Posted on 02/24/2005 8:24:34 AM PST by Graybeard58
WOLCOTT -- A 9-year-old boy was suspended from school for 10 days Wednesday for bringing a knife to school, his father said.
School officials wouldn't comment directly on the suspension. But Carl Glendening, the father of the fourth-grader at Wakelee School, said his son got into trouble Tuesday after his wife packed her son's lunch with a Cub Scout camping spoon that -- unknown to her -- had a concealed blade in it.
Glendening said the boy was using the camping spoon for a snack about 10 a.m. Tuesday in his classroom at the elementary school. He said his son didn't display the blade, which is about 2 1/2 inches in length.
He said his wife made an honest mistake while getting their three children ready for school early Tuesday.
"My wife was packing their lunches," Glendening said. "She didn't have any plastic spoons so she reached for a camping spoon that my son had from Cub Scouts, not knowing that there was a concealed blade inside. He did not reveal the blade."
Glendening said a student in his son's class saw the utensil, knew what it was and told the substitute teacher about it. About 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Glendening received a call from his wife who had been notified by the school administration to pick up their son. Glendening and his son then met with School Superintendent Thomas M. Smyth Jr. and the Glendenings also spoke with John Cook, the principal, to explain what happened, he said.
"I thought they might actually see through to this," he said. "Cook called it a deadly weapon. It was a ... camping spoon. There was just no consideration to the situation. This is an administration that places policy over the welfare of children. They (Cook and Smyth) are punishing a 9-year-old boy because of a mother's honest mistake. That is abhorrent."
Glendening said the administration didn't interview any other students about the incident.
Cook couldn't be reached for comment late Wednesday.
School officials would release few details on the matter. Smyth said he couldn't discuss the incident because it is a student discipline issue.
"Any student discipline I really can't comment on," Smyth said. "Right now, it's at the building level and being forwarded to me."
The school district has a zero-tolerance policy on bringing weapons to school property or to a school event, Smyth said. If someone does, there is an automatic 10-day suspension, he said.
The policy directs the building administrator, or the principal, to gather information about the weapon and how it was brought onto school property, he said. The principal then refers the matter to the superintendent, who can recommend that the Board of Education impose discipline up to and including expelling the student.
"Basically we have been consistent over the last six years," Smyth said. "This is my seventh year. There is no acceptable reason for bringing a weapon to school."
He didn't know how many students had been suspended for bringing weapons to school in the last year. But he said "this has happened before in my experience here and we've dealt with (it) in said like manner."
Responding to Glendening's complaint that school officials are over-reacting, Smyth said, "I think there are two sides to every story, and I believe that our responsibility as administrators and the members of the Board of Education are to provide a safe and orderly environment at all times. There are no exceptions to bringing inappropriate things to schools."
At the beginning of school each year, students on all grade levels are given student handbooks to take home to their parents to sign and then return to the schools, said Michael Santogatta, chairman of the school board. The handbooks delineate policies on dress and behavior including those regarding weapons, he said.
Education BS bump
Nope, I just "tested" how sharp it was with my thumb.
Common sense develops slow in my family - I registered Democrat at 18 too. I came to my senses in my mid-20s
This seems a reasonable interpretation of school policy. Institution might be a terrorist training facility for 9 year olds. Needs further examination and vetting of all staff personnel.
lol
At least you "learned".
I don't know how many times I almost chopped my thumb off trying to close those stupid things.
I was the same age....8 only my knife was a Buck..given to me by my grandfather so I could clean my own fish...
We must have gone to the same school.
Post 21 shows why the left hates Boy Scouting - scouting is fun and develops manly skills. Such a person has no truck with the simpering world the left wants all of us to live in.
"Dead Bugs, Blow Guns, Sharp Knives, & Snakes:
What More Could A Boy Want?"
Unfortunately, I believe youre right on the mark with this observation. Instead of punishing the criminal, the people in the power positions just blindly follow their orders & punish EVERYBODY.
Sadly, some of these kids will someday be our politicos and leos and skewl admin types.
"Welcome to the machine "...
"When I was a kid that would have gotten you beaten up after school."
Tattle-tales used to "lose" their pants on the way home from school.
Every educrat is a thug.
A knife gets a kid suspended for 10 days, but in Florida a kid throws a rubber band and is going to be expelled. Makes no sense.
I think it all comes down to the Left wanting us all to be docile and meek, easy for the state to control. Start the training very young, make it part of our personalities.
There is a part of the female mind at work here too, remember when, as a kid, there was always a female adult, mother, grandmom, etc. who didn't want you to play with this or with that or do much of anything on your own?
Heck, when I was in the 7th grade we were expected to have a pocket knife to properly sharpen pencils for the drafting exercises in shop class.
I also carried my pocket knife to school for sharpening pencils in art class. I also still have a scar on the base of my thumb from being a little too enthusiatic about something I was whittling. I think my mother was more upset then me.
In the spring we all carried water pistols to school.
I also fidgeted, daydreamed and doodled all through school.
Thank God I am not a kid today.
"Nope, I just "tested" how sharp it was with my thumb."
"registered Democrat at 18 too. I came to my senses in my mid-20s..."
I must admit, not sure how good i feel you're on our side... :)
I keep a knife in my pocket, and a Gerber tool on my belt. I'm just naked without tools.
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