Story from my town; local kid punished for being honest

crom said:
This kid by all accounts was trying to do the right thing. He surrendered his pocket knife before entering the game, only to be booted from the game and handed a 10 day suspension. The school district (a wealthy one, I have to surmise his family doesn't belong to the local country club) is citing a zero tolerance policy for the harsh punishment. His uncle called the local radio station today to say that expulsion is not off of the table. Apparently he had been carrying the knife earlier in the day preparing a tree stand location or something of the sort, forgot he had the knife and went straight to the game.




http://www.wtae.com/news/local/alle...ife/-/10927008/22016884/-/h8nrp9/-/index.html
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(First off, if you live in fox chapel/aspinwall and do jiu jitsu (your blue belt picture) there is a chance we know each other. I am a blue belt at stout training Pittsburgh (formerly renzo Gracie Pittsburgh))

This actually unsettles me, as I am very local to this story. Also, Fox Chapel is a wealthy district (no offense to the op, but its kind of a running in joke that they are spoiled weak) and the whole area is like that. There is a private school like two miles from the fox chapel field that I went to for my 10th grade year and couldn't stand that false self righteous coddled type. Yes, every school pretty much has a zero tolerance rule. But he surrendered the knife when he realized he was breaking the rule. Apparently the guard didn't assume to kick him out. It's weakness facilitated by bureaucracy. No one wants to make any decisions between right and wrong. It sickens me that I will have to live my whole life in this kind of society. We need a fundamental change.
 
Kwon Kwang said:
Honesty is overrated.
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Honesty is underrated. So is the believing that people can think. Unfortunately both are in short supply.

There was a quote about without objective laws, there is anarcy. But, only objective law wasn't quite worthy either. I'll try to find it because it is relevant here.
 
That kid learned a valuable lesson. He learned that there is nothing wrong with taking a knife to his football game and he learned that such rules are only a detriment to those who abide by them. Had he wanted to do something malicious he would have simply ignored that rule.
 
It's not rocket science people!
Many lives were saved because of the due diligence of football security.
Bottom line, if you want to carry a knife, do like I did and don't go to school...
 
“I have spent all my life under a Communist regime,
and I will tell you that a society without any
objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a
society with no other scale but the legal one is not
quite worthy of man either.”
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
 
Absolutely ridiculous and upsetting. The proper disciplinary action would have been to commend the kid for his honesty, warn him not to bring a knife if it is against school rules [the appearance of fair enforcement must be upheld for effective discipline], and promptly return his knife after he exited the game.

This extreme action amounts to little more than whiny, bureaucratic nonsense performed by individuals who are plainly out of touch with common sense and effective child development.
 
Our local school has a zero tolerance policy on fighting. When my brothers son was in second grade a couple third graders roughed him up. He did not fight back, as my brother had told him not to in this type situation. My brother told him if he didn't fight back he would not get in trouble. My brother was wrong. The school suspended the third graders and my nephew. When my brother met with the principal he told the principal that their policy was sending the wrong message. He also told him that he had already instructed his son to fight back next time around. The principal was horrified that a parent would instruct their child, "to meet violence with violence".
Fast forward to last year, a kid in my nephews class was running his mouth all day. At recess this kid was still talking smack. When he knocked my nephews hat off my nephew dropped his a$$, then picked up his hat and walked himself to the principals office. Both boys were suspended. Great policy.
 
So did they give the knife back to him or his parents later?

If they took my sons knife and kicked him out of school I would be down there demanding the knife back, afterall he's gonna need it to make a living now that he got kicked out of high school.
 
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Oakengroves said:
Absolutely ridiculous and upsetting. The proper disciplinary action would have been to commend the kid for his honesty, warn him not to bring a knife if it is against school rules [the appearance of fair enforcement must be upheld for effective discipline], and promptly return his knife after he exited the game.

This extreme action amounts to little more than whiny, bureaucratic nonsense performed by individuals who are plainly out of touch with common sense and effective child development.
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I don't entirely agree with this, honesty notwithstanding, he still broke the rule and punishment is an appropriate response at that point. I do, however, think the school should have been very vocal in commending his honesty and given a far more lenient punishment than what was settled on. Turning yourself in with a guilty plea doesn't make you innocent no matter how pure your motives, but it should certainly factor into the severity of the punishment.

Basically, I think zero tolerance policies on anything are a way to look tough on some point or other and an excuse not to think. Refusing to take circumstances into account is ridiculous on any level.
 
Absolutely ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!

Just like with guns, blame the masses for the actions of the few.
 
I carried a Gerber Ez-Out strong side IWB every day of HS, never talked about it or got it out. I walked home often and was more concerned about having something during the trek. No problems. Likewise to an above post, I also got stabbed with a pencil, and still didn't return the favor with the knife I had on me. I took the pencil away and told the kid if he made one more move I'd beat him senseless. Didn't even bother with telling school administration...where I was raised we were expected to handle our own problems.

It's disgusting that the "establishment" doesn't have any faith or respect for 99% of kids that have reasonable sense at their given age.

If there is any way to help this young man out, I hope it gets posted here. His parents should sue the school and give them a dose of their own medicine.
 
jjoanty01 said:
It's getting a little crazy now. I heard of a little girl that got expelled for bringing a plastic butter knife in her lunch. I don't know how much truth there was to that, but the way sheeple react, it's probably true. Sucks for that kid. With his honesty and integrity he will probably be a Police officer! :thumbup:
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Over here in the UK(as you probably already know) we have the most restrictive knife laws in the world (not) and Sheeple panic over teaspoons. The more these stories abound, the less need for various "News Media" to invent the stories in the first place. They become their own self generating prophesies. If you actually research most of the knife stories in UK media, the vast majority are completely misreported or invented.
I don't know what the "agenda" is behind this, but actual UK knife law hasn't changed for 30 years and shows no chance of it being changed now. That doesn't stop the public from bleating and believing any knife is a lethal weapon and the only reason for carrying one is because you're a homicidal maniac. Here's a classic example of Newspapers trying to rerwrite the law http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1038358/Judge-pulls-KNIFE-court-teenage-stabbing-trial.html most UK residents (apart from the entirely brainwashed) are aware that the Dail Mail regularly lie and invent stories as well as twisting existing stories to further promote hate, fear & paranoia within the populace. The Mail also still hasn't apologised for backing Mosley and Hitler right up until the start of WW2. They also have a record of Holocaust denial.
Unfortunately our press laws are even less restrictive than yours, and the Press Complaints Commission has no teeth anyway.

Edit: Luckily, there are many popular blogspots dedicated to debunking the myths created by the most notorious "creators of news" http://the-sun-lies.blogspot.co.uk/, http://expresswatch.co.uk/, http://www.mailwatch.co.uk/forum/. I understand that some of the proprietors of these rags have own similar outlets in your own country
 
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killgar said:
I'm sure there are many people on this forum who carry a knife at work in violation of company rules, or who carry a knife into other places that have "rules" prohibiting such items..
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I've carried knives into places it was against company policies (or even in a few cases illegal) for years. Stupid rules are made to be broken. Fortunately I now work in a job where such things are pretty much ignored. Of course, I'm also openly packing a pistol at work too so knives are kinda below the radar. :D
 
A friend of mine was stabbed in highschool by the for the life of me i cant remember the name of it. The thing you use to make perfect circles in math class. They had sharp metal tips so they stuck into the paper so it came out perfect, Right in the ribs.
 
Thisisit said:
A friend of mine was stabbed in highschool by the for the life of me i cant remember the name of it. The thing you use to make perfect circles in math class. They had sharp metal tips so they stuck into the paper so it came out perfect, Right in the ribs.
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Protractor.

Can you recall the angle at which it intersected?
 
Thisisit said:
A friend of mine was stabbed in highschool by the for the life of me i cant remember the name of it. The thing you use to make perfect circles in math class. They had sharp metal tips so they stuck into the paper so it came out perfect, Right in the ribs.
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I believe they are called a compass (Sounds the same as the thing you use to find your direction). A sharp tip on one end, and a pencil holder on the other, with an adjustable wheel/screw to change the size of the arc/circle.

A protractor is one of those half-circle devices used for determining angles.

And those were Killgar's learning tips for the day :D
 
killgar said:
I believe they are called a compass (Sounds the same as the thing you use to find your direction). A sharp tip on one end, and a pencil holder on the other, with an adjustable wheel/screw to change the size of the arc/circle.

A protractor is one of those half-circle devices used for determining angles.

And those were Killgar's learning tips for the day :D
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You're showing your age, my friend. As am I. I shouldn't believe today's students would have any idea what a metal "school" compass is.

:)

Prof.
 
Thisisit said:
A friend of mine was stabbed in highschool by the for the life of me i cant remember the name of it. The thing you use to make perfect circles in math class. They had sharp metal tips so they stuck into the paper so it came out perfect, Right in the ribs.
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Compass. Still used in geometry classes all over the land though I've heard tell of strings, stick pins, and pencils instead.
 
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