Public Schools Suck

4th Grader Suspended for Weapon Charges.
Ah now what is this weapon you ask?
Was it a gun? No.
A knife? No.
A club? No.
A Molotov Cocktail? No.
A sword? No.
A chainsaw? Cool, but no.
An ice pick? *sigh* No.
A rabid ferret? Okay, now we're getting desperate.
A trained attack Tyrannosaurus? Ummm ... NO.

It was in fact a ... drumroll please ...





A broken pencil sharpener.

Wait ... a WHAT?!

Ummmm ... yeah, because this is productive use of the cop's time.

They will make an example of you to better create passive sheep in their midst. The individual is not important ... all that is important is that the masses get their dose of indoctrination.

Christ, I hate public schools.

A1, your opinion will change when you have a child in school. 'Nuff said.

BD

Look for Wicked Truth's release "Into You" on iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, Napster, and eMusic.

I was thinking the same thing. My son isn't in school yet, but I can see now how I'd react to hear of a child at his school with a blade like that.

If that were true, I'd still be here.

Boy, I dunno. A pencil sharpener blade as a weapon? Did these assholes go to airport security school? Hell, I remember back in the 50's when the dudes at school carried switchblades - was there any hell raised - NO! Was anyone ever hurt - NO!

"the blade was the metal insert commonly found in a child's small, plastic pencil sharpener"

That's a pretty small blade. I think a pencil would be more dangerous, or have they been outlawed now too?

When I was a kid (loooong time ago), all the boys had pocket knives by the age of 8 or 10. We carried them everywhere -- school, church, you name it. We'd be caught without shoes more often than without a pocket knife.

But we also respected others, and especially authority figures. I can't say nobody in my school ever cut a finger with their knife, but certainly none were used as weapons against others. My wife was an elementary teacher for several years. She was once threatened by a young student with a pocket knife, and he threatened others with it as well. Society has changed, and with that change more rules have to be implemented. Unfortunately, it's the world in which we now live.

I agree Joe...many of the people out there nowadays have no respect for others. Don't think that this story is nothing because all of the really gruesome things have to start somewhere...a murderer or rapist doesn't start life as being one, they usually are good people that try to find out what they can get away with step-by-step.

Although I don't think this should be in a Sheriff's report, but it definitely should be dealt with by both the school and the parents.

I'm confused. Was it just the blade, like he had taken it out of the pencil sharpener and he had just the blade with him, or did the pencil sharpener just break and that happened to be one of the pieces? Big difference between the two.

We shouldn't arm ourself for war, arms are for hugging

Well, I think it depends on what a kid is doing with it. I had a friend in middle school who found a swiss army knife on the ground near our soccer field and, thinking it was the right thing to do, picked it up and brought it directly to a teacher. They suspended him for it because he picked it up, instead of telling a teacher, even though his intent was good.

A kid's motivation needs to taken into consideration. The article says that this 4th grade kid didn't have it because he was attempting to use it as a weapon. It says "The problem was his sharpener had broken, but he decided to use it anyway." It also says "The boy -- a fourth-grader described as a well-behaved and good student -- cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school's assistant principal. He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff's report stated, but was suspended for at least two days and could face further disciplinary action."

The idea that these kids need to stopped at an early age before they become rapists and murderers is ridiculous. This kid was a good kid who just got mixed up about what to do with a broken pencil sharpener. That wasn't going to lead to any kind of downward spiral. It wasn't his fault .The teacher should have just taken it away and told him to be careful because a blade like that could be really dangerous. That's all.

You know, sometimes what screws kids up is subjecting them to over-zealous authoritarians. How much respect is this boy going to have for authority now that his authority figures have proven to have such terrible judgment? What lesson do you think he really learned from this? "Weapons are bad"? No. More like "Teachers and cops are stupid."

I like watching the waves move through your body

Like the article stated, this is another example of a zero tolerance policy at odds with common sense. Even though common sense should be applied in the case of a pencil sharpener blade because it's so small it could barely hurt someone (and let's not forget it's something the student is allowed to have) the zero tolerance policy demands that all blades of all types and sizes be put in the category. Any student found holding any kind of blade is suspended, no exceptions. Even if it's a broken pencil sharpener blade or a pocket knife found on the ground and immediately turned over to the teacher, all instances must be treated the same or the zero tolerance policy is meaningless. Having said that, I don't think they should have suspended the student. A warning should have sufficed. Moreover, if their policy concerning blades is so strict then why even allow student to carry pencil sharpeners (which contain small harmless blades) to school?

I think they need to reevaluate this policy if it demands that students be punished for doing absolutely nothing wrong.

I am a little mixed on this one. I completely understand the policy and why they have to have it in place, as a mother of 5, where 3 of my children are grown, I think back to when my oldest one was in school. The policy wasnt so strict. I can't remember how many male students when I was in school carried knifes and such and were allowed as long as the blade wasn't so many inches long.
I think it is sad that thanks to our society and parents not doing their jobs as parents, it has come to this. Although a pencil the blade found in one of these isnt that big, I feel the school district here is doing the nessacery things they need to,, to make sure all kids are safe. I honestly believe that is the punishment isnt overwhelming but this childs parents are made a wear of it, that is as far as it should go. Honestly kids dont need a pencil sharpener in their backpacks, there are plenty in the class room, and I am sure most responsible parents have one at home for them to use.
A weapon or anything that can be use for one should not be aloud at schools, I would sure like to see parents start being responsible parents again. Dont get me wrong there are alot of us that care and make sure our children have the morals, and upbringing to know the differance between right and wrong and the common sense and standards to make it out in the cruel world alone.
Noone can blame the school here for inforcing a policy that everyone should know. All I can really say is thank society and the parents out there that just dont understand or have the time to teach their children how to be respectful adults. I know it was just a blade from the sharpener but it still can hurt a child.

*Life is too short to regret anything*
Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but Whips and Chains excite me!!

This is neither here nor there, but when I was in college, if I was caught without a knife I would be in trouble. Yes, that's right, without.

I was a horse husbandry major, and the professors stressed the importance of having a sharp blade in case a horse got in trouble with ropes or tack and had to be cut free.

I still have the knife I bought when I was in college. I can't recall using it for anything more than to scrape resin out of a pipe, but I carried the thing every day for years, just in case.

Barbwire a.k.a. Cowboy Lover

I feel sorry for that kid. He sounds like he really didn't do anything but have a broken pencil sharpener. He was a good kid otherwise. You'd think they'd have a little leniency and compassion. Now, I know having blades at school is bad. BUT, I don't think the kid was using it for that.

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

If you're actually worried about a student using a 3/4 inch long blade as a weapon, then you better ban pens and pencils too. Killing someone with a pencil or pen is really quite easy if you want to.

This idea that we have to keep anything that is a "weapon", with weapon being defined in a manner that would make a water bottle, soda can or ... pencil sharpener a weapon, out of schools is patently absurd.

Why be worried over something like this when a student can do more damage with his hands. You can kill someone with three strikes to the face, I wonder how many times you'd have to slash at someone with a pencil sharpener...

You do realize we're talking about one of these right?

Yes, she should have. She is supposed to be a responsible adult, and if she was a good teacher, she would have known that the "good kid", her student, did not intend to slash throats in her classtoom. Teachers are often afraid to use good judgement for fear of being reprimanded or losing their jobs. She should have done exactly what you described.

Weapons are not bad unless they are in the hands of the wrong people, that is, people who fully intend to harm innocent people. This can be interpreted in numerous ways. (Waco - excessive and unneccessary police force; Eve Carson - thugs with guns; Columbine and Virginia Tech - young men with unimaginable minds, and the former the reason for zero tolerance in schools. ) The lesson should have been "You could get hurt playing with a small razor blade." Yes, he learned that teachers and cops are stupid, and that is sad, because all teachers and cops are not stupid, but this incident is sure to color his mind for a long time.



The policies should be reevaluated, and teachers given more latitude to decide if the child with the "weapon" intends to harm others. All this being said, these policies are designed to protect our children, and being a mom I am thankful that there are such policies. I don't want to get that phone call that my daughter was shot to death in the school library, or slashed to death in a restroom. But if I get that call that she is suspended for having a blade from her broken pencil sharpener the school officials will probably have me arrested for the wrath they will experience when I show up! Common sense. That's all the world needs more of! Conversely, where are the policies that prevent the teachers from harming students? Sure, they get in trouble after they have sex with a child, or ask students if they want to vote a child with developmental problems out of the classroom, or use a middle eastern child to demonstrate to students what a terrorist looks like. Adults contribute to what makes our kids want to shoot a whole cafeteria full of kids, whether it be the absent parent, the abusive parent, a molesting priest, a thoughtless teacher. The issue at hand is more complex than public schools suck; the shortcomings of the American educational system is another topic. There is an overall fundamental failure in much of our society to keep kids safe because so many damn adults shirk responsibility for the children they are raising, or scar them psychologically with abuse of authority.

:end rant before I go too far