I still think the suspension over a knife would be silly, but it is an important point to the story.
The only “screwdriver” approved by the Chicago Public Schools is covered by a condom.
When Lil’ Miss was 3, I let her use a real kitchen knife to slice cucumbers from the garden to make pickles. All ten fingers survived without a nick and no one was decapitated. No one was blown to bits when the jars were put into two pressure cookers (lids off for hot water bath, of course). Let’s count how many strikes that is - child abuse, child labor laws, garden tools, sharp knives, hot stove, pressure cookers and conservative white Christian productive taxpayer. When Lil’ Miss was older, with permission of the principal who laughed off any concern, took convict-made weapons to school for show and tell. It’s frightening how much this country has changed in the last half dozen years.