the more ‘sane’ school districts in Georgia.
common sensineer on October 13, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Zero Intelligence Policy
jnelchef on October 13, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Are not these the same people that scream that child molesters, like Polanski, should not be punished?
JakeRightThought on October 13, 2009 at 11:11 AM
This is indicative of the state of our nation and it makes me sick. People have come untethered from common sense. When I was in elementary school (I’m in my forties) every boy had a pocketknife in his pocket. We used to whittle and drop knives on the playground. I’ve still got my Scout utensil knife that went to school with me often.
When I was in high school (a large public high school), during the fall the parking lot was full of trucks with shotguns in the windows so boys could stop and hunt on their way home from school. We never had a single stabbing and we certainly had no shootings. Arguments were settled with fists–boys fought until someone gave up or a female teacher jumped in. Coaches usually stood back and laughed. One of our coaches would stop the fight, slip boxing gloves on the combatants, and officate. Every 11th grader, including girls, had a semester of Hunter’s Safety and received their card from the state. We were taught archery in P.E. Today they would have to transform my high school into a reform school because we’d all be guilty of one thing or another.
flyfisher on October 13, 2009 at 11:12 AM
When you give your kid a knife, you must always have a serious talk about where he/she can bring it and how he/she can use it. This is how it works in my family. “Here is the safe way to whittle. Here is the safe way to hand this tool to another person. Here is the safe way to sharpen it…” and “Never, under any circumstances, bring this tool to school. Your teachers are morons and the school is basically a socialist bureaucracy that allows no independent thought.”
If the parents didn’t have this talk with the child then they are at fault. If the child disobeyed his parents then he must learn a lesson.
Sucks to go to public school.
warden on October 13, 2009 at 11:13 AM
I’ve carried a pocket knife every day of my life since I was about eight years old, with one exception. Boot camp. Oddly enough after boot camp it was almost a requirement of my job to carry a knife with a larger blade than I usually carried. So I then had two, a work knife and a liberty knife. Where I went to school all the boys, most of the teachers and quite a few of the girls carried knives. No one ever used one in a school yard fight.
Oldnuke on October 13, 2009 at 11:14 AM
A punishment has to be appropriate to the crime. He’s 6 years old, it’s one of these gizmos he brought for show and tell, he has no record of disruptive history.
Granted, in juvie land, it’s not considered punishment. However, how is a 45 day suspension rehabilitative? It isn’t. And the only thing that will happen is that he falls behind academically.
This is a great case to take a stand on. Again, I have no problem with zero tolerance. I do have a problem with draconian and counter-effective punishment.
Blake on October 13, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Flyfisher, I agree with you. My school wasn’t quite that like that, but we never had any serious campus violence except the occasional fist fight (and that was never all that serious). You would of had to suspend half of my highschool every other day with these policies.
TKSnider on October 13, 2009 at 11:16 AM
Wonderful!
29Victor on October 13, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Who the hell cares if the kid brought a camping knife? Kids still bring scissors to school. In fifth grade, I was cutting with my scissors, and they plunged straight through the paper and into my palm. Hurt like hell.. Plus, I’ve stabbed/been stabbed with a pencil more times than I can count, and gotten multiple paper cuts – one last year bled for three hours straight, no joke. Seriously, anything can be a weapon if you get creative. This whole policy is just dumb.
Emily M. on October 13, 2009 at 11:17 AM
My second grader was sent home from school the other day for kicking another student…they were playing soccer during recess at the time. No kidding. The play ground teacher thought is was a willful act of agression and constituted a violation of the schools “violence” policy. I’m still picking chunks of the principles ass out of my teeth…
Wyznowski on October 13, 2009 at 11:18 AM
It’s almost entirely a liability issue.
Bob's Kid on October 13, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Will Obama demand a “chocolate milk and cookies” summit? Certainly the Nobel Peace prize winner can negotiate this matter….he can point out that the little boy acted “stupidly” but if he promises to sing the Obama song and wear a purple shirt, the school district give him another chance!
Do I need a sarcasm tag?! ;)
atlgal on October 13, 2009 at 11:19 AM
We’re all guilty of committing three felonies a day, remember?
BobOfTexas on October 13, 2009 at 11:20 AM
If Zachary attended a rural school, he would see that most of those kids carry leatherman tools with them. Why? Their after school jobs require ways to cut bales of hay, tighten screws on equipment, etc…
Linnea on October 13, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Those things are great! They didn’t exist when I was in school. If they had we’d all have had them.
Oldnuke on October 13, 2009 at 11:23 AM
history = behavior
Blake on October 13, 2009 at 11:25 AM
I don’t advocate guns on campus now. But that’s how it was in my Tennessee high school in the early 80′s. The fist fights we had were big nothings, too. That’s why the coaches usually stood back and laughed.
There were occasional fights that didn’t get settled in school, which led to planned off campus fights. When the bell rang we’d all get in our cars and drive out to some predetermined field and stand in a huge circle while two guys beat hell out of one another. By the time we left the matter was settled. I remember a few bloody noses and black eyes, but all in all it was great fun. Today law enforcement would get involved and those boy would have a juvie record.
flyfisher on October 13, 2009 at 11:26 AM
ITA. We often wonder “how long is this gonna last”, not for us but for him. His uncle was a Scout, his dad a Cub Scout. Now this child is afraid of being teased if he goes back, I wonder how he feels being a Cub Scout now (will he bail out of that too?) I say it again, get your faces all over the media (whichever wants your input and not make kiddo’s story worse). The last thing I wanna see on TV is a news anchor arguing with a Cub Scout Leader *sigh*.
ProudPalinFan on October 13, 2009 at 11:27 AM
Paper must be banned, too!
Think of the potential for paper cuts!
They sting like hell!
Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!
(And kids should be forbidden to use computers… they have all those nasty cords… you could strangle a moppet with one easily!)
(Noooooooo!!!!!!!)
profitsbeard on October 13, 2009 at 11:28 AM
If knives are banned, wonder what they use to cut food in the kitchen and cafeteria? Wonder how they’d feel having the lunch lady hauled off to jail for violating school policy?
eclark1849 on October 13, 2009 at 11:28 AM
The NY Times actually got something right:
“Why do school officials not have more discretion in such cases?”
Cops use discretion when deciding if they’re going to give you a ticket.
perroviejo on October 13, 2009 at 11:29 AM
private school
or
homeschool school
if possible.
this school district is just a bunches of dumb jackasses.
poppieseeds on October 13, 2009 at 11:30 AM
What happened to this poor kid is the same mentality that led Governor Kindergarten Cop to sign AB 962 which makes buying ammunition over the internet illegal and requires one to submit to a background check and have their fingerprints taken to purchase ammunition from a retailer.
I’m beyond pissed.
pugwriter on October 13, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Just think of what you could do with a Bunsen Burner. And do they still use a compass in geometry class?
flyfisher on October 13, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Now THIS deserves a thread of its own. :roll:
ProudPalinFan on October 13, 2009 at 11:34 AM
I get it, but getting involved in something you did not observe is why they make up these rules.
If you kid purposely kicked the other child, then the teacher was correct…you assume the teacher was wrong because “your kid would never do that”…
My feeling, unless you have direct involvement (like this “spoongate”, then the parent sits down and shuts up.
The problem is parents want to “protect” their child from injustice, when the parent is not their to observe their little “angel”.
right2bright on October 13, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Amen! I don’t even know what to say about Arnold’s latest bit of lunacy. How much longer will Americans tolerate all the nonsense? Bit by bit America is being snatched away by lefties.
flyfisher on October 13, 2009 at 11:35 AM
I read about this yesterday and this has to be the stupidiest thing I have ever seen happen in my life! For crying out loud, this is a six-year old kid who was excited about being in the Cub Scouts, not some gangbanger armed to the teeth and looking for someone to blow away!
Who the heck is running the school board over there that they came up with the insane throw-out-the-baby-with-the-bathwater zero tolerance mentality? Every single one of those board members who see nothing wrong with what happened to this poor kid should be fired on the spot and physically thrown out the door without the right to an appeal! Then do the same to the village idiot of a principal they have at that school!
pilamaye on October 13, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Homeschooling means never, ever having to worry about this crap.
I never have to worry about a teacher turning me in for spanking my kids.
I never have to worry that my kids are at school being taught (as I was)that the ACLU is the only thing keeping us from becoming a Fascist State or singing the praises of The One.
My boys PE consists of Jujitsu classes. When they turn 13 I’m adding time at the pistol range and buying them Leathermen which they will be expected to carry with them at all times.
In history they learn about the greatness of the Founding Fathers and the country they created.
Crafts often involve the use of box knives and/or X-acto knives.
I love home schooling.
29Victor on October 13, 2009 at 11:38 AM
The policy is to protect the adults, not the kids. They are afraid of lawsuits from minorities if the white kid who brings a “knife” isn’t punished in exactly the same way.
pleaseandthankyou on October 13, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Gt real—it’s not a knife knife.
rjoco1 on October 13, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Watch out for the Bus Driver…He’s a Narc!
BigMike252 on October 13, 2009 at 11:44 AM
I realize this is a stupid concept but I can just see some left wing loon latching onto this and running with it. If you home school is your home considered a ‘School Zone’? If it is legally a school zone are guns prohibited there or are the rules different for home schooling?
Oldnuke on October 13, 2009 at 11:44 AM
They should have a zero-tolerance for the following items, if they want to be consistent:
Fingers and fingernails
Teeth
Pencils
Pens
Paper (they might give someone a paper cut)
Glue (they might make someone sniff it))
Lunch Trays (hit someone in the head)
etc.
The proper response would have been to take it away and tell him not to bring it again, as some one else mentioned.
Cub Scouts learn to use pocket knives as a Bear, or 3rd grade. As an 11 year Cubmaster, what he had isn’t a pocket knife — it was an eating utensil. You don’t need a Whittling Chip card to have a camping utensil.
Beaglemom on October 13, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Puuuhlease…there was an “investigation” where both kids were interviewed by school officials. School officials acknowledged that both kids were actively involved in “play”, the boy kicked at the ball and missed, thereby striking the other kid. All witnesses/officials admitted that there wasn’t any animosity or anger involved, but the mere act itself constituted a violent act and violation of school policy regardless of the circumstances. That is the point of this and similar issues…what kind of message does that send?
Wyznowski on October 13, 2009 at 11:48 AM
The fact that guns are permitted in my home will assure that it’s never considered a “school zone.” ;)
29Victor on October 13, 2009 at 11:51 AM
True enough but little Zach was armed with utensils. Should he have received a serious talk about appropriate ways to use a spoon? It would be a completely different situation if this were a pocket knife, especially since I think 6-years-old is too young for unsupervised use of a pocket knife. My first experience was a tad older carving my first pinewood derby car for scouts.
highhopes on October 13, 2009 at 11:52 AM
This zero tolerance mystique by teachers should be turned around and the teachers randomly drug tested. Now that would be zero tolerance. my job required a drug test to be hired and a random test after I was hired. Some times a person would be tested twice in one day. Alcohol is considered a drug so there was a lunch without a drink of alcohol.
mixplix on October 13, 2009 at 11:53 AM
You forgot peanuts. Those things are so dangerous that just the presence of a PB&J sandwich in the lunchroom is enough to bring out orange cones to isolate the area and calls to the hazmat squad.
highhopes on October 13, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Even if I had the ability and talent to do that, my husband wouldn’t be happy to teach them conservative principles; he wants them to make up their own minds and listen to both sides and determine what is right for them.
Sorry, I dunno how to do that. I’d barf at the idea of having them watch the alphabet networks or having them read main newspapers (hey local is liberal from what I have read). Contrast that to me, a FOXaholic (saw a sign like that in DC, loved it!)
ProudPalinFan on October 13, 2009 at 11:55 AM
Salvation by law.
Secular phariseeism.
Modern liberalism.
Akzed on October 13, 2009 at 11:56 AM
ROFL!!! I despise the peanut rule too! Moms like me get pis#ed off looking at e-ve-ry single ingredient of a snack to see if it has peanut, traces of peanut OR the factory may have handled peanut in prior times.
Want chaos? Grab a bag of ‘em, throw around and kill ‘em all!
ProudPalinFan on October 13, 2009 at 11:59 AM
He is fortunate to learn this valuable lesson at this early age . That’s just the way government will do you . I hope he gets some stick on tattoos . Love-hate across the knuckles , But he has got to have a big “Vengence is Mine” an his back and throw of his shirt and hit the tricky bars first day back ..
borntoraisehogs on October 13, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Evan Sayet coined a term for this incompetence :”Cult of Indescriminitness” in his lecture titled: “Regurgitating the Apple: How Modern Liberals “Think” [transcript
Here is a brief snippet from the lecture which captures the essence of this issue :
hence, rendering themselves incompetent tools.
heroyalwhyness on October 13, 2009 at 12:00 PM
I think they need to argue the definition of “dangerous instrument.” If they don’t get anywhere with that, then they need to argue that many other school items are also “dangerous instruments.”
blink on October 13, 2009 at 12:04 PM
That’s why the first response shouldn’t be zero tolerance suspension. Think about what you posted. Do you really want that teacher/administrator to be judge/jury/executioner in these situations? With a room full of children, what makes you think that the teacher observed what went on and accurately assessed the situation?
highhopes on October 13, 2009 at 12:04 PM
I really don’t understand that. Do we want our kids to “make up their own minds” all of the things that we believe? That slavery is bad? That murder is bad? Then why would we want them to “make up their own minds” about whether or not oppressive government and abortion are right or wrong? I teach them what I believe because I believe it is correct (or else I wouldn’t believe it), if they want to change their minds when they are older and better equipped to make such decisions then that’s up to them.
But pretty much every subject includes some value judgments, it just can’t be avoided.
In History I teach them that the Founding Fathers were great men, I don’t hide the fact that some of them owned slaves, but I put it in the proper context, slavery being part of pretty much every civilization since the beginning of human history.
In Writing I teach them to convince but not manipulate or distort.
Art is for uplifting man and glorifying God.
Martial arts and (eventually) weapons training are for self-defense or the defense of others ONLY!
In Science we learn about the miracle that is the human body and brain and why they are more valuable than anything else on earth.
29Victor on October 13, 2009 at 12:07 PM
The wording could be changed to exclude “dangerous tools.” This would also assure that school administrators were never banned from campus.
29Victor on October 13, 2009 at 12:09 PM
You mean, sorta’ like the British used to hang seven-year-olds for stealing a loaf of bread back in the early part of the 19th century?
My collie says:
It won’t be the witches this time around, collie. Most likely, it’ll be the Christians.
CyberCipher on October 13, 2009 at 12:11 PM
In Switzerland the schoolkids engage in shooting sports, bringing their rifles with them to school and hanging them with their coats in the cloakroom.
In America, kids get suspended for drawing a picture of a stickman with a gun. Why? Because the people who run our schools are incompetent buffoons who lack mature judgement.
Tantor on October 13, 2009 at 12:12 PM
The sociopaths who run the schools are incompetent. That is why the power to make decisions was stripped from them. Neither at Va Tech or Columbine was a fork used.
Jerricho68 on October 13, 2009 at 12:12 PM
It’s OK. The kid was there long enough to learn praise Obama songs.
Moesart on October 13, 2009 at 12:15 PM
But did you see the picture of Zach Christie? If ever a six-year-old was going to use fork inappropriately, that desperate looking thug would be the one to do it. :-0
highhopes on October 13, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Have you ever played soccer? That is why the kids wear shin guards.
Johan Klaus on October 13, 2009 at 12:20 PM
a few years ago a friend’s son-then six-had to give up his snack because he had apples with caramel dip-which had milk listed as one of the ingredients…because one of his classmates had a milk allergy.
Silly twats-a milk allergy isn’t a contact thing! The kid with the allergy wasn’t eating the dip-my friend’s son was.
I am sooo glad my son will be out of school in 2012.
annoyinglittletwerp on October 13, 2009 at 12:20 PM
umm…the school administration does have discretion. Our district adopted a zero tolerance policy when I was on the school board. We made sure to ask our attorney before, as every district does, and made sure the wording allowed for the school to use discretion.
geeez..this kid is the cutest. I would fight too. No way he deserves reform school.
becki51758 on October 13, 2009 at 12:22 PM
We had a bad experience with “zero tolerance” when my son was in junior high. A bully swiped his orange juice at lunch. My son took it back. The kid took it again. My son punched him in the face. The kid’s friend threw a bottle of something that hit my kid in the back of the head. Guess who got suspended and had to go to court.
At court, the judge asked my son if it was ok to kill someone. My son said, “Yes, if they are threatening your life.” to which the judge responded that he’d never heard anyone give that answer before. Case dismissed.
Stupid shirking of responsibility for making a rational decision by the principal due to the “zero tolerance” policy.
BlancheBourgeois on October 13, 2009 at 12:27 PM
This kid isn’t a tatt’d up gang banger but the authorities seem to be determined to make him over into one.
Speakup on October 13, 2009 at 12:27 PM
Isn’t it very instructive how out of sync our education system is compared to “real life”?
When I visited England earlier this year I bought a kitchen size knife (3 inch blade) and had to identify myself to the clerk with my ID before she would sell it to me. Ever since guns were banned in the UK the villains have started to resort to knives. I guess when the knives are outlawed the villains will resort to sticks.
I can’t wait to read the law defining a stick as a deadly weapon based on length, weight, and heft.
Insane.
E9RET on October 13, 2009 at 12:38 PM
they do this so they will no be accused of singling out the really bad kids so the easy way to deal with it is “zero tolarance”. no one wants to be the one to have to decide that some kid is a treat or is harmless. this policy came about in new castle because parents of african american kids said their kids were being singled out even though they were bringing knifes and guns. so instead of having to deal with the real problem they do this to be “fair”. and we wonder why america is going to crap.
larry harris on October 13, 2009 at 12:46 PM
As a father of a child with a Peanut allergy, I take a bit of offense at some of the above statements, but I understand them. Some parents are just too over protective and it becomes oppressive to other kids. If your kid’s allergy is so bad that being in the same room with Peanut Butter is deadly, he/she doesn’t need to be in a public school.
I’m fortunate, my son’s isn’t too severe and as long as he (himself) doesn’t injest the peanuts he is fine and we’ve taught him to ask about snacks and he will excuse himself from a snack if it said it may contain peanuts (or on shared equipment). We often send in Oreos or something so the teacher has something else to give him should it come up. The biggest problem are birthday parties, but for a 4 year old he understands, even if he does get grumpy. What is nice is his older brother will refrain from a group snack so his brother doesn’t feel left out.
TKSnider on October 13, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Common Sense in America is dead!!
The stupid now rule society!!
whatzit2u on October 13, 2009 at 12:49 PM
As the original article states “Education experts say that zero-tolerance policies initially allowed authorities more leeway in punishing students, but were applied in a discriminatory fashion. Many studies indicate that African-Americans were several times more likely to be suspended or expelled than other students for the same offenses.”
Zero Tolerance policies is the PC method of punishing all equally regardless of the intent or lack of intent or crime. It prevents the public from going after school officials who might appear biased in punishing students of different ethnic and/or racial backgrounds.
The question not asked is: “Why African-Americans are suspended or expelled more often than other students when school officials are allowed to use their own judgement?”
PrettyD_Vicious on October 13, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Perhaps they should outlaw knives in the school cafeteria, too. And those dangerous sharp pencils in the classroom. Just have the kids eat with rubber spoons and write with crayons.
Ludicrous.
Mulligan on October 13, 2009 at 12:58 PM
Insert comment of outrage here _______.
Do we need yet more proof that COMMON SENSE is out the window for a good part of America?
The hits just keep coming.
PappyD61 on October 13, 2009 at 1:01 PM
This is one of the many reasons why I send my children to a private school. I may have to do without new clothes and a new car but I am sure my kids are getting an education without all the bullsh*t that you have to put up with in the cess-pool we call the public school system.
chrissyann on October 13, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Were I to guess, it was probably because of legitimate infractions- like showing up with a switchblade. That’s not to stereotype beyond suggesting that more discretion means that the real problems were addressed instead of zero tolerance for camping utensils. It wouldn’t be “fair” to let Zach stay in school when Leroy was suspended for bringing in a real weapon.
highhopes on October 13, 2009 at 1:05 PM
More evidence for a reduction of the federal government and more power to the states.
joshlbetts on October 13, 2009 at 1:08 PM
No, that would require a background check.
And a 14 day waiting period.
The second Ammendment’s original intent was for hunting, and a militia, not for some fully automatic Spife! Savages!
juanito on October 13, 2009 at 1:10 PM
I blame helicopter moms. They are truly nuts these days.
AnninCA on October 13, 2009 at 1:10 PM
My Mom gave me a Swiss Army knife when I turned 13, saying “All men need a knife”. I’ve carried one everyday since then, except when I’ve had to put in checked luggage on a flight. I carried it in school everyday and never had any trouble.
This whole zero tolerance is back-asswards. They don’t need fewer weapons, they need more. You ever hear of school shootings when there were rifle teams at school? We have to get past the libtards emotionalism with raw hard facts. I know, good luck with that.
Iblis on October 13, 2009 at 1:15 PM
A couple of years ago there was a spate of machete attacks somewhere up in Northern Virginia. All of them perpetrated by gangbangers who were mostly illegals associated with MS13. The one thing I remember from the whole affair is some idiot local politician actually saying that they were going to have to consider restricting the sales of these machetes to prevent these kinds of crime.
Oldnuke on October 13, 2009 at 1:22 PM
All these arguments are why zero tolerance was created…let the teachers in the school sort it out.
The parents, butt out…at home if you think the sister hit the brother, who do you punish? The sister, later you find out (years later) that it was the brother who started it.
Wrong decisions are made and the children have to learn to deal with it without a vigilante parent coming down to “straighten” out the school because their little “angel” would never do such a thing.
If you are involved, like this case, then you get involved…otherwise, parents sit down and let your “perfect never caused a problem child” take his licks and his punishment.
Life isn’t fair, stop being a parent to make if more fair for your child….sheesh, this is why we have a bunch of whiners leading our country. You can bet no one ever falsely accused Obama, or Rahm…you can tell by how they act.
And yes I played soccer, I took out the idiot coach (who tried to sweep me previously) and I was suspended for three days…and my parents didn’t come down to whine about it.
And for the next two years that coach tried to get me banned from athletics…and my parents didn’t come down and whine about it.
My dad said…”Next time either don’t do it, or don’t be so stupid as being caught doing it…and pick your enemies. Now go out and mow the yard.”
I guess he wasn’t as smart as you guys, he only had a high school education…
right2bright on October 13, 2009 at 1:28 PM
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