Has paranoia over safety gone too far in schools?

[NoahKokoro]

I found this story on Yahoo, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/ed...o_interstitial, and as the title asks I want people's opinions on whether schools have taken precautions too far.

I honestly find it hilarious that they are this strict on a six-year old, if it was a high-school student it might be potentionally dangerous, but with a six-year old? I understand that schools are freaking out over the Columbine shooting, but they are being too strict on kids.

In case you didn't see, this is the question. Has paranoia over safety gone too far in schools?

[goodnitesgirl]

Zero tolerance = zero common sense it is a lazy way for schools to pretend they are protecting students when all they are doing is covering their own butts. Any intelligent teacher or principal should be able to determine if an item a student brought to school is likely to be used as a weapon. If someone really wanted they could stab someone in the throat with a sharpened pencil but they aren't weapons yet if a student brings a butter knife to school its a weapon. There was a case a year or so ago where a student was zero toleranced for having a knife, it might even have been a butter knife not sure, in the back seat of his car. Some teacher spotted it in the back seat of his parked car while he was in class he got expelled fro bringing a weapon to school. Its beyond stupid and its time it stopped.

[Raccoon]

Welcome to the wonderful, brave new world of political correctness. I heard of a 6 year old suspended for making a gun sign with his hand and pointing it at another pupil. (Had he said "bang" that would have proven intent.)

[rog05002]

I completely agree with goodnitesgirl, this is absolutely ridiculous! These zero-tolerance policies are a lazy way out, and its really sad that our education system focuses more on covering themselves than educating the youth of our country. So I think its time to ask ourselves, what are teaching our kids??

Americans these days are afraid of their own shadows. I know lots of people on this board are die hard Americans, and believe me I love America as well, but the fact that we are scared beyond belief of almost everything under the sun is just embarrassing. I mean really, are we so afraid of a 6 year old with a camping utensil that we have to pull him out of school? Or a 3rd grader who's grandma sent a knife to cut her birthday cake with (which the teacher used to cut the cake, and then called the principal)?

Its about time that we, as a nation, grew a set.

[babymick21]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

Welcome to the wonderful, brave new world of political correctness. I heard of a 6 year old suspended for making a gun sign with his hand and pointing it at another pupil. (Had he said "bang" that would have proven intent.)

I believe that this was in a Michael Moore film and it was at a teacher...IIRC.

[Peachy]

Only in America...
...can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
... are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.
... do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet Coke.
... do banks leave both doors to the vault open and then chain the pens to the counters.

...do 6 year olds get suspended for bringing a camping knife to school.

Seriously, the idea of 'common sense' is not very prominent in American culture and especially American law. It's obvious to everyone that the kid did not intend to murder anyone. so a simple "don't do it again, there could be accidents" would have done the trick. The kid would have learned a lesson - to be careful with knives. What has the kid learned now? That there are some dumbasses in the school administration who don't know right from wrong and who only care about some stupid written text that makes zero sense to a 6 year old. So the whole situation just made everything worse.

Peachy

[Charlie F]

Too far? It's completely insane!

I read a similar story on Reddit today about an older guy who was caught with a knife in his car for completely innocent reasons, here: Soldier suspended from school - WTEN: Albany, New York News, Weather, Sports -

I just can't comprehend anything about this story. How is such an obvious lack of common sense allowed, and how is that a child of 6 has to (basically) stand trial and have a character witness for something (lawful) that happened at a school?!

[teddy564339]

I don't know how it is in other countries, but a lot of this is because so many Americans are so damn greedy that they will sue over every single thing they possibly can to get as much money as possible. There are all kinds of stupid bullshit laws that are put into place because of the potential risk of people suing over them.

But as has been mentioned, a lot of this is an overreaction to incidents like the Columbine one. Because of the huge increase in communication, any time something like the Columbine situation happens, everyone seems to know about it immediately. Then people start getting scared and paranoid, and then there are these overreactions that just make everything a huge pain in the ass.

So anyway...even though I agree that the rules/laws are stupid, I also think that if people in general weren't so stupid about it all, they wouldn't be put introduced in the first place.

[NeiNei]

Zachary was suspended and now faces 45 days in the district’s reform school.

........the kid is six years old. Okay, seriously now. 6 and in reform school. ..........He's gonna get his ass beat by all the other badass 6 year olds with their SHARP-EDGED BLOCKS!

Really, that's reallyyyyy stupid. I wanna kill the public school system.
EDIT:

“Something has to change,” said Dodi Herbert, whose 13-year old son, Kyle, was suspended in May and ordered to attend the Christina district’s reform school for 45 days after another student dropped a pocket knife in his lap.

...... WTFDKFJALKDJFLAK

USER WILL NOW SELF-DESTRUCT.

*asplodes*

EDIT2!: Aw, damn...Peachy... It's official: I'm moving to Berlin for art school one day.

[Chillhouse]

... Because when a disgruntled student wants to shoot-up his school, he'll do it with a fork.