Got expelled from school.

what's a DD?

KD

That's a shame.... but definitely a sign of the times. We used to teach kids that honesty was the best policy... I wonder what kind of message this type of thing sends to kids today....

I think them expelling the student was a bit harsh, UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. Now, that being said, I'm going to step out on a limb and say that if the school has a no weapon policy and doesn't allow that sort of thing, why was he carrying it? We all expect the schools to keep our children safe and when bad things happen we stand back and say "why didn't you do more to keep the kids safe?" If the school has rules in place and someone breaks them, isn't that a lack of respect for authority? Doesn't that say "well I don't like your rule so I'm going to do what I want?" And then what happens when one kid gets away with it, what do you do with the next person that breaks the rule. Rules have to apply to everyone or no one, not just select individuals.

I agree that he should have known the rule and followed it, but my point was (I know I didn't say it clearly) was more about stupid rules with severe penalties. I have in my own pocket a small knife that opens letters and might be sharp enough to peel an apple, but to say it's an instrument of mass murder is absurd. Now if he had a 9 mm automatic or a 6 in switchblade, then yes kick him out and even go for criminal penalties, but a couple of days suspension for his small knife would have been more appropriate to teach him not to break the rules, but no reason to make a capital case out of it.

Hey, if have a pocket knife were that big of a problem where I graduated from high school, graduation would have been a pretty lonely event!
Us country boys always carry a pocket knife. I mean, if we didn't what would we use to trim our fingernails? I did it, my father did it, his father did it, and I'm sure that many, many generations before them did it.
People need to learn that it's not carrying a pocket knife that is the problem. The problem is children growing up without being taught a good sense of right and wrong. I always carried a pocket knife, but then I also understood how and when to use it.
It appears that your DD also understands that, but unfortunately we now live in a world where most others don't.

Ron

I think that's a shame that they won't let him graduate with his class and walk across the stage over peeling an apple. Hopefully enough will complain so they'll let him do that. I know they need to have rules but geez.

A sharpened pencil is as much of a weapon as a pocket knife. Every time I go to do a drywall repair for a customer, I always find myself looking around to see if anyone is watching me when I pull out my razor knife. I'm only a threat to myself (accident prone) ;D

It's the Zero Tolerance laws. We've had kids expelled over carrying tylenol in their purses. But as harsh as this expelling is, we've also had kids stabbed with a miniature swiss army knife in middle school. Zero Tolerance just means you leave it at home or at the office. And you sure don't take it out of your pocket at school.

Our policy actually reads any edged blade over one inch and any item that shoots projectiles through mechanical means (or something like that - allows for pneumatic guns as well as regular guns). The drug policy reads any pill not clearly identified on the pill itself - and this means the full words on the pill.

I understand the reasoning behind these laws, but the reactions do seem harsh when a good student encounters them in a non-"illegal" manner. But then the question arises, where do you draw the line? The 2" swiss army knife stabbing made them revise the Zero Tolerance rule to 1".

How about not wearing belts? Somebody could choke someone else to death with one while the teacher was out of the room. As far as that goes a pair of pants could be used the same way or wadded up and used to suffocate someone. In that case all clothing should be abolished too and the school uniform should be a birthday suit. That way no one can conceal anything either and everyone would be a lot safer.

There's no way around it. People have to use common sense or just give up living altogether. All of this just points out how absurd and poorly thought out these rules are. If they are being so stupidly enforced then maybe they should be rewritten to fit the actual situations that they are meant to prevent. Or maybe it's too late for that. Kids with small pocket knives aren't what's wrong. What's wrong is that some kids are raised to believe it's okay to stab other people with whatever they have on hand. If knives weren't handy they would find something to use that hasn't been outlawed yet. That silly rule that's keeping the one kid from graduating isn't going to protect anyone from those nutty brats. Violent, abusive or psychotic kids have never been known for following rules.

Lori