Zero tolerance for butter knives
8-Year-Old Suspended For Having Butter Knife In Lunch Bag
Boy returns to school after butter-knife suspension
The King William County zero tolerance policy was founded on the idea that all weapons are created equally. A butter knife is the same as a hunting knife is the same as a ninja sword is the same as a bayonet affixed to a loaded assault rifle. 8 year-old Nicholas Heath ran afoul of the policy when his mother packed him a lunch including bread, peanut butter, jelly and a butter knife to assemble his sandwich.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Nicholas, a third-grader, had been suspended for 10 days and faced the possibility of being placed in disciplinary classes for a year.
…
[Joyce] Heath said she packed a butter knife in her son’s lunch along with a package of peanut butter and jelly on Oct. 1. She said Nicholas did not do anything threatening with the knife.
Disciplinary classes for a year because Mom was short on time and stuck the butter knife in the bag instead of making the sandwich herself. That’s absolutely terrifying.
…after she met with School Superintendent Brenda Cowlbeck on Tuesday, Nicholas’ suspension was lifted, Heath said.
Cowlbeck said she could not comment on the matter, citing privacy laws that govern school policy. Tuesday’s meeting was Cowlbeck’s first chance to discuss the matter with Heath, Cowlbeck said.
So Nicholas only had to serve 7 days out of his 10 day sentence. Of course the weapons violation and 7 day suspension are still on his record and that is going to be a poison thorn in his foot later in his scholastic career.
Another disturbing thing here is that the superintendent was not available to address the problem until more than a week had passed. The boy was processed and suspended and an additional week went by before the super could be troubled to speak with the parents? That is patently ridiculous.
(Tip credit to Aaron)
So where’s that national backlash against ZT I was hearing about last year? Has it died down?
Disciplining an eight year old because of a butter knife? A suspension from school can be a mental mark of shame which can last for years. He will be taunted and tained by his friends.
It is not zero intelligence, it is insanity. It is cruelty by a mindless despot.
Part of the craziness is the poor boy didn’t initiate anything, his mother put the knife in his lunch. If it was reasonable to get upset about the knife (which it isn’t) the one who should suffer some kind of consequence would be the mother. The school is totally wrong.
PB&J- THE BANE OF VA SCHOOLS
Chris reports that a Fredericksburg school was evacuated due to a suspicious sandwich. Meanwhile, Jim Peacock at Zero Intelligence discovered that down in King William Co., an 8-year-old was suspended for having a butter knife in his brown bag. His…
I understand the concern for the student’s academic well-being, but won’t those around him realize the stupidity of this as much as we do? If a college hears that he was suspended for having a butter knife, who will look worse in the college’s eyes? My guess is the school.
There have been countless stories just like this one in the press ever since zero tolerance/zero brains came into being.
School administrators don’t care if they look like flaming you-know-whats.
God help this country because as a nation we have collectively lost our fucking minds. Sorry for the language but this infuriates me. This is a nation in serious decline and we all need to wake up.
CARNIVAL OF THE VANITIES, EPISODE #109
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…uh, wait, wrong story…. It was a dark and stormy night…no, that’s not it, either…. Slowly, gently, with a touch that belied her barely-restrained passion…her gentle fingers,…
CARNIVAL OF THE VANITIES, EPISODE #109
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…uh, wait, wrong story…. It was a dark and stormy night…no, that’s not it, either…. Slowly, gently, with a touch that belied her barely-restrained passion…her gentle fingers,…
CARNIVAL OF THE VANITIES, EPISODE #109
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…uh, wait, wrong story…. It was a dark and stormy night…no, that’s not it, either…. Slowly, gently, with a touch that belied her barely-restrained passion…her gentle fingers,…
Carnival #109
The Carnival of the Vanities is hosted this week by Jack Cluth’s People’s Republic of Seabrook. He’s a leftish (and recently hairless) blogger, and I must say that I admire his gracious handling of the rightish posts. It’s a good-natured,…
Da C Man wrote:
If a college hears that he was suspended for having a butter knife, who will look worse in the college’s eyes? My guess is the school.
You’re assuming that the college will see “suspended for having a butter knife” and not “suspended for weapons posession”. They’d probably never get far enough to ask the student for an explanation.
Or suspended for “drug” possession — even though that drug might be a Ludens Wild Cherry cough drop.
I’ve come to the conclusion that people who send their kids to public schools that have these asinine policies deserve all the grief they get when their kid is charged with one of these fake crimes. These stories have been well publicized over the past few years, and if parents haven’t picked up a newspaper, gotten on the internet, or reviewed the school’s disciplinary code with a fine-tooth comb and questioned how the school administration handles these cases by now, tough, because they aren’t doing their kids any favor by being ignorant — they are possibly harming their kid’s future. If more of them did question zero-tolerance policies, the schools would be empty by now and a lot of parents and kids would be a lot happier somewhere else.
This is crazy. When I was growing up, one of our school lunches that my mom packed was a cream cheese and jelly sandwich.
I complained that the sandwich was soggy by lunch time (don’t know why, exactly, because a peanut butter and jelly sandwich didn’t get soggy) so my mom started to pack a plastic knife with my lunch when I had a CC&J sandwich. That way, I could assemble it myself. Had similar policies been in place when I was a kid, I’d would have probably served a 10 day suspension as well.
I’m single with no kids, but if I ever do have kids, they are going to private schools. This idiocy that is happening in the public schools makes my blood boil.
Ahhh… Yes, it all leads back to the complete and utter idiocy that comes from treating a butter knife like a switch blade and an Advil as Cocaine…
Sorry for posting twice but I forgot a little tidbit… I am a highschooler in Oregon, a few years back they still had plastic butter knifes on the condiments tray at my school.
In 1996 a girl in Columbia South Carolina went to school with a knife in her lunchbox that her grandmother packed to cut chicken. She asked if she could use it and the teacher freaked out and sent her to the office the principal called the police and the police arrested her and hauled her off. The principal suspended her and threatened her with a 1-year expulsion but after an outcry from outraged parents the principal reinstated her and let her use the knife and warned her to not do that again. That is worse than the butter knife story
It’s all Lord of the Flies to me
If you really think that the core problem with the American public education system is a lack of funding, then you have never read the zero intelligence blog. As an opponent of not just zero tollerance policies, but the American…
I’m only here to comment on Dr. Cowlbeck, and the statement of “…Another disturbing thing here is that the superintendent was not available to address the problem until more than a week had passed…”
The reason she was a week late was because she was in Ohio with ME helping ME with the birth of my daughter, her first grand daughter. I had a VERY rough birth and needed some help while my husband was away at work.
I understand that this is a heated battle, however, please check your facts and not to make assumptions, sometimes there are other once in a lifetime events that take precedent. And it wasn’t like she was letting it “be swept under the rug.” I know for a fact that my mother was working frivolously to take care of the situation via telephone with all of her very capable administrators in between helping me.
I made no assumptions, Sue. She did not adequately handle the situation and the child suffered as a result. Her reasons for not attending to her job might be sympathetic but the result was still a boy being suspended for 7 days because of a butter knife. It was certainly in her power to rectify the injustice done to the boy over the phone and clean up the paperwork when she physically returned.
I’ll probably never be back here again, but i was researching knife laws and ran across this. I’m interested in rules in Texas on knives. I am a student at Memorial High in Spring Branch ISD, which has as its knife policy the state law. (continued)
If I brought a knife to school, what could they do without a coded policy regarding a legal knife? I’m sure if I brought a Ka-Bar combat knife strapped to my belt, I would be taken out in a second- but would it be right according to law? Are there any laws I’m missing? I’m not saying I would do this, but I’m interested as to my rights. (continued)
I’m quite intrigued in this whole process. If they decide that my particular knife is a “weapon”, then where do they draw the line? I’ve brought razor blades and small pocketknives before to work on science projects. In the lack of coded rules, could I be punished for those more or less than for a combat knife? The district policy, which I have searched and researched extensively, seems to clearly show that I am within my rights to bring a knife to school, but I’m interested to hear what you guys think. I may not be here ever again but I’ll try to check. Please email me at andymenger@sbcglobal.net .
Andrew, I’m not able to give you much advice here. The district website has a pdf version of the Student Handbook but it has absolutely no information in it about a Code of Conduct or any discipline definitions. Your school website does not load.
I definitely recommend against bringing any knife to school until you have confirmed with the administration that it is allowed. A common definition of a weapon is very different from the typical administration’s definition of a weapon.
I encountered the same problems with the website. My parents threw out the Code of Conduct a long time ago, but I just borrowed one from a friend and I’m rather shocked. I won’t quote because it’s very long, but essentially it says no wepons anywhere, including cars and extracurricular events. This is the part that drives me nuts:
weapons include “razors or other sharp cutting devices”, “any object either used in a way that threatens or functions to inflict bodily injury on another person”, and chains.
I’ve brought razors, saws, screwdrivers, etc. to school to work on science projects for a club- but apparently these are banned as well. The part that really is dumb is that every “weapon” offense is a Level V- requiring expulsion. That means that as far as the school is concerned, a razor blade is exactly the same as a tommy gun. The only difference is whether the police are involved. This is ridiculous.
Also what I found on the drug policy is that every drug offense is treated the same, just like weapons. They are also Level V offenses and include:
“any abusable glue, aerosol paint…”
“correction fluid, white out, etc.”
This would make sense to have a rule against ABUSE of these items, but the penalty extends for mere POSSESSION. This makes sense for marijuana, but for white out?? I know plently of legitimate reasons to have aerosol products or white out- yet it’s worth a mandatory expulsion?? I am amazed at the stupidity of these rules.
One more thing: the knife policy for legal knives etc. (not state-defined illegal “weapons”) is not allowed according to state law to have a punishment of expulsion. Expelling is reserved strictly for certain reasons under Texas law, and these do not constitute a reason… Yet here, in plain English, it states that the penalty for any weapon is a Level V (expulsion). This is a clear violation of state eductation laws ( http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/ed.toc.htm ) (Chapter 37). What can i do about this to get the rules changed (short of violating them and going through the courts- dumb idea)? Any advice is appreciated.
I encountered the same problems with the website. My parents threw out the Code of Conduct a long time ago, but I just borrowed one from a friend and I’m rather shocked. I won’t quote because it’s very long, but essentially it says no wepons anywhere, including cars and extracurricular events. This is the part that drives me nuts:
weapons include “razors or other sharp cutting devices”, “any object either used in a way that threatens or functions to inflict bodily injury on another person”, and chains.
I’ve brought razors, saws, screwdrivers, etc. to school to work on science projects for a club- but apparently these are banned as well. The part that really is dumb is that every “weapon” offense is a Level V- requiring expulsion. That means that as far as the school is concerned, a razor blade is exactly the same as a tommy gun. The only difference is whether the police are involved. This is ridiculous.
Also what I found on the drug policy is that every drug offense is treated the same, just like weapons. They are also Level V offenses and include:
“any abusable glue, aerosol paint…”
“correction fluid, white out, etc.”
This would make sense to have a rule against ABUSE of these items, but the penalty extends for mere POSSESSION. This makes sense for marijuana, but for white out?? I know plently of legitimate reasons to have aerosol products or white out- yet it’s worth a mandatory expulsion?? I am amazed at the stupidity of these rules.
One more thing: the knife policy for legal knives etc. (not state-defined illegal “weapons”) is not allowed according to state law to have a punishment of expulsion. Expelling is reserved strictly for certain reasons under Texas law, and these do not constitute a reason… Yet here, in plain English, it states that the penalty for any weapon is a Level V (expulsion). This is a clear violation of state eductation laws ( http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/ed.toc.htm ) (Chapter 37). What can i do about this to get the rules changed (short of violating them and going through the courts- dumb idea)? Any advice is appreciated.
The legal code is a mass of spaghetti. Playing lawyer I can easily show how the law does allow the school to expel a student for carrying a pen knife. Just take this bit of state legalese:
“The board of trustees of a school district may adopt rules for the safety and welfare of students, employees, and property and other rules it considers necessary to carry out this subchapter and the governance of the district… A person who violates this subchapter or any rule adopted under this subchapter commits an offense. An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.”
The state has given local school boards wide discretion to craft safety rules. The school system can determine that blades are a hazard and add them generically to the list of banned items. Even though a penknife might not be considered a dangerous weapon by the state definition, the carrying of the banned item at the school is a misdemeanor. The school system can then expel the student for committing a misdemeanor on school grounds.
That was the first bit of code I looked at and it is easily twisted to the purpose. I gaurantee that there are loads more.
The way to fight this is to get organized and active and insist on responsible school district policies. If the school board will not listen to reason then get them replaced. They are elected officials.
Share your findings and spread the word. Before you looked into it you were under the impression that reasonable items used reasonably were acceptable at school. Your fellow students and their families are under the same delusion. If you educate them to just how ridiculous, restrictive and dangerous these rules are you can do something about them as a group.
Thanks Jim. You’ve been very helpful. I think I’ll talk about it with my uncle (who is a lawyer) and ask what about what the process is to present problems to the district. Our policy is not likely to be changed, but if it can be shown how clearly they are misinterpreting state laws then it is possible. The fact is, all of their justifications for these additional expulsions are very stretched. Hopefully I can help cause some sort of change. Thanks again.
Good luck, Andrew.
An additional suggestion - keep a journal or log of what you learn and what happens in your efforts to normalize the school policies. It would make an excellent journalism and/or poli-sci project and since you’re already doing the activity you can reap some scholastic rewards from it. If it’s detailed enough it could even be publishable.
If there’s anything else I can do to lend a hand please don’t hesitate to ask.
Is this space informational only to certain states or counties? We are in california and I have a similar “butter knife” issue. I have an 8 year old daughter who use a butter knife to take off the bottom of her shoe to put the wheels on Heely shoes (wheels on the back, or if not on regular shoes). She couldn’t find her key to the shoes so that is what she grabs at home to use.
I know how the schools are here and their zero tolerance to weapons. Because I can’t change the law or their rules I accepted the day of suspension and to some degree can understand the whole “knife thing”. If I heard later or had knowledge at the time there was a child on campus with a “KNIFE” I would be very upset and afraid for my child. Only because it’s labeled a “KNIFE” not child brought “BUTTER knife” to change her wheels after school. As a parent if all was said I would be o.k. But the schools only say “KNIFE” and I understand things must be kept in uniform so all weapons may not go to school. Like others have stated this will be on her record as she brought “KNIFE” to school. there probably won’t be anything saying “BUTTER knife to take of bottom of shoe and put wheels in after school. Which is what she took it for.
Not that it was o.k. for her to do without asking us for permission because the answer would have been “NO” the school will see it as a weapon it doesn’t matter that it’s just a butter knife and it doesn’t matter that a pen or a fork in your lunch bag could be a weapon and probably do more damage (her view was “It’s a butter knife not a real knife”). In her mind because she was using it for her shoes she didn’t see what the problem was. I just am worried about the wording in her record later for other schools. Because she will be looked at as “SHE BROUGHT A KNIFE TO SCHOOL”.
That’s half of the one-two punch of zero tolerance policies. First, violations are classified in extremely literal groupings. A knife is a knife is a knife. It doesn’t matter if it is a pocketknife, a butter knife, a plastic knife or a bowie knife. All of them are classified as “KNIFE”. Second is the mandatory punishment for violating a class rule. The penalty for having a KNIFE is X. It doesn’t matter what kind of knife it was because it is simply a KNIFE.
This is also why they will not describe the knife your child had as a butter knife. If they made that distinction in her record they would have to make the distinction in their rules.