Consider this. When I was a kid, if I got in trouble at school I was in big trouble at home. You all sound like you are raising kids who, when they get in trouble at school, get their parents to fight for them and get them out of it.
Is that wise?
No, it is not wise at all. You are very unlikely to win a pissing contest with the school board unless you belong to some protected status group. However, Political Correctness, Zero Tolerance policies, and Bureaucratic Paranoia have created an environment where trivial, harmless and benign activities or statements can result in serious consequence.
"You all sound like you are raising kids who, when they get in trouble at school, get their parents to fight for them and get them out of it.'
No, I did not do that, believe me. But the point I am trying to make is that there are a lot of little tin-pot dictator types who find their way into positions at schools were they can "lord it over" people, as the Brits say. Just like there are a lot of cops who otherwise would be criminals.
That is just reality. And it IS part of the job of a parent to be an advocate for one's child, and to teach them to stick up for themselves and for what is right. Not just blindly follow "authority".
And, as I said before, it has not been established, for the purposes of the discussion here, that Sonar's son had an obligation to report the knife. If he did have one, that might change some of my views, but I would not want to get a call from my child's school giving me one impression of things, and come home to find that a bunch of other stuff had happened behind my back.
The interference of schools in the parent/child relationship is always to be deplored. But parents should generally be supportive of the school too, but parents should be treated as ADULTS by the schools, not just as another class of charges.
Hair, I'm really thinking you don't have kids, it's one thing to be a kid, and have those experiences with teachers, principals, etc. as a kid. The shoe is on the other foot once one becomes a parent. It's tremendous, talk about your new ball of wax!
I still get nervous sitting in a principal's office, I'm sure I always will. But, as a parent, I've got to make sure my kid gets a fair shake. That's all, just a fair shake, not you can do whatever you want, and I'll run interference. But as we all know, the world is not fair, so you can't always assume the school is in the right.