WTH....

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by CastleBravo

Another thought..forgive me. Six year olds are now public enenmies?
Insane.

Yes, they can blow up quite young these days.

Originally Posted by SteamWake

When I went to school integration was a brand new thing. There was alot of racial tension and fights were quite common.

In this particular case the boy had sucker punched me as I walked down the hall... for no particular reason other than I was a 'honkie'. I managed to catch up wtih him later and return the favor.

I hope that US-style violent culture never finds it's way to Finland.

Originally Posted by OneToughHerring

I hope that US-style violent culture never finds it's way to Finland.

Where do you think the US-style violent behavior came from..........Europe. None of us are native to this land. We are but caretakers and are willing to do what is neccessary to keep it. Much like the Finns, when it comes to Russia.

Originally Posted by CastleBravo

Where do you think the US-style violent behavior came from..........Europe. None of us are native to this land. We are but caretakers and are willing to do what is neccessary to keep it. Much like the Finns, when it comes to Russia.

US culture is not the same thing as European culture. It wasn't even in the very beginning when the US was founded. Caretakers? Meaning one day you'll scamper out and give the land back to it's rightful owners, the natives? And where will you go?

Originally Posted by OneToughHerring

US culture is not the same thing as European culture. It wasn't even in the very beginning when the US was founded. Caretakers? Meaning one day you'll scamper out and give the land back to it's rightful owners, the natives? And where will you go?

You neglected to address this.

Where do you think the US-style violent behavior came from..........Europe.

or this.......

Much like the Finns, when it comes to Russia.

Time to get over your sense of moral superiority and get a grasp on reality mate.

I already addressed it, US culture is very different from European culture. Originally we all came from Africa, can I use this as a cop out next time I do something wrong?

Russia? What does Russia have to do with this?

Blame it on the Europeans. 85% of the US population comes from you. And yes we brought our backgrounds with us. I'm sorry if that is hard for you to grasp OneToughHerring. You are part of a very violent culture.

Sniffle, cry, all you wish. It is the truth, Americans didn't invent violence.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by CastleBravo

Much like the Finns, when it comes to Russia.

Time to get over your sense of moral superiority and get a grasp on reality .

He was just trying to point out a releationship thats all Russia has to do with it.

Originally Posted by SteamWake

He was just trying to point out a releationship thats all Russia has to do with it.

Thanks for the support SteamWake, but if OneToughHerring knows so little of his own country's history the entire argument is and will always be lost on him.

[Platapus]

Too bad the parents did not take the time to explain to him about knives and rules. Could have avoided all this mess.

here is another version
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...MNM21A4B2T.DTL

(10-12) 04:00 PDT Newark, Del. -- Zachary Christie, 6, was so excited about joining the Cub Scouts that he brought a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon to school to use at lunch.
School officials concluded he had violated their zero-tolerance policy on weapons, and Zachary faces 45 days in the district's reform school.

Spurred in part by the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings, many school districts around the country adopted zero-tolerance policies on possession of weapons on school grounds. More recently, there has been growing debate over whether the policies have gone too far.

But, based on the code of conduct for the Christina School District, where Zachary is a first-grader, school officials had no choice. They had to suspend him because, "regardless of possessor's intent," knives are banned.

Critics contend that zero-tolerance policies like those in the district have led to sharp increases in suspensions and expulsions, often putting children on the streets or in other places where their behavior only worsens, and that the policies undermine the use of common sense by school officials in handling minor infractions.

For Delaware, Zachary's case is especially frustrating because last year state lawmakers tried to make disciplinary rules more flexible by giving local boards authority to, "on a case-by-case basis, modify the terms of the expulsion."

The law was introduced after a third-grade girl was expelled for a year because her grandmother sent a birthday cake to school, and a knife to cut it. The teacher called the principal - but not before using the knife to cut and serve the cake.

Education experts say that zero-tolerance policies initially allowed authorities more leeway in punishing students, but were applied in a discriminatory fashion. Many studies indicate that African-Americans were several times more likely to be suspended or expelled than other students for the same offenses.

Other school districts are also trying to address problems they say have stemmed in part from overly strict zero-tolerance policies.

In Baltimore, around 10,000 students, roughly 12 percent of enrollment, were suspended during the 2006-07 school year, mostly for disruption and insubordination, according to a report by the Open Society Institute-Baltimore. School officials there are re-writing the disciplinary code, to route students to counseling rather than suspension.

In Milwaukee, where school officials reported that 40 percent of ninth-graders had been suspended in the 2006-07 school year, the superintendent has encouraged teachers not to overreact to student misconduct.

This is what happens when parents scream about what are the schools doing to protect kids? Everyone likes no-tolerance rules when they apply to the other kid, but when it is your kid all of a sudden there should be some tolerance.

Perhaps if the schools could be trusted to implement policy with out discrimination, they can be trusted to evaluate these instances on a case-to-case basis. Until then the policies need to be worded such that the school officials have no leeway. This means that the rules need to be worded very carefully so that bad kids don't fall through the cracks and good kids don't get caught up in the net.

I am a little concerned that these parents would allow their 6 year old to go to school with a knife. The knife should have been kept under the parents control while the kid is not doing scouting stuff.

[longam]

Has the school gone to far? What does the cafeteria use for utensils?

Defiantly a case of going to far. Anyone who possessed a Swiss Army Knife when I went to school was proud to show it off.

Counseling in the USA has become a income source for a large batch of companies and they are taking advantage of anything they can. Drug testing would be a good example at work. If you pop on a test you can keep your job but you have to attend a course for so many weeks, doesn't matter if you sober up or not.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by CastleBravo

Sniffle, cry, all you wish. It is the truth, Americans didn't invent violence.

Maybe so, but you do a pretty good job on keeping the violence level high on that side of the pond.

I am a little concerned that these parents would allow their 6 year old to go to school with a knife. The knife should have been kept under the parents control while the kid is not doing scouting stuff.

It wasn't a knife. Please read the article. Even if it was. I went to school with a knife on a few occaisions. Nothing happened. Little boys show and tell. Nothing more.

Originally Posted by Dowly

Maybe so, but you do a pretty good job on keeping the violence level high on that side of the pond.

And Finland is free of violence? Please. You will notice that much of the violence is black on black. What does it say about black culture.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by CastleBravo

And Finland is free of violence? Please. You will notice that much of the violence is black on black. What does it say about black culture.

No no no, now you're doing the old trick again of putting words into my mouth. I didnt say Finland is violence free, hell, I didnt even mention Finland! Yes, I know there is alot of black on black violence, but what it has to do with this? There's also white on black, black on white, white on white (etc.) violence. I just got the impression from your posts that you are somehow trying to make us believe that US isnt particulary violent country from the western bunch?