[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

Oh, PLEASE! It was a POCKET KNIFE, for crying out loud! Holy cats, what on EARTH is wrong with some of the people on this thread? The boy was NOT wrong in any way, nor was the boy who brought the pocket knife in the first place!

I sold homemade explosives (smoke bombs/stink bombs) when I was in junior high and high school and made a fair bit of money at it funding my chemistry hobby. One day when I was sophmore the high school was evacuated because one of my customers decided to light one off in the high school ventilation system. I was not implicated since the perpetrator had the good sense not to squeal. My chemistry teacher who had a real good idea as to the source winked at me after the incident. Wouldn't happen like that today. For example, a nearby high school called in the EPA and roped off a school bus and quarantined the students on it when horror of horrors a kid was caught playing with mercury from a broken thermometer! We used to play with it and rub it on pennies in our pockets all day. It's stupidity and fear at work well out of proportion with reality. Let kids be kids.

[Finny]

You sound like MY kind of enterprising American!

[MagnumRancid]

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when I was in junior high and high school
(snip)
It's stupidity and fear at work well out of proportion with reality. Let kids be kids.
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Times have changed. I went to school in rural and semi-rural areas. We all had pocket knives. Most kids over 10 had their own 22 and/or shotgun.</p>

Curious thing about this one. The fourth grade is about where Cub Scouts can earn the right to carry a pocket knife. The Scout needs to demonstrate he understands proper use, safety, etc. Could it be the young man was simply proud of his achievement and wanted to share? That seems harmless and innocent enough to me but there are those who would bring a knife to school with bad intent. The system cannot afford to be subjective.