School Safety and the Suspended 6-Year-Old
I was appalled beyond belief when I first heard of the punishment this innocent little Cub Scout received for bringing his camp silverware to school ["The Saga of the Suspended 6-Year-Old," usnews.com]. I am encouraged that his punishment was reduced. Please do not let fear make this country into one that is not free, such as communist or socialist nations where people have to hide even their religious beliefs. I am retirement age now and as I look back over the years to my childhood, I realize that this is not the same country I was born in. Let's use compassion and common sense in our schools when dealing with very young, innocent children. Remember, they are the ones who will take over when we are no longer here.
Comment by Carole L. Seneker of MO
So the kid is an "A" student. That is not the big picture as he is not the only kid at a school. Just how would the story be told if another student had tried to take the knife away from him to look at it and the boy resisted. In the scuffle, a third student had been accidentally injured. Then who would all these parents be screaming at then? The school still? The kid may have had no ill intent and that is truly good and well. However, can the same be said for every kid at the school? If you have kids, how often are things taken or lost from them while they are at school? Now imagine you are told that your kid was injured at school because another student had brought a utility knife with fork and spoon to eat. But he managed to have it taken or stolen from him by another student. Aren't you going to be just as mad at the student that brought this item to the school as the kid who injured yours?
Comment by Mark of TX
I can see both sides to this argument. On one side, it's clear the child meant no harm and was just excited about his new toy from Cub Scouts. On the other side, the school has to watch out for itself because it could be blamed if anything bad did happen. I don't really think you can apply the "no tolerance" policy to kids this age. It would be best to judge these things on a case-by-case basis and make sure the punishment fits the crime. In this case, they did the right thing by letting the boy go back to school instead of sending him to a reform school.
Comment by Keri of IL
These incidences should be considered as individual cases for young school children. A zero-tolerance discipline policy can backfire on schools when cases are as innocent as this one was with Zachary. A minor suspension is reasonable to set a precedent and teach both the child and his peers that no weapons of any kind are allowed on school premises. However, any excessive punishment beyond that from a school district is too harsh and unnecessary for an incident that is unintentional and innocent.
Comment by Melissa K of ME
I was appalled that Zachary was being considered a dangerous person because he had a Boy Scout knife in school. I certainly don't think there was anything wrong with asking him to turn it in to his superiors, and he would take it home when school was dismissed. I am a very conservative-minded person, and I do believe in discipline. Since this is the first time that Zachary was disciplined for something he had no idea was "against the rules," I firmly believe we should get on with it, and I'm very sure that Zachary has learned a lesson he shall never forget.
Comment by Beulah Erwin of KY
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Reader Comments
The Real Danger
The fact that this child took his cub scout utensils to school does not mean that his parents haven't taught him to obey rules. This child in his mind was bringing his cub scout utensils to school, not a knife/weapon. He innocently used poor judgment. The teacher certainly did the right thing in taking it away. However, the boy should have been rebuked and instructed along with his parents that he had violated a rule. Let's not assume that the parents did not train him or give him a consequence for what he did. To suspend the child from school and give him a 45 day sentence in a detention/reform school is outrageous. Unfortunately, we don't see bullys and brats being suspended or put in detention centers. These are the kids who grow up to be the criminals in our society.
I speak from personal experience here. We had some neighbor children dragging and scratching one of my sons. My other son who was standing about 20 feet away, pulled out his small swiss army knife and said "leave my brother alone". He then put the knife back into his pocket. He had no evil intention whatsoever. The evil intentions were from the children who were bullying. The result of this is that one family in the neighborhood no longer will let their children play with my children. These parents even went so far as to say that my son threatened the life of another child. What an exxageration. The irony is that this family was not even involved in the incident. My children have never treated their children or any other children badly. They are very well liked by everyone in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, some people love to overreact and exxagerate. The fact of the matter is that the children who were dragging and scratching are the ones that had evil intentions. As a matter of fact a few months later, one of those children intentionally threw a pool toy at my son's face at another neighbor's house and split his lip open. Again, it is children like this that we need to watch out for.
Suspension
The Zero tolerance policy is truly a policy of indecision. It is a policy designed to shield administrators from having to make hard decisions, the very thing they are paid to do! I am disgusted with school administrators and any Board of Education that hides behind such a policy. Administrators and teachers are paid to help teach children how to think critically in an ever changing world. What does a no tolerance policy teach them? It teaches them that weak-willed decision making is acceptable. Shame on the school administrator and the School Board for resorting to such tactics!
knives at school
The parents who rushed to the media with this story should have been teaching him to obey the rules. What they taught him is that he can break any law and get away with it because they will be there to make a front page story out of their bad parenting. It's the parents job to make sure their child does not carry knives to school. When they didn't to this, they should have respected the school decision and taught their son that he must obey the rules like everyone else. The media, by covering this, has shown the parents that they don't have to follow the law either.
If parents would take some responsibility rather than blame the school for enforcing necessary rules, we might have fewer kids grow up to be felons.
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