Letter regarding zero tolerance - help requested

self ^ | 10.06.03 | E-mail

[Cathryn Crawford]

I got this letter last night, in response to my zero tolerance article of a few weeks ago. I was wondering if there were any Freepers that would give me some suggestions on how to respond.

Cathryn, my son has become what I would call a victom of the Zero Tolerance. He is 8 years old and it took what is called a multi-tool to school with him yesterday.He took it out to use the screwdriver function to try and repair his sunglasses and a boy saw him and turned him into the teacher. I got a call from the principal today asking me to come in and I did. She informed me that my son had a weapon at school and that he has been suspended for 10 days and will be recommendend for expulsion for one calendar year.

I am supposed to go a hearing before the school board Monday night to see if they are going to expel him or not.

Do you have any guidence on what I can do? Do you have any court cases in Mississippi that would be beneficial in my case?

Thanks,

I'd appreciate any advice that you guys could give to me for me to pass on to him.

[Cathryn Crawford]

Can you please fix whatever HTML mistake I made in that post? It's not wrapping properly. Thanks.

[dirtboy]

I'd appreciate any advice that you guys could give to me for me to pass on to him.

Get the local media involved. The cockroaches who pull this crap can't stand the light.

[JennysCool]

(a) Spell check; (b) Change schools. That place sounds hopeless; (c) Have a good weekend, Cathryn!

[GulliverSwift]

If his child has never had a prior record of violence or misconduct, that would be a great thing to point out.

Also, maybe see if any of the teachers carry such "weapons" themselves. I'll wager that at least a few do.

[CatoRenasci]

Media involvement is important.

A very good local education law specialist lawyer is a MUST!

[zeugma]

Reformatted

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Cathryn, my son has become what I would call a victom of the Zero Tolerance. He is 8 years old and it took what is called a multi-tool to school with him yesterday.He took it out to use the screwdriver function to try and repair his sunglasses and a boy saw him and turned him into the teacher. I got a call from the principal today asking me to come in and I did. She informed me that my son had a weapon at school and that he has been suspended for 10 days and will be recommendend for expulsion for one calendar year.

I am supposed to go a hearing before the school board Monday night to see if they are going to expel him or not.

Do you have any guidence on what I can do? Do you have any court cases in Mississippi that would be beneficial in my case?

Thanks,

---

There is probably not much you can do but pull them out of the school. The people currently running most public school districts are insanely stupid AND arrogant.

[Cathryn Crawford]

Would you guys take a look at this?

[Cathryn Crawford]

I've already recommended a lawyer to him. I wasn't sure what else to tell him.

[jmc813]

I'd say shell out the cash for a few hours of a lawyers time and have him/her accompany them. Schools are wussies when the law is involved. Also, if the kid does get expelled, have her give you the name of the school and the people responsible, post it on FR, and I'll make sure their life is made miserable by angry FReepers.

[CWOJackson]

"...took what is called a multi-tool..."

If by that she is referring to what is commonly called a Leatherman then it also includes a knife blade; the average being 3" in length. If the school has a prohibition against knives she might have a difficult time fighting this.

[Hodar]

Did the tool also have a blade attachment? My leatherman does. Your son may have been using the screwdriver, but if your son's tool also has a 2.5 - 3 inch sharp and serrated blade in the tool; he has taken a weapon to school (albeit inadvertedly and without malice).

If this tool does NOT have a blade, then the screwdriver is actually less dangerous than a sharpened No. 2 pencil, or a pair of scissors. The pencil can easily be used to kill (ask anyone with 1 yr. of martial arts, a pencil is very deadly) and a scissors is not only a good slashing weapon, but a stabbing one as well.

This is what happens when you give little people too much power. Ego's get big, and brains get small.

[xrp]

Go to the hearing and in your loudest voice (bring a bullhorn if you need one) shout "go F*** yourselves you brainless, no-talent, government-employed deadbeats" and then homeschool your resourceful and imaginative child.

[NicknamedBob]

"...took what is called a multi-tool to school with him yesterday. He took it out to use the screwdriver function..."

Just observing. If he knew his sunglasses needed repair, he could have done it at home.

< snickering >NO weapons! However, baseball bats, pencils, rulers of all sorts. (Hey! Anyone want to go in with me to manufacture a Tazer that looks like a calculater?)< /snickering >

[Fred Mertz]

I'd advise the kid to get a few tattoos, stick his head in the tackle box in order to fit the role the gummint school puts him in.

If that doesn't work, homeschool the future felon.

[Keith in Iowa]

Zero tolerance means zero common sense.

Does this school allow kids to carry pencils? Have this mother ask the school to ban pencils. After all, a well sharpened pencil can cause serious injury in the hands of someone hell-bent to harm someone. What about bic pens? Same thing. Do they have scissors in the art room where students can get at them? Got to put the scissors under lock and key. And don’t even get me started on the multitude of horrible weaponry that could be found in the school’s Home Economic and Auto Shop areas. And, while we’re at it, take away the bats from the baseball & softball teams, rackets from the tennis teams, and golf clubs from golf teams – after all, more people have been killed using those instruments of death than people have been killed by 8 year olds with a Leatherman.

[Scenic Sounds]

Great letter, Cathryn.

This is where zero tolerance rubs up against common sense.

I can't improve on your advice that they get a good local lawyer. ;-)

[Cathryn Crawford]

Yeah. Lawyers get a bad rap, but they have their uses, don't they? ROFL

[Fierce Allegiance]

The poor kid & his parents. gawd, i carry one of those everywhere i go, and used to pack it in my carry on when flying.

We used to have to carry a knife for boy scouts,, and we used to wittle at lunch sometimes. (I am 37, so i am not an old fart, except to my kids)

I think the media route is the best way to go. The turd administration will just hate to be shown how stupid their dumb-ass zero tolerance policy is if a kid cant even fix his own glassed. What, was he supposed to use a rubber screwdriver?

Good luck!

[bk1000]

Last year a 6th grade girl was suspended under Atlanta's 'zero tollerance' policy on weapons.
Her infraction? A Tweety Bird wallet that had on it a
small chain to secure it to a belt. The chain was a weapon,
they said. All you can do is make a lot of noise and hope some people realize the futility of zero tollerance. Then home school the kid.