My knife can change school policy!!!

grownstar · Aug 28, 2014

Ok, the title sounds a little dumb, but I'm just having some fun here with you guys. Anyways, I wanted to share a little story that started yesterday and culminated in a phone call I received from my wife this morning on my way to work.

So, as many of you know, the new school year has begun. I am the proud father of an awesome little 4 year old girl, and she has quickly become my best little pal in the whole world haha. She just came off summer vacation, and as you can imagine adjusting to this new school schedule has proved a bit problematic. I used to let her sleep in till around 9 am, now she has to be in her seat ready for breakfast by 7:30 am. She tears up a little and tells my wife she wants to come home with us. No big deal. There's about 8 other kids bawling their eyes out, hating the fact that they have to go to school. Hell, I can sympathize. I feel that every day I come in to work

So we set up her breakfast, which consists of an orange juice, cereal and a huge apple. Her little mouth can't really chomp into the large fruit, and she asks if I can make it smaller. So being the awesome dad and knife user I am, I quietly take it to the back of the class behind a cabinet and proceed to cut it into more manageable bites with the ZT 0561 I happened to have in my pocket. Bam! Problem solved. She calms down and starts munching, and my wife and I leave for the day.

Well, today my wife calls me and tells me the teacher asked if she knew who cut our kid's apple yesterday morning. She calmly explains that it was too big for our daughter and that her husband cut it. The teacher tells her, "Well, we can't have weapons on campus. They're not allowed." My wife matter-of-factly tells her that she completely understands, but that I carry a tool, not a weapon. And it comes in handy everyday. The teacher then tells her because of our "incident" (teacher's words, not mine), that they had a meeting yesterday afternoon and changed the policy for the entire elementary! Now every fruit will be pre-cut by the time the kids get to class.

Sorry I rambled so much, and if you don't actually read it, no worries. Just thought it was a little funny that my knife altered breakfast policy for the foreseeable future. I always exercise caution when using a knife, and no one even saw me. That's why the teacher asked if my wife knew who cut it. That being said, I'm not as big of an a-hole as I used to be before marriage and fatherhood. I have no problems leaving the knife in the car when I drop my kid off from now on. But the fact of the matter is my little pal wanted her apple cut, and I wasn't about to say no.

Thanks for reading, fellas. Oh and here is a pic of the nasty offender lol (knife courtesy of K. Tupper

):

Scurvy092 · Aug 28, 2014

That sucks. Your thread title is a little misleading. I came in expecting you to have a heroic story that changed the policy for the better.

Krav · Aug 28, 2014

Pre cut fruit, no way. Then it gets brown and taste different. If for some reason I do go to my sons school and forget I have my knife with me, it stays in my pocket. Or I leave it my van or car.

grownstar · Aug 28, 2014

Scurvy092 said:
That sucks. Your thread title is a little misleading. I came in expecting you to have a heroic story that changed the policy for the better.

Haha my apologies for leading you on, Scurv. Wouldn't be the first time I've been accused of leading someone on

Krav said:
Pre cut fruit, no way. Then it gets brown and taste different. If for some reason I do go to my sons school and forget I have my knife with me, it stays in my pocket. Or I leave it my van or car.

Yeah, I feel that! Pre-cut is definitely not the best.

jprime84 · Aug 28, 2014

People are so dumb sometimes. Are there knives in the kitchen?

1Hiker2 · Aug 28, 2014

School policy change, weapon, tool, whatever, the 560 is an excellent slicer and you had the right "tool" for the job sir!

grownstar · Aug 28, 2014

jprime84 said:
People are so dumb sometimes. Are there knives in the kitchen?

It's crazy, prime. I had no idea cutting an apple for my kid would result in a faculty meeting they must have had at the end of the day.

1Hiker2 said:
School policy change, weapon, tool, whatever, the 560 is an excellent slicer and you had the right "tool" for the job sir!

Thank you, buddy! This knife can certainly take whatever I dish out. Even an oversized fruit :thumbup:

MrFixIt · Aug 28, 2014

Public perception can be skewed.
LMAO, a weapon!?

fugglesby · Aug 28, 2014

Great story! Good to hear that common sense prevails every now and then.

Idlewild · Aug 28, 2014

jprime84 said:
People are so dumb sometimes. Are there knives in the kitchen?

I taught in elementary, high school and colleges for years, and there are reasons, based on experience, as to why there are rules for knives and other items within a school setting. School boards have a huge and daunting responsibility to maintain a safe environment for students and staff alike. I'm reminded now of a student teacher that was pushed up against a locker and the young man who was upset with her held a pocket knife to her throat. She quit teaching unfortunately and the student expelled from that school board, permanently.

Yes, there are knives in the school kitchen, and all parents and students are aware that a simple request for help with food during the day is quickly and properly addressed. Under proper supervision, students often have access within the classroom or kitchen to knives etc. I've had a number of students helping me in the kitchen with vegetables for a party, and every child carves their own pumpkin. Every student becomes familiar with scalples during science class and often for art processes. However, allowing students to bring knives to school for any purpose is...foolheardy. Not all young people possess the same amount of maturity, and within any school setting there is always a number of individuals struggling with emotional issues which may flare in unpredictable ways, sometimes with uncontrollable anger.

There must be a zero tolerance for some behaviors and actions within a school setting and the rules which are in place have been developed through experience. Every parent should be thankful that their youngsters are in a safe and caring environment when at school.

pinnah · Aug 28, 2014

MrFixIt said:
Public perception can be skewed.
LMAO, a weapon!?

This is the first line from Zero Tolerance's own web site.

Zero Tolerance Combat Knives, a colaboration between Kai USA, Ken Onion and Strider Knives to bring you a new series of professional-grade combat knives built to survive the harsh, real-world situations that confront you every day.

See: http://www.ztknives.us/

Please get over this. Knives are weapons and have been designed as weapons since the beginning. Schools and other places like that ban them because, surprise, surprise, people use them as weapons there.

Blades&Bullets · Aug 28, 2014

So the school policy regarding knives hasn't changed, just food preparation? That is a little disappointing...

Well, at least your daughter will have her apples prepped for her now. Hopefully they'll do it right before the food is served to them.

Also, is "best little pal in the world" slang for "Daddy's Girl"?

calc · Aug 28, 2014

Idlewild said:
There must be a zero tolerance

That's a mighty loaded term nowadays, though... there are plenty of valid uses (e.g., no firearms), but there are plenty of lazy uses too (e.g., anybody involved in a fight gets punished, even the victim).

grownstar · Aug 28, 2014

Idlewild said:
I taught in elementary, high school and colleges for years, and there are reasons, based on experience, as to why there are rules for knives and other items within a school setting...Every parent should be thankful that their youngsters are in a safe and caring environment when at school.

Yes, I totally get what you're saying and appreciate the feedback. I'm also extremely thankful that my little girl is safe when she's at school :thumbup:

pinnah said:
Please get over this. Knives are weapons and have been designed as weapons since the beginning. Schools and other places like that ban them because, surprise, surprise, people use them as weapons there.

I don't know, pinnah. You should have seen how menacing that apple looked!

I should have had my Opinel No. 8 on me, huh? It's on kitchen duty right now.

Blades&Bullets said:
Also, is "best little pal in the world" slang for "Daddy's Girl"?

Haha you know it! How can you not love this little face??

CubeLW · Aug 28, 2014

pinnah said:
This is the first line from Zero Tolerance's own web site.

See: http://www.ztknives.us/

Please get over this. Knives are weapons and have been designed as weapons since the beginning. Schools and other places like that ban them because, surprise, surprise, people use them as weapons there.

*Looks at location* Ah, england. Makes sense.

draggat · Aug 28, 2014

Idlewild said:
There must be a zero tolerance

Luckily there was.... a 0561 to be exact!

pinnah · Aug 28, 2014

grownstar said:
I don't know, pinnah. You should have seen how menacing that apple looked! I should have had my Opinel No. 8 on me, huh? It's on kitchen duty right now.

Heh. I do find that traditionals in general (and the Opinel in particular) are less likely to evoke the "that's a weapon" response.

But even with an Opinel, I understand and accept that people see them as weapons. We can't have it both ways... Can't have knives that are designed for combat and glorified as such on TV and then not expect people to freak out at some level. Not when they can point to crime stats and worry about being sued for not having a policy in place.

Rule #9!!

BTW, I'm not saying you did anything wrong or are wrong for carrying the ZT. I'm more reacting to the posters who are surprised.

mete · Aug 28, 2014

Sue the school for hiring the mentally ill !!

salmonkiller · Aug 28, 2014

They should ban paper cutters from the premisis also as someone might cut their fingers off. I would ask them for the schools MSDS so my wife and. I could discuss what toxins my child is exposed to. Where does it end?

grownstar · Aug 28, 2014

draggat said:
Luckily there was.... a 0561 to be exact!

Lol for the win!

pinnah said:
Heh. I do find that traditionals in general (and the Opinel in particular) are less likely to evoke the "that's a weapon" response.

But even with an Opinel, I understand and accept that people see them as weapons. We can't have it both ways... Can't have knives that are designed for combat and glorified as such on TV and then not expect people to freak out at some level. Not when they can point to crime stats and worry about being sued for not having a policy in place.

Rule #9!!

BTW, I'm not saying you did anything wrong or are wrong for carrying the ZT. I'm more reacting to the posters who are surprised.

Yeah, buddy. I read ya loud and clear. I know it's a lot of knife but it just happened to be on me. No worries.