Funny thing happened!

Dave Costin

Dave Costin

Joined
Oct 14, 2000
Messages
466
My 5 yr old son always watches me close anytime I have my knife out and is always asking if he can hold it. I won't let him because it's too sharp. Well I found a cheap 2" brass bolstered "Bear Cat" lock back in a drawer. I have no idea where I got it but it was badly tarnished. I polished it and took the blade to a belt sander and dulled the blade and point. Probably wouldn't cut butter now. I gave it to my son and he was extremely happy. The rule however is that he is not allowed to open the blade unless me and only me is with him and he must ask first. Actually he is not to put it in his pocket unless he askes first also.

About a week later I got a call from school and had to go pick up his knife at the principal's office! He took his knife to Kindergarden! I couldn't believe it. You can bet he got in big trouble when he got home. The good thing is he did not take it out of his pocket. He was telling friends about it but said he couldn't take it out because his dad had to be there. The teacher overheard him and asked him for it. I guess he was reluctant to give it to her because he also told her he couldn't take it out without his dad being present!

That boy loves knives. He will sit and look at a Blade magazine and as he turns pages he's always going "WWOOOWWW daddy look at this one"! I have no idea why he likes knives! Ha Dave
 
Hehe, sounds like your son will be a certified knife knut in a few years.

I remember in Kindergarten once, a friend of mine brought in his dad's Buck 110. (Didn't know that at the time but upon reflection I believe that's what it was.)

He took it out at snack time and showed it to us all. We thought it was really cool. Then we went and told the teacher.
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Anyway, that was just long enough ago that the schools weren't so damned uptight about knives. So I think he got it back at the end of the day.
 
Yea, actually I think he already is a knife nut!

You are right about schools being uptight and lucky reference to no charges ect. I got a note from his teacher the other day saying he is being "too friendly" with the girls. Wants to sit too close, hold hands ect. At least I don't have to worry about one thing right?!!! My wife says "he's just like is father".
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Dave
 
You're lucky he wasn't expelled. Carrying nail clippers can get a kid thrown out now. It has already happened in our litigious post-Columbine world.

Those "zero tolerance" policies are designed so that school administrators don't have to make a decision (and therefore be held legally liable for it) as to whether expulsion is warranted or not. If it has an edge, you're out. Period. No discussion.

I thought grade school was bad when I was there. And I carried a penknife and aspirin. It's even worse now. I'd be dragged out in leg-irons.
 
As an eight-year-old Cub Scout, I used to wear my uniform to school on Den nights. In those days, your knife was clipped to a nickel plated carbiner clip dangling from your belt. In high school, cuban heeled shoes and stiletto knives (or was it stiletto heels and Cuban knives, I forget...) were almost a mandatory dress code. However, we had no shootings, no drug overdoses, no wanton pregnancies, and we all could read. You could also insult your best friend and punch him on hte shoulder without being accised of a hate crime and wind up in an anger management program. What happened while I was asleep?--OKG
 
As Al Gore is fond of saying - you ain't seen nothing yet!!!!!! If he gets in - imagine what our world will be in fours years....I shudder to think.
 
It sounds to me like you have a very fine boy. I suspect that he realizes that he made a mistake. Be firm, but go easy.



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
When I was in third grade, I brought a knife to school in a coat pocket. i told my teacher and she said to leave it there and I wouldn't get in any trouble. Last year, just before I graduated from high school, my metal shop instructor asked if I had a pocket knife on me because he needed to use it, I told him no because if I did i'd be expelled, he had no idea. I lated carried a utilikey to school every day after I got it and not once did I kill anyone
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"Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today"
-- James Dean

-Jesse Foust
 
You guys are so right about how the school system is today, ESPECIALLY since Columbine! You should hear my 85 yr old grandmother!!! She can't understand any of this. And Gollnick (sp?) you are absolutely right, I am lucky and do have a very good kid. I am rather firm but am very proud to say that at 5 yrs old I have still never had to spank him yet. Boy do I dread that day!!! Dave
 
When I was in the second grade (195?), I used to hand over my belt knife to my teacher when I got to school and pick it up when I went home. She didn't like it, but she put up with it for awhile before she asked my parents to make sure I left it home.

Man how times have changed.

And IMHO, a tremendous amount of the liberal BS we are having to deal with today comes directly from the teaching profession and American educational system.

This is not to say that there aren't a small number of teachers out there I would consider of sound mind. They're just an extreme minority.

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All you need is love... a sharp blade and a full clip
 
It's getting pretty bad. Just a couple years ago, a student was allowed to carry a knife with a blade of 3" long or shorter. I carried a Gerber EZ-Out everyday at school, most of the time with the clip visible. I would clean my nails in class, and when I needed to trim a piece of paper or do other cutting for academic work, I would pull my knife out and start doing what I needed to do without any teacher harrassment. Once, the orchestra had a stringed instrument with a string that wouldn't stay in the notch. Guess who they called over to cut into the notch and make it bigger (so the string would stay in). The teacher didn't mind at all when I presented my half-serrated EZ-Out.

Fast forward two years. One day I openly carried a Imperial/Schrade 3" bladed sheath knife on my belt. I was asked immediately why I was carrying a knife and was told to place it in the office. I was told that I should always leave my knife in the office when I enter the school and they would return it at the end of the day or give it to me when I needed to use it. I left my EZ-Out at the office, and then we needed it for work in art class, and the principal had to walk me upstairs while holding the knife for me until we got to the destination. Treated me like a convicted felon and wouldn't even let me carry my own knife to the art room even after I explained I needed to do some cutting work! Absurd! I carried a knife for the past 2 years and the only time I ever cut somebody was when I slipped and cut myself accidentally. Only once! I picked up a small 1" exacto type knife for carving from my PO box that Mr. Rosvall mailed me, and deposited it in the office like I was told to do with any blade. I picked it up later that day, but they wouldn't give it to me without making me talk to the principal about why I had a knife. I told him I wanted my carving tools back, and he asked me, "And what do we usually call a carving tool like this one?"

I said, "an exacto knife?"... and he immediately said, "Aha! A KNIFE! Don't bring these things into school." Oh well, at least he didn't put up a real big fuss and gave me my carving tools back after that. I wonder how I can be trusted with deadly 8" long stabbing implements (pencils) if I can't even be trusted to have a 1" carving knife with duct tape wrapped around the blade several times (so it won't cut).

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Chang and the Rebels of the East
(Southern Taiwan Shall Rise Again!)
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You guys are absolutely right. 99.9% of the teachers in my school or that I have met have been idiots. I work on a farm pretty much year round and I train horses for other people. I've been doing things like that for a long time now and manage it all on my own. So I'd say I have a pretty good idea of what the "real world" is like. But what the teachers are making me do to prepare me for the "real world" Is pretty much bull****. Is it really necessary for them to require that I take creative writing when I know that A, I'm not going to go anywhere near a profession thats based on writing and B, the style of writing they teach is just flowery bull**** that never gets the point across, and no one wants to read.
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They require all kinds of classes and credits like that and none of them really do you much good.
And their weapons policy makes me sick. Their definition of a knifes is: "A knife is but is not limited to blade attached to a handle." Keeps going but I can't remember it all. If you get caught with a knife you get expelled, no questions asked unless the superintendant decides to be leniant. But your allowed to bring rockets and missiles to school provided the propellant charge is less thatn 4 ounces Does that really make much sense? I could start a hell of a fire in the school with 4 ounces of gun powder.Thers lots of flammable stuff there already, all you need is something to ecelerate the fire as its starting so its out of control before they get to it. Or it would probabyl be enough to make a small pipe bomb too. But thats ok provided I call it a rocket.
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Be glad your son didn't get expelled. Its to bad you have to punish him for it. Hopefully that won't effect his interest in knives. Sounds like he tried pretty hard to folow your rules after one small mistake.

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It'll feel better when it stops hurting.
 
It's a shame the way the world is going in regards to political correctness.

I sure hope that the teachers involved can see this situation for what it really is.

Just a normal 5 yr. old doing what normal 5 yr.olds do...Getting In Trouble.
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It seems to me that you have a great son who loves to share your interest in knives with you. A knifenut in the making!! You must be so proud.
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--The Raptor--


 
It is not the teachers who are to blame it's the laws that have changed. The laws make a teacher legally liable if they know a student has a knife at school and does nothing about it. I have been teaching in an elementary school for 15 years and in that time I have also seen our children change too. There are a very small number of students who I believe would not think twice about using a knife on a classmate if they were angry at them. There are many kids from single parent homes, they do not have the guidance of responsible adults teaching them what they should already know about many things. Often times it is their grandparents who are raising them. Their knowledge of how to relate to each other comes from tv, movies, street corners, older dysfunctional kids, etc. Schools are not like Leave it to Beaver or Mayberry anymore.
 
Swampgator,

The system should get blamed. Yes, there are some irresponsible parents raising problem kids. But, the system is responsible for putting these kids in with the general population and for failing to get these people the attention they deserve and need.

Growing up is all about taking on and being entrusted with ever higher level's of responsibility. Little things like knives, etc. are symbolic of that trust.

If the schools are unsafe then get with the program. Sort out the kids that are being raised like savage animals and send them to a highly disciplined military acadamy to instill what they need. As for the rest of the kids - LET THEM GROW UP. I want a county full of responsible adults, not dependent drones.

****Rant mode off****

Swampgator, I hope you understand that none of this is personally directed at you.

The more I see of our current educational system the more disgusted I get.
 
Eventually someone will realize that we are getting too PC for our own good and it will be un-PC to be PC.
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[This message has been edited by Nimrod (edited 11-04-2000).]
 
Dave,

Now, that the BP is back to normal, I just wanted to say that it sounds like you have a great kid there.

Have fun.

N2S
 
No offense taken. Public schools are for everyone. Even problem kids. Everyone is entitled to due process under the law. Our school district has set up a special school for these kids. In order to get the kids who are a true problem there you have to go through several steps. Basically, the problem has to have existed for some time, school systems have to develop a behavior contract with the parent and student which specifies what the behavior is that needs to be changed and the concequences of continued problems. Even if you get the kids to those schools they have a limited stay there- 45 days maximum. Throughout the process the parents have due process rights to challenge this. Just like prisons don't change behaviors these schools don't change behaviors either. Many problem children have serious things wrong with them-crack babies, fetal alcohol syndrome, etc. Also modern medical advances have enabled many children born with serious problems to survive birth. Who pays the bill for setting up special schools for problem children? I know in our district people are tired of paying taxes for schools that don't seem to have the answer for these problems. Massive monies need to be spent on the elementary level in councilling not only the children but the parents too. I love knives and all things sharp. Please don't take offense. Kids should come to school learn. That is the enviromnemt that should be there. Whether a child can carry a knife to school or not in not what school is about. It is about a safe learning environment. We cannot just kick out the crazies immediately. That is the system. I would prefer to keep them unarmed and the innocent children unharmed. Thanks.
 
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