Girl, 10, arrested for using knife to cut food at school

[Little-Acorn]

Looks like the liberal campaign to terrify people at the mere thought of ANY "weapon", is bearing fruit.

Last year, there was an article about two five-year-olds who were thrown out of kindergarten for forming their fingers into little guns and saying "Bang, you're dead" to each other at recess.

Now this. In Floriduh, unsurprisingly.

Not sure which is more disgusting.

------------------------------------------------------

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317202,00.html

Girl, 10, Arrested for Using Knife to Cut Food at School
Monday, December 17, 2007

A 10-year-old Florida girl faces felony weapons charges after bringing a small steak knife to school to cut up her lunch, according to a report on WFTV.com.

School officials say the Ocala 5th grader had brought a piece of steak for her lunch, and had brought a steak knife. According to the report, a couple of teachers took the utensil and called authorities, who arrested the girl and took her to the county’s juvenile assessment center.

"She did not use it inappropriately. She did not threaten anyone with it. She didn't pull it out and brandish it. Nothing of that nature," explained Marion County School Spokesman Kevin Christian, who added that it made no difference what the knife was being used for, they had no choice but to call police.

"Anytime there's a weapon on campus, yes, we have to report it and we aggressively report it because we don't want to take any chances, regardless," Christian said.

The girl now faces a felony charge for possessing a weapon on school property and has been suspended from school for 10 days. The parents of the girl could not be reached for comment, WFTV.com reported.

[Hagbard Celine]

This is f*ckin' ridiculous.

[glockmail]

When I was in HS I took a sword to school. My history teacher had asked me to. Carried it with no sheath right through the halls, stuck it in my locker, brought it to class, then brought it home. No hassle whatsoever.

[gabosaurus]

It is a ridiculous case. But what is the other side of the story?

[glockmail]

It is a ridiculous case. But what is the other side of the story?
The other side is the liberal kooks who consider a steak knife a "weapon".

[manu1959]

The other side is the liberal kooks who consider a steak knife a "weapon".

well oj did do quite a bit of damage with his steak knife.....

[manu1959]

It is a ridiculous case. But what is the other side of the story?

well the little girl was sitting there cutting her steak.............

that must be it she attacked a poor defensless cow....

[glockmail]

well oj did do quite a bit of damage with his steak knife..... So they should lock down the piano?

[manu1959]

So they should lock down the piano?

remember the paino that squished a guy into the ceiling and killed him at carol dodda's strip club in SF....the condor room?

[glockmail]

remember the paino that squished a guy into the ceiling and killed him at carol dodda's strip club in SF....the condor room? Sorry I'm clueless. I was thinking of all that piano wire.

[Hagbard Celine]

The other side is the liberal kooks who consider a steak knife a "weapon".

Hey, before 911 who would've thought of a box cutter as a weapon? :dunno:

[glockmail]

Hey, before 911 who would've thought of a box cutter as a weapon? :dunno: If the pilots had guns, it wouldn't be.

[manu1959]

Hey, before 911 who would've thought of a box cutter as a weapon? :dunno:

i did.....when this new foam building product cam out they built a bank in marin out of it....bank robbers simply cut a hole in the wall.....then there were the soccer hooligans in the 70's that used em in "gang" fights.....

[glockmail]

Hey, before 911 who would've thought of a box cutter as a weapon? :dunno: My son's buddy had his knife taken away, at a boy scout outing. It had a folding blade, as required, but the blade was a box-cutter blade. I think the adult leader was out of line.

[Kathianne]

It is a ridiculous case. But what is the other side of the story?

I believe it's called 'zero tolerance,' which in some areas is being revisited (http://www.google.com/search?q=reconsidering+zero+tolerance+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a).

[Hagbard Celine]

If the pilots had guns, it wouldn't be.

Yeah and a cockpit door that is made of something other than cardboard.

[REDWHITEBLUE2]

IF the knife would of been engraved with support gay pride she would of got a medal :dance:

[manu1959]

Yeah and a cockpit door that is made of something other than cardboard.

nah just arm the pilots....the stewards and 2-3 plain clothes folks.....or we could tax boxcutters and declare airplanes weapons free zones...

[Hagbard Celine]

IF the knife would of been engraved with support gay pride she would of got a medal :dance:

Yeah! She would have wouldn't she have? HAHAHA. Imbecile.

[Hagbard Celine]

nah just arm the pilots....the stewards and 2-3 plain clothes folks.....

That many guns on a plane would be disasterous. There'd be one or two planes per year that went down because some idiot shot a hole in the fuselage accidentally. I'd even go so far as to say they don't need any guns at all on planes. Just make the cockpit inaccessible and nobody unauthorized can ever take control of the plane. Simple.

[manu1959]

That many guns on a plane would be disasterous. There'd be one or two planes per year that went down because some idiot shot a hole in the fuselage accidentally. I'd even go so far as to say they don't need any guns at all on planes. Just make the cockpit inaccessible and nobody unauthorized can ever take control of the plane. Simple.

yes that is what would happen.....all you would have to do is start killing people one at a time and the pilots would open the door....

[glockmail]

That many guns on a plane would be disasterous. There'd be one or two planes per year that went down because some idiot shot a hole in the fuselage accidentally. I'd even go so far as to say they don't need any guns at all on planes. Just make the cockpit inaccessible and nobody unauthorized can ever take control of the plane. Simple.
A bullet hole won't bring down a plane. :lame2:

[Hagbard Celine]

yes that is what would happen.....all you would have to do is start killing people one at a time and the pilots would open the door....

Assuming everyone one the plane is braindead and does nothing to stop their fellow passenger's from being killed, yes. There's no way to sneak anything worse than a blade onto a plane man. A terrorist holding a knife to someone's throat would be tackled by me or any other red-blooded American in a heartbeat.

[Hagbard Celine]

A bullet hole won't bring down a plane. :lame2:

Instant decompression at 30,000 feet? Okay.

[gabosaurus]

Do school rules prohibit bring knives to school? Do the school rules classify any size knife as a weapon?
This is obviously a parental issue. Why would a parent allow a child to bring a knife to school? It could just as easily have been used to stab someone as to cut up meat.

[gabosaurus]

Instant decompression at 30,000 feet? Okay.

PWNED. Again....

[jimnyc]

Instant decompression at 30,000 feet? Okay.


PWNED. Again....

A bullet hole WOULD NOT bring down a plane. I think the hole on this aircraft is "slightly" larger than a bullet hole:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243

[Little-Acorn]

PWNED. Again....

Yep, haggy pwned by Glock. Again. Although actually neither has backed up his statements. In this particular instance, Glock is right and gabby is wrong. Be nice if Glock backed it up - something possible for his position, not possible for gabby's.

[manu1959]

Assuming everyone one the plane is braindead and does nothing to stop their fellow passenger's from being killed, yes. There's no way to sneak anything worse than a blade onto a plane man. A terrorist holding a knife to someone's throat would be tackled by me or any other red-blooded American in a heartbeat.

really...how did two planes hit the wtc and one the pentagone then.....

[Kathianne]

Do school rules prohibit bring knives to school? Do the school rules classify any size knife as a weapon?
This is obviously a parental issue. Why would a parent allow a child to bring a knife to school? It could just as easily have been used to stab someone as to cut up meat.

http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/zero-tolerance.html


What is zero tolerance? “Zero tolerance” refers to the practice of automatic expulsion of students for violations of school safety rules. Skiba and Peterson (1999) traced the emergence of zero tolerance policies to personnel drug abatement efforts of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Customs Service. The notion of absolute sanctions against drug use in the military became a model for schools that was applied to violence as well as drug use. In recent years, anxious educators have relied increasingly on zero tolerance policies as a simple, albeit draconian, response to student threats of violence that relieved them of the need to exercise judgment and make reasoned decisions in response to student infractions.

In 1994, the Gun-Free Schools Act required that schools expel for one calendar year any student found to be in possession of a firearm at school. Although the law permitted local school districts to modify the expulsion on a case-by-case basis, this provision was frequently overlooked in favor of less flexible policies that mandated automatic expulsion for all infractions. In addition, many schools expanded zero tolerance well beyond the arena of firearms or even lethal weapons. For example, the prohibition of weapons in many school divisions often included toy weapons and objects that appeared to be weapons. In one case, a ten-year-old boy was expelled from elementary school because he brought to school a 1” plastic toy pistol that was an accessory to his G.I. Joe action figure. The boy discovered he had the tiny toy in his pocket when he checked to see if he had his lunch money (Seattle Times, January 8, 1997). Skiba and Peterson (1999) documented numerous cases of excessive punishment, which they referred to as “the dark side of zero tolerance.” Among the examples they cited:

-- A five-year-old in California was expelled after he found a razor blade at his bus stop and carried it to school and gave it to his teacher.

-- A nine-year-old in Ohio was suspended for having a 1” knife in a manicure kit.

-- A twelve-year-old in Rhode Island was suspended for bringing a toy gun to school.

-- A seventeen-year-old in Chicago was arrested and subsequently expelled for shooting a paper clip with a rubber band.

A 2000 report by the Advancement Project and The Civil Rights Project of Harvard University (Opportunities suspended: Devastating consequences of zero tolerance and school discipline) pointed out that zero tolerance policies were originally intended to apply only to serious criminal behavior involving firearms or illegal drugs, but have been extended to cover many more types of behavior and circumstances. “Zero Tolerance has become a philosophy that has permeated our schools; it employs a brutally strict disciplinary model that embraces harsh punishment over education” (p 3). The report raised concern that zero tolerance policies were resulting in high levels of suspension and expulsion of minority students. In 1998, more than 3.1 million students were suspended from school; although African-American children represent 17% of the public school enrollment, they constituted 32% of the out-of-school suspensions.

An article in the American Bar Association Journal (Tebo, 2000) sharply criticized zero tolerance policies as making “zero sense.” Tebo contended that the central problem with zero tolerance policies is that all threats of violence are treated as equally dangerous and deserving of the same consequences. For example, Ohio state law requires every school district to have a zero tolerance policy that makes no exceptions (Tebo, 2000). These kinds of policies provide no latitude for school authorities to consider the seriousness of the threat or degree of risk posed by the student’s behavior. Tebo (2000) described cases in which Ohio schools imposed severe consequences on students whom they recognized did not pose a danger to others, such as a student suspended for displaying a school election poster that contained humorous threatening language in parody of a popular movie. A Pennsylvania court overturned one school’s expulsion of a seventh grade student who inadvertently brought his Swiss Army knife to school, but in almost all cases the courts have been unwilling to interfere with zero tolerance practices in schools (Tebo, 2000). In 2001 the American Bar Association passed a resolution condemning zero tolerance:

“ …the ABA opposes, in principle, "zero tolerance" policies that have a discriminatory effect, or mandate either expulsion or referral of students to juvenile or criminal court, without regard to the circumstances or nature of the offense or the student's history.”

We believe that schools do not need zero tolerance policies that involve automatic suspension or expulsion. Schools can take a zero tolerance stand against weapons, yet recognize that all weapons violations are not the same. Common sense can prevail. Shooting a child with a paper clip is not the same as threatening a child with a knife. If schools implement a threat assessment approach, they can investigate weapons violations and determine whether the student actually posed a threat to others. Accidental violations of school weapons policies should receive different consequences than violations that involve intent to harm someone. See the Student Threat Assessment page for more information about threat assessment as an alternative to zero tolerance.

More examples of extreme zero tolerance cases:

LONGMONT, CO (April, 1999) -- A 10-year-old student was expelled when she turned in the small cutting knife her mother had placed in her lunchbox to cut her apple. (USA TODAY)

ALEXANDRIA, LA -- A second-grader was expelled for bringing her grandfather's gold-plated pocket watch to school because the watch had a tiny knife attached. (USA TODAY)

NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia (October, 1996) -- A kindergartner was suspended for bringing a beeper from home and showing it to classmates during a field trip. (CNN)

FAIRBORN, Ohio (October, 1996) -- A 13-year-old honor student was suspended from school for 10 days for accepting two Midol tablets from a classmate. (CNN)

FORT MYERS, Fla.(May, 2001) -- An 18-year-old senior and National Merit Scholar was suspended and charged with a felony count of possessing a weapon when a kitchen knife was found on the floor of her car while she was in class. (FOX NEWS)

[MtnBiker]

It is a ridiculous case. But what is the other side of the story?

The principle is a PETA member. :D

[glockmail]

Instant decompression at 30,000 feet? Okay. Would never happen.

http://gadgetopia.com/post/2606

[glockmail]

PWNED. Again....


Yep, haggy pwned by Glock. Again. Although actually neither has backed up his statements. In this particular instance, Glock is right and gabby is wrong. Be nice if Glock backed it up - something possible for his position, not possible for gabby's.

The glockstyle is to let the opposition dig themselves a nice big hole, then come back later and bury them in it. :lol: