http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/education/12discipline.html?no_interstitial A school district's half-baked "zero tolerance" policy is ion the verge of break ing a 6 year-old's heart because he loves school... .
Oct 12, 2009 12:27 PM | Report Abuse reply
I don't see anything wrong with this. I don't want kids bringing knives to my kids school, and I don't allow my kids to bring knives to school.
But I agree it is a little harsh, the mother is the one to blame here.
Oct 12, 2009 12:34 PM | Report Abuse reply
Yeah I wouldn't let my kids bring a knife to school. The punishment is a bit harsh, but I blame the parents.
Oct 12, 2009 12:41 PM | Report Abuse reply
The point is that he wasn't going to use it and look at what happened the kid who had one dropped in his lap by ANOTHER student elsewhere...the kid who had it dropped into this lap was suspended but not the @#$% who dropped it in his lap... .
Another point is that 6 years old is way too young to enforce such as harsh punishment on, especially since he;s now afraid of being teased for being suspended. And as we all know, teasing can escalte to him being bullied... .
Oct 12, 2009 1:00 PM | Report Abuse reply
A six year old should have never been given this tool without parental supervision to begin with and none of this would have happened. It's not the schools job to teach these nutty kids the difference between right and wrong it's their parents or guardians task.
Oct 12, 2009 1:43 PM | Report Abuse reply
So you;re saying its his Mom;s FAULT for letting him become a Cub Scout?!
Oct 12, 2009 1:54 PM | Report Abuse reply
No it's the mom's fault for giving a six year old a pocket knife. I was a Cub Scout for a year and I never got a pocket knife. I'm pretty sure they don't hand them out with your scarf.
The kid doesn't know any better, the parent should know what their kid's bringing to school. Sure it was harsh and a little overboard, but think about the parents of the other kids when they come home from school and say "little Timmy showed me a knife today".
There's a zero tolerance rule because of what happened in Virginia Tech, Collumbine, and all those other schools, let's not forget that. Today it's a pocket knife, tomorrow it's an AR-15. I bet he'll never bring anything that resembles a weapon to school again, and his mother will finally start being a parent.
Oct 12, 2009 2:52 PM | Report Abuse reply
One of those other schools being Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado, a school I once attended.
My guess, and this is coming from the mom side of me, the kid probably snuck it into his backpack and had no idea that it would get him suspended. My daughter sneaks things into her bag all the time even though I tell her not to take those things to school. Sure, she doesn't have a swiss pocket knife, but the point is she didn't listen and disobeyed me.
Now, should a six-year old kid even have a pocket knife? No, because the kid probably thinks it's a toy. The mother should have kept it and only given it to him for those cub scout outings that require the tool. Otherwise, the pocket knife should be kept out of his reach.
The suspension is rather harsh for a six-year old and that is the flaw in this whole zero-tolerance thing. I'm telling you this kid probably thought that he could show it to friends thinking that it was like a toy.
Oct 12, 2009 4:13 PM | Report Abuse reply
Let's put the blame where the blame belongs. It's the school officials fault for trying to provide our children a safe learning environment.
Oct 13, 2009 6:03 AM | Report Abuse reply
You know it, Jodo. How dare the schools try to educate future generations in an ideal setting!
Oct 13, 2009 6:22 AM | Report Abuse reply
Sarcasm aside (to Jodo and Lady Heartless), when Aphrodite said "The suspension is rather harsh for a six-year old and that is the flaw in this whole zero-tolerance thing. I'm telling you this kid probably thought that he could show it to friends thinking that it was like a toy," she said what I've been trying to say this entire discussion!
Oct 13, 2009 12:15 PM | Report Abuse reply
I said it was harsh, but those are the rules. You can't break them because a six year old wasn't taught that a knife is not something you bring to school.
Our society has become so delusional that no one takes responsibility for their actions anymore. A kid brings a knife to school and gets supsended, it's not the schools fault. The kids mom is responsible, period. It's her fault he was suspended, she's the nitwit.
Oct 13, 2009 12:34 PM | Report Abuse reply
It's her fault he was suspended, she's the nitwit.
'Nuff said
Oct 13, 2009 5:42 PM | Report Abuse reply
Help us improve The World of Star Wars.