I did not mean the intent of the child who took the knife to school. By now all parents should be aware of the zero tolerance rules about weapons. If I were that child's parents I would also want to be there for questioning & or signing of statements though. I would also make it plain to the child they did something against the rules, no matter the intent.
I think this parent, as a parent of a witness, needs to know the intent of the school in having her child sign a statement. How will this statement be used?
If the intent of the statement was as a lesson about reporting the other child then the parent needs to decide whether to cooperate with officials.
If the statement will be used against the child who brought the knife- possibly even ending up in court or be used by child services as evidence against the other child's parents that makes it something I would be careful about.
I would have to know all the circumstances to make a decision if I were the parent of any of these children involved. That is why I advised a sit down with the officials. I just do not sign these type of things, as you just never know how they will be used for sure.
It sounded to me more like a lesson than a 'statement'. It was an admission that the right thing to so was to report the knife, and that he did wrong by not reporting it. It had the kid come up with another example on his own of similar judgment decisions... this is called "application". Can the child apply what he just learned to new situations? (doubtful, the kid doesn't know what's right from wrong after all this)
Thanks again, everyone.
I have reviewed all the School Board Policies and state law regarding this.
Nothing is found about witness treatment or forms or questions, etc...
What I did find is the relevant state law and policy they state shows the blade must be Greater than 2 1/2 inches in length, or a locking blade knife.
From my son's description, he thinks he saw a cub scout logo. If that is the case, most all of them are 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 inches in length.
That length defines whether it is a weapon under their policy and state law.
I will assume for now the blade was 2 1/2 inches. That would mean the child was legal from state law and school board policy, unless he displayed the blade, which my son said he did not.
I will go in the morning to talk with the principal, view my sons records, and ensure this will not be a part of his record.
I will also not sign the form, and explain why.
Then hopefully that will be the end of it.
If however they choose a different course, then I think I found a few violations in their own policy, state law, notification, and other things if that blade was 2 1/2 inches or under, and didn't lock, which no official scout knives I know of do that.
Folks, I asked these questions to gain perspective and I have read them all, every one, even though I have not responded to every one.
At this point, I am convinced my son did the right thing, he told the truth when asked if he was shown a knife. He should have been commended for telling the truth, and that should have been it, IMHO. That would hav ebeen the correct course of action here, along with notifying me. These administrators should be trained what to do, and if this is it, there are some serious problems with it.
But they chose a different course, one prone with problems for how they treated my son.
His reward for telling the truth when asked about it, is he is threatened with punishment if he does not return a signed form saying he made bad choices by not telling. And that is a bad impression to leave my son with. He knows right from wrong, he knows a bragging form a threat, and he now knows what his rights are when questioned. That is the important lesson here, that he can't be railroaded as he was for what may turn out to not be a violation at all.
And I plan to share these findings with the parents of the student who brought the knife as well.
Our course of action will now depend on their response to our concerns.
Thanks again for all your help. I knew I could count on our fine group of freepers.
Since 1998,
Sonar5