Just remember — no teacher is going to be fired for reporting a student who has a metal utensil.
But people will lose their jobs if a kid kills another kid.
So all the incentives are to adopt MORE of these policies, to keep people safe in their jobs.
It’s the same reason child protective services almost always take kids away from loving parents and put them in temporary foster care or group homes. It is bad for the kids, but they won’t get fired for it, while they WILL get fired if they leave one kid with a parent who ends up harming the kid.
Bingo. It's all about job security. If another child were hurt by the knife - even ACCIDENTALLY - people would complain that the school should've taken the knife away. So, even though I homeschool and have had my own dealings with the school system that were negative, I understand why the policy of "no knives" is in place.
Meanwhile, even a pencil or pen could be used as a weapon. But, if another child were hurt with a pencil or pen, people would never think to ban pencils and pens from school. (Though I wouldn't rule it out in the future.) But, an accident with a "knife" - even just a pocketknife - elicits a whole different response. So, I could understand the school taking a pocketknife away from a child, for example.
STILL, 45 days in reform school for a six year old bringing a spork to school is utterly ridiculous.