"You've got to be kidding me!" I shouted at my computer. Really? I thought. A 6-year-old suspended from school for bringing utensils? I'm all for protecting our kids from potential harm, but a 6-year-old?! On a 45-day suspension?! My kid's six. And if I were in Zachary's mom's shoes I'd be a mess. Especially because, like Zachary, my 6-year-old loves school. And it would have been a total mistake if he had brought an eating utensil with a pocket knife and can opener to school.
But wait. My 6-year-old wouldn't have a pocket knife to bring to school. Because I know better. Should he ever join Boy Scouts, should we go camping and he need a knife... he may come in contact with one. But I know better than to place a contraption with a sharp knife in the hands of a child without me standing right next to him.
And even if he did find one, my child would know better than to bring a knife to school. Even if he's totally excited about it. Because I would have told him as soon as he came across the fancy little thing that it is not to be played with, touched, or even looked at without me or Daddy around. It is, afterall, a knife.
So, now, I'm not feeling such sympathy for the parent. A parent who, post Columbine and Virginia Tech, feels its "okay" to place a pocket knife in the hands of a child and not supervise it, is a parent who needs a lesson. A big one.
In 2000, while teaching my suburban, affluent 2nd graders, little Amanda pulled me aside. She whispered to me that she needed to talk. Once in the privacy of the hallway, she informed me that Kenny (age 7) had a knife in his backpack. A big one. Amanda returned to the classroom. A few minutes later, with the guidance counselor by my side, I invited Kenny to come out to the hallway. Kindly, I asked him if he had a knife in his backpack. Through tears, Kenny admitted that he did have one. It was his Grandfather's, brought over from Russia. And he was so excited about it that he brought it to school to show his friends. He told me: "I forgot that I'm not supposed to bring it in." We asked him to show it to us. And out he pulled a heavy, sharp, big knife with a large wooden handle. Cleverly wrapped in paper towels.
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