Lets outlaw all knives

[Casemaker]

I cannot believe this knee jerk reaction.....by the school and the police...what happened to common sense in this country ?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317202,00.html

In my opinion there are several people who should be fired...and then ran out of town starting with this idiot... Kevin Christian. Then go after the police officers that were directly involved....

I guess that if we let this liberal attitude take over the country we wont need a steak knife. First they will outlaw all guns so you cant kill a cow...then they will outlaw all meat.... and looks like they are well on their way to outlawing a steak knife....at least in florida ....

Can you imagine this childs reaction to be putting under arrest ?

[Robert Haus]

I can't believe they did this. I also con't believe the police spokesman saying they did not treat the 10yr old like a criminal....and just what do you call it when they throw you in the back of a squad car and haul you away?

Firing these people would not be enough......if I were king for day (remember Jack Benny's skit?) anyway, if I were in charge; I would outlaw stupidity, not steak knives!

In fact, stupidity should be painful.

rh

[Robert Haus]

I would prefer to see the school officials who freaked out to be tarred and feathered but I suppose a lawsuit is the only option that will be allowed...I don't like rampant lawsuits...but I hope these people get the crap sued out of them by the kid's parents.

[Allen]

Yes, it is almost as bad as the 5YO that was facing sexual harassment and other charges for giving a student teacher a hug.

However, can we take a look at the reasons behind these "zero tolerance" policies for just a sec? A very close friend of mine teaches in a school (in rural South Carolina of all places) that has a rampant gang and drug dealer problem. She is actually AFRAID for her safety because of some of her students. She recently had one expelled for making threats against her in class. These kids don't care about anything but themselves and ANYTHING can be used as a weapon. Their parents don't give a crap or have given up. So it falls upon the teachers and schools to do the parent's job....Yet if/when somebody does get hurt, the school will probably get sued for negligence and who knows what else.

Sure the poor girl in question didn't intend to use it as a weapon.... but what about the kid next to her?
think about it

[BDMelon]

Just when I throught THINgs where SO stupid ,, I READ THIS, NOW just think What's THIS ten YEAR KID'S life is going to be like.GEEZ

Mom & dad I was just eating my LUNCH, WHAT DID I DO WRONG, just show ya HOW THINGS CAN GET SCREWED UP,

WELL does the school lunch line have spoons, forks , well put all their food into blenders
liquid drink for all,,, WT ? poeple thinking

IF this happen to my 11 years old SON,, I would'nt be SO D%$N NICE about it, OR my actions(FOR SURE)

but i guess rules are rules,,,,,,,,, SO let get after the ones that bring in drugs to school where's the sniffing DOG,, RULES ARE RULES

[BCWidener]

I think this is totally crazy.

And where are the child's parents?

My 7 year old gets a handbook that discusses that our schools have a zero tolarence for knives and guns, which I agree with, but it is also noted that they are not to be even brought in for lunch.

And why couldn't this have been handled in a different way. Call the police on an innocent child that was eating her lunch come on people what are you thinking!!!!!

[Casemaker]

Allen,
Like you stated "Anything can be used as a weapon"....okay I agree with that... are baseball bats considered weapons as well ? Do you think that once a teacher see's someone on school grounds playing baseball will they call the police and take them to jail..... I would like to think that they would exercise a "little common sense" and not do that....but with this school system and police force - who knows ?

A baseball bat can be used as a weapon or it can be considered a piece of sporting equipment.... it all depends how it is being used... just like a steak knife....was it banished as a weapon or was it being used a eating utinsil ?

It takes some degree of common sense to figure out how something is being used.... just like crossing the street .... is the car that is approaching the intersection being used a weapon to run you over or is it being used to get someone to work.... there again a little common sense is in order...... liberals like to think that they can cure everything by outlawing anything that can be used as a weapon... none of that will cure anyones lack of heart...till then one thing after another can be outlawed and it wont make a difference... your friend will still feel threatened in school...

[Samuel.G]

This is a disgrace. What is the world coming to where the teachers and officials that we are supposed to look up to completely fail to use their common sense? A child cutting up a piece of steak with a steak knife gets arrested, while there are other students in other schools getting away with smuggling drugs and real weapons in that get away with it? Something needs to be done.

[JKWidener]

For once in my life, i have to disagree with my wifes post "bcwidener". "this will put me in the dog house". The policy has to be upheld for all the children. If a 16 year old done this same thing, they would have to be punished the same way. You cant treat one child a certain way and then close your eyes on another child. Like the saying goes, whats good for the goose is good for the gander. I just hope that our schools in our district uphold the rules like this school did... The prevailing matter in this case is to keep all our children safe whatever the age will be.

[Meco3hp]

Hello,
I keep telling people that they are going to outlaw breathing one of these days, because it gives you cancer!

People We have nobody to blame but ourselves for letting this happen! Get out and vote! Get involved with your local governments! Get involved with your local schools!
One problem with the parents today is they cant discipline their children anymore or they'll face going to jail and the kids taken away! You swat a kid on the butt with a bare hand in a store and they'll call the cops on you!

Thanks!
Richard

[Casemaker]

Originally Posted by JKWidener

For once in my life, i have to disagree with my wifes post "bcwidener". "this will put me in the dog house". The policy has to be upheld for all the children. If a 16 year old done this same thing, they would have to be punished the same way. You cant treat one child a certain way and then close your eyes on another child. Like the saying goes, whats good for the goose is good for the gander. I just hope that our schools in our district uphold the rules like this school did... The prevailing matter in this case is to keep all our children safe whatever the age will be.

What happened to "innocent until proven guilty", no kid regardless of age should have been treated this way, all because no one in authority exercised a "little common sense". The girl was cutting up a steak - she was not cutting up a student, teacher, or even someone's pet. All of their "knee jerk reactions" will only come back to haunt them and rightfully so... Why could'nt the teachers have taken this child aside and said that the steak knife was a violation of school policy and that the knife would be returned to mom or dad directly. My 8 year old daughter packs her own lunch and I could easily imagine that this 10 year old could as well too.

[JKWidener]

What happened to "innocent until proven guilty", no kid regardless of age should have been treated this way, all because no one in authority exercised a "little common sense". The girl was cutting up a steak - she was not cutting up a student, teacher, or even someone's pet. All of their "knee jerk reactions" will only come back to haunt them and rightfully so... Why could'nt the teachers have taken this child aside and said that the steak knife was a violation of school policy and that the knife would be returned to mom or dad directly. My 8 year old daughter packs her own lunch and I could easily imagine that this 10 year old could as well too.

No one said that this child was guilty yet did they? And to the common sense thing, its common sense to my 7 year old that they don't touch a knife... If this would have been a high school student just cutting up a piece of steak, would it have been dealt with the same way? hopefully so. What if there were a kid with a mental disorder that grabbed the knife and done something drastic with it... there could be a million "what if questions" but the rule is a rule, and it shouldn't matter if it was a 5 year old or a 16 year old... I agree that the parents in this matter should be disciplined also. Should they be arrested? Thats up to a judge to decide.... Just like it is up to a judge to decide what is best in this matter....

[John Newman, Jr.]

If you look at some of those "Zero Tolerance" policies, you can see that it is just a cop out so that no one has to make any real decisions. They can just point to the policy and shrug their shoulders. I strongly feel that situations like this should be handled on a case-by-case basis with just a little common sense as a guiding principle. However, there will always be somebody that feels they were treated unfairly and there are groups like the ACLU (& their lawyers) willing to sue anybody for anything they feel is an afront to their overly rightous opinion making everybody afraid of the legal bill they will run up in such a court battle.
Personally, I think the best response to the situation would have been to confiscate the knife and remind the child of the school policy and possibly issue some sort of written warning. Any further infraction should merit stiffer penalties, but sending her off to jail for a first offense is ridiculous.

[Robert Haus]

You are 100% right, John...it IS a cop-out...because nobody's willing to take a stand and say "the buck stops here"

Case-by-case is the ONLY correct way to handle these sorts of things...a kid cutting up steak for lunch, that's ok.....the one wielding the knife, or bat, or stick, scissors, etc while making threats, that's not ok.

It boils down to common sense, which is sadly lacking in this so called "civilized" society. As for the drug gangs everyone complains of when they write such stupid blanket rules to try to cover every scenario, why not just round 'em up and do away with them?


Dammitol...now my blood pressures up I'm going out to the shop.

[JKWidener]

Ok, a kid brings a knife to school to cut a steak up at lunch, but he has other motives on his mind..And im not talking grade school. If you let a grade schooler do it, then you gotta let others clear up to college do it also... Yeah, lets just let all the kids bring knifes to school to "cut their steaks up" and hope that the peice of meat they actually cut on isnt one of my kids or someone elses... it would just open the door to other means of breaking the rules.....

I would say Id have to agree with JK on his view on this topic, Also i wonder some of where the parents are when this kid was getting ready for school its as much the parents responsibility to make sure there kids obide by the schools rules.

[grub54891]

Geeze times have changed.I used to sharpen my knife in study hall! Nobody even gave it a second thought.But my son made a crude wood one in shop,and it was really crude.....he almost got expelled.Same school also.But with things the way they are these day's I agree there shouldn't be weapons in school's.Heck we took our gun's in sometimes and re-blued them.Learned how to blue em the right way!. never again! My 2 cent's..

[Craig A]

Originally Posted by Casemaker

what happened to common sense in this country ?

[Motormowers]

Before this country was taken over by a bunch of over bearing, politically correct, paranoid liberals all that used to happen is the teacher would have taken the knife and called the parents and advised them its not a good idea giving such a young child a knife like that to use at lunch on school property. If they did that today the parents would sue them for defamation of character or more. Im surprised they only called the cops and not the National Gaurd!

These are the same people who spray their kids sandwich with Lysol after its unwrapped in seven layers of cling film.

[Mike Cannon]

If you want to dust off your "declining civilization meters",put in a fresh battery and put the probes on this tidbit your meter will go close to a full scale deflection. My neighbor who is presently 87 years old told me this: During deep depression times as he was attending a one room schoolhouse [still standing] things were tough.In order to supplement the meat supply and make a bit extra on a fur/pelt, several of the kids in the class would run a trap line before and after school plus hunt a bit as well. There were rules then too. Namely all of the 22's had to be unloaded and put in the back of the classroom all in one corner.[strictly enforced]. The school only went to the 8th grade so you can estimate how old the kids were that attended. What made those kids any different than kids today? Kids are kids. My point is simply that the slow grinding effect of the decline of church attendance ,discipline ,morality,patriotism and lack of personal responsibility is beginning to put this country into a downward spiral that will not be easily broken.We are starting to see the beginning of it with stories just like the one that started this thread. We as a nation have got to get to some point of sanity and equilibrium and do it soon! At ease..........the soapbox is back in the corner and unloaded.