Eagle Scout suspended for 2 in. pocketknife
 

The Associated Press: NY Eagle Scout suspended for keeping knife in car

I have carried a pocket knife most of the time since I was in high school, but I never carried one to school (high school, anyway; I carried one when I was in college). I almost feel naked without one; nearly every day I have an occasion to use it, and some days it gets a lot of use. I know that many things have changed in the twenty years since I graduated high school, but a twenty day suspension? Are we going too far in our efforts to protect children, or are we better off erring on the side of caution? And even if this suspension is an over-reaction, does it absolve Whalen of his responsibility in regards to breaking school policy?

I think they've gone too far. The crow bar in the trunk of my car is probably more dangerous than a 2" pocket-knife. Over-zealous are we?

Mods,

This belongs in politics. The Weaponry Forum is where we talk of weapons, not pathetic bullshit.

Sad day in America when "no tolerance" means no brains. Did you see how many badges that dude had? I bet he knows more first aid and CPR than any of the faculty. He will go somewhere in life where he is not surrounded by useful idiots.

any time adherence to a policy eliminates common sense, it only causes an erosion of respect for the people in charge- all this has taught the student, and the community, is that their school officials are morons unworthy of any respect.......

I carried 2 pocket knives all through secondary school - I had a swiss army six bladed knife that I used regularly to open my walkman and fix it, and a 3" opinel clasp knife that I used to cut food. Both were kept very sharp (otherwise why have them) and used safely.

Teachers knew, and used to borrow them!

I fear for modern children.

In my day, one of the favourite recess pastimes was sitting on the wooden benches in the bleachers playing games with pocketknives. And "injuries", in the form of nicks and tiny cuts were the norm.

Hate to rant (i.e. actually love to), but this is all part of the complete emasculation of society over the last 60 years. We live in a society that is by almost all objective measures safer than at any point in history, and we live in constant fear. We no longer have the option of taking care of our own problems, we have to let the government grind excruciatingly slowly to an inconclusive finale.

Heaven help us if we step over any of the hundreds of lines now drawn in the sand... a 6-yo boy hugs a female classmate - SEX OFFENDER!! A kid brings a multi-tool to show & tell - SUSPENSION!! A highschool kid gives a friend with a headache a Tylenol - DRUG DEALER!!

The first casualty to political correctness was common sense.

A sad result of the nanny state we live in :(

Responsibility and freedom are no longer virtues we are allowed to live by.

Easy now. The sky isn't falling.

This is a trifling matter compared to what you're referring to. I think bringing sharp objects other than pens and pencils to school is generally a bad idea. Unfortunately, it's easier to uphold a zero-tolerance policy than it is to have a number of trivial rules.

zero tolerance policies never work, but they're an inevitable result of litigation-happy parents and ineffectual school administrators

Litigation-happy? Debatable. Over-protective? Definitely.

Ineffectual? Unarguable.

Zero tolerance policies are moronic. They only succeed in making those imposing the policies look stupid.

It's equal parts laziness and ass-covering; every case like this should be judged on its own merits, but that would require work on the school's part. On the other hand, every parent thinks their kid is the exception to the rules, so schools have said "fuck it, everything is being treated the same."

All that said, if there are explicit rules prohibiting bringing knives to school, the kid doesn't have much of a defense

Well, he didn't really bring it to SCHOOL. It was in his locked car in the parking lot. It's not like he was walking the halls with a machette.

When I was in Highschool in the late 90's I used to keep a shotgun in my car. I would go hunting almost daily after school in the fall. I told the principle about it to make sure it was cool, and he said it was but not to broadcast it to the other students. Alot has changed in the 10 years since I've been out of HS, it's pretty sad.

If you had a political bumper sticker on your car, they'd probably call it terrorism today.

Just to be fair, I didn't go to a puclic school. It was a private catholic school(I'm no longer religious by the way) Not sure if that would make any difference in policy.

Then if you had a conservative political bumper sticker you'd be a patriot :thumbsup: sorry I had to!

I think this is a ridiculous example of zero tolerance. I cant believe schools have become this ridiculous in the past 7 years. :(

Obviously, zero-tolerance policies allow administrators to be intellectually lazy in performing their duties and they prefer it that way.

As an aside and in spite of the zero-tolerance policy in the district which prevents these sorts of acts: A Conway S.C. student was shot by a police officer today when he brought a knife to school and stabbed said police officer.

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Does anyone know how it was discovered that he kept the pocket knife in his car? Did someone have a grudge? Did the owner carelessly brandish it in the parking lot (i.e. playing around)? Is this a symptom of a darker aspect of politically correct policies by encouraging an informant culture? Was this simply a fellow student obeying their no tolerance programming? What characteristics of vigilance are encouraged in the "observe and report" education process? There's always the do-gooders and tattler's in society, but kids often want to please authority figures. Are students taught to be over-zealous as the "eyes" of the community? The no-tolerence policies may have good intentions behind them, but has more harm been done in the long run? Is this scenario playing out in other PC driven initiatives. I don't like the term, but "nanny-state" does seem appropriate in this case.

As many on here know I used to work parole and probation. For years my entire caseload was 25 and under. I got a call from a school admin. one day telling me I had to rush over to the local HS because they found "contraband" on one of my probationers. I drive over to the school, blowing off a court hearing, to find the contraband was some midol. After an hour and half meeting it was decided she should be suspended for three weeks because midol is not only contraband but also, gasp!, a drug. I argued and argued to no avail "She's on her period, she's having cramps, this medication is OTC and has no value other then it's intended use... YOU PEOPLE ARE ACTING CRAZY!"

Never underestimate the mind numbing stupidity of a room full of administrators. Some of these "zero tolerance" policies should really be relabeled "zero intelligence."

Don't you people get it? Haven't you been exposed to enough Media Truth to put 2 and 2 together here?

Dangerous items such as guns, knives, pencils and Midol have minds of their own and will kill cute Baby Gap-clad infants if not properly segregated from Proper White Society.