Weapons and Kids

If you have seen any news this week then you will have heard of two interesting school cases involving "violent" behavior at schools. The first involved a 6-year old boy who took his folding "spork" to school because he wanted to eat his lunch with it. His parents bought this knife, spoon, fork, multi-tool for their Cub Scout to use for camping over the summer. Unbeknownst to them, he took it to school. So naturally when the teacher found out, she took it away and the school then sentenced the boy to 45 days of suspension and reform school. Well that makes perfect sense. Are there any adults who have any common sense left in our schools?!! I have a 6-year old son, and he's a very good boy. But being a boy, I wouldn't put it past him to put something in his backpack, without my knowledge, because he thought it was cool and wanted to show his friends. And yes, we have talked to him about the fact that there are certain things you don't take to school. I don't have a metal detector and home and I don't usually feel it necessary to search his backpack or frisk him before he heads off to school.

The other case involved a Boy Scout who has been cited by the Boy Scouts for saving his cousin's life. The Scout motto is "Be Prepared". So, being a good Scout, he carries an emerency survival kit in the trunk of his car. That kit includes a 2-inch knife, a gift from his grandfather, that he kept in his locked car. A fellow-student reported him for "carrying a weapon" and the school swooped in with their Zero Tolerance Policy and suspended him for twenty days. An aspiring West Point student, Matthew Whalen is now worried that the "weapons suspension" will hurt his chances of admission.

I agree that schools should have Zero Tolerance Policies in regards to weapons at schools. But does Zero Tolerance have to equal Zero Common Sense? Do the adults in the school system have the total inability to discern between a student with violent tendencies, problematic behavior and malicious intent versus the innocent mistake of a child? Realistically, if the schools are going to have Zero Tolerance Policies, they need to rid schools of all dangerous items: scissors, baseball bats, rocks on the playground, staples, paperclips, pens and pencils. All of those things could be used as dangerous weapon. Seriously. Inanimate objects do not hurt people, people hurt people. Of course, I'm not suggesting that it should be okay to bring a weapon to school--but honestly, do we not have the ability to think through this?

For example, the 6-year old has a chat with the principal:

Principal: So, Johnny, why did you bring this to school today?

Johnny: I wanted to eat my lunch with it.

Principal: Did you know this has a knife in it?

Johnny: Yes.

Principal: Did you know that knives are not allowed at school?

Johnny: No.

Principal: Okay, now you know. I'm going to hang on to this until your mom can come pick it up and from now on you need to leave things like this at home.

Johnny: Okay.

The principal then has a conversation with the parents, the parents have a more detailed discussion with their son and it's over. If it happens again, totally different story.

Or how about this:

Vice Principal: Matt, I've been told you are carrying a knife.

Matt: What?

Vice Principal: You don't have a knife on you?

Matt: Of course not.

Vice Principal: Why would someone tell me that?

Matt: I have an emergency kit in my car that has a little pocket knife in it.

Vice Principal: May I see it?

Matt: Yes.

Vice Principal: Okay, even though this is locked in your car, this is still school grounds and this knife is considered a weapon. You need to take it home after school and leave it there.

Matt: Okay...sorry, I didn't know it was wrong.

Vice Principal: If this happens again, you will be suspended.

The Vice Principal calls the parents and apprises them of the situation, they talk with their son. If it happens again, they throw the book at him.

I know that I'm not the only one that could figure out this situation. Sadly, this is indicative of a larger problem. I read a quote once, and I wish had the quote, that said something to the effect of: The degree to which our society declines morally is represented by the number of laws that become necessary. I'm paraphrasing badly, but that's the idea. (If anyone knows who said this or where to find it, please let me know. I don't remember where I read it and couldn't find it anywhere.) You cannot legislate morality. Morality has to be taught at home, practiced, exemplified and believed in. Passing additional blanket laws does not solve problems, it can only create punishments after the fact.

In fact, just this morning, a student in South Carolina was shot and killed by a resource offer; the student apparently attacked the officer with a knife. I'm sure they have rules about knives in that school too, but that doesn't fix the problems that cause students to act out. Until parents return to their responsibility to teach their children, to discipline their children and, most importantly, to love their children, there aren't enough laws in the world to prevent this kind of behavior. A return to responsibility by parents and common sense by adults would not only be refreshing, it would change our world.