6-Year-Old Scout Suspended for Bringing Knife-Fork-Spoon Utensil to School
Posted on 12. Oct, 2009 by James Devere in Political News
From Fox News:
Six-year-old Zachary Christie was so excited to become a Cub Scout that he brought his camping utensil to school. The tool serves as a spoon, a fork and a knife, and Zachary wanted to use it at lunch.
What Zachary didn’t know was that the gizmo violated his school’s zero-tolerance policy on weapons. And now the Christina School District in Newark, Del., has suspended the first grader and ordered him to attend the district’s reform school for 45 days.
Zero-tolerance policies at schools may have their place in a post-Columbine world, but the rationale behind sending a 6-year-old to reform school for 45 days for the offense discribed above is ridiculous. There was a violation of a Zero Tolerance rule and the school feels obligated to dole out a punishment. Maybe Zach should write some lines on the board about how he will not bring his eating utensils to school. To stick a 6-year-old Cub Scout in with juveniles who may have intentionally violated the zero-tolerance rule is crazy.
Modern school policy seems to be all about 2nd and 3rd chances when it comes to those who truly intend to do harm, yet a child who is enthusiastic about being a Cub Scout and attending school is caught up in an administrative catch-22 in a system that leaves no room for heart.
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