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http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/05/10/2-md-students-punished-after-bag-search/

Calling a lighter an explosive device?

These people are utter idiots , they suspended them over a Lighter and Pen knife used for repairs.

I think the whole zero tolerance thing gets taken a bit to far at times...

Pretty sure rather recently there was a 2nd grader expelled from bringing firecrackers to school for show and tell, the school board hid behind their zero tolerance thing. What is a 2nd grader going to do with a few black cats... He thought they were cool and wanted to show them to the class, he didnt know it was wrong.

I can see the knife thing somewhat, you can do a lot of damage with those 2 inch swiss army knives, however a lighter? being called an explosive devise? Give me a break.

Both items were banned, so punishments were necessary, but not of this magnitude.

I agree something should have been done, perhaps detention or something like that and confiscation of the items.

If it is that vital for the players to have access to those items ( I know I carried a lighter and small swiss army knife when I played hockey) then the coach should keep them in a safe place so the students can use them.

ShivanAngel wrote:I agree something should have been done, perhaps detention or something like that and confiscation of the items.

The USA generally applies laws literally, leaving little leeway for leniency.

ShivanAngel wrote:I think the whole zero tolerance thing gets taken a bit to far at times...

Pretty sure rather recently there was a 2nd grader expelled from bringing firecrackers to school for show and tell, the school board hid behind their zero tolerance thing. What is a 2nd grader going to do with a few black cats... He thought they were cool and wanted to show them to the class, he didnt know it was wrong.

I can see the knife thing somewhat, you can do a lot of damage with those 2 inch swiss army knives, however a lighter? being called an explosive devise? Give me a break.

You can also do damage with a pen, instead of a knife. A tool can be changed to a weapon very easily, suspending someone over a pocket knife is ridiculous. This whole zero tolerance BS has gone too far.

misfit wrote:

ShivanAngel wrote:I think the whole zero tolerance thing gets taken a bit to far at times...

Pretty sure rather recently there was a 2nd grader expelled from bringing firecrackers to school for show and tell, the school board hid behind their zero tolerance thing. What is a 2nd grader going to do with a few black cats... He thought they were cool and wanted to show them to the class, he didnt know it was wrong.

I can see the knife thing somewhat, you can do a lot of damage with those 2 inch swiss army knives, however a lighter? being called an explosive devise? Give me a break.

You can also do damage with a pen, instead of a knife. A tool can be changed to a weapon very easily, suspending someone over a pocket knife is ridiculous. This whole zero tolerance BS has gone too far.

To say nothing of a lax stick. I've whacked some people around pretty good while playing, without protective gear you could do some serious damage.

ShivanAngel wrote:I think the whole zero tolerance thing gets taken a bit to far at times...

Pretty sure rather recently there was a 2nd grader expelled from bringing firecrackers to school for show and tell, the school board hid behind their zero tolerance thing. What is a 2nd grader going to do with a few black cats... He thought they were cool and wanted to show them to the class, he didnt know it was wrong.

I can see the knife thing somewhat, you can do a lot of damage with those 2 inch swiss army knives, however a lighter? being called an explosive devise? Give me a break.

Kids in elementary school have been suspended for: a picture of a gun, doodled on notebook paper; a 1 cm long handgun keychain; the gun on a green army man; and saying the word "bang" while making a gun with your fingers. Heck, a kid at my high school got suspended for having a box cutter in the cup holder of his car, when he worked at a local grocery store. Didn't even bring it into school.

The funniest part about this whole situation was where the superintendent of the co. school system stated in a letter to the family that this could have been much worse. To the tune of 3 years in jail for the kid with a pen knife being used for the equipment.

As per maryland laws:

§ 4-101. Dangerous weapons.

(a) Definitions.-
(1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. (2) "Nunchaku" means a device constructed of two pieces of any substance, including wood, metal, or plastic, connected by any chain, rope, leather, or other flexible material not exceeding 24 inches in length.
(3) (i) "Pepper mace" means an aerosol propelled combination of highly disabling irritant pepper-based products.
(ii) "Pepper mace" is also known as oleoresin capsicum (o.c.) spray.
(4) "Star knife" means a device used as a throwing weapon, consisting of several sharp or pointed blades arrayed as radially disposed arms about a central disk.
(5) (i) "Weapon" includes a dirk knife, bowie knife, switchblade knife, star knife, sandclub, metal knuckles, razor, and nunchaku.
(ii) "Weapon" does not include:
1. a handgun; or
2. a penknife without a switchblade.


Biggest highlight being that last line there. Good job Talbot Co. You obviously know what you're doing over there on the Eastern Shore.

Morons

dogma wrote:

misfit wrote:

ShivanAngel wrote:I think the whole zero tolerance thing gets taken a bit to far at times...

Pretty sure rather recently there was a 2nd grader expelled from bringing firecrackers to school for show and tell, the school board hid behind their zero tolerance thing. What is a 2nd grader going to do with a few black cats... He thought they were cool and wanted to show them to the class, he didnt know it was wrong.

I can see the knife thing somewhat, you can do a lot of damage with those 2 inch swiss army knives, however a lighter? being called an explosive devise? Give me a break.

You can also do damage with a pen, instead of a knife. A tool can be changed to a weapon very easily, suspending someone over a pocket knife is ridiculous. This whole zero tolerance BS has gone too far.

To say nothing of a lax stick. I've whacked some people around pretty good while playing, without protective gear you could do some serious damage.

THIS!

I have a knife, a lighter and a 3-6 foot long lacrosse stick. Which am I going to use as a weapon? I've made people cough blood on the lacrosse field! The pen knife was probably part of the leatherman tool. Lax sticks need constant care depending on how they are strung. The leather man and lighter are really handy for fixing a stick.

Now we don't know the whole story, maybe these kids were acting like fools and the cop took some retribution. I'm kind of ok with that. On the other and if I courteously handed my bag over for a search and they tried to cuff me for a lighter, they'd have to charge me with resisting arrest and assault because I would have resisted and if it came to it I'd have beat the cop down with my stick!

F'ing pigs! When did they start searching bags before games anyway?

So what kind of tool are the janitors allowed to use at this school?

For those of you who actually know lacrosse you may appreciate this video. An 80 yard lacrosse goal. What was the goalie thinking coming out of the crease like that?

Confiscate the items, let the kid go on his way with a warning.
Whoever called the police should be fired.
The officer that took the kid away in cuffs should be reprimanded.

Just make sure you put foam padding on every tool in the construction class, and dull the end of every single pencil. You could really hurt someone with those.

And get rid of the fire extinguishers in the school, they can be explosive too! And don't forget the coffee in the teacher's lounge. Some crafty swine could find a way to blow that up too.

...wow. I would have gone to jail for a long time if I went there then. I always carry around a pocket knife and lighter. And sharp pencils. Guess which ones are better weapons? There's a difference between zero tolerance and stupidity. This is the latter. Unless there's a local bylaw there about that knife, its under a 3inch blade from what I remember... This kid hadn't broken any laws, only local school rules. Dear lord stuff like this makes me angry. There's a difference between a weapon and a tool. Having a knife for a specific (non-violent/illegal) reason shouldn't score you a criminal record. Over here in Oz they have much stricter laws regarding these things and even _they_ would have looked at this situation and laughed at it's absurdity.

This is why zero tolerance policies make zero sense and their adherence is a sign of zero intelligence.

Andrew1975 wrote:
I have a knife, a lighter and a 3-6 foot long lacrosse stick. Which am I going to use as a weapon?

Well, if you're smart, you'll use the knife to unstring the lax stick, and then use the string to tie the knife to the end of the shaft; sealing the knots with the lighter. Instant spear.

It's not like the list of prohibited items is top secret or anything. It's easy enough to read those handbooks they give out at the start of each term and just... not bring in any of those items. I mean that's what I did.

dogma wrote:

Andrew1975 wrote:
I have a knife, a lighter and a 3-6 foot long lacrosse stick. Which am I going to use as a weapon?

Well, if you're smart, you'll use the knife to unstring the lax stick, and then use the string to tie the knife to the end of the shaft; sealing the knots with the lighter. Instant spear.

Might as well set it on fire while you're at it.

dogma wrote:

Andrew1975 wrote:
I have a knife, a lighter and a 3-6 foot long lacrosse stick. Which am I going to use as a weapon?

Well, if you're smart, you'll use the knife to unstring the lax stick, and then use the string to tie the knife to the end of the shaft; sealing the knots with the lighter. Instant spear.

I must admit, I approve of such inventiveness.

The only thing my friends and I ever did in wood shop was make wooden weapons, we became quite good at sharpening sticks with a belt sander and band saw.

The blades of the latter can easily be used to make serrated swords by cutting a groove into a piece of wood, and inserting the blade with some glue.

dogma wrote:The only thing my friends and I ever did in wood shop was make wooden weapons, we became quite good at sharpening sticks with a belt sander and band saw.

The blades of the latter can easily be used to make serrated swords by cutting a groove into a piece of wood, and inserting the blade with some glue.

And there I was thinking I was a rebel by making a key rack for my mother.

Its amazing what you can get away with when teachers thing of you as the smart kids.

Andrew1975 wrote:......................................
So what kind of tool are the janitors allowed to use at this school?

For those of you who actually know lacrosse you may appreciate this video. An 80 yard lacrosse goal. What was the goalie thinking coming out of the crease like that?

Man that girl has a good arm!

Chongara wrote:

dogma wrote:The only thing my friends and I ever did in wood shop was make wooden weapons, we became quite good at sharpening sticks with a belt sander and band saw.

The blades of the latter can easily be used to make serrated swords by cutting a groove into a piece of wood, and inserting the blade with some glue.

And there I was thinking I was a rebel by making a key rack for my mother.

In shop we all had the fun game of "try to get a bong" past the teacher. There were some pretty ingenious ways kids tried to incorporate a bong into tables, lamps anything we could think of. Old mister Nietzsche (yup, that was my shop class teacher's name) was a crafty devil though and would gleefully smash apart any product that had a bong built into it.

Back in the 1980s, my high school had a rifle (sharpshooting) team. I am now somewhat jealous of the 80s. Just a little, though.

Man that girl has a good arm!

I submit that you wouldn't survive 2 minutes in a lacrosse field. It's very brutal! The American Indian game was called bagatawy which translates into little brother of war. It was a complete training exercise for battle, and sometimes replaced it for minor tribal squabbles.

George Carlin may have said "If you find yourself running down a field with a net, you are engaged in a fagot college activity". I don't think he ever saw a game though.

It's not like the list of prohibited items is top secret or anything. It's easy enough to read those handbooks they give out at the start of each term and just... not bring in any of those items. I mean that's what I did.

You must be a RAW advocate! You need those those items to play effectively. Might as well classify my cleats as a weapon then!

Well, if you're smart, you'll use the knife to unstring the lax stick, and then use the string to tie the knife to the end of the shaft; sealing the knots with the lighter. Instant spear.

I'm not sure you would have time before you were screaming "Don't taze me bro

In my woodshop class, I made an anti-vamipire weapon consisting of a cross/stake combo.

Chongara wrote:It's not like the list of prohibited items is top secret or anything. It's easy enough to read those handbooks they give out at the start of each term and just... not bring in any of those items. I mean that's what I did.

The thing to do would be to beat someone to death with the safety handbook.

The thing to do would be to beat someone to death with the safety handbook.

Death of a thousand paper cuts!