Girl gets suspension for one of those cake knives she used to hand out campaign cake at school

[LynneSin]

When you buy a cake at one of the good bakeries they usually give you a serving 'knife' that is plastic but has serations on the edge - allows you to cut the cake and serve it.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090403/NEWS03/904030362&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

5th-grader learns knives aren't OK
School comes down hard on girl, 11, who brought real thing to share cake
By JENNIFER PRICE and TERRI SANGINITI • The News Journal • April 3, 2009

Read Comments(89)Recommend (1)Print this page E-mail this article Share Del.icio.us

A fifth-grade teacher at Leasure Elementary School used a student's serrated knife Wednesday to cut a vanilla cake with white frosting that the girl brought to share with classmates.

After handing out the slices, the teacher promptly turned the girl in for bringing a "deadly weapon" to school, her parents said.

Kasia Haughton brought the cake -- and pastry knife -- as part of her campaign to win votes in a class election and instead ended up with a five-day suspension and possible expulsion for violating Christina School District rules that prohibit students from carrying weapons.

"I understand the world we live in now is crazy, but this isn't Columbine," said 11-year-old Kasia Haughton's father, Brian, of Newark. "This is something that is ballooning into something drastic that it doesn't even have to be."

On Thursday, district leaders changed their minds and said Kasia could return to school today.

They blamed the suspension on "a technical error" and plan to revoke it.

_____________________________________

Edit note: It wasn't birthday cake. The girl was running for an office at school and brought in cake to celebrate it. I wonder if she got the cake from Bing's in Newark. I'd vote for anyone who brings in Bing's cake.

[bluestateguy]

1. That teacher is a fine example of the kind of teachers President Obama cited as not qualified

and those administrators are typical of public school administrators: dumb as a box of rocks.

[rateyes]

6. ...with your apologies to boxes of rocks, I'm sure.

:hi:

The teacher should be suspended, without pay, for 5 days.

[HelenWheels]

27. Teacher was just following rules - her principal....

...was the one that should have intervened and stopped this mess from exploding. If the teacher didn't hand in the knife she probably would have been punished. She should have let the principal know about the knife and the entire story behind it. The teacher also should have request that the principal not make a big deal out of it but she still had to hand it in.

Zero tolerance is stupid - you can bet if this had been some child of an "important" person it never would have gotten as far as it did.

[Maine-ah]

36. um, her teacher USED the knife to cut the cake and serve it

after using the knife the same teacher turned the kid in.

that's bullshit.

[HelenWheels]

49. I agree - She should have called the principal in immediately

This is a prime example of why zero tolerance polices are bullshit. My guess is the turning in of the knife was an afterthought, as no rational person would have seen this as a threat. I bet only after the cake did she remember the stupid policy that robs her of her ability to use her own common sense when dealing with "dangerous" issues.

[Maine-ah]

60. I don't think she should have called the principal at all

[HelenWheels]

92. If administration found out she not only had a knife but used it

she would be fired. She did what she had to and it's the fault of the board and the administration for having such a stupid rule on the books.

[spoony]

93. So throw a kid under the bus

CYA bullshit at its finest.

"Well *I* certainly don't want to...(chewing cake after cutting it with "deadly weapon")...get in trouble so I'll (chewing) just potentially ruin this girl's academic record (swallows)."

[keroro gunsou]

89. zero tolerance

means zero thought. one size fits all mentality for punishing even the most minor of infractions.

the whole mess wrought by zero tolerance policies has been more trouble than it's worth. for all the real problems they stop, they inadvertently give rise to stupid incidents like this.

the teacher was just following the rules and doing her job. had she not, i'm sure they would have gotten their ass reamed by the principal or by some ill-informed parents who stop listening at the word knife. the blame for this mess lies solely with the principal, who could have taken the time to see the incident for what it was and acted accordingly. rather that moron decided to put brain in coast mode and blindly follow the whole zero tolerance line.

it's shit like this that REALLY makes me question if i want to even go back to school to be a teacher. and i like teaching and kids....

[roughsatori]

115. Zero tolerance policies are moranic (sic). NT

[XemaSab]

97. +1

[saltpoint]

2. Good. Serves the craven little terrorist right, by god. Those cake-cutting

knives are a gateway weapon to this same 5th grader's building nuclear bombs in her garage.

We are imperiled, ladies and gentleman, and must act swiftly and without mercy!

[AirmensMom]

3. A "technical error?"

Is that what they call a fuck-up nowadays? :grr:

[rateyes]

11. Perhaps a SNAFU.

S.ituation
N.ormal,
A.ll
F.ucked
U.p

[AirmensMom]

16. Or FUBAR ...

F.ucked
U.p
B.eyond
A.ll
R.ecognition


:shrug: I would take my kid out of that teacher's class.

[happyslug]

45. "Technical Error" has ALWAYS been the "Correct" Name for this

n/t

[dorkulon]

68. "Technically, our staff are fucking idiots." /nt

[AirmensMom]

78. ...

:spray:

That works! :thumbsup:

[keroro gunsou]

90. +1

testify.

[SmileyRose]

103. obviously

[Missy Vixen]

108. At least it wasn't a "wardrobe malfunction"

Next time, maybe she should bring cupcakes. Then again, I'm sure that there'd be some issue with those, too. :mad:

[firefox28]

4. Gosh

What sort of threat do you think she was?

[NightWatcher]

5. zero tollerance= no knives, no kind, never... it's a stupd law but we must follow it

Every year there ae dozens of stories about fruit cutting and plastic knives, but parents need to learn that No means No Kind, Never.

It's a stupid law, but you've got to protect yourself by covering your own ass.

No plastic knives
no butter knives
no, none, nada, null, just dont do it.

[LynneSin]

10. The teacher watched the kid serve the cake to the students and THEN turned her in

If it was that big of a deal they should have done it before the cake was cut.

Perhaps the student should have told the teacher there was a cake knife in the box but if there is zero tolerance then waiting until after the cake was served was just as wrong as bringing the knife.

[NightWatcher]

13. teacher wanted some of that cake first, duh

[redqueen]

21. Actually I think the teacher cut the cake herself, then turned the girl in.

"After handing out the slices, the teacher promptly turned the girl in..."

[LynneSin]

26. Actually you're right - so the teach was in full possession of the cake knife

go figure

[Obamanaut]

40. "Zero tolerance" suggests they don't tolerate anything at all. Does

the kitchen have utensils (spatulas, knives, large stirring paddles, etc)? If so, are these utensils on school property, and if so, why are not the kitchen workers and administrators being taken to task.

This crap can be taken only so far before it becomes ridiculous.

[MindPilot]

63. I submit that "zero-tolerance" means the only thing they tolerate are

zeros.

[TheWraith]

59. Sorry, but that's a bullshit rule.

Any time you take rational human decision-making out of the equation, you're going to get idiocy like this. No sane person would think of a cake knife as a deadly weapon, but fearmongers have told people they NEED to expell honor students for possessing aspirin, or it's the same as 6-year-olds shooting up on the playground.

Saying that "people have to take it seriously" is a non-starter when the rule itself isn't serious.

[Obamanaut]

61. Your response was much better than mine (40)- more to the point. nt

[Posteritatis]

114. It's also not a law anyway, unless schools have legislative powers now

And that's before getting into the fact that a cake knife is a glorified spatula.

But yeah, I definitely agree with you. Fuck that "the law's the law so we gotta blindly obey" stuff.

[lumberjack_jeff]

65. If the teacher had been armed...

... she could have dropped the student before she wreaked havoc with her cake-related carnage.

:sarcasm: as if it's necessary.

[dorkulon]

70. It's a stupid law, all right.

Has anyone ever been killed, ever, with a plastic knife--ever?

[TahitiNut]

73. If God wanted us to have cake knives, He wouldn't have invented cupcakes.

:shrug:

[Ilsa]

7. For gods' sakes, take it away from her, warn the students, and put her

ass back in class. It was a mistake, not a threat.

[MADem]

8. That teacher is a fucking IDIOT, No wonder our chirren isn't learnin'!!!!

Good thing the kid had parent/advocates....other kids have been suspended for far less.

It's stuff like this stupid shit that causes parents to believe that some of these alternative eduction (aka "voucher") schools are a good idea.

[redqueen]

19. Yes... this is great ammo for proponents of vouchers...

and stuff like this happens all the time.

It's just that this case was so over-the-top with the stupid that it made the papers. Most of the stuff doesn't... but it gets talked about... and it makes people choose homeschooling or lobby for vouchers.

[Donnachaidh]

9. the teacher should get 5 days suspension, UNPAID

It's ridiculous, and she was WRONG. SHE should have to feel the sting of suspension, and lose 5 days PAY.

[TahitiNut]

12. "Let them eat cake!!"

:grr:

[rateyes]

14. The little brat should have known to bring dental floss with which to cut the cake.

What the hell was she thinking??

:sarcasm:

[FourScore]

25. And you, rateyes, should get sent to the principal for merely MAKING that suggestion...

A person could get STRANGLED with dental floss (Don't you ever watch mob movies???).

In fact, a person could CHOKE on cake...

That's why I suggest suspending ALL children who bring cake!!!

[rateyes]

29. Well, if you do that, you might as well ban

pencils. People can get stabbed with pencils. Think about that. A freaking school with no freaking pencils. Where are you going to draw the line?? :D

And, on edit: HOW are you going to draw the line without a DAMNED PENCIL? :shrug:

:hi:

[LynneSin]

31. Those paper cuts are painful as hell and could be used to inflict danger

so might as well ban paper too

[rateyes]

34. Well, if you have no pencils, why the hell would you need paper??

We're on to something, here. We could save the school districts (or, the teachers who pay for it out of their own pockets) a helluva lot of money.

[FourScore]

38. I suggest we just close schools altogether. Clearly they are breeding grounds

for dangerous behavior.

Besides, think of the tax savings!

[rateyes]

41. Good idea. They're nothing more than terrorist training camps.

And, with the tax savings, we could build a lot more sports stadiums and pay professional athletes what they deserve, rather than the paltry few million dollars they make now!

[FourScore]

33. Good thinking...we need to ban pencils. All children who bring them should get expelled.

We have lived so recklessly.. My God!!! I think I'll call my kid's school right now and alert them to the danger!

[rateyes]

37. I'm initiating a petition drive.

This is a "hill worth dying for."

[FourScore]

39. LOL

[dorkulon]

72. In truth, pencils, pens, rulers, etc. are all better weapons than a plastic knife.

Clearly, all solid objects with corners or pointy things must be banned. Think of the children. The coddled, stultified, paranoid children.

[cloudbase]

109. Unless they can certify that the cake

was baked in a facility that doesn't process nut products.

[Ignis]

64. No, with a spoon...'cuz it would hurt more! (nt)

[smirkymonkey]

80. Or worse...a Spork!

[keroro gunsou]

91. why a spoon cousin?

because it's DULL! it'll hurt more you TWIT!

god bless alan rickman for the sublime delivery of that particular line....

[madrchsod]

15. i hope the teacher is unemployed at the end of the year

"a technical error".. :rofl:

[rateyes]

17. The teacher was clearly in the wrong, and should be disciplined...however,

is anyone disturbed that the student was trying to buy votes with cake?

:shrug:

Edited for dumbass typo.

[surrealAmerican]

48. I'm more disturbed that the teacher was enabling her to do so.

It seems like a good teacher would explain why that was inappropriate, and send the cake home.

[nonconformist]

83. Nah... they encourage that type of stuff.

We went through an "election" with my 4th grader this year. Literally buying votes is prohibited, of course, but they do encourage the kids to campaign in various ways. We made poster boards, passed out fliers, made up goodie bags, that sort of thing.

[FourScore]

107. Actually, I knew there was something in this story that was eating at me (so to speak).

Maybe she should get expelled...or the next thing you know she'll be bringing in a Diebold machine to tally the votes.

[JohnnyBoots]

18. I remember a kid in school got suspended for having a baseball bat in the back of his pickup.

He was the Catcher on the High School team. They still suspended him. It messed with his chances for a scholarship too. That always blew my mind. He should have sued them.

[FourScore]

20. Wait a minute -- the teacher let her USE the kitchen tool, then TURNED THE CHILD IN????

Oh, good grief.

Would somebody please drop the charges against the child and FIRE THE FUCKING TEACHER!!!!!!

I hate it when school officials don't use their brains. We have to weed these morons out from the good ones teaching our kids.

[LynneSin]

22. Yes that is correct - they ate the cake first and THEN turned in the kid

If the policy is 'zero tolerance' then there should have been no 'except wait until after the cake is served'.

I'm wondering where the kid got the cake from. The school is local to me. If she got it at Bing's Bakery in Newark hell I'd serve the cake first before turning in the kid. The cake is that fricking good there (and they give you a cake serving knife too)

[FourScore]

42. I think the city needs to close the bakery .

Surely they carry some responsibility here -- especially if they make such damn good cake that it prompts kids to buy it for their peers. And what message are they sending those kids when they hand out cake knives???

I say close 'em and burn the building!

[rateyes]

47. Don't forget those who made the ingredients for the cake...

Flour, EGGS (we should crate up all the chickens and ship them to some country without an extradition treaty), sugar cane workers---ban them ALL!!

[LynneSin]

67. If that kid got the cake from Bings - I might have to come after you with a plastic cake knife

:eyes:

I love Bings Cake

[spoony]

94. Yeah that's the kicker isn't it?

I mean, okay if the teacher is going to be an addle-brained fool and get the girl in trouble, but to...well, have her cake and eat it too, that's cold. Just cold.

[BarbaRosa]

23. So, next time there is cake,

you wait in line, and when it's your turn, you reach in the box, and grab a fist full of cake, and return to your desk. :crazy:

[rateyes]

24. Well, I don't feel too bad for her...the kid is obviously a Republican,

trying to buy votes with cake. :sarcasm:

[Stevenmarc]

28. That's why we have cupcakes, to prevent knife wielding terrorists in our schools

[LynneSin]

30. Because this is the source of great danger.....

[FourScore]

43. Perhaps I should alert the mods that you have posted that picture... n/t

[spoony]

95. My God, that could leave small red marks on your skin

if someone sawed at it...for like a half hour...

[TahitiNut]

98. So, THAT'S an assault cake knife. Fancy that.

:shrug:

[LWolf]

32. Oh, Good.

Another teacher-bashing thread on DU.

Business as usual.

"Zero tolerance" policies are an outcome of increasing school safety issues, and the continuing erosion of a positive learning environment.

Which are an outcome of overcrowding, understaffing, and top-down, authoritarian, blame-and punishment philosophies currently in fashion for public education.

It's funny how voters and politicians don't mind that authoritarian abuse of schools and teachers, but are outraged when it is applied to students.

This particular case is stupid, of course, and the district caught that. It should have been caught sooner.

It makes me wonder:

Was this a young, inexperienced teacher who was afraid to interpret "zero tolerance" policies to suit the circumstance?

Has this school, or district, been on a campaign to "tighten up" zero tolerance enforcement, thus making the teacher feel bound to adhere to technicalities?

Or was she just STUPID?

I don't know.

[LynneSin]

35. Well perhaps she was just hungry for some cake

:shrug:

I wouldn't have posted this thread had the situation occured before the cake was served (which btw the teacher was the one that used the knife).

[LWolf]

100. I agree with that.

I can see a teacher not wanting to make an issue over the cake, waiting for the cake part to be over, but...

why, then, do it at all?

I offered up 3 possible scenarios: young, inexperienced, and intimidated; experienced but complying with a district crackdown, which can involve sanctions for teachers who do not comply; or "stupid," by which I mean lacking common sense in this instance.

I don't support consequences over a plastic knife used in class to cut cake.

I AM, though, tired of finding a teacher-bashing post every time I log in. They seem to be increasing as opposition to the Obama/Duncan education plan, which is not at all friendly to teachers, moves forward.

Coincidence?

[rateyes]

44. Former teacher here:

And, I don't feel bashed, at all.

There are rules, and there is common sense in enforcing them. She didn't bring a butcher knife. She brought a plastic cake knife that can't cut anything tougher than cake.

[LynneSin]

51. And don't forget - the teacher first SERVED the cake (using the knife) and then turned in the girl

:crazy:

[LWolf]

101. My point

isn't really about the cake, or the knife.

I agree that the knife is a non-issue, and should have been treated as such.

I'm a CURRENT teacher, and 26-year public educator, and my point is not about the cake/knife incident at all.

It's about the fact that I find a new teacher-bashing post every damned time I log on at DU, and that the increase in frequency of teacher-bashing, whether legitimate or not, "coincidentally" coincides with the launching of the Obama/Duncan plan for education. Which is unfriendly to teachers AND to public education, in this teacher's opinion.

[Odin2005]

74. Or maybe the teacher was just an idiot?

:eyes:

[LWolf]

102. I think

I did include, if not "idiocy," "stupid" in the possible scenarios I suggested. By which I did not mean "an idiot," but clearly lacking in common sense in this instance.

Again, my post is not a comment about the cake and knife incident, but about the fact that every damned time I log on to DU, I can find another post attacking teachers, or a teacher, as somehow the enemy. And those posts get abundant vicious responses by those eager to jump on board.

From a supposedly "Democratic" board, from the party that is supposed to SUPPORT public education.

Is it a coincidence that the frequency of teacher-attacking posts seems to coincide with the launching of the Obama/Duncan education plan, which is unfriendly, to say the least, to teachers, and to public education?

I don't think so.

[Lyric]

46. If my kid went to this school, I would support him 100% if he decided to

bring a whole cake to school and pass out chunks of it for his friends to eat with their bare hands.

Non-violent, rule-breaking protest: it's not just for grownups anymore.

:grr:

[Jefferson23]

50. Another example of how Zero Tolerance rules equal ZERO THINKING.

This is more about the school boards answer to liability, and it is disgusting. All we prove to children here is that we ask you not to think, just obey, regardless of the OBVIOUSLY distorted application of a rule!

[adamuu]

52. just wait til some kid maims another kid with a #2 pencil

Then the schools will be in quite a jam, huh?

"Zero-tolerance" is a cop-out.

[aikoaiko]

53. The School Administrators are idiots: Here is their policy

http://www.christina.k12.de.us/CodeOfConduct/0809/EN.pdf
page 47

Weapons/Deadly Weapons(s) Possession/Concealment/Sale: Regardless of possessor’s
intent, any possession/concealment/sale of a deadly weapon. The Deadly Weapon list
includes, but is not limited to, firearms, starter guns, pellet guns (hard and soft), BB
guns, air guns, bombs, electric weapons, projectile devices, knives with a full blade
measuring three or more inches, switch-blade knife, mace, pepper gas, billy, blackjack,
bludgeon, metal knuckles, slingshot, razor, razor blades, box cutter, utility knife, bicycle
chain, ice pick, taser, and non-functional weapons. Also, any dangerous instrument, as
defined in this Code, will be considered a deadly weapon when used, displayed in a
threatening manner, or attempted to be used, to cause death or serious physical injury.*

I think the idiocy of applying this rule when someone used a plastic cake knife to cut cake is self-evident.

[FloridaJudy]

54. Bicycle chains??

Any suggestions about how else a kid's supposed to keep his/her bike from being stolen?

Yes, I know they can be weapons, but give me a break!

[tammywammy]

55. I would think it would be okay if the chain was on your bike

But not if you were carrying it around the school.

But who knows, apparently you can get in trouble for a cake knife.

[FloridaJudy]

57. If they can suspend a kid for keeping a basball bat in his car

I don't expect much common sense when it comes to bike chains.

Shall we ban scarves because they can be used to strangle people? For that matter, every athletic department in the world is full of potential deadly weapons - hockey sticks, baseball bats, tennis rackets.

Why do I suspect the schools are now being administered by the same ditzes who confiscate our fingernail clippers in airports.

[tammywammy]

58. I dunno, it's pretty stupid

You'd think common sense would intervene occasionally, but apparently not.

[lumberjack_jeff]

66. WTF is a "non-functional weapon"? It's an oxymoron. n/t

[NeedleCast]

71. Pens and Pencils are more deadly than a plastic knife

I mean, they're just MADE for stabbing...

[SmileyRose]

105. Wait - you can't ride a bike to school?????? Er WTF???

no wonder our kids are getting fat.........

[pnutbutr]

56. I think common sense is being bred out of the human race

[bullwinkle428]

62. Zero tolerance policies are a flaming bag of dogshit!

:mad:

[Odin2005]

69. Zero Tolerance = Zero Sense.

This is what you get when you mix lazy administrators and a lawsuit-obsessed society.

[Xipe Totec]

77. Machines with zero tolerance seize up and jam

so do zero tolerance brains.

[Odin2005]

79. LOL, perfect analogy!

[Xipe Totec]

75. This is not the kind of teacher to which I would trust my children's education n/t

[omega minimo]

76. Chocolate rations are UP!!

[Kansas Wyatt]

81. Proof that educated people are not always the brightest.

The teacher and the administrators should be FIRED for incompetence to carry out their duties. Obviously they do not even understand what their duties are or how they are suppose to carry them out without screwing it all up.

If I was that kid, I would be dropping hints of a lawsuit, just to let the teacher and administrators shit meat axes for awhile.

[opihimoimoi]

82. Nerdism and Peterism Combo.....WTF has Happened to America?

When did we make Common Sense rare?...not so common?

[nonconformist]

84. All the parents of students in that class should get together and sue that teacher

For brandishing a weapon in class around their children.

[madmom]

85. The teacher used the knife first, therefore she's an accessory.

[ladjf]

86. The pencils that the children use all day every day have a more

lethal potential than the small plastic knife. nt

[adamuu]

104. how are they gonna take all those bubble tests after they ban sharpened pencils? n/t

[slackmaster]

87. "Technical error" my ass

It was the result of stupidity.

[Maat]

88. This is one of the reasons I homeschool.

No matter the policy, this is a ridiculous situation.

[Warren DeMontague]

96. This is why blind adherence to "the rules" is lunacy.

there has to be an ability to distinguish, for instance, between a plastic knife and a loaded gun-- or an advil and a rock of crack cocaine.

These dimwit "zero tolerance" approaches do exactly the opposite.

[depakid]

99. Damn, I sure am glad I didn't have children in America

Because this shit's been ingrained now for far too long to ever change.

[Iggo]

106. Zero tolerance is for complete idiots.

It's for cowards who are too afraid to think, to make decisions, and to take responsibility.

I'm getting sick of living among cowards.

[hayu_lol]

110. Teacher was following the rules...

lawyers for the school make up those 'safety' lists of forbidden items. Their job is to keep the kids safe and the schools safe from suits.

Perhaps a better way to have handled this would be for mommy or daddy to call the school the day before and tell the principal what was going to happen. Arrangements could have been made to serve the cake in the cafeteria or lunchroom. A kitchen aide could have provided the tool necessary and used it.

Quit blaming the teachers. School policy is beyond their reach being formulated by the school board, lawyers for the school district, and perhaps input from local law enforcement.

Schools today are not what they were 50-70 years ago when most young males carried pocket knives.

[nonconformist]

111. The teacher USED the knife, then turned the child in.

You say to quit blaming the teacher... then you blame the parents. Typical.

[krabigirl]

113. yup

[Systematic Chaos]

112. I sure do miss high school... kinda.

When a couple kids started giving me a hard time in my neighborhood, a good friend of mine spent $10 on a reasonably decent 4-inch switchblade. He gave it to me on the bus to school, and I carried it every day in my Junior and Senior years. Never pulled it out, never showed it to anyone, but I wouldn't have hesitated to filet anyone with it who threatened me with serious harm.

This was in 1985. And I'm willing to bet I was far from the only armed student at my school back then. But, there were actually very few fights or acts of violence and it was a good learning environment all-in-all.

[Quantess]

116. You mean, this isn't from The Onion?

Unbelievable!