6 yr old suspended for bringing camping gear

[Vampiel]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,564605,00.html




Six-year-old Zachary Christie was so excited to become a Cub Scout that he brought his camping utensil to school. The tool serves as a spoon, a fork and a knife, and Zachary wanted to use it at lunch.

What Zachary didn't know was that the gizmo violated his school's zero-tolerance policy on weapons. And now the Christina School District in Newarkhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/2.gif (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,564605,00.html#), Del., has suspended the first grader and ordered him to attend the district's reform school for 45 days.


Personally I feel a better punishment would be to taze him.

[Lunar Raven]

In my opinion, zero policy is stupid -- as every situation is different and should be looked at individually. Reminds me of a school near here..where a kid was suspended for wearing a key chain. They had a no chain rule. Uhh..

[Corvis Canis Latrans]

Evil student:

*Threatens classmates with compass*

*Stabs them with pencils*

*Drowns them in toilet*

*Whacks them over head with book, laptop, or kindle*

*Cuts them with scissors*

*Makes them eat crayons*

*Pushes them down stairs*

*Puts glue up their noses*

*Knocks them through windows*

*Electrocutes them with computer cables*

Hmm. This means we must ban: compasses, pencils, toilets, books, laptops, kindles, scissors, crayons, stairs, glue, windows, electrical cords....hmm, and I can think of lots of other creative things.

[Corvis Canis Latrans]

...kid was suspended for wearing a key chain. They had a no chain rule. Uhh..

Fifthgrader: Psst. Hey, firstgrader, I dares ya to put your head in this loop of chain from the swingset.

Hmm. Guess we have to ban swingsets then, if there's a no chain policy.

Not to mention someone could strangle another kid with their pants.....guess pants should be banned, too.

[BryonMorrigan]

Gods. At the private school I used to teach at, the kids always made "swords" out of twigs and branches every time they went to recess. One day, one of my students (a 4th grader) got angry at another for being teased and "threatened" him with a "dagger" made from a piece of bamboo. We called the parents, had a conference, kid was embarrassed...end of story. Kid did not show up at school with a machine gun. Jeez. Like with most things, "an ounce of common sense..."

[Convallaria]

How sad... that poor kid now has to spend 45 days with REAL delinquents and will probably pick up some bad words and new forms of violence! Great way to reform his behavior...

[HetHert]

Asinine.

Zero tolerance policies are ridiculous. This situation highlights how ridiculous they are.

[Vampiel]

Like with most things, "an ounce of common sense..."

Thats what I was thinking when I read the article. I remember when I was in high school I wore a necklace that had a very small knife on it made of pewter and it was confiscated. Dont these people realize there are much more dangerous things that are readily available to any student on a daily basis at school than a small camping knife? I could understand if it was someone older that just brought in a knife but this is a bit ridiculous.



How sad... that poor kid now has to spend 45 days with REAL delinquents and will probably pick up some bad words and new forms of violence!


He might even be bullied to. It's sad what level of ridiculous some school policies have gotten and they wonder why some kids go crazy and start shooting up the school.

[TuathaSidhe]

Honestly it breaks my heart. The kid was so excited, all he was thinking about was "WOW way cool!" not, "Hey I can stab someone"

Geez

I dont know about his parents, but I would be keeping him at home.

[Corvis Canis Latrans]

Honestly it breaks my heart. The kid was so excited, all he was thinking about was "WOW way cool!" not, "Hey I can stab someone"

Geez

I dont know about his parents, but I would be keeping him at home.

Exactly.

I understand the point of the rules, but they're taken to the point of absurdity. And any kid who really were to have violence on his or her mind, well, kids are creative. I didn't list anything that I've not either witnessed personally or heard about, save for the swing example and the electric example (just me being morbid there).

[Nox_Mortus]

Zero tolerance policies are pretty stupid, however the kids parents should have known better, also if it's the kind of knife I'm thinking of, those aren't exactly toys...

[TuathaSidhe]

Zero tolerance policies are pretty stupid, however the kids parents should have known better, also if it's the kind of knife I'm thinking of, those aren't exactly toys...


If he was anything like my son, he's inventive on getting things out of the house without it being noticed. My sons latest is opening his window enough to get something out and then hiding it when he goes outside to play so he can take it to school with him.

So far since hes been caught with that he hasnt come up with anything, at least not that I know of...yet.

I guess I feel its one of those things that you explain it first before suspending him, esp. if its only his first time.

[Nox_Mortus]

If he was anything like my son, he's inventive on getting things out of the house without it being noticed. My sons latest is opening his window enough to get something out and then hiding it when he goes outside to play so he can take it to school with him.

So far since hes been caught with that he hasnt come up with anything, at least not that I know of...yet.

I guess I feel its one of those things that you explain it first before suspending him, esp. if its only his first time.

If he had to sneak it in, then he knew it was wrong, and get's evem less sympathy from me, though I will grant that in any case the school did come down on him a bit too hard.

[Vampiel]

My parents never searched me every day before school?


Exactly.

I understand the point of the rules, but they're taken to the point of absurdity. And any kid who really were to have violence on his or her mind, well, kids are creative. I didn't list anything that I've not either witnessed personally or heard about, save for the swing example and the electric example (just me being morbid there).


I've been saying this for years to people who want to ban guns. If someone has the intent to kill another person a 60 second google search will produce results that can bring down a building with a trip to home depot.

[Nox_Mortus]

My parents never searched me every day before school?


Doesn't matter, the parent's should have been more careful, and given the amount of lecturing that goes on with this crap there's no way the kid didn't know better.

[Caitlin.ann]

Doesn't matter, the parent's should have been more careful, and given the amount of lecturing that goes on with this crap there's no way the kid didn't know better.

Sometimes the parent can lecture and lecture and the kid still won't listen.

[Vampiel]

Doesn't matter, the parent's should have been more careful, and given the amount of lecturing that goes on with this crap there's no way the kid didn't know better.

Right because you can read his mind.

[Lunar Raven]

Fifthgrader: Psst. Hey, firstgrader, I dares ya to put your head in this loop of chain from the swingset.

Hmm. Guess we have to ban swingsets then, if there's a no chain policy.

Not to mention someone could strangle another kid with their pants.....guess pants should be banned, too.

Haha exactly, anything can be used as a weapon. It's just ridiculous.

[Vampiel]

Haha exactly, anything can be used as a weapon. It's just ridiculous.

Naw, the parents need to be more careful and wrap pencils with plastic wrap and strip search their child before they goto school every single day.

I wonder how much a medal detector costs, should probably put them on your door if you have children otherwise your just being irresponsible... never know what they could get past you.

[Nox_Mortus]

Right because you can read his mind.

No but there's a reasonable standard for that, and unless the kid is mentally disabled you have to assume he knew better.


Naw, the parents need to be more careful and wrap pencils with plastic wrap and strip search their child before they goto school every single day.

I wonder how much a medal detector costs, should probably put them on your door if you have children otherwise your just being irresponsible... never know what they could get past you.

I know right, god forbid parents actually take responsibility or thier kids, tha would jus be absolutely horrible.

Also,whats the purpose of a device that detects medals? I'm pretty sure those aren't banned anywhere.

[Vampiel]

No but there's a reasonable standard for that, and unless the kid is mentally disabled you have to assume he knew better.

Link?


I know right, god forbid parents actually take responsibility or thier kids, tha would jus be absolutely horrible.

I know those damn parents not strip searching their child every single day before school, they should get jail time, how terrible of them.


Also,whats the purpose of a device that detects medals? I'm pretty sure those aren't banned anywhere.

Some schools have them at there entrances.

[Kraheera]

Nox, in this I have to say the kid might not have known better. To him, that tool would have been a utensil, NOT a weapon. Kids generally don't see a fork and go "oo, I could stab someone with this at school, it qualifies as a weapon", especially as we're talking about a 6 year old.

And really, the parents probably wouldn't have even thought of telling him not to bring it to school. Not because they're irresponsible, but because they probably wouldn't have thought of it as a weapon either.

[Lunar Raven]

No but there's a reasonable standard for that, and unless the kid is mentally disabled you have to assume he knew better.

Not necessarily. At 6 years old, it could have simply been (and probably was) an innocent act...an "Oh cool, I got this from boyscouts..I can use it at lunch!" type of thing. I think that's totally reasonable and makes sense. I seriously doubt he thought he was doing anything wrong.

Even if.. I'd think the appropriate response would be..if against the rules..to tell him not to bring it to school again, explain why, and take it away until class was out. Not suspend him, thus interrupting his education, AND assign him to some district's reform school like he's some terrible kid.

That's just ridiculous..hence the reason I think zero tolerance policies are stupid and should be removed. Though, on the point that the parents could have perhaps been a bit more responsible, I can agree..

[Nox_Mortus]

Nox, in this I have to say the kid might not have known better. To him, that tool would have been a utensil, NOT a weapon. Kids generally don't see a fork and go "oo, I could stab someone with this at school, it qualifies as a weapon", especially as we're talking about a 6 year old.

And really, the parents probably wouldn't have even thought of telling him not to bring it to school. Not because they're irresponsible, but because they probably wouldn't have thought of it as a weapon either.

I don't buy this, especially considering that damn near every school in the country specifically outlines their zero tolerance policies to explicitly include knives, and both the student and the parents generally have to sign it.

Also, I have I knife that's pretty much identical to the one he had, it has a 3.5'' blade and I can shave with it...

and as I said before, I think this punishment was pretty excessive, he should've gotten a couple days of ISS or something.

[Glowy]

ISS is pointless- why go to school to learn nothing? As a parent and former student I think that is the dumbest punishment ever.I say a 3page report on why kids are not supposed to bring weapons to school so he can understand why it was viewed so harshly.

My son was gifted a swiss army knife at 7 that is so fancy, I am surprised it does not have internet access. He really wanted to bring it to show and tell-( he goes to Catholic school) Parents have to initial a form stating we are aware of what a child is bringing in ( stemming from a time where a child brought in mommy's birth control pills and explained what they were for:uhhuhuh:)

I think 45 days with reform school kids is dangerous for a 6 yr old.
I understand 0 tolerance is there to hopefully deter students from bullying or vilolence, and I think it should stay, I just think each case does deserve a review of parents, teachers and school board. A case like this is clearly an Oops.

[Nox_Mortus]

when I was in ISS we still had to do all of our work for the day, we where just isolated and got yelled at a lot.

[Glowy]

when I was in ISS we still had to do all of our work for the day, we where just isolated and got yelled at a lot.


You in ISS I am shocked!:hahugh:
At my HS you just went in and did nothing for 6.5 hrs. That is why I have issue with it.

[BelovedDru]

I read this story this morning--and I'm still pissed off about it. Poor kid.

[Lunar Raven]

You in ISS I am shocked!:hahugh:
At my HS you just went in and did nothing for 6.5 hrs. That is why I have issue with it.

I had ISS a few times, and all we did was sit and do nothing..aside from occasionally getting yelled at, told to be quiet, etc. Oh..and the "teacher" had us wait on her every now and then..getting ice..etc. Not a real learning experience. :p

[DoktorSick]

What is the kid doing with a knife without supevision?The school totally overacted to the situation.But parents needs to be aware what kinds of things there kid is taking to school.

[Lunar Raven]

The parents did know actually..I saw a news report on it just a bit ago. It was basically a combo of a fork, a spoon, and a knife. They said he ate with it at home all the time and loved it, and he brought it to use at lunch. So he clearly didn't think he was doing anything wrong.

[Terra Mater]

Whether one agrees with a zero policy or not, one is more than aware of them. Clearly the parents thought that the rules shouldn't apply to their little darling since they knew about the knife and knew knives were not allowed at school. Dumb school sure, but equally dumb parents.

[memnoch]

since no one else posted it:

FAUX NEWS ISN'T A RELIABLE SOURCE...ITS ALL LIES!!!111ELEVEN [/sarcasm]

[Lunar Raven]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/12/national/main5378839.shtml

There. No more fawx news.

[Nox_Mortus]

The parents did know actually..I saw a news report on it just a bit ago. It was basically a combo of a fork, a spoon, and a knife. They said he ate with it at home all the time and loved it, and he brought it to use at lunch. So he clearly didn't think he was doing anything wrong.

Then the parent's are morons, and should probably be punished moreso than the kid.

[Lunar Raven]

Yeah..if anything I agree with that. Not the kids fault here. Afterall, he's only 6..which is incredibly young. The parents definitely should have looked into the rules themselves..asked a teacher, etc. That's why I think it's sad the kid is punished so excessively just for bringing a utensil (that his parents allowed) to school. Oh well.. as stated in the article, he'll be home-schooled for now...and I'm sure the message is now clear..no knives in school o.O.

[Philosophia]

:wtf: Poor kid. Every situation should be seen individually, based upon the child and the weapon.

[Nox_Mortus]

Yeah..if anything I agree with that. Not the kids fault here. Afterall, he's only 6..which is incredibly young. The parents definitely should have looked into the rules themselves..asked a teacher, etc. That's why I think it's sad the kid is punished so excessively just for bringing a utensil (that his parents allowed) to school. Oh well.. as stated in the article, he'll be home-schooled for now...and I'm sure the message is now clear..no knives in school o.O.

The parents should have known, most schools send a sheet or booklet home every year detailing school policy on things like this, which the parents have to sign, if they signed it without reading or understanding it, then they are irresponsible in addition to being morons.

[Convallaria]

UPDATE: Zachary is no longer in danger of attending reform school. The school policy of zero tolerance has been reformed. It no longer applies to kindergarten and grade 1 students who clearly have no intent to use "weapons" to commit harm.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-10-13-delaware-weapon_N.htm?csp=34