New York High School Retailiates Against Honor Student and Eagle Scout !!

[Serenity]

i was a friggin tall skinny geek, and i carried my boyscout knife to school.....and never had any problems whatsoever. 'course that was over 20 years ago though........

I never leave the house without my knife. Never. Granted, I most often use it for things like breaking down boxes at work, cutting strings on my uniform, etc. But that isn't why I purchased it and not why I carry it. The local Academy Liaison Officer (United States Air Force Academy) did his interview with me the other day, and one of the first things he asked was "You're a white kid growing up in Hawaii. That doesn't cause any problems for you?" He was awestruck to find out that  no, I haven't been hospitalized growing up in Pearl City, though I was VERY careful not to say exactly why.

[Enker]

Put a roll of quarter in your fist, thats more lethal then a pocket knife in a car.

I can attest to the deadliness of a handful of spare change. That's how I got my second suspension after breaking the nose of some chunky kid during my years at a rich middle school. He even started it too! Fist fights are still the better way to settle things than knifes are; a punch is less likely to cause the guy to bleed to death than a knife mark is. Less evidence too, as it heals up fairly quickly. 

[USRanger]

You people are so violent.  I shall pray for you.

[OOZ662]

What is that thing?

<--Click

[Stalwart]

when we wanted to settle our differences we beat the heck out of each other instead of shooting up the school or playground.

Was just telling my son this the other day.  We used to carry our pocket knives to school and whittle sticks during recess.  We never even thought to cut someone with them in a fight.  Man, the world has changed. 

[Ripsnort]

He should have immediately marched right into the school, grabbed one of these, broke it off, and whacked that school official into little pieces, thus ridding the earth of another idiot.

[Westy]

I'm sure that's what you told your kids how way to handle it right Drip?!

[eagl]

I always carry a small knife with me when I'm flying, but that's mostly because of my survival training.  Also, we usually didn't fly with a survival kit in the T-37 so that knife was my only bit of equipment I'd have after an ejection, beyond some flares and the minimalist kit (mirror, a bit of wire, etc) they put in the parachute harness.

It's not big enough to be intimidating if I tried to use it in self defense, and it isn't even particularly sharp anymore.  I'd buy another one but gerber discontinued the model and the replacement designs are either smaller or thicker, so I haven't found a good replacement to buy.

I occasionally took a small pocketknife to school as a kid, but it just wasn't a big deal.  I'm pretty sure lots of people had weapons on campus but nobody ever got shot, stabbed, or even beaten with sticks.  The only fights were with fists and feet, and I don't remember anyone getting killed in fights off campus either.  The only guy who got busted was the one selling fireworks at school...  He had enough stuff in his backpack to blow up a row of lockers so the school got a bit upset when they found his stash.  Even then, it didn't make the news and he only got a few days suspension.  Nowadays he'd have the feds pressing terrorism charges.

Makes you wonder if the people making those rules aren't just stupid, but might actually be mentally retarded or have some sort of mental disorder.  A 14 year old selling fireworks at school just isn't cause for great alarm, but you can bet people would call the FBI and anti-terrorist folks and they'd over-react in a big way.

[Dadsguns]

Was just telling my son this the other day.  We used to carry our pocket knives to school and whittle sticks during recess.  We never even thought to cut someone with them in a fight.  Man, the world has changed. 

Not only that, all the boys that were old enough to drive to school (15) in their dads truck or their own, all had shotguns or rifles in the window rack especially during hunting season.

Never did anyone ever pull a knife or a readily available gun in a fight. 

[OOZ662]

Take into account that Gran Theft Auto, Call of Duty, and EXTREME emo-ness weren't around back then. Not to mention semi-widespread use of heavy drugs (not just your "innocent weed" sort of stuff) and booze.

It's not only the attitudes towards weapons that's changed. The kids themselves have. I don't really know what's brought it about, but some of us are just...strange. Like the big fascination with repeatedly lighting a lighter in the back of a classroom that was so prevalent in my class. We had a couple kids that nearly killed each other in Metals one year.

I'd give anything to have been born back when school was an easier place to be. I'd surely take the beatings that were prevalent back then over the constant worry I had the last two years of Erika's drugged out drunkard of a boyfriend bringing one of his many weapons to school in a bombed-out fit to rid the problem from his life that I represented.

[bongaroo]

And zero tolerance continues to be an issue.  We the voting public have a say in all this.  Although at this point you'll need to be talking to your state representatives since its mostly state laws causing all this nonsense. 

[-tronski-]

Consistency is a squeak

 Tronsky

[narsus]

A few years ago I was student teaching at a middle school on Long Island, NY. I had attended that same school a little over 20 years ago (it was pretty rough back then too). I remember the year I graduated HS, a student was shot during a high school basketball game.

Now there are metal detectors and frequent visits by police at this middle school. A trick gang members (Latino kings and MS-13 mostly) use to get by the police and metal detectors is to hide weapons (knives and shanks mostly) on the soccer fields. The students would go out for gym and pick up the knives and bring them back into the school through the gym locker room (no metal detectors). Every time there was a fire drill, we teachers would find hidden weapons on school property and turn them into the police.

For those of you, who grew up in relatively nice communities, truly be thankful. In some places around this country, I don’t think you have any idea how bad it actually is. Also, be aware much of these problems of stabbings and shootings in schools never make it to the national media. There are places that have higher death tolls and violence than Columbine, granted not in a single incident, but over relatively short periods of time.

For instance, my home town.
http://www.newsday.com/news/cops-gang-tension-triggered-brawl-at-brentwood-school-1.1308076

[bongaroo]

School violence rates continue to decrease overall though.  Media makes it sound worse than it is.

[Shuffler]

Not only that, all the boys that were old enough to drive to school (15) in their dads truck or their own, all had shotguns or rifles in the window rack especially during hunting season.

Never did anyone ever pull a knife or a readily available gun in a fight. 

Yup