Worries in Woonsocket
Zero tolerance for common sense
On Wednesday a sixth grader at Woonsocket Middle School peeled an orange during lunch. Unfortunately he did this with a knife. Even more unfortunately the knife he did it with was brought from home.
The 13-year-old was charged by police with possession of a weapon in school, which is a violation of state law. He was also suspended from school for 10 days and told that he must plead guilty during a hearing before a disciplinary panel before he will be allowed to return to his classroom.
For a kitchen knife that was being used appropriately a 13 year-old was arrested and charged with a crime.
[A] police officer was waiting for the boy at the end of the school day at the principal�s office. And the boy was taken to a police cruiser for transport to the police station to be charged with a crime. When his mother arrived, a letter of suspension from the school was already waiting for her.
For a kitchen knife that was being used appropriately.
Almost passing under the radar is the “he must plead guilty” at the disciplinary panel. Unless you’ve been to one you likely don’t understand what that means. It does literally mean what it says. The boy will not be permitted to plead innocense at his hearing. The panel will tell him if he is innocent or guilty (it will be “guilty”, have no doubts about that) and if he pleads differently he will not be allowed back into school. This is extremely common in school justice. If a student does not show contrition by agreeing with his sentence then he is obviously not ready to return to school. Combine the forced guilty plea with a horrificly applied zero tolerance policy like this and the results are a terrific miscarriage of justice.
And to think that when I was in kindergarten (only 15 years ago), we actually had a “station” set up with carrots, cutting boards, and knives so we could learn how to use a knife properly to cut veggies and such . . .
My sons’ preschool does the same thing. They are 3 and 4 years old and both know how to handle a knife. More importantly, they both show the proper respect for blades.
Of course it’s not a public school though…
Why would he WANT to go back to that school? Why would his PARENTS want him to go back to that school? Plead innocent, and then stay the hell out.
Being Slicer means that I can laugh at people who don’t know how to use blades…
The captive must confess before his status will be restored? If he doesn’t, what are they going to do, shove wood splinters under his fingernails and set them on fire? What is this, Hanoi Hilton Elementary? If I lived there, I’d do more than just send my kid to a private school — I’d move, and ensure that that town never receives another dime of my tax money.
School systems do not believe that students have the rights of adults and they have been fairly consistently backed up by the courts. If the student does not admit guilt the school board will have no qualms with not allowing him back into school because they do not see it as a citizen exercising his right to plead innocence. They see only a recalcitrant student who refuses to agree with their asessment.