Zero Tolerance policy can hurt honest kids.....Updated news and added Poll...

[Zwingle]

This led to the expusion of a student at the high school I graduated from.....this is so stupid!

A North Texas school district plans to hold a news conference this afternoon to discuss the recent expulsion of an honor student.

Sixteen year-old Taylor Hess of Hurst was expelled for bringing a knife onto school grounds, but his family is taking a stab at getting an exception made to the school?s ?zero-tolerance? policy.
The student and his family are fighting to clear his name. The family said their son is an innocent victim of the school?s policy against weapons.

Hess felt the sting of the school?s strong stance against weapons when a campus security officer spotted a bread knife in the bed of his pickup truck.

?I had no idea it was in my truck, and I doubt that I ever even touched the knife,? Taylor said.

However, despite his plea, the knife got Taylor expelled from L.D. Bell High School. School officials said the cutlery put other students in danger.

HOW IT GOT THERE

So if Taylor never saw or even touched the knife, where did it come from? Taylor and his dad said they were cleaning out the garage, and that the knife likely fell out of a box during a delivery to Goodwill.

?I guess if you wanted to capsulize it... an act of being a Good Samaritan has this fine young man expelled from school,? Taylor?s dad Robert said.

A STRONG STANCE

Taylor pleaded his case before school officials, but because of the zero-tolerance policy, they didn?t budge. Taylor was expelled for one year.

The honor student and swim team member is now ordered to attend alternative education.

?It?s just kind of ludicrous the way the school is sacrificing judgment calls to uphold this policy,? Robert Hess said. ?Taylor has done nothing wrong.?

Taylor will appeal his expulsion in a hearing on Thursday. His lawyer will argue that Taylor was never in possession of the knife.

Hurst police declined to file charges against Taylor, and the superintendent of Hurst-Euless-Bedford said he couldn?t comment on the case.

UPDATE:



<< HEB ISD Superintendent Gene Buinger held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to explain to reporters that the district is simply following state law, which mandates the expulsion of a student found with a knife on campus. >>



POLL: Should the Hurst honor student be expelled? Click here to vote

 

[fatalbert]

that sucks, he shouldn't be expelled for that

 

[Zenmervolt]

This is where it's helpful to have a car with a trunk. I did trailwork at a local park for a while when I was in HS, and for a few weeks out of the year my trunk always had a machette and a weed whip in it.

ZV

 

[cjchaps]

A butter-knife? Geeze, it's not like a machete or something. I wonder if the court system is going to laugh when they hear this one.

 

[BlueApple]

I know someone who was suspended for ten days because she brought a bottle of Tylenol to school.

 

[Vic]

WTF? A bread knife? In the back of his pickup? Ridiculous.
What are the odds that this same school has similar knives that it provides to the students for use in the cafeteria and kitchen?

I'd like to think that this is something new and that schools are just going crazy, but I know that it is not. In the mid '80s, a (not-close) friend of mine and honor student was expelled from my high school for drug possession. Zero-tolerance forced the administrators to overlook the fact that the only "drugs" in question were ibuprofen. (full story: he had a headache and popped a couple of ibuprofen at this locker. Another kid saw him "taking drugs" and told on him... it snowballed from there.)

 

[b0mbrman]

That's pretty silly...but the ironing is delicious

 

[mithrandir2001]

Nah, nah, nah. This can't be real. You don't get expelled for a year for having a butter knife in the bed of your pickup truck! Is this article satire?

EDIT: Ahem, and this is TEXAS? Where probably half the kids have gun racks mounted in their trucks? This story is just unbelivable.

 

[fatalbert]

<< That's pretty silly...but the ironing is delicious >>



ironing?

do you mean irony

 

[gopunk]

sucks.

on a similar note, a similar thing happened to me... i put a small exacto knife in my pocket when i was at home... and when i was at school the next day, i remembered i left it there. some kids yanked it out of my hand and started chasing me around the playground with it. in retrospect, i guess i'm lucky no teacher saw it, and that the kids weren't really trying to kill me.

 

[GasX]

<< Nah, nah, nah. This can't be real. You don't get expelled for a year for having a butter knife in the bed of your pickup truck! Is this article satire?

EDIT: Ahem, and this is TEXAS? Where probably half the kids have gun racks mounted in their trucks? This story is just unbelivable. >>

sadly, this is not satire. Zero-tolerance horror stories are all too real and all too effing insane.

 

[Squisher]

I'm always getting stuff thrown into the bed of my pickup like beer bottles and other such litter by people too lazy to throw it in the trash. I usually don't know it's there until I hear something rolling around.

 

[joohang]

That's BS.

 

[PhaZe]

You know what would be worse, if someone just gently tossed the little knife in there to be an ass.

Damn.

 

[PrincessGuard]

It was a bread knife, which, well, cut bread. They're usually long and serrated to some degree but have a rounded end.

I agree this is a stupid thing to expel a kid over though. You could theoretically kill someone with a bread knife, so it may be a tough case. Then again, you could theoretically kill someone with a piece of paper, given enough time...

"Sixteen year-old Taylor Hess of Hurst was expelled for bringing a knife onto school grounds, but his family is taking a stab at getting an exception made to the school?s ?zero-tolerance? policy."

Ugh :disgust:

 

[Cerebus451]

And herein lies the problem with "zero tolerance". Zero tolerance means just that. There is no tolerance in the law. If you have a weapon, you are expelled, and that includes in your vehicle. As soon as you make an exception for a bread knife in the bed of a truck, you have to make more and more exceptions.

I personally don't think "zero tolerance" can ever work. It is simply too strict. People looking for that kind of structure in their laws can move to a Muslim nation. Using this same example, it is possible that the knife was not even accidentally dropped there, but rather placed there by someone looking to get revenge on the kid, and since there is "zero tolerance", there is nothing the kid can do to protect himself against this kind of malicious attack. These kind of policies are born out of the irrational belief that weapons kill people. To parrot the NRA: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". The problem isn't the weapon, it's the person wielding the weapon to do harm.

I hope the kid wins the battle, as this is a travesty of justice. If the kid had the knife on his person, then I'd say he's screwed, because he needs to be aware of the severity of his actions. But to expel the kid because it was in the bed of a truck, and it could have gotten into the bed of the truck (and I am talking about anything, be it a fully automatic Uzi, 10 pounds of heroin, or a bread knife) by any means, be it intentional, by accident, or by the malicious doings of another individual, is just crazy.

 

[loup garou]

I agree that it is silly to expel him, but just so that everyone is clear, it was a bread knife not a butter knife. This is a bread knife. Not exactly a small blade, but, like I said, it is silly to expel him.

 

[Elledan]

Anyone here dares to venture a guess at how long it will take before some poor kid will be expelled from school for bringing a pen into school?

 

[joohang]

I personally find the truck more dangerous than the bread knife.

 

[notfred]

Crap like this is happening across the country. It's bullsh!t. People being suspended from having advil at school. A kid in my district when I was in high school was expelled for having a fishing knife that he forgot to take out of his backpack after he went fishing over the weekend.

The public schools across this country have turned into prisons.

 

[mithrandir2001]

Yes, bread knives are a bit different than butter knives - they are longer and serrated - but even a bread knife would be a poor weapon because they generally use rather flexible metal. A chef's knife, OTOH, would be different because it has a pointed end and can be very rigid.

 

[clarkmo]

<< personally don't think "zero tolerance" can ever work. It is simply too strict. People looking for that kind of structure in their laws can move to a Muslim nation. >>


Exactly.
We laugh at the news of their draconian laws and punishments. Who's laughing now? Somtimes I'm just embarrassed to live in the same country with some folks. Even if it is Texas.
Not to mention, that a kid with evil intent could easily put a machete and weed whipper in their trunk, out of
sight. They really should be ashamed.

 

[Elledan]

<< At the dawn of the American experience, Benjamin Franklin allegedly presciently observed that "those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." >>


Nice sig

 

[mattbta]

And I used to be overly proud of being a Texan. This hits close to home. I went to Grapevine and Colleyville four years. First we didn't hang Andrea Yates and now we expel a kid for a bread knife that he likely had NO knowledge that it was in the back of his truck. Argh....frustration.

/rant off

 

[Broncho]

Unfortunately, I know this has to be a true story. The zero tolerance stuff has gotten way out of hand. I heard of a kid at one of my old schools who saw a pocket knife laying on the ground in a public area. He picked it up and took it to the assistant principle who thanked him and then suspended him for three days for having it. When the kid asked what he should have done, the assitant principle told hime he should have left it where he found it and found a teacher to show them. Anyone want to take bets on whether or not it would have been there when they got back? This was at a junior high (middle school) by the way. Getting suspended for having pain killers is stupid too. I guess whoever came up with the zero tolerance rule for drugs and included pain killers didn't think that anyone under the age of 18 has the responsibility and maturity to take pain killers responsibly. It is nuts. Also, I drove a truck in high school and my friends were always throwing trash in the back of my truck to give me a hard time. A truck bed is a very convenient dumping spot for some people. I think that would be a great secondayr defense for this guy. I sincerly hope his case gets thrown out and he is readmitted to school.