Overkill at it's finest

[wisco]

Another case where I have to ask what happened to "spirit of the law vs. letter of the law"?


A standout North Carolina high school student has been suspended for the remainder of her senior year and charged with a misdemeanor for having a small paring knife in her lunchbox.

Ashley Smithwick, 17, of Sanford told WRAL she accidentally took her father's lunchbox to Southern Lee High School in October instead of her own when school officials searched the lunchbox, along with several other students' possessions, possibly looking for drugs.

Ashley's father, Joe Smithwick told the station the lunchbox had a paring knife inside so that he could slice up an apple that accompanied it.

"It's just an honest mistake. That was supposed to be my lunch because it was a whole apple," he said.

But school officials didn't see it that way.

The athlete who takes college-level courses was suspended for the remainder for the school year, banned from campus and this month was charged with misdemeanor possession of a weapon on school grounds, WRAL reported.


Read more: Small Knife in Lunchbox Gets N.C. Student Suspended, Charged With Weapon Possession - FoxNews.com

[Outshined]

Yeah, I don't like stuff like that. It happens around here all the time.

[Piggy]

I think if that ever happened to my kid, I'd just pack up and move.

[Trip]

Amazing

[Safety Steve]

Yha, down here the story will be from a spent shotgun shell that rolled back under the tool box of the truck during dove season! Very sad stuff.


Be Safe.

[retdetsgt]

Common sense has left the building. Several years ago, a first grader was suspended for drawing a picture of a stick man with a rifle. His big brother had just gone into the Army.

Just about every kid I went to public school with carried a pocket knife from the time they were probably in the third grade or so. And I can't remember a single time we ever stabbed anybody.

[Cat_Doc]

Common sense has left the building.

Yes Sir. No common sense, no discretion = tons of idiotic inflexibility. King Solomon would be disgusted.

[bluelightzgrl]

Just about every kid I went to public school with carried a pocket knife from the time they were probably in the third grade or so. And I can't remember a single time we ever stabbed anybody.

It was the same when I was in school.

Now I have a munchkin of my own... I shouldn't feel like I need to conduct a pat-down of my own kid, just to send her to school. Not because she is a bad kid but because of things like this and the over-kill knee jerk reactions from the educators running our schools now.

[MPI1]

I TRULY hope that the parents and child contest this charge and win. I know the law in my state statute regarding "weapons on school grounds" states that the individual KNOWINGLY carried the weapon onto school grounds. Obviously if she didn't know it was her dad's lunchbox, then she wouldn't have KNOWINGLY carried it onto grounds. I hope this is the same way the law is worded there, and the parents raise a stink about this to the media because that just seems wrong!

[Outshined]

My kid got 3 weeks suspension from 7th grade for nail clippers.

[retdetsgt]

My kid got 3 weeks suspension from 7th grade for nail clippers.

Good grief. Is the school run by TSA?

[GoDirectly2Jail]

This is yet another example of a school system writing policies so restrictive and draconion that the teachers and principals 'on the ground' have little to no discretion anymore.

And that's the funniest part - the school system trusts those folks with the molding and educating of our youth, but doesn't trust them to make a good decision on something like this.

[manahmanah]

What's worse is when the school principal calls you to the school for some bull$hit like this and DEMANDS you take a report and arrest/cite the student. I've gotten more than my fair share of complaints because the school ONLY sees things in black and white and has never heard of letter of the law vs. spirit of the law. Then there are Sgts, Admin that side with the school administration instead of backing up their officers. Ugh, why did I read this thread, now I'm all worked up.

[BJJVad]

It's all that "Medical Marijuana". Making teachers paranoid..

[retdetsgt]

It's all that "Medical Marijuana". Making teachers paranoid..

That's why they should put Doritos in the classrooms......