No need to write extensively about this. I’ll let the following excerpt from Prudence Hill’s article at ijr.com tell the story. Please pay special attention to the part I’ve put in bold print:
An 11-year-old girl is serving a six-day suspension for sharing a peach with her classmate. School officials defending the punishment say that the middle school student violated their weapon policy.
But her parents point out that this ‘weapon’ is intended for toddlers to use.
As ABC 10 News reports, the incident occurred in the cafeteria of Silver Trail Middle School in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Asked by a friend if she would share her peach, the girl used a knife from her lunchbox to cut the fruit in half. Shortly after, she found herself in the principal’s office, being coined a “threat” to her fellow students.
School officials say the honor roll student violated a district rule by bringing the knife to school. Her parents, however, find it nonsensical that their daughter’s small, dull butter knife qualifies as a “weapon.” Andrea Souto, the girl’s mother, explains to ABC 10 that the knife in question is considered safe for babies:
“This is a set of a spoon, fork, and knife [is] for toddlers— one-year-old[s]. It is made for children to learn how to eat properly. She’s used it since she was baby.”
Now, the girl’s parents are concerned that their daughter’s use of a toddler knife may lead to criminal charges. The local police department says their investigation of the incident has been turned over to the State Attorney’s Office. The school has also given the confiscated knife to prosecutors as evidence.
Larry Meltzer, the Souter’s attorney, puts the blame on the school board for not intervening. He tells ABC 10 that it’s the board’s responsibility to protect a model student from such an absurd result:
“The school board has abused its discretion to act in this case. It is tragic that a school that this little girl loves sees fit to prosecute and suspend her — the epitome of a model and honor roll student — for using a child-proof utensil that could never be construed in any form as a weapon in order to share part of her lunch with a fellow classmate.”
Evidently, in the Silver Trail Middle School of Pembroke Pines, Florida, it is much easier to just suspend a quality student for 6 days, then to THINK about why it is being done.
Did you ever hear of anything as stupid as this in your life?
Unfortunately, if you have been following some of the idiocies that take place in our public schools over the years, the answer probably is yes.
And you can count on there being more of them going forward. A lot more.
Oh, brother….
