10 y/o girl arrested for using knife to cut steak

[Tim]

I guess we will jus thave to agree to disagree .. I wasn't left alone, I dind't handle knives as a child .. and I grew up just fine. I've never been in jail (except that once and it was a clerical error and I was released free of charge) and i respect the law. I know why laws re inplace and I know why they have the punishments they have.

Kids today think they don't have to mind .. because no one wants laws/rules enforced .. because GOD FORBID someoen tell their child what to do .. OH the horror!

These kids don't have common sense because it isn't being taught to them .. they are being taught by their parents .. that rules/laws are stupid and dumb and over used.

It's no wonder our jails are full, and will continue to get even fuller.

I agree that there needs to be punishments and that they need to be enforced when laws are broken. I am all for having the police come to school and remove a child that brings a weapon to school. If a teacher finds a knife or gun on a child/in their backpack/in their locker etc. then they need to be punished in accordance to the law. I don't want kids to ever be able to have weapons at school, or outside of school for that matter.

But I guess this is where we disagree... I see this as a STUPID mistake. One that she should be punished for. One that should be considered a serious infraction of school policy. But one that should have been dealt with between the school and the parents of the child. I don't see any malice or intent behind this action, and that makes a huge difference. Just like the child that was arrested for having 2 Tylenol in school. A zero drug policy is good, but god damn it have some common sense.
Having the police come to the school and take her to juvie hall was an over reaction. That should be reserved for those who break the law, not for those who make stupid mistakes.

 

[SRC]

The girl's uncle, Kenneth Thomas, told MyFOXOrlando that his niece had to ride in the back of a patrol car.

Captain Jimmy Pogue of the Marion County Sheriff's office said the 10-year-old was not treated like a criminal.

"I don't want people to feel like we're arresting 10-year-olds, handcuffing them, and hauling them off in a back of a patrol car and taking them to jail," Pogue told MyFOXOrlando. "That's not the circumstance."

They can't pick and choose who to punish and who to not punish. If a kid brings a knife to school it's against the rule and the schools made a punishment to fit the offense .. they can't say "well you brought it in your lunch box so you don't get in as much trouble .. but you brought it in your back pack so you're getting in trouble".

The punishment has to fall equally across the board. People are so "equal rights", pro this and ppro that, and so all together wrapped up in this political correctness bullshit .. that the way this was handled is just how things have to be this day and time .. else no one respects anything.

If Tommy get in trouble for having a knife in his bag, but he wasn't threatening anyone with it (perhaps yet) and he gets in trouble (is hauled off to juvie) .. and his mom finds out that Suzie brought one in her lunch box but didn't get in trouble (no juvie, but instead parents were just called) Tommy's mother is gonan pitch a fit and sue the school.

And you know what .. because of all this bullshit that sue happy people have created .. she'll most likely win.

That is why ALL cases are treated the same .. you bring a knife to school (regardless of circumstance) you get the same punishment as everyone else.

 

[Dana]

i hate debating

 

[SRC]

debating is good for you Dana

 

[thrawn]

i can't

 

[Pudding Time]

They can't pick and choose who to punish and who to not punish.

IMO that's exactly what they should be doing, and also what we have judges for.

This 10 year old girl should not be treated the same as a 17 year old boy who brings a knife to school to stab/kill his teacher for failing his last exam.

 

[SRC]

IMO that's exactly what they should be doing, and also what we have judges for.

This 10 year old girl should not be treated the same as a 17 year old boy who brings a knife to school to stab/kill his teacher for failing his last exam.

exactly .. and she will go to court and be seen by a judge, not sent home like she skipped a class.

Our court systems are tied up with enough law suits against public systems (like schools) .. they don't need more.

They define a law, define a clear punishment for it .. and guess what .. you don't do it and you won't get the punishment.

They make these punishments SO exstravagant in HOPES people will fear them enough to NOT DO the crime. There are just some people out there either to stupid to heed them or to bull headed to obey them.

I guess time and media coverage will tell what the case was here.

Saying they need to pick and choose here is like saying if I get pulled over for speeding because I was late or had to pee or any other reason I couod come up with the validate my speeding .. should legally get me out of a ticket. It shouldn't. I know what would happen if I sped and got caught, I sped, I get caught, I get the ticket .. and I pay it.

The parents of this child and the chilld HAD to have seen this in the news before .. it's nothing new .. they chose to go ahead and do it anyways .. and they got exactly what everyone else who has done it jus tlike them before .. punished .. and now they are mad .. like a punished 10 yr old who got busted doing something wrong.

 

[Pudding Time]

exactly .. and she will go to court and be seen by a judge, not sent home like she skipped a class.

She's 10. Like I said before, her parents should be facing the legalities of her actions, not her.

Our court systems are typed up with enough law suits against public systems (like schools) .. they don't need more.

So even if they are just, they should be thrown out because there are currently too many? Maybe... Just maybe, there might be an underlying problem with some of the public systems?

Saying they need to pick and choose here is like saying if I get pulled over for speeding because I was late or had to pee or any other reason I couod come up with the validate my speeding .. should legally get me out of a ticket. It shouldn't. I know what would happen if I sped and got caught, I sped, I get caught, I get the ticket .. and I pay it.

Here in Virginia it's a felony to do more than 20 mph over the speed limit. Say I came across a car accident where a lady received a gash which also cut a major artery and needs medical attention quick. No one has called EMS yet, and they will take 15 to get here and 10 minutes back to the hospital. Or, I could get her into my car and race to the hospital in 10 minutes, possibly saving her life. Now I'm pulled over on my way to the hospital. Should to police officer let me go, even give my an escort to the hospital? Or should he arrest me and have EMS pick her up?

Now I know this is a concocted scenario, but the point is within the theory. Not all circumstances are the same. And this is why not everyone who does the same crime gets the same penalty.

 

[SRC]

She's 10. Like I said before, her parents should be facing the legalities of her actions, not her.



So even if they are just, they should be thrown out because there are currently too many? Maybe... Just maybe, there might be an underlying problem with some of the public systems?



Here in Virginia it's a felony to do more than 20 mph over the speed limit. Say I came across a car accident where a lady received a gash which also cut a major artery and needs medical attention quick. No one has called EMS yet, and they will take 15 to get here and 10 minutes back to the hospital. Or, I could get her into my car and race to the hospital in 10 minutes, possibly saving her life. Now I'm pulled over on my way to the hospital. Should to police officer let me go, even give my an escort to the hospital? Or should he arrest me and have EMS pick her up?

Now I know this is a concocted scenario, but the point is within the theory. Not all circumstances are the same. And this is why not everyone who does the same crime gets the same penalty.

Her parents will face the charges for this ..the child will not. They did not PUT her in juvi .. they took her to the juvi accessment center. They did not hand cuff her, they did not drag her, they DID NOT arrest her. They took her to the accessment center and waited for her parents to show up and answer to the charges.

Until age 18, parents are legally responsible for ANYTHING their children do. Unless a child steals or comits murder .. the parents are usually the ones in more trouble.

They were legally obligued to remove her from school premis because of her violation though. Like I said before .. they cannot pick and choose .. it is not just treatment nor is it lawful based on today's standards set in pklace by THE PEOPLE who live in the US.

The school systems did not just implement these punishments/laws themselves .. the US government .. and judges did based on actions by prior students that created problems.

Many bad apple spoils the bushel type logic has been implemented.

****************

I never said they should drop the cases, I said they do not need to create situations where more will be made .. made to win and take MORE money out of the school system funding to cover theri costs.

****************

A medical emergency is one of the few situations that superceeds speed limit laws. I think everyone knows this. An optimal situation would be that you should call 911 while on your way and alert the authorities to your actions; should you not have a phone and you get pulled over .. I'm 99.99% certain you will receive a police escort to the hospital and no ticket would be issued .. same as an ambulance does not receive tickets for speeding when transporting a patient in dire need of medical treatment.

 

[TheOriginalJames]

You guys have got to be kidding me, right? This has to be a joke thread...

Where the hell has common sense gone? Having the police called and having her hauled away to juvie hall for bringing a steak knife to school?
The second the teacher saw her using it to cut her steak up with it common sense should have prevailed... It was a mistake on the part of the girl/parent. She should have been taken to the office and her parents called in to explain the rules and punishment. That is all!

She didn't bring a weapon to school, she brought a utensil to school.
Weapon = Any instrument or device for use in attack or defense in combat, fighting, or war.
Utensil = Any of the instruments or vessels commonly used in a kitchen, dairy, etc.
Big difference.

Zero tolerance policies do more damage than good once they removed common sense from the equation.

And for those of you that think a 10 year old is old enough to use a steak knife... what rock have you been living under? At 10 years old a child is old enough to use a steak knife... What age do you stop cutting up their food for them? When they are 18, an adult?

This is complete bullshit. Nobody uses common sense anymore. I understand the need to keep our kids safe in school. I agree with a zero tolerance to bringing weapons to school, but that wasn't the intention here. She didn't bring it to school because she wanted to do harm, she brought it to cut her steak.

When I was ten or eleven I went to get a steak knife to cut up my steak our dad made us and they said no.

I know how to carry knives, I know how to be safe with them, but for the sake of safety in a crowded kitchen common sense says you don't allow a young child to use a sharp utensil like that by themselves.

Yes she brought it to school to cut her steak, but using your common sense logical thinking here... why couldn't the steak be cut up at home?

Where is the common sense with the parents that says "hey, I read and signed the school papers on safety, rules and regulations at the beginning of the year and right here it says no weaponry such as guns and knives".

Wait until Logan gets in school, you'll be signing paperwork like that.

The bottom line is what she brought to school is illegal to bring to school. So she spent a few hours in juvenile hall by herself behind a locked door. It's not going to scar her for life, but it's going to imprint the rules of the schools onto her brain for life.

 

[TheOriginalJames]

I've been through this twice with my children since my daughter is 18 and my son is 12. And I am a very watchful parent who cares about their safety and wellbeing. But on the same note, I didn't keep them in a protective bubble. At 10 years old both my children handled a steak knife very well. There was no lost fingers or stabs in the gut. They used it to cut their food and that was all. Hell, at 10 they even took showers alone. I know it's dangerous. They could have drowned or got burned by hot water even. They even could take the trash to the curb at that age without me worrying that they would wonder off and get lost....

You can't wait to see what your kids generation turns out to be .. ?

They will turn out to be a bunch of pansies that won't be able to think for themselves when they are presented with any dangerous situation. They won't be able to think for themselves because all common sense would be removed from their lives.....

Ok... back to the point of the thread... aside from your children using steak knives in your kitchen with supervision in the room.

Did they ever take a steak knife to school?

 

[SRC]

Point of the thread is .. the law says she can't she did, and she got the punishment implemented for the crime.

People are gonan be mad regardless of what is done.

The people who think it is assinine are mad because it happened.

If it hadn't happened the people who think it should have happened would be mad.

This is why we vote people into judicial office .. to handle this type situation .. which they did.

 

[Breath]

Wow, this turned brutal.
My thoughts, opinions and observations:
1) a 10 year old is capable of cutting up his/her own food, including using a steak knife
2) knives, be they weapons or utensils, should not be allowed in school (unless plastic cutlery)
3) any child that brings any type of knife to school should be reprimanded by the school, if the intention of having the knife is clearly non-violent
4) any child that brings any type of knife to school should be handed over to the authority of the police, if the intention of having the knife is clearly violent
5) parental involvement is required in both # 3 and # 4 above
6) the other kids should start stealing this kid's lunch so they don't have to eat the boring PB&J that they probably have

 

[gLing]

Ok... back to the point of the thread... aside from your children using steak knives in your kitchen with supervision in the room.

Did they ever take a steak knife to school?

I did and no spontaneous killings happened nor in my endeavors to cut my food did I accidentally stab any fellow students to death.
There is violence in schools yes but you people have become so paranoid that any little mistake you want the police to pounce on a child.
You should be ashamed of yourselves! This was a little girl who had a steak knife, not a manufactured killing weapon, that she used to cut her steak. What happened? They took it from her and then called the police to arrest her.
No need for this at all.

Is this what it has come to? Schools should be ran like a maximum security prison and any infraction no matter how innocent should be dealt with in the extreme?

 

[TheOriginalJames]

I did and no spontaneous killings happened nor in my endeavors to cut my food did I accidentally stab any fellow students to death.
There is violence in schools yes but you people have become so paranoid that any little mistake you want the police to pounce on a child.
You should be ashamed of yourselves! This was a little girl who had a steak knife, not a manufactured killing weapon, that she used to cut her steak. What happened? They took it from her and then called the police to arrest her.
No need for this at all.

Is this what it has come to? Schools should be ran like a maximum security prison and any infraction no matter how innocent should be dealt with in the extreme?

I don't care. She and her parents broke the law. They're being punished. Juvenile hall isn't as bad as you think it is. It's not jail.

 

[gLing]

I don't care. She and her parents broke the law. They're being punished. Juvenile hall isn't as bad as you think it is. It's not jail.

There was no reason for it and yes juvenile hall is jail.

 

[TheOriginalJames]

2) knives, be they weapons or utensils, should not be allowed in school (unless plastic cutlery)
6) the other kids should start stealing this kid's lunch so they don't have to eat the boring PB&J that they probably have

 

[SRC]

SHE DID NOT GET ARRESTED OR PUT IN JAIL OR HANDCUFFED OR LOCKED UP IN JUVI .. they just took her to the building til her parents got there. Did you not read the article at all .. or did you just start firing off posts .. heck I even quoted it for you.

 

[TheOriginalJames]

There was no reason for it and yes juvenile hall is jail.

Yes there was a reason for it.

THE LAW STATES THAT CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BRING KNIVES TO SCHOOL. Regardless of what it's used for or what her intention for using it is.

PERIOD.

Please, get this VERY simple point into your head, let it sink in. Please.


I don't care. They broke the law and she got punished. Thats the way crime and punishment should be.

 

[gLing]

SHE DID NOT GET ARRESTED OR PUT IN JAIL OR HANDCUFFED OR LOCKED UP IN JUVI .. they just took her to the building til her parents got there. Did you not read the article at all .. or did you just start firing off posts .. heck I even quoted it for you.

No I guess I did not read anything.

A 10-year-old Florida girl faces felony weapons charges after bringing a small steak knife to school to cut up her lunch, according to a report on MyFOXOrlando.com.
Click here for more on this story from MyFOXOrlando.com
School officials say the Ocala 5th grader had brought a piece of steak for her lunch, and a four and a half inch steak knife with which to cut it. According to the report, a couple of teachers took the utensil and called authorities, who arrested the girl and took her to the county’s juvenile assessment center.
Students sitting next to the girl at lunch say she didn't threaten anyone with the knife; she just used it to cut up her food.
The girl's uncle, Kenneth Thomas, told MyFOXOrlando that his niece had to ride in the back of a patrol car.
Captain Jimmy Pogue of the Marion County Sheriff's office said the 10-year-old was not treated like a criminal.
"I don't want people to feel like we're arresting 10-year-olds, handcuffing them, and hauling them off in a back of a patrol car and taking them to jail," Pogue told MyFOXOrlando. "That's not the circumstance."

The report will be turned over to the State Attorney's office and they will decide if to follow up with the weapon's charge.

Now I have no reason at all to disbelieve the police when they say they did not treat her like an animal. The fact they were even involved is what I have a problem with.