So I’m reading this article in the NY Times about how a kid in Delaware has been suspended because he brought his Cub Scout multi-tool to school. Personally, I think forcing the child to live in Newark, Delaware is punishment enough. For the rest of his life people will be like “Where are you from?” and he will say “Newark” and they will be all “Oh, I hate New Jersey” and he will go “Yeah, Jersey’s not so bad, but I’m from Delaware” and they will screw up their faces and quack “But I thought you said you were from Newark.” And he will sigh.
Right now, though, he has been suspended because he just could not, COULD NOT, go to school without bringing the fork, knife, spoon combo he had won at a den meeting. Yes, the knife is the problem. Apparently, the school system has a zero-tolerance policy about bringing bladed instruments to school. The bus driver who caught me cutting up a seat in the 7th grade (reason still unknown to me, ooops!) can tell you that kids should not have knives at school. Does zero tolerance and 45 days of suspension for a first grade cub scout seem harsh? A little. What bothers me more is that his folks got off scot-free.
Indeed, I am going there. ::clears throat:: Where were his parents? Seriously now, there are days when Tallulah has to, HAS TO, take something like her uranium centrifuge to school. I know without looking at the handbook that radioactive material is not allowed in school. Even if I did not think it would be a problem and she just gets so excited about the new isotope she won at youth group bingo, I need to step up when she gets in trouble for bringing it. We do have ugly scenes about these sorts of things. They happened more last year because her teacher was more strict then. But still, it’s our responsibility to help our kids follow the rules, not start a whole website when they get busted.