Stop the world. It's just too stupid!

[Diesel Grinch]

You have to read it to believe it.

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

DG

[chefchris]

ha, that's where my dad lives.

[bigwhiteash]

I think the world is going to shit. Not everything can be viewed in black and white. Because a girl has a utensile to eat with, she's labled as a Columbine Kid?

There should be some sort of discipline, especially if there is a well published school policy against such "weapons", which I'm sure there is, but a criminal act this is not.

Next they will require all food to be pre-chewed. I'm sure I could do some serious damage with a Spork

[The Korean]

Two Words:

Common Sense

[bigwhiteash]

Two Words:

Common Sense

The world being what it has become, I think those two words should be "UNcommon Sense"

[OLBG464]

They arrested her, it's crazy.

[cigar no baka]

Poor cops. They were probably put between a rock and a hard place. If they didn't do something, they get smeared and defamed too. They were most likely being ridden hard by the school administrators who insisted their asinine Zero Tolerance policy be enforced to the fullest extent of the law.

Zero Tolerance policies are for cowards who don't want to make decisions. They can blame the policy.

[heftysmokes]

Ya, it's pretty screwed up.................that some 10 year old is eating better than me! Steak for lunch??? What happened to a good ol' PB&J???

Seriously though: who wins in this situation? The cops look bad for arresting this girl, the school looks bad for calling the cops, the kid is scarred forever for being cuffed and stuffed at age 10, the parents are probably ready to burn down the school and the police station and have already planned the lawsuit.

What happened to somebody using their head and just taking the knife from the kid, then calling the parents and letting them know about the rules in place at school? Is this so difficult to figure out?

[Shelby07]

I don't think you need to have a genius IQ in this day and age to realize that you don't send your kid to school with a steak knife. Right or wrong, the kids parents are idiots. Too bad the kid got caught in the middle.

[The Korean]

I don't think you need to have a genius IQ in this day and age to realize that you don't send your kid to school with a steak knife. Right or wrong, the kids parents are idiots. Too bad the kid got caught in the middle.

You are absolutely correct, this was being talked about on my drive home. People were fighting saying the parents should have just cut the steak before they packed the lunch. What scares me is people were calling in giving the girls parents an excuse, saying "nobody knows what went on that morning, maybe they had to finish homework, cook breakfast, pack lunch, there might not have been enough time".

Some might disagree, but shouldn't homework be done the night before, there is an new invention called "Pop Tarts", unless the steak was the size of the whole cow, it couldn't have taken more than 1 minute to cut the steak. This sort of pisses me off, I get up 2.5 hours before I leave the house each morning, I have to walk the dog, help the wife with getting the kids ready, make sure everyone is dressed and presentable for school. However, I knew I was going to have to do this, it's called responsibilty. I by no means am a saint, or perfect, but F--k people, stop making excuses.

[chefchris]

This sort of pisses me off, I get up 2.5 hours before I leave the house each morning, I have to walk the dog, help the wife with getting the kids ready, make sure everyone is dressed and presentable for school. However, I knew I was going to have to do this, it's called responsibilty. I by no means am a saint, or perfect, but F--k people, stop making excuses.

Work starts at 8:30 ... Set alarm for 8:10.



Ah, responsibilites.

[The Korean]

Work starts at 8:30 ... Set alarm for 8:10.



Ah, responsibilites.

[Smoked!]

Poor cops. They were probably put between a rock and a hard place. If they didn't do something, they get smeared and defamed too. They were most likely being ridden hard by the school administrators who insisted their asinine Zero Tolerance policy be enforced to the fullest extent of the law.

Zero Tolerance policies are for cowards who don't want to make decisions. They can blame the policy.

CNB, I'm not picking on your post, but your comments raise an interesting point. Florida employs School Resource Officers (SRO's) on most campuses. You would be amazed at the number of incidents that are "solved" on the scene in order to avoid making a formal report. School Principals are now some cross-breed of a middle manager and a politician. That's one ugly duck. Is this particular arrest the intent of the Zero Tolerance policy? I don't think so.

I am aware of incidents ranging from teacher assaults to drug possession that have gone unreported and effectively unpunished. The incident detailed in the subject report seems to be an overreaction and an unintended consequence of the policy. Clearly the steak knife was not intended to be a "weapon." I submit as supporting evidence a half eaten rib-eye included in the child's lunch-box. I have it on good authority that the steak in question was medium rare.

Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that the school was "wrong" to take some kind of action. I do, however, question the severity of the action taken. I agree with Shelby when he said that it makes no sense in this day and age to send your child off to school with a knife in her lunch-box. That's a fair statement. I would temper that by reminding that we are talking about a school located in Ocala. In some communities around here, people still wear a Buck Knife on their belt when they attend Church every Sunday... which they drive to in their 4x4's... complete with gun rack. I'm just sayin'.

[bigwhiteash]

We'll see what the NCA has to say about this (National Cutlery Association).

This violates our civil right to "Keep and Bear Eating Utensiles"

Seriously, during hunting season, I have a knife on my belt almost constantly, and a 12 guage behind the seat of my truck. would I send my kid to school with a steak knife? HELL NO! Would I be pissed if a steak knife was used as a weapon at said school? HELL YES!
As a principal, would I have called police in this incident, with a child casually eating lunch? Probably not. A PENCIL can be just as deadly as a knife!

In most all cases of school violence, someone had seen or heard something that was not quite right, the "I'm gonna blow up the school" or "I'll kill you for that". These signs can no longer be taken lightly. In every case, the parent is ultimately responsible for the actions of their child.

[597]

Don't you love zero tolerance on "crimes", clearly she could have stabbed everyone at school if she wanted to, then we would have to start banning knives. I am sure some jackass is working on the legislation right now. Plus doesn't everyone realize that if we don't prosecute this poor child who innocently brought a knife to school the terrorists have won.

[The Korean]

baseball and softball bats are used more as weapons than knives. there goes the sports program.

[BunkyX]

It's just another sign of what this country is coming to. Anybody that listens to the news can hear it coming, I don't claim to be a conspiracy theorist but...
I carry a knife with me all of the time, most of the people I know carry one too. I have heard more than once "got your knife on you?" answered with the reply, "Got my pants on don't I?" To a dying breed of us a knife is a tool, nothing more. Yet to our changing society of Timid Sheep, a knife is considered a weapon, period. Did I mention we are becoming a society of Timid Sheep afaid of our own shadows?
The fact that the young lady was mature enough to use the knife properly to eat with says alot more than the bunch of adults that went into a panic over it. To me it;s just another case of paranoid stupidity, and yes it could have been handled a lot more discretely.

[spiffykyle]

I keep my knife in my pocket all the time as well, and I probably use it for uses other than cutting just as much as I use the blade. Most tools can be turned into a weapon if so desired.

Today's society demands accountability and no one is willing to take it on for fear of repercussion. This is definitely one of those situations where an administrator could have taken the knife away, called the parents, and the problem is solved. However school district regulations demand the extreme action taken to absolve themselves from all accountability, the ever present "its out of my hands" defense. I agree the parents are somewhat to blame, however the girl could have just got the knife without them knowing. She probably wasn't trying to sneak it in either, just getting something to eat her lunch with. I doubt she thought any more about it other than "Hmmmm, I need something to cut my steak with. I used this last night so I know it works."

Gross overreaction makes me sick to my stomach, especially when its thrust onto a child like this.

<deep breath>

OK, I'm good now.

spiffy

[cigar no baka]

CNB, I'm not picking on your post, but your comments raise an interesting point. Florida employs School Resource Officers (SRO's) on most campuses. You would be amazed at the number of incidents that are "solved" on the scene in order to avoid making a formal report. School Principals are now some cross-breed of a middle manager and a politician. That's one ugly duck. Is this particular arrest the intent of the Zero Tolerance policy? I don't think so.

I am aware of incidents ranging from teacher assaults to drug possession that have gone unreported and effectively unpunished. The incident detailed in the subject report seems to be an overreaction and an unintended consequence of the policy. Clearly the steak knife was not intended to be a "weapon." I submit as supporting evidence a half eaten rib-eye included in the child's lunch-box. I have it on good authority that the steak in question was medium rare.

Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that the school was "wrong" to take some kind of action. I do, however, question the severity of the action taken. I agree with Shelby when he said that it makes no sense in this day and age to send your child off to school with a knife in her lunch-box. That's a fair statement. I would temper that by reminding that we are talking about a school located in Ocala. In some communities around here, people still wear a Buck Knife on their belt when they attend Church every Sunday... which they drive to in their 4x4's... complete with gun rack. I'm just sayin'.

I agree it is not a smart move to send your kid to school with a steak knife. But does the punishment fit the crime? I think not, zero tolerance is stupidity, plain and simple. It is for cowardly people who don't want to make a decision and stand by it. That way they can just blather that the policy dicatated their actions. Of course, the bigger issue at hand is "discrimination" charges the school would face it they did use their own judgement.

Someone whose kid did get expelled and arrested woudl get them a lawyer, who would proceed to pull records to prove a pattern of discrimination. After painting a pretty picture for a jury, the school district caves, pays out a huge settlement, and then their own higher ups or their insurance company then forces them to avoid this in future by adopting....drum roll please.... a zero tolerance policy.

So the bigger issue at hand is that we are constantly being forced into a siege mentality by lawsuits and the threat or even implied threat of lawsuits. It's turning our society into a small-minded, stupid entity.