Cuppacafe

So, a couple of days ago we chatted about over-eager school administrators suspending a 10-year-old for having in his possession a 2" toy Lego gun while on school property. Well, you just have to wonder why they took away the harmless toy, but left a student in possession of a very deadly pencil.

A math class dispute among middle-schoolers in New York led to a felony charge against an 11-year-old boy after he allegedly attacked with a sharp pencil a classmate who had annoyed him with offers of help.

The unidentified suspect in the Sauquoit Valley Middle School incident was charged with felony attempted assault and misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon, according to New Hartford police. He was also suspended, reports the Associated Press.

The subject of the attack was treated by a school nurse for a scratch.

So remember while the pen is indeed mightier than the sword, a pencil is way more deadly than a tiny Lego gun.

Yeah, the whole world is crazy!

The Perfessor

In the past we've spoken about some over-the-top, extra-gung-ho folks who feel that it is necessary to "take it (way past) the limit" as it were.

While we shouldn't be surprised by the Zero Tolerance polices of some folk, we constantly are surprised by how — well extra stupid they play out in the real world. Well, apparently it has happened again.

On Monday, a teacher at Junior High School 190 in Queens caught 12-year-old Alexa Gonzalez doodling on her desk with a lime green magic marker. Instead of just erasing it, the school called police and the girl was walked out in handcuffs.

A day later, Principal Evelyn Mastroianni of Public School 52 on Staten Island nearly suspended 9-year-old Patrick Timoney for playing with an action figure who had a 2-inch gun.

Yep, you read that correctly, it was a 2" gun. As a matter of fact, it was a very tiny gun that is held by a very tiny Lego figure, so there is absolutely no way that this could be considered a working gun, even by the mos stringent of protocols. Yet still, the kid was hauled down to the Principal's office.

On another planet, in another lifetime, or perhaps as an SNL sketch all of this could be considered hilarious, except for the fact that not only is little Alexa throwing up every day, but little Patrick — an "A" student, in math no less — simply didn't want to go back to school. Now who's the asshat?

This type of high-minded moralizing, and out of control PC-fueled attempt to protect us from ourselves, is simply beyond stupid. I have to know where these teachers and principals are when the schoolyard bully is stuffing geeks into lockers and boosting kids' lunch money.

The Perfessor

OK, we all heard the stories about the 6-year-old cub Scout who got suspended for bringing a camping utensil to school? Or the student that was suspend for giving his girlfriend his inhaler because she was having an asthma attack? Well, here’s one that simply (unbelievably) tops both of them:

Yeah, you read that right, the kid was sent home because he drew a picture of Jesus on the cross, and it was determined to be a “violent” picture.

A Taunton father is outraged after his 8-year-old son was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological evaluation after drawing a stick-figure picture of Jesus Christ on the cross.

The father said he got a call earlier this month from Maxham Elementary School informing him that his son, a second-grade student, had created a violent drawing. The image in question depicted a crucified Jesus with Xs covering his eyes to signify that he had died on the cross. The boy wrote his name above the cross.

I have to tell you that I am so sick of this kind of crap that I could simply vomit.

The Perfessor

OK, a couple of days ago, we talked about the six-year-old Cub Scout who was suspended for bringing a camping utensil to school. Well, as isolated an incident you may have thought that was, it has happened again. Only this time to a 17-year-old Eagle Scout who had a 2" pocket knife in a survival kit locked in the trunk of his car...

A 17-year-old Eagle Scout in upstate New York has been barred from stepping foot on school grounds for 20 days — for keeping a 2-inch pocketknife locked in a survival kit in his car.

However, things didn't end with his 20-day suspension. According to Whalen “They brought a cop in, who told them ‘he’s not breaking any laws, so I can't charge him with anything.’” Whalen then asked asked 2" pocketknife would be considered more dangerous than any other everyday items that could be found around the school. Whalen asked “What about a person who has a bat, on a baseball team? That could be a weapon.” to which he was told that was simply not the same thing.

The school district rigid policy lists “Possessing a weapon” under “examples of violent conduct,” which ”may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including suspension from school,” and will allow no deviation from it. Still I go back to my comment in the Zachary Christie incident. I’ll just bet that I could beat the crap out of someone with a math book. Plus, what about that Baseball bat? Oh yeah, and how about the kid who has taken up Karate and can break a board with his hand, aren't they considered weapons.

We are so in love with making “one law fit all” rules in this country that it truly makes me sick.

The Perfessor

So, by now I’m sure that you have all heard about this Cub Scout that was suspended from school because he brought a camping utensil to school. Yep. that’s right, suspended. You see, apparently the utensil can be used as a fork, spoon, or a knife, and the school has a zero-tolerance weapon policy, so the kid gets suspended.

(CBS) A 6-year-old boy's excitement over joining the Cub Scouts may just land him in reform school for 45 days.

Zachary Christie was suspended from his 1st grade class in Delaware's Christina School District after bringing a camping utensil - a combination knife/fork/spoon - to use at lunch, prompting calls to reexamine schools' zero-tolerance policy for bringing weapons to school, according to a New York Times report Monday.

Zero tolerance policies were instituted in many school districts across the country, at least in part due to violence at Columbine and Virginia Tech, the report notes. Their rigid enforcement is designed to eliminate the appearance of bias or discrimination on the part of school officials.

The school district's policy is enforced "regardless of intent" and "does not take into consideration a child's age," reports CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod.

But residents, and some lawmakers, are now wondering why schools can't apply a more common-sense discretion to such instances.

"It just seems unfair," said Zachary, who is being home-schooled while his mother, Debbie Christie, tries to fight the suspension. That involved Zachary appearing before a district disciplinary committee with his karate instructor and mother's fiancé vouching for him as character witnesses.

"Zachary wears a suit and tie some days to school by his own choice because he takes school so seriously," his mother said. "He is not some sort of threat to his classmates."

Christie started a Web site, helpzachary.com, to drum up support for her son.

State Representative Teresa L. Schooley wrote the disciplinary committee, asking each member to "consider the situation, get all the facts, find out about Zach and his family and then act with common sense for the well-being of this child."

But the strict enforcement of the policy has its supporters.

"There is no parent who wants to get a phone call where they hear that their child no longer has two good seeing eyes because there was a scuffle and someone pulled out a knife," said George Evans, the school district board's president.

There has been a move to give school officials more flexibility in "weapon"-related incidents. After a third-grade girl was expelled for a year after bringing in a knife to cut the birthday cake her grandmother sent in to the class, a new law was passed allowing officials to modify punishments on a case-by-case basis. But that was for expulsions, not suspensions as Zachary is faced with. Another revision to the law is being drafted to address suspensions, according to the report.

Wanna bet that I could beat the crap out someone with a math book, eh?

The Perfessor