Girl, 10, Arrested for Using Knife to Cut Food at School

[BIG_DADDY]

I told you floriduh is a 3rd world country. Everything is a friggen felony these days:


A 10-year-old Florida girl faces felony weapons charges after bringing a small steak knife to school to cut up her lunch, according to a report on WFTV.com.

School officials say the Ocala 5th grader had brought a piece of steak for her lunch, and had brought a steak knife. According to the report, a couple of teachers took the utensil and called authorities, who arrested the girl and took her to the county’s juvenile assessment center.

"She did not use it inappropriately. She did not threaten anyone with it. She didn't pull it out and brandish it. Nothing of that nature," explained Marion County School Spokesman Kevin Christian, who added that it made no difference what the knife was being used for, they had no choice but to call police.

"Anytime there's a weapon on campus, yes, we have to report it and we aggressively report it because we don't want to take any chances, regardless," Christian said.

The girl now faces a felony charge for possessing a weapon on school property and has been suspended from school for 10 days. The parents of the girl could not be reached for comment, WFTV.com reported.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317202,00.html

[Bowser]

Send her to Gitmo.

[Pushead2]

good ol' south

[Bowser]

"Anytime there's a weapon on campus, yes, we have to report it and we aggressively report it because we don't want to take any chances, regardless," Christian said.

The girl now faces a felony charge for possessing a weapon on school property and has been suspended from school for 10 days. The parents of the girl could not be reached for comment, WFTV.com reported.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317202,00.html

What a crock of shit. How about all of the baseball bats, balls, weight lifting equipment, locks on lockers, shoes, or anything that could be used to hurl at someone to inflict blunt force trauma? That is a whole lot of reporting going on.

I hope this school district gets flamed but good for this.

[Mr. Laz]

:shake:

[RealSNR]

http://meanwhile.files.wordpress.com/2006/05/Electric-Chair.jpg

[bkkcoh]

that is what happens when there is no tolerance and people aren't willing to make a judgement on a case by case basis.

[DaKCMan AP]

I blame Reerun_KC.

[greg63]

Geeeeez!

I suppose it would have been better had she choked on the steak.

[Chiefnj2]

Send her to Iceland.

[StcChief]

The mad,mad,mad PC World

[Bowser]

Send her to Iceland.

Cross thread humor > everything else

[Donger]

I think the school did the right thing.

[smittysbar]

WTF is this nation coming to

[Demonpenz]

think this is limited to flordia? Fork-get about it.

[greg63]

I think the school did the right thing.

You would. I guess in the absence of common sense there's the letter of the law.

[kaplin42]

I think the school did the right thing.


You're kidding right? Like this is an attempt at a dry, sarcastic joke, but it's lost due to the cold text language of the internet right?

[DaKCMan AP]

Zero tolerance for hugs in schools sends the wrong message to our kids
By Ana Veciana-Suarez
McClatchy News Service

Sheez, was it that long ago that bumper stickers asked this question in well-intentioned earnest: Have you hugged your kid today?

I suspect it was eons ago, or at least several mind-sets away, when hugs were an accepted expression of compassion and touching was encouraged as a laudable display of what makes us human and humane.

I hug, therefore I care.

But here we are, steeped in the first decade of a new century, making war and not enough love, and our schools are banning hugs. Dare I ask: In the grand scheme of banned substances, do hugs fall below weapons and drugs but alongside porn? Do they rank above another banned PDA -- public display of affection -- once known as holding hands?

Two Alabama school districts recently slapped girls with detentions for violating bans against PDA. Megan Coulter, 13, threw her arm around the shoulder of a classmate. Madison Muir, 12, hugged a friend who had recently lost a parent.

"The hugs were nothing inappropriate," Megan told NBC's Today show recently. "There weren't bodies pressed up against one another."

Fretted Madison, also in a TV interview: "We were just talking. I gave him a quick hug because he had to leave, and we went our separate ways."

Banning hugs is not as uncommon as one might think. Schools in Florida, Texas, Virginia and Illinois enforce a no-touching rule for many reasons, primarily to prevent harassment and to keep crowded hallways and lunchrooms safe. A hug -- as anyone older than 12 knows -- can turn into something more than that basic human need to hold and be held, but I suspect that's not really the norm.

Hug-banning school officials, though, say that enforcing such rules spares them from making judgment calls. On the other hand, in districts that haven't banned hugs completely, administrators treat such actions on a case-by-case basis. The latter seems the logical alternative. But in the era of zero tolerance and political correctness, there is no leeway for reasoning. When in doubt, ban, ban, ban.

Turns out hugs in the cafeteria were nothing more than arm-wrapping until 1999, when the Supreme Court ruled that a school district was liable for sexual harassment by a student the district had ignored. That edict rippled down and took on a life of its own in our suit-happy society. Displaying affection became the latest casualty of good intentions gone awry.

Zero-tolerance rules allow no discretion. Instead of standardizing punishment, they push us into rigid ridiculousness. The most mundane of movements now fall under some kind of monitoring -- and not just in two middle schools in Alabama.

In Rhode Island, a kindergartner was suspended for bringing a plastic knife to school so he could cut cookies. Fifth-graders in California were forced to cut off the miniature weapons on the toy plastic soldiers they put on their mortarboards to support troops in Iraq. And a principal censored a senior when his yearbook photo showed the student, who enjoys medieval re-enactments, wearing chain mail and holding a sword.

Of course, schools must set standards. As a parent, I want my children safe in their studies. Pretzeling clogs the hallways, and making out between classes is unacceptable. But consoling a friend in grief is altogether a different matter. Administrators need the freedom to draw distinctions.

Otherwise the lesson we teach our children is not about inappropriate behavior but about how best to get around unreasonable rules.

http://www.star-telegram.com/408/story/317031.html

[greg63]

You're kidding right? Like this is an attempt at a dry, sarcastic joke, but it's lost due to the cold text language of the internet right?


Don't count on it.

[BIG_DADDY]

I think the school did the right thing.

LMAO yea you do LMAO

[greg63]

Yes; it is PC run a muck.

[Donger]

You would. I guess in the absence of common sense there's the letter of the law.

How did the school know that she didn't have some nefarious plan? Maybe using the knife to cut the steak was merely a diversion? For all we know, a massacre was averted by their quick thinking.

[greg63]

How did the school know that she didn't have some nefarious plan? Maybe using the knife to cut the steak was merely a diversion? For all we know, a massacre was averted by their quick thinking.

...Or maybe she was just trying to eat lunch.

[DaKCMan AP]

...Or maybe she was just trying to eat lunch.

Why couldn't she precut the steak? And who the hell brings steak for lunch at school? Could she even microwave it?

[Donger]

...Or maybe she was just trying to eat lunch.

That's simplistic thinking.

For example, my son came home from kindergarten yesterday and told me that a girl had kissed him. I went straight up to the school and demanded that she be suspended. There should be zero tolerance for such things.

[BIG_DADDY]

How did the school know that she didn't have some nefarious plan? Maybe using the knife to cut the steak was merely a diversion? For all we know, a massacre was averted by their quick thinking.
:bong:

[smittysbar]

That's simplistic thinking.

For example, my son came home from kindergarten yesterday and told me that a girl had kissed him. I went straight up to the school and demanded that she be suspended. There should be zero tolerance for such things.

Would you have rather it been a boy. I got my 1st kiss in pre school, my dad laughed and said good job but mom was pissed (according to them) the school made mom come get me.....good ol' raggedy Ann, and Amy Joe, LOL

[DaKCMan AP]

That's simplistic thinking.

For example, my son came home from kindergarten yesterday and told me that a girl had kissed him. I went straight up to the school and demanded that she be suspended. There should be zero tolerance for such things.

She want that lovey-dovey kiss-kiss.

[greg63]

Why couldn't she precut the steak? And who the hell brings steak for lunch at school? Could she even microwave it?


Ask her parrents; she freakin ten years old.

[kaplin42]

That's simplistic thinking.

For example, my son came home from kindergarten yesterday and told me that a girl had kissed him. I went straight up to the school and demanded that she be suspended. There should be zero tolerance for such things.


Ok, cool, you were joking. Had me worried there for sec.

I would like to propose that we some eliminate a large number of the population from the gene pool. For some reason, we as a species are only breeding idiots.

I am truly scared, that the movie Idiocracy (http://imdb.com/title/tt0387808/) will come to fruition, and that it will be the downfall of our kind.

[greg63]

That's simplistic thinking.

For example, my son came home from kindergarten yesterday and told me that a girl had kissed him. I went straight up to the school and demanded that she be suspended. There should be zero tolerance for such things.

Oh yeah, she might have had cooties.
:rolleyes:

[DaKCMan AP]

Ask her parrents; she freakin ten years old.

I packed my own lunches starting with 4th grade.

[BIG_DADDY]

Why couldn't she precut the steak? And who the hell brings steak for lunch at school? Could she even microwave it?


WTF?

[Donger]

Oh yeah, she might have had cooties.
:rolleyes:

Sexual harassment is NEVER okay.

[DaKCMan AP]

Sexual harassment is NEVER okay.

Yeah, but did she have them apple-bottom jeans, boots with the fur?

[Sure-Oz]

wow, lawsuit anyone, thats ****ing ridiculous, put the cops and the teachers in jail

[BIG_DADDY]

I packed my own lunches starting with 4th grade.

Whatever dude, she was charged with a friggen felony. Give me a break. Your judicial system there is a crime. They should just charge everyone living there with a felony for being stupid enough to let it get to the level it's at right now.

[Donger]

Yeah, but did she have them apple-bottom jeans, boots with the fur?

I don't know. She was wearing a Dora the Explorer backpack, however. When I saw that, I knew that she was trouble.

[ClevelandChief]

I packed my own lunches starting with 4th grade.


Sorry that your parents sucked ass

[FAX]

This needs to be settled the American way. In the courts.

A decent lawyer should be able to figure out a way to blame the knife manufacturer.

FAX

[Sure-Oz]

That's simplistic thinking.

For example, my son came home from kindergarten yesterday and told me that a girl had kissed him. I went straight up to the school and demanded that she be suspended. There should be zero tolerance for such things.
Are you trying to make your son gay? I hope thats a joke

[DaKCMan AP]

Page 26

http://www.marion.k12.fl.us/students/docs/CodeOfConduct.pdf

The following had to be signed by both student and parent/guardian.

[Demonpenz]

Are you trying to make your son gay?


He doesn't have to try, he's british.

[Chiefnj2]

Whatever dude, she was charged with a friggen felony. Give me a break. Your judicial system there is a crime. They should just charge everyone living there with a felony for being stupid enough to let it get to the level it's at right now.

Per the article she wasn't "charged", she "faced" felony charges and unless the prosecutor is a relative of the Duke rape case prosecutor no charges will be filed. The real crime is the school system that went ahead and suspended her even though it admitted there was no threat, etc.

[DaKCMan AP]

Sorry that your parents sucked ass

LMAO

Actually, they bought whatever snacks/food I wanted in my lunches and then it was part of my chores/allowance to pack the lunch each morning.

Better, IMO, than having to mow the lawn, do laundry or clean.

[jspchief]

We're literally eliminating the use of common sense from our society.

[DaKCMan AP]

Per the article she wasn't "charged", she "faced" felony charges and unless the prosecutor is a relative of the Duke rape case prosecutor no charges will be filed. The real crime is the school system that went ahead and suspended her even though it admitted there was no threat, etc.

They are required to suspend/expel her according to the student code of conduct signed by both the student and parents.

http://www.marion.k12.fl.us/students/docs/CodeOfConduct.pdf

[Donger]

Ok, cool, you were joking.

You must have a mind like Sherlock Holmes!

[BIG_DADDY]

Per the article she wasn't "charged", she "faced" felony charges and unless the prosecutor is a relative of the Duke rape case prosecutor no charges will be filed. The real crime is the school system that went ahead and suspended her even though it admitted there was no threat, etc.

It's Floriduh, they will prosecute.

[BIG_DADDY]

They are required to suspend/expel her according to the student code of conduct signed by both the student and parents.

http://www.marion.k12.fl.us/students/docs/CodeOfConduct.pdf

Like we needed one more reason to privatize schools.

[greg63]

We're literally eliminating the use of common sense from our society.


Exactly!

[DaneMcCloud]

I would like to propose that we some eliminate a large number of the population from the gene pool. For some reason, we as a species are only breeding idiots.

I am truly scared, that the movie Idiocracy (http://imdb.com/title/tt0387808/) will come to fruition, and that it will be the downfall of our kind.


Come to fruition?

Take a look around. It's already happening.

[FAX]

I'm just glad she didn't bring a lunch she had to shoot first.

FAX

[Chiefnj2]

They are required to suspend/expel her according to the student code of conduct signed by both the student and parents.

http://www.marion.k12.fl.us/students/docs/CodeOfConduct.pdf
Define blunt bladed table knife. I've used many steak knives that were blunt and had difficulty cutting a piece of steak.

Any ambulance chasers on the board care to explain how is that in general a minor can't enter into a contract (well, I guess they can enter into them, but you can't enforce against them) but yet a minor is bound by a signature to a code of conduct?? Is it the parental co-signature?

[DaneMcCloud]

We're literally eliminating the use of common sense from our society.

He Lives!

[Megbert]

I got in trouble for eating at lunch. We were having a party xmas, easter or some type of party and my mom contributed 30 hostess cupcakes or so 1 for each kid in class. I counted and there were gonna be extras so I took the extra one to lunch. Ate the lunch the school provided for me. Then went on to eat the cupcake. Nun comes over and takes my cupcake away saying something along the lines that I can't eat at lunch wasn't fair or something along those lines.

Back to the girl with the knife. Next time cut that steak before going to school. Might even wanna pre-chew it.

[greg63]

I'm just glad she didn't bring a lunch she had to shoot first.

FAX


ROFL LMAO :LOL:

[Donger]

ROFL LMAO :LOL:

Greg, you really didn't know that I was kidding?

[kaplin42]

You must have a mind like Sherlock Holmes!


Hey man, your first post in this thread was a little bit off, and I will not put anything past people on the intrawebs. I mean, some people actually thought that this girl really needed to go to the juevenille detention center. Law of averages implies that at least one idiot on this board would agree with them, and your first post was making a compelling argument for you being that idiot.

[Donger]

Hey man, your first post in this thread was a little bit off, and I will not put anything past people on the intrawebs. I mean, some people actually thought that this girl really needed to go to the juevenille detention center. Law of averages implies that at least one idiot on this board would agree with them, and your first post was making a compelling argument for you being that idiot.

I was actually expressing my surprise that others couldn't tell that I was being facetious.

[greg63]

Greg, you really didn't know that I was kidding?


Not at first. I'm gullible that way. Ya sometimes have to draw me a picture and then paint it. :shrug:

[Adept Havelock]

that is what happens when there is no tolerance and people aren't willing to make a judgement on a case by case basis.

:clap: [/thread]

[Swanman]

I love how they immediately call a small steak knife a weapon. Sure, it can be used as a weapon, but so can spoons and forks. Florida truly sucks.

[DaKCMan AP]

I love how they immediately call a small steak knife a weapon. Sure, it can be used as a weapon, but so can spoons and forks. Florida truly sucks.

Yeah, Florida's the only state that doesn't allow students to bring knives to school.

nlm

[Mr. Laz]

The mad,mad,mad PC World
pc or paranoid ......... huge difference

[FAX]

I love how they immediately call a small steak knife a weapon. Sure, it can be used as a weapon, but so can spoons and forks. Florida truly sucks.

A spoon can, in fact, be used as a weapon, Mr. Swanman. This much is true. But, death by bonking is rare as it requires an innumerable amount of spoon whacks to bring about a fatal injury. One would think that the authorities would have time to intercede prior to unconsciousness somewhere around spoon whack 160 or so.

FAX

[Bob Dole]

I am truly scared, that the movie Idiocracy (http://imdb.com/title/tt0387808/) will come to fruition, and that it will be the downfall of our kind.

Will?

Where's the ****ing reset button?

[Simply Red]

good ol' south
What exactly does that mean?

[kindra68]

A spoon can, in fact, be used as a weapon, Mr. Swanman. This much is true. But, death by bonking is rare as it requires an innumerable amount of spoon whacks to bring about a fatal injury. One would think that the authorities would have time to intercede prior to unconsciousness somewhere around spoon whack 160 or so.

FAX

ROFL

[greg63]

What exactly does that mean?

Yeah, not sure what Florida being a southern state has to do with it.

[smittysbar]

scissors, pen, pencil, fork, don't even go into a cooking class, anything could be used. Hell inmates make shanks out of all most anything, even toothbrushes. I think the main thing here is she didn't flash it, say she was going to do something with it, and so on. Common Sense is truly something that was not used in this situation.

[Thig Lyfe]

Scanning...

SHARP THING DETECTED!

RED ALERT!!!

ENTER SWAT TEAM!!!

"Go go go!!! Move in, move in!"

"<i>You're surrounded, girlie. Drop the weapon.</i>"

"But I'm just tryin' ta --"

"DROP THE WEAPON!"

(Suspect is neutralized with side-handle baton)

The school is safe for another day.

[Chiefnj2]

They should have tazed her.

[greg63]

They should have tazed her.

...Had Jack Bauer interrogate her until she gives up the location of Bin Laden.

[RJ]

Zero tolerance policies have been around for about twenty years now. They haven't been effective in making our schools safer but I guess it looks good on paper.

About 12 years ago one of my sons, in high school at the time, saw a boy throw a girl on the hallway floor and raise his hand to hit her in the face. My son grabbed the boy from behind and held him against a locker until a teacher took control. This was his story, the teacher's story, the girl's story and the story of the other kids who witnessed the event. Nonetheless, because of zero tolerance, my son was suspended. There was no gray area. There wasn't much I could say, except to tell the principal that I was proud of my son and hoped he'd do the same thing if the situation presented itself again.

In fairness, though, it would be difficult for the schools at this time to announce a change from "Zero Tolerance" to "A Little Bit of Tolerance Where We'll Open Ourselves Up to All Sorts of Litigation".

[mikey23545]

First, kill all the lawyers.

[pikesome]

Page 26

http://www.marion.k12.fl.us/students/docs/CodeOfConduct.pdf

The following had to be signed by both student and parent/guardian.

And what would have happened if they refused to sign the thing?

[stevieray]

What a crock of shit. How about all of the baseball bats, balls, weight lifting equipment, locks on lockers, shoes, or anything that could be used to hurl at someone to inflict blunt force trauma? That is a whole lot of reporting going on.



give it time, I'm sure they are working on it...

ahh the good old days, when a couple of swats would nip it in the bud...

[BigMeatballDave]

WTF? They couldn't just take the knife from her and notify her parents? I'm glad they didn't take this too far...

[BigMeatballDave]

How did the school know that she didn't have some nefarious plan? Maybe using the knife to cut the steak was merely a diversion? For all we know, a massacre was averted by their quick thinking.
WTF? They couldn't just take the knife from her and notify her parents? I'm glad they didn't take this too far...

[Bugeater]

Yeah, Florida's the only state that doesn't allow students to bring knives to school.

nlm
No kidding, zero tolerance policies are becoming the norm across the country. We've had incidents similar to this in Omaha, there was one a few years ago when a girl brought a butter knife to school to peel an orange she packed in her lunch. It's completely asinine.

["Bob" Dobbs]

give it time, I'm sure they are working on it...

ahh the good old days, when a couple of swats would nip it in the bud...Apparently in Florida they CAN give swats. From the first page of the .PDF That DaKCMan AP referred to:
NOTE: If you are opposed to corporal punishment being used on your child, you must submit a signed written note to the principal each year.

[banyon]

wow, lawsuit anyone, thats ****ing ridiculous, put the cops and the teachers in jail

I doubt it. This looks like a terrible case for a civil claim. They were probably entitled by the letter of the law to do what they did (even if they shouldn't have enforced it) and being 10 years old, she probably has little in the way of monetary damages.

This is like a police officer hauling Granny into jail over her 1 MPH over speeding ticket. Should he have done it? Of course not. Is he entitled to (depending on the state) probably so.

[listopencil]

As long as citizens hold schools responsible for raising their children there will be stupid shit like this.