KingM Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Oh, you guys will love this one. NEWARK, Del. — Finding character witnesses when you are 6 years old is not easy. But there was Zachary Christie last week at a school disciplinary committee hearing with his karate instructor and his mother’s fiancé by his side to vouch for him. Zachary’s offense? Taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon to school. He was so excited about recently joining the Cub Scouts that he wanted to use it at lunch. School officials concluded that he had violated their zero-tolerance policy on weapons, and Zachary was suspended and now faces 45 days in the district’s reform school. “It just seems unfair,†Zachary said, pausing as he practiced writing lower-case letters with his mother, who is home-schooling him while the family tries to overturn his punishment. Full NY Times Article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Wow, just Wow!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Oh, you guys will love this one. NEWARK, Del. — Finding character witnesses when you are 6 years old is not easy. But there was Zachary Christie last week at a school disciplinary committee hearing with his karate instructor and his mother’s fiancé by his side to vouch for him. Zachary’s offense? Taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon to school. He was so excited about recently joining the Cub Scouts that he wanted to use it at lunch. School officials concluded that he had violated their zero-tolerance policy on weapons, and Zachary was suspended and now faces 45 days in the district’s reform school. “It just seems unfair,†Zachary said, pausing as he practiced writing lower-case letters with his mother, who is home-schooling him while the family tries to overturn his punishment. Full NY Times Article Goodness. This just makes me want to cry. How sad for this little boy who probably has no clue what he did wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 A Zero-Intelligence Policy strikes again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 :eek: Shocked. Appalled. Saddened. God help us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Wow...stupid school officials just know no bounds. How ridiculous! Maybe his mom will stop worrying about the school and just homeschool him from now on! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teamturner Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 What about the 3rd grade girl who was expelled for a year for bringing (her grandmother sent it) a knife to cut the birthday cake her grandmother made for her??? This kind of stuff is insane!! Rules matter more than children do apparently. All in the name of fairness. If we allow school administration to use discretion when applying these rules, there might be discrimination. Better to hurt innocent kids then. Umm.....okay. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yslek Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Ridiculous. :glare: Reminds me of something that happend to my brother (who is now in his 20s) when he was in Jr. High. In science class, dbro & his lab partner used the bunson burner to roast some erasers. Not smart or excusable, but not malicious either. He and his lab partner were suspended for "arson". :001_huh: (On a funny note, he also had to write some sentence about not roasting erasers 100 times or so. He asked if he could type it, and was told that was fine. Copying & pasting made quick work of that! :lol:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smrtmama Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 My friend in high school was once sent to the office for having a weapon -- half the broken shaft (with fletching) of an arrow she found ON CAMPUS and brought to class to show everyone, oh how funny what I found on campus! It was determined to NOT be a weapon and a note was placed in her file that said "Kim L. did not have a weapon at school today." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 A Zero-Intelligence Policy strikes again. :lol::lol::lol: You got that right! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pqr Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 I remember going to a government school (PS) in the Northwest, not that long ago, when the boys would bring their shotguns to school so that they could hunt afterwards. In high school almost every pick-up had a gun rack with at least a shotgun hanging on it. For Halloween I dressed up as a tribesman and took a 2 foot fighting knife as part of my costume. No one even blinked, though the teacher did demonstrate its effectiveness by cutting a pumpkin in two. I know that times have changed, but it seems that the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calandalsmom Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Completely insane. Esp the 45 days in reform schoool! I would have a COW if they tried to do that to my innocent little 6 yo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Maybe there'll be a new homeschooler joining the ranks. Just unbelievable. Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Common sense on the part of the school officials = out the window. G'bye. :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Insane. Common sense is nowhere to be seen. I remember when a little boy in Ballard/Seattle Washington took a 1" long GI Joe gun to school (I don't know how GI Joe's work...maybe it was a gun for the action figure to hold) and he was expelled. It was a HUGE stink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 When I was a foster care social worker, one of the kids on my caseload was suspended from school for bringing a weapon to school. The teacher had asked the kids in his (second-grade) class to bring scissors for a project (the school was an inner-city school that didn't keep classroom supplies). The boy had moved into the foster home three days previous and felt uncomfortable asking the foster mom for anything. He found a pair of broken scissors in a toy box and took them to school. The school concluded that, since the scissors were broken and couldn't perform their intended function, they were a weapon. I went to the principal to discuss this, and he told me, "Well, he broke the zero-tolerance rule, and besides, you never know what those foster kids are like." :blink: :eek: I hope this mom continues to homeschool her child, regardless of whether the punishment can be overturned. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 So... it was a spork with a serrated side, right? For pity's sake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Let's welcome his parents to The Boards.:D Unbelievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowperch Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 The Times article mentions that the third grader who brought the knife to cut her birthday cake was reported to the principal after the teacher used the knife to serve the cake to the class. Crazy people. I love the NYTimes, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna T. Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 My husband and I were discussing a similiar incident just last week. He has a friend whose 7 year old son took a small pocket knife to school. The child had been looking at it the night before and had left it on the couch before going to bed. In the morning, the father told the son to get the knife and put it in his room before he lost it. At practically the same time his mother was rushing him out the door to leave. The child put it into his pocket rather than taking it upstairs to his bedroom. When the father arrived at the school to speak to the principle after being called to come and pick the child up for violating the zero tolerance policy, there were two armed police officers in the office waiting to speak to the child and the father!! I don't know the outcome other than that the child was suspended in addition to being scared to death. 7 years old!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakia Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 How stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 :lol::lol::lol: You got that right! Bill Oh no!! I've been reading this thread, not really believing it was a true story, waiting for Bill or someone else to come on and tell us that the story was only half-true and that it was one of Fox New's over-blown red herrings again.... ...but if BILL is on here expressing outrage then it must be true!!! EGADS! I'm outraged as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Oh no!! I've been reading this thread, not really believing it was a true story, waiting for Bill or someone else to come on and tell us that the story was only half-true and that it was one of Fox New's over-blown red herrings again.... ...but if BILL is on here expressing outrage then it must be true!!! EGADS! I'm outraged as well! :lol::lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 My 7 yo was suspended in first grade because he punched a kid. Zero tolerance on violence. It didn't matter that the reason he punched him is because the kid was holding him against a brick wall, repeatedly slamming my son's head into it. When dh and I asked the principal what our ds should have done, we were told he should have gone and gotten an adult. He didn't clarify how exactly he should have done that, being held against a wall. Zero-intelligence indeed! I like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatMomof3 Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Oh, dear - when will the middle school kick out my dd - she has a brown belt in martial arts - are her hands and feet weapons, now??;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leanna Tomlinson Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 This little boy was just interviewed on The Today Show this morning. When asked by Meredith if he was afraid to go back to school, he replied, "No, I'm not afraid, but I REALLY LOVE HOMESCHOOLING." :lol: Meredith ignored that part of his answer.;) Leanna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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