zero tolerance = zero judgement
Luckily the schools seem to hire the right people who will blindly obey. What ever happened to hiring our educators FOR their judgement and good sense.

The though of someone deciding to send my innocent 6 year old girl to a reform school for something so trivial is infuriating. A reprimand because it's against the rules sure, but a reform school? I'm sure that'll be just great for the development of this young man.

At the beginning of a new school term several years ago, my son was given an assignment to give a presentation on the highlight of his summer. A visual aid of some sort was required. The only rule was that the visual aid could not be a gun or even a picture of a gun.

Well, the highlight of my son's summer happened to be competing at the International BB Gun Championship Match which had been held at the Olympic shooting facility in Atlanta -a pretty big thing for a 12 year old kid. This rule about no pictures of guns was probably a result of publicity that his trip had received in our small town. The teacher was trying to keep him from discussing this trip where kids actually shot guns. Since he couldn't show pictures from the competition, he ended up taking the targets that he shot and then was still able to talk about the highlight of his summer.

Is the response from the school over the top? Absolutely. 45 days in a reform school for bring a boy scount knife to school. That's nuts....

But, his parents should have checked w/the boys teacher before allowing a knife to be brought into the school.

It's a stupid rule, but it's a rule. I'm sure we all know of laws that we feel are stupid, but that doesn't mean you can break them w/out punishments. I personally think the super high dollar fines for speeding that most states are changing are stupid, but that doesn't mean I won't have to pay it if I get caught speeding.

Solution: Withdraw the child from the school and work out an alternate form of education. If we all homeschooled our kids or sent them to private schools, public schools would cease to exist. Problem solved.

Every time the government school system is allowed to get away with something like this if is further engraining into the next generation that weapons, hunting, being independent and freedom in general are not as important and being good government subjects. We have no one to blame but ourselves for this gross abuse of power.

Hopefully the parents, and community can put enought pressure on the school board to overrule the 'zero tolerance' crap.

We have become a nation of pussies. Sorry for such language but sometimes the Infantry way is best.

I have ran into many issues with the zero tolerance laws. Do you kow that the so called "zero tolerance laws" are not laws but rather rules of an organization? Let me take a step back. This applies to GA and other states may have these laws in their law book. I can only tell you what GA laws says because I have to know it. I have not seen any zero tolerance law in my GA law book, but I will be happy to look again.
These issues are what you deal with when you have a group making fear based decisions. These people!

if I were the parents I would pull my son out of that school and home school him for a year rather than allow him to be put in a deliquent facility. Here's a a newsflash I carry a 3 1/2 inch lockknife in my pocket all through middle school and highschool and nobody died. I can't understand why some people think that just touching a knife or gun causes a person to have murderous tendencies. It's completely asinine.

ah yes the good old days, I was like a magnet to this kind of stuff a few years back during elementary school I brought everything from traps to bullets to school and every time I got told I was breaking the rules. But did I care no, because its what I love so to bad.

This is what happens when you give an a-hole a little power!
We need to get rid of the protection these teachers hide behind (tenure) and come up with some kind of common sense test.
Hey Chad, sure wish you could have been my English teacher back in the day.

Perhaps I've heard wrong,but I was told that it's the teachers unions and schoolboards that make the rules of zero-tolerance for both children and adults.The unions and their rules protect the teachers when they make graver mistakes than 99.9% of our children would.Socialist?More like communist!How do you start a parents union?

Mike Diehl, You want to know who hires these idiots? The school board. Who are unfortunatly are elected by us. Remind the school board that they are publicly elected officals and they will have to fall from the voice of the people.

Discovered that the expression "an armed society is a polite society" was written by Robert Heinlein, the science fiction writer. Proper credit is due him. I've heard this so often but didn't know the author.

Thank GOD he wasnt helping an elderly women across the street!!Imagine the utter kaos!! Its crazy!and sad these people are trying to teach our children anything more than the 3-r's.

Not all schools are this bad. When I was in high school a couple of years ago our principle let a buddy of mine bring his bow into school and shoot it for a physics project. It violated the zero tolerance policy but the principle knew that he was good kid so he let him bring it in anyways.
Of course at this same school the starting wide receiver on my football team got sucker punched by some kid in the hallway and walked away without throwing a punch hoping to avoid a suspension. He was suspended from school for 3 DAYS and had to miss that week's games for getting PUNCHED IN THE FACE! So I guess no where is perfect.

their sorry

You know this reminds me of?

“the people I put in jail have more honor than the top administration in this organization.”
-Bob Hoffman, ATF agent, to Mike Wallace, on 60 Minutes, 1993-Jan

“I took an oath. And the thing that I find totally abhorrent and disgusting is these higher-level people took that same oath and they violate the basic principles and tenets of the Constitution and the laws and simple ethics and morality.”
-Lou Tomasello, ATF agent, to Mike Wallace, on 60 Minutes, 1993-Jan

“a jack-booted group of fascists who are perhaps as large a danger to American society as I could pick today.”
-Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) in 1983, describing the ATF

“Trampled upon the Second Amendment [...] Offended the Fourth Amendment [...] Ignored the Fifth Amendment”
-Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, 1982, findings regarding the ATF

“To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem. To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized, merely the domesticated.”
-Trefor Thomas

I started to say something, but I'm not.

This really make s me mad, what in the world is this Nation of cheese eating, Wine drinking class of surrendering freaks doing. I remember it was the Parents the school feared, now it's the Student and the Teachers Union!

OK, SO I LIED! SUE ME!!!

Chad, good call on the dumbassery commentary. I generated a similar speech for the exit interview when I quit teaching middle school. You should have seen the look on the faces of the perpetrators of dumbassery!

So, speaking from experience, the general bent of the public school system tends to coddle the children into a class of mindless subjects that have more regard to being "saved" from reality than experiencing any likeness to a life of traditional American freedom. Teachers and administrators often believe they are on a mission to "save the poor children" from everything, including independant thought and personal responsibility. Schools tend to live by a sliding scale of discipline based on moral relativity- more of the "whatever works for you" philosophy. Except when kids like this bring a BSA cutlery set to the lunch room-they get nuked of the face of the planet. They might as well scribe into the student handbook "The penalty for bringing anything to school that resembles a weapon, no matter how utilitarian it might be, is to be shot in the face with a bazooka."
I encourage parents to storm the halls of your local schools and make sure that this kind of crap is not part of your community. Our posterity is depending on you.

I taught school for ten years and quit when a student ran out of the building for the highway, I ran after him and stopped him before he could run out in front of traffic. He punched me, bit me, and kicked me. When the sheriff got there, he grabbed the sheriff's gun and tried to shoot him with it. His parents then threatened to sue because I touched their son. My actions were not good in the eyes of the county because I didn't have the right certificate to restrain a child. surreal!

There are teachers and there are educators. Apparently the school district is lacking in educators.

I have dome deep reservations about this boy being separated from his friends and subjected to the 45 days. When you do things like that to youngsters, it's a sign that you don't believe in their worth. It might be different if he was violent. This has repercussions for his future.

If everyone that was outraged about this zero tolerance fiasco ante'd up $1, I wonder what private school that would get the boy into and how long that would cover his tuition? Maybe all the way through college perhaps?

Do y'all realize this whole deal is the polar opposite of what Del is doing for those boys in KS? Maybe start a school with a common-sense approach incorporating outdoors into the curriculum. Imagine that - I'd send my kids there in a heartbeat!

I don't know if any one of these people have ever heard of the phrase "common sense", but as a teacher I tell all of my students that "common sense" is the greatest tool anyone could have. I wish more people had it or used it we wouldn't have many of the problems that we have today.

you no i dont agree that someone so young should have got suspended, but there was a knife in the tool and no knives are allowed in schools, but becuase of his young age they should have let it slide since he probably didnt know any better.

Jesus, are kids still allowed to keep scissors and those compasses with the sharp points anymore in their desks these days or do the teachers have to keep them under lock and key. Why don't we take away pencils and staplers as well! I'm sure students could turn them into weapons as well. What a joke.

Yahoo.com just posted an update this morning-the school board voted to let him return to class. While it would be nice to think that common sense prevailed, I think the district was more concerned with the egg on their face and the PR nightmare their PC BS policy has caused them. At any rate, just remember folks- your local school board is a group elected by and working for you. Take the time to vote and go to board meetings once and awhile to ensure that they truly have your child's best interest at heart.

BEAR, Del. -- A Delaware first-grader who was facing 45 days in an alternative school as punishment for taking his favorite camping utensil to school can return to class after the school board made a hasty change granting him a reprieve.
The seven-member Christina School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to reduce the punishment for kindergartners and first-graders who take weapons to school or commit violent offenses to a suspension ranging from three to five days.
Zachary Christie, 6, had faced 45 days in an alternative school for troublemakers after he took the utensil -- a combination folding knife, fork and spoon -- to school to eat lunch last month. Now, he could return Wednesday.

finally after all the pressure I guess they finally woke up!
update:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091014/ap_on_re_us/us_zero_tolerance_boy

This is as bad as when I got suspended in 5th grade for having bullets at school, no gun just a couple of .22's that were in the pocket of my coat from the weekend!

After I read the story and comments - I thought about this - (point#1) Not all the readers and comments out there in WEB LAND live in the same areas of the country (point #2 I live in CT and schools have metals detectors the students go through each day). (point #3) NOW perhaps thinking we all lived in large city would you want your kid sitting anywhere near another kid with a knife? (NOT ME!) As a parent would you be willing to take all the heat if the the utensil was stolen and someone got hurt? (NOT ME!) SOOOOO before you all blame everyone else and think 0 tolerance is a stupid idea!! TRY THIS ON Let your child do what ever you think is right around you or supervised in scout/and outdoor activities. I also believe that in scouts NO SCOUT can do anything with a knife till he gets a totten chip card?

YOU CAN HAVE A MILLION KNIVES IN YOUR LIFE - ONLY ONE CHILD - Regretfully we live in do MODERN TIMES and in different areas!!!!!!!!!!

THINK BEFORE ABOUT THE WHOLE PICTURE BEFORE YOU COMMENT!!!!!!!!!!

that is such bull ive seen teachers bring the same folding spoon,fork,and knife to school where are the dumbasses that hired them they should be fired