School boys survival kit-what went wrong ?

[thesurefire]

Are there metal detectors in the US schools ?

In some yes.

I recently graduated and carried a SAK. My school had a very clear policy: under 3 inches and not locking or it was a 'weapon' and grounds for expulsion.

 

[nc527]

Quote:
Originally Posted by blgoode View Post

Its sad now - My son even had to take my knifemakers business card I had printed up out of his wallet to take it to school!!!!! Different Times for sure.
You mean he has to take your business card out of his wallet in order to take his wallet to school because the business card as a printed picture of a knife on it, correct?
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thats almost as bad as the kid that drew a picture of a knife while in school...he had been hiking with his dad on the weekend and the following Monday the teacher asked the kids to draw a pic of what they did on the weekend. Kid drew a pic of him and his dad hiking, and drew a knife on each of their belts. The teacher was horrified, sent the kid to the Principal, kid was "assessed" by the school shrink and expelled. Family services tried to seize the kid bla bla bla

i'll try to find the link.

THank god my middle school isnt that deranged. I am always drawing new knife designs in my spare time at school, and my female teacher has seen them, but hasnt said anything, or giving me a "look".

 

[forestnomad]

And yet some troupes of "the Scouts" are participating in a "youth border control" volunteer training program where the kids train to assault buildings wearing body armor and armed with air soft MP-5s

THAT is f**ked up.

 

[forestnomad]

To ensure that this is not confused with a bunch of tots in Boy Scout uniforms:

http://www.theepitaph.com/border/177-border-patrol-explorer-program-preps-youth

These guys are, in fact, Explorers which are a part of the BSA, but they tend to focus on leadership and occupational goals for their members. This program is actually sponsored, IIRC, by the Border Patrol as well as a way to foster understanding of their mission.

That makes me feel a bit better

 

[Benjamin Liu]

This schoolboy survival kit often varied slightly but the pen knife was usually a mainstay, what's gone wrong with this crazy world ????

Much of this stared with the late 1980s/early 1990s gang scare, where the administrators decided at all knives are weapons and all weapons are evil and all students who have knives should be punished as severely as possible.

It isn't just knives, kids these days can get in serious trouble for things that when I was a kid in the 1980s would have only resulted in being sent down to the office and getting yelled at and parents being informed which was the real punishment. There were threats of paddling, and rumors of a special paddle with holes drilled in it to make it hit faster, but looking back I don't remember anyone actually getting paddled.

 

[Shotgun]

Knives weren't allowed in any of my schools but I can remember carrying one on my keychain when I was in middle school. It was a fixed blade too. I only did that for half a year or so. I didn't get into knives until recently and never needed one when I went camping. We always packed everything we needed and never strayed from the trail.

 

[bulgron]

I carried a SAK every day in high school. I even used it when necessary and no one said boo about it. This was in the Minneapolis 'burbs in the late '70's.

Now I hear that not only can you not take a knife to school, but:

- students can't bring drugs of any kind to school -- even girls with menstrual cramps issues.

- students have to be very careful not to wear too much blue or red or they get sent home. If you have red shoes, then you'd better not have a red shirt. If you have blue socks then you'd better not be wearing a blue jacket.

Some of the schools I've been in have metal detectors. I don't know if the middle and high schools that my kids will go to have them, but if so maybe it'll be time to find another school. After all, if they need a metal detector there, then it must be too dangerous to be at, right?

Also, I refuse to help the BSA due to their 'no knives' BS policy. And I've told them so, too.

 

[bulgron]

Knives weren't allowed in any of my schools but I can remember carrying one on my keychain when I was in middle school. It was a fixed blade too. I only did that for half a year or so. I didn't get into knives until recently and never needed one when I went camping. We always packed everything we needed and never strayed from the trail.

Even when you're going on a tame hike, even when you're going on a "one hour up the trail then back" hike, you need to carry a knife with you. (Plus all the other stuff you need to spend a night in the woods without succumbing to exposure.)

It's just like seat belts. Just because you don't think you're going to need them doesn't make it smart to go without them.

 

[nifegrinder]

Our schools seem more and more to be run by idiots. I was deliberately attacked and stabbed when I was in elementary school . . . with a pencil. Thirty years ago the principal didn't say "pencils are evil, we must remove them from our schools!" He kicked the kids butt and sent him home for a week so that his parents could kick it some more. :grumpy:

In spite of the attack, I never considered taking my pocket knife out and using it on the kid.

 

[batosai117]

I'm in the same boat as dougo83, I had a SAK style knife on me in high school and never had any hassle about it. I also believe I was part of the last generation of scouts that was able to have the "real scouting experience." We could carry knives (and were encouraged to carry too), had rifle and archery merit badges. A campout consisted of making a fire and playing with our knives to see who could whittle. We were allowed to wander off as long as we did the buddy system and had a FAK between us.

Ahhh, I miss those days. Luckily, I live in a small town where you are almost expected to have a knife on you and go hunting/fishing on a regular basis :thumbup:

 

[koyote]

It's not all that bad - LEif, my son, is just in tiger cubs and will get archery and BBgun at the next scout camp in the spring, the tigers are considered too young but the boy scouts AND all the cubscouts in the local troop/pack get to have knife chits (a set of rules you agree to, is all- knife safety stuff)- and no one makes any bones about me wearing and using a fixed blade on the last campout- where I demonstrated feathering with an axe and other crazy stuff.

It's not necessarily what it used to be, but at the pack level, it can still be a real scouting experience. You just have to, pretty much, ignore some of the stupider stuff the major religious institutions have forced the BSA into.

 

[PayetteRucker]

Part of the issue, perhaps, is that alot of kids I see aren't as active outdoors. Even those that are, though, don't seem to have any reason to carry a knife. As long as it works for them...

It's not that alot of kids aren't as active outdoors. It's that the public schools and society brainwash them into thinking outdoors recreation isn't necessary, it's weird and unusual, not cool, nothing bad will ever happen and your teachers will always protect you. Of course it's all lies. I carried most of the way through junior high and high school... I was quiet about it and thankfully never had to use a knife while in school. That said I think there should be classes teaching students how to safely and responsibly carry and use knives, not banish them.

 

[warrigal]

I was given a SAK when I joined Scouts age ten I carried that every where 'till I started to get some money and replaced it with Stanley Rodgers copy of a Buck 110 ( like most of us it has been a downword spiral since then)
If you checked my pockets when I was ten
A Hanky
My SAK
A bit of baling twine,
a magnifying glass,
probably a couple .22 rds.
Speaking of taking a .22 to school My Dad (in his mid 60's) was issued a Lee Enfeild as part of his Army Cadet uniform. He carried it to and from School every Tuesday.
Cadets today might get to handle a real firearm on annual camp, but the only firing is at a WETS indoor simulator range.
I gave One of the juniors at work ( who is also one of my Cadets and a student of my wives) a Paragee framelock for his 17th Birthday after swearing him to tell my wife.LOL
Carl

 

[dipbait]

In grade school I gave a classmate a yellow "banana" knife as Christmas present. He new I drew his name and asked for it. This was in the 60s and even then that was not allowed. He got a cheap toy in class but got the real gift after school.

 

[udtjim]

Knives were no big deal in SD in the early 60's. Most all the county kids like me had a rifle and or shotgun in a gun rack in our pick-ups in the school parking lot. Whats is more is that nobody even locked their cars and trucks.The only thing on Pits list that was never in my pockets were the coins.

 

[Thomas Linton]

. . .

Also, I refuse to help the BSA due to their 'no knives' BS policy. And I've told them so, too.

I fear you must find another rational for refusing to help. They are, after all, easy to find.

BSA does not have a "no knives" policy. BSA sells knives, including large lock-blades and fixed-blades with blades up to 8".

BSA sells "official" books showing knives in use, including bolos, khukuris, and machetes.

Individual Couincils and units have, out of ignorance OR the belief that BSA has a "no fixed-blade" policy, purported to ban fixed-blade knives. Every one of those Councils I have checked on sells fixed-blade knives.

But the more people repeat the myth, the more support there is for making it true.

 

[BlairB]

There are still places in the USA where boys carry pocket knives. My little brother (26 students in his Idaho senior class) told me this story last year: The school got some new gym equipment and the teacher asked the students who had a knife to help open the boxes, and every boy in the class volunteered.

 

[koyote]

I fear you must find another rational for refusing to help. They are, after all, easy to find.

BSA does not have a "no knives" policy. BSA sells knives, including large lock-blades and fixed-blades with blades up to 8".

BSA sells "official" books showing knives in use, including bolos, khukuris, and machetes.

Individual Couincils and units have, out of ignorance OR the belief that BSA has a "no fixed-blade" policy, purported to ban fixed-blade knives. Every one of those Councils I have checked on sells fixed-blade knives.

But the more people repeat the myth, the more support there is for making it true.

Okay, I need docs for this. I know our pack and troop do pocket knives, and axe and saw. Our pack leader, at least, is fairly certian that fixed blades aren't allowed for the boys. (He's stated that that's malleable if the PARENT of a given child is present, it'd be stupid to tell me that leif can't take his camp kitchen knife, for example- but if I'm NOT present, follow the pack rules. Similar logic is the only way we can reasonably do kayaking on the lake and swimming and such.)



I think this is very on topic for the forum, but if the mods don't, I wouldn't mind a sticky scouting discussion in the koyote knives forum)

 

[KEmSAT-Survival]

I started carrying a pocket knife when I was around 8 or 9 years old but I wasn't allowed to carry it in school. It was usually a SAK or a cheap slipjoint. Most people these days see a knife as a weapon and not a tool. Just today I wanted to give my 19 year old nephew a knife but his mom doesn't want me to because she's afraid he doesn't need a weapon. It's pretty sad the way people think of knives these days IMO.

Because people have been lead to believe that they are victims and victims-in-waiting. Everything with a point can hurt or kill them.
It will only get worse I'm afraid.

I carried a Case knife to school when I was a kid, and up until the Paducah & Columbine things happened noone really thought anything of a highschooler with a rifle in a gun rack in his truck.

It all boils down to society and responsibility; and it all starts at home.

 

[Toucan Oasis]

I'm old.:grumpy:
When I was a kid it was a source of pride to carry a scouts knife. EVERYWHERE.
When a kid got a new blade for Christmas the first thing he did was take it to school to show off to everyone. This included the gym teacher, industrial arts teacher....they taught us how to build things...and everyone else. The neighbors, the preacher man....

Part of P.E.in school was archery and marksmanship with 22 rifles. Girls AND boys !
During these classes once in a while they'd bring a cop in to show is kids how to handle a revolver or semi auto to make sure it was "safe" How to see if it was loaded, carry it with the cylinder swung out or slide open...etc.Some brought in their riot guns and taught us how to safe check them.

We sometimes carried 22's to school, junior high, and the gym teacher would lock them up in the room that had the target rifles. After school was out and all the busses left he'd let us loose and we'd head out on a squirrel hunt. He sometimes went with us.If it wasn't season we'd sit at the range and plink.
Hell. I remember trading guns out of the back of our cars in the high school parking lot !

After JFK got popped and the arrival of the black Panthers the Nazi's took over the country and all reality went right out the window.
As I understand it today ? Kids dont even have the annual fitness test like running the 600, situps and pullups, track and field training etc.???

Those were the days.

I call it an Idiocracy. Complete with pizza,Prozac, and coke machines.:jerkit:
Aspirin are now "drugs":jerkit: