Third grader suspended for taking butter knife in lunch

[Champ]

A King William County woman is questioning the county school district's zero-tolerance policy on weapons. Joyce Heath says her eight-year-old son returned to school yesterday after being suspended for seven days, because he carried a butter knife to school with his lunch.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Nicholas, a third-grader, had been suspended for ten days and faced the possibility of being placed in disciplinary classes for a year. But Heath met with School Superintendent Brenda Cowlbeck on Tuesday, and the suspension was lifted.

Cowlbeck said she could not comment on the matter because of privacy laws. But she said Tuesday's meeting was her first chance to discuss the matter with the boy's mother.

Heath said she packed a butter knife in her son's lunch along with a package of peanut butter and jelly on October first. She says Nicholas did not do anything threatening with the knife.

http://www.nbc12.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WWBT/MGArticle/WBT_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031778530651

[7th_Sephiroth]

1. 5 year old executed for drawing a picture of a gun in school

zero tolerance means zero tolerance, said the principal

[rkc3]

2. I was outraged by this until I saw peanut butter was invovled.

It has been shown in Al Qaeda manuals that the combination of peanut butter and butter knives can render a child speechless for several minutes.

I'm glad our schools are so diligently looking out for the safety of our children.

[Pale_Rider]

4. Also render dogs ...

... barkless for several minutes as well.

[LSdemocrat]

3. Oh how I hate "zero tolerance" rules

Quite possibly the worst disciplinary guideline since corporal punishment.

[zbdent]

5. There's your absolutist thinking for you

You say you want people to follow the rules?

Don't have the Eagle Scout whine about "Being Prepared" when he is suspended for having a knife in his backpack (true case a few years ago).

[Carson]

6. "Zero Tolerance" has come to mean "Zero Sense"

When my son was in kindergarten, I was called into school because he and some other children were playing "Cops and Robbers" on the playground. My son, along with the others, were reprimanded for using their fingers and saying "Pow,pow!"