8-inch scissors. Yeah, pretty deadly.
Everyone on this thread should read the papers, as well as this site. The scissors were 8", not some little toy snippers. She had hidden the scissors in her backpack, which were discovered when a search was made due to a theft from a teacher's desk. I would be highly concerned if a child, 10 or not, brought 8" scissors to my child's elementary school, and the event was just swept under the rug. Being Philadelphia, she probably had in mind some defensive or aggressive action with that tool. I am sorry to see so many Freepers join the "poor victim of the mean cops" crowd.
"But calling in local police to address such a matter involving a 10-year-old criminalized the young student who apparently meant no ill intent,"
Hate to think what you would have said about the knife I carried (concealed!) in my back pocket from 3rd grade on...
I think you're being a bit paranoid.
< Being Philadelphia, she probably had in mind some defensive or aggressive action with that tool. I am sorry to see so many Freepers join the "poor victim of the mean cops" crowd. >
"Being Philadelphia"?...hmmm.
You don't think handcuffs were a bit overboard?
I was always facinated by my mother's shiny sewing scissors. I hated the dull, rounded end ones. Perhaps she felt the same way?
Oh, and BTW, to the person who was complaining about the taser being used on the boy with the broken glass, he was threatening to kill himself. I don't know if something else could have been done, but there was more to the story than he was "holding" a piece of broken glass.
.Most people on this thread are not concerned, as you are, with the size of the sissors or that the girl had them in her backpack (you chose to use the word hidden as though everything in one's backpack is hidden)
NO
Most reasonable people are offended that a young child was treated in such a physically harsh manner, (abused is a more apt word), by ignorant school officials and then handed over to police goons who handcuffed her and hustled her off to jail.
Recognizing the public outcry...and it is an outcry from reasoned people...Those moronic adults involved have made profuse public apologies for their stupidity.
Here is a case where loss of jobs should be applied and a punitive law suit against those involved instigated.....and I wouldn't be surprised if one isn't in the works now.
"Being Philadelphia, she probably had in mind some defensive or aggressive action with that tool"
The mind reading capacity of idiots astounds me.
I bet she hid some pencils and books and maybe a snack in there too. What idiots those police were, to just let her walk.
By the way, the length of the scissors is irrelevant. It is the design of the blade that makes it suitable or unsuitable for use as a weapon, and most common scissors these days are useless for stabbing.
" I would be highly concerned if a child, 10 or not, brought 8" scissors to my child's elementary school, and the event was just swept under the rug."
Then I recommend you pull the covers over your head and never get out of bed. It's a big bad mean old world out there.
Of course she was carrying her scissors in her backpack. Where else was she supposed to be carrying them. Why call them hidden?
If you carry a book in your backpack, or a pencil or even a CD player, are you calling that hidden?
I know when I was ten, I surely didn't like to use them little bitty scissors any more. For one thing, my hand was too big. For another, they don't work as well.
Of course, my grandma taught me to thread a needle and do running stitch when I was four, so maybe my grandma was abusive, too...
8-inch scissors. Yeah, pretty deadly.
" I would be highly concerned if a child, 10 or not, brought 8" scissors to my child's elementary school, and the event was just swept under the rug"
YOU are a moron. The article says that she had no criminal intent.
I think you are missing the point. If as you suggest did steal the scissors she should be punished for the theft not for having scissors. They are punishing her for having scissors not for the theft.