MalloryKeaton

http://www.click2houston.com/educat...851/detail.html

8-Year-Old Suspended For Having Butter Knife In Lunch Bag

POSTED: 8:51 am EDT October 15, 2004

KING WILLIAM, Va. -- A Virginia woman is questioning the King William County School District's zero-tolerance policy on weapons.

Joyce Heath said her 8-year-old son returned to school Wednesday after being suspended for seven days, because he carried a butter knife to school with his lunch.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Nicholas, a third-grader, had been suspended for 10 days and faced the possibility of being placed in disciplinary classes for a year. But Heath met with School Superintendent Brenda Cowlbeck on Tuesday, and the suspension was lifted.

Cowlbeck said she could not comment on the matter because of privacy laws. But she said Tuesday's meeting was her first chance to discuss the matter with the boy's mother.

Heath said she packed a butter knife in her son's lunch along with a package of peanut butter and jelly on Oct. 1. She said Nicholas did not do anything threatening with the knife.

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


The idea of giving an 8-year-old a ten day suspension and disciplinary classes for a year is extreme. His Mom was the one who packed the butter knife for his peanut butter and jelly. It's sad to think that children can no longer bring silverware to school to use for their lunches.

mh67511

Well what do the kids eat with? I'm sure you could take one of those plastic forms and poke somebody's eye out. That it aboslutely ridiculous.

What about a backpack with books in it? I'm sure if you swung it around and hit somebody in the head you could knock em out, considering how heavy books can be these days!

This is just ridiculous. I think they do zero-tolerance because they are too LAZY to identify what is allowed and what isn't.

Ambular

If the child is truly malicious and violent in nature, he's more likely to injure another kid with a pencil, a pen, a plastic fork, a stapler, a pair of scissors, a baseball bat, or any other number of items that THE SCHOOL SUPPLIES THEIR STUDENTS WITH than with a non-serrated butter knife. I think "duh" about sums that up.

It's one thing to give the kid a written warning (still wrong, but whatever) but a year of disciplinary classes? If he didn't threaten anybody with it, how does he have a problem with discipline? This is so asinine.

xallyx

Just tell the mother they'd rather her not pack a butter knife in her kid's lunch box Was there really a need to go to that extreme?

Quarterley

So many stupid school systems with idiotic management everywhere.