Kindergartner Suspended For Having Pocket Knife

[matcom]

<snip>

LEXINGTON, S.C. --A 5-year-old kindergartner brought a folding pocket knife to school and faces expulsion, officials said Tuesday.

The Saxe Gothe Elementary School student tried to use the knife to open his sealed lunch in the cafeteria on Monday, said Mary Beth Hill, spokeswoman for Lexington County School District 1.

The student never threatened anyone at the school, and officials believe he was unaware he did anything wrong, Hill said.

State law says it is illegal to bring any weapon onto school grounds, but the child is too young to face any criminal charges, Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said.

According to district policy, the student was suspended immediately, pending an expulsion hearing, Hill said.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2006/11/14/kindergartner_suspended_for_having_knife?mode=PF

[astral]

1. This is the sickness of our country

criminalizing many, many things that are just ordinary human behavior, with adults, with kids. A FIVE year old?!!! I was still sucking my thumb at five years old, fer Chryslerssakes!

How dare they terrorize and demonize a kid who was just having an ordinary day at school!

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. 'Zero tolerance,' don'cha know

Keeps school administrators and the like from the drudgery of evaluating each case on its own merit. :eyes:

[rug]

3. Stupidity is a deadly wea[on too.

[xchrom]

4. 5 years old and expulsion?

can't you just take it from him -- give it to his parents and say don't let it happen again?

he's 5.

[sarge43]

5. Killing flies with sledge hammers

Always an intelligent choice. :sarcasm:

[El Fuego]

6. Why does a 5 year old need a pocket knife??

Rules are rules, they should suspend him. It's a good wake-up call for his obviously BAD parents.

[Deep13]

7. "...to open his sealed lunch..."

I used one as a pencil sharpener all through high school.

If the rule says "weapons" I would not suspend him. Pocket knives are not weapons.

[El Fuego]

8. It's a potential weapon.

Of course you could say a steak knife or letter opener are potential weapons too, but a pocket knife is easily carried and concealed, so it more easily classified as a potential weapon.

If it get poked into another little kid's eye, which could happen, then it's clearly a weapon.

What's so bad about suspension for a five year old? Geez. He'll love suspension.

[Deep13]

9. Ah, the Ralphie rebuttal.

"You'll put your eye out, kid."
:7

[El Fuego]

11. Exactlly!

:rofl:

Who knows what they'll do after a triple-dog-dare?

[Deep13]

12. I doubt even a TDD will cause them to dress as...

...a deranged Easter bunny.

[Dora]

10. What if he's been taught at home that a pocket knife is a tool?

My brother carried around a pocket knife from a very young age. I think in many families, particularly rural families, a boy's first pocket knife is a milestone. Sexist tradition IMO, because I always wanted a pocket knife of my own, and my stepdad waited until I graduated from college to give me mine, LOL.

Seriously, though. If the family culture says that it's OK to carry a pocket knife to help open things that need opening, then they are simply at odds with the school's culture. At five years old, it's hard to fathom that some things that are OK at home, are sometimes not OK at school.

I hesitate to label the parents as BAD in this case.

[RiverStone]

13. Agree that it seems extreme for a 5 y/o...but it has to be done.

Having spent many years in public education, the culture of the public school system these days is a ZERO tolerance policy for any weapon. Yea, in all probability (in this case) it was a very innocent mistake and it is presumptuous to assume anything about the parents.

But what if the kid was....say 7 or 8? A weapon is a weapon. Even making threats of bodily harm to fellow students/teachers can result in an immediate suspension (or expulsion).

Please understand that simply being an educator is challenging enough with reduced $$$$, classromm sizes >, No Child Left Behind frustrations (etc.) Our charge on the front line serving your kids is to do EVERYTHING we can to ensure a safe environment. School violence gets lots of headlines, but overall its a pretty safe place. Still, when it comes to protecting your kid; if a teacher is aware of any student with a pocket knife at school - that teacher will report it. Even if the chances of stabbing another student with it is remote, we can't leave anything to chance. Imagine the uproar if a teacher did knowingly ignore it and that kid was the (1 in million kid) who did hurt someone with it? It may sound harsh, but its the reality of every public school in this country. And it is a pressure every educator lives with.