Knives at School: a Double-Edged Standard

Back in November, a child at my kids’ middle school was allegedly assaulted with a knife. A group of students had apparently been “playing around” with plastic knives during recess and one of them decided to take his game to the next level: using his weapon on a peer.

Where was the adult supervision when this “game” was being played? How did these kids manage to bring knives to school? Two completely valid questions. The answer to the first is yet another question mark. The answer to the second is two-fold. Firstly, these kids didn’t bring knives from home. Rather,

The knives were provided by the school.

I was surprised to find out that the school cafeteria at the school makes plastic knives available. Granted, a plastic knife is no match for a Ginsu, but to deny the short imaginative leap that the former can spark is foolish. And that little hop can lead to a tumble down a slippery slope, especially if school policy goes anything like this:

“The Board of Education determines that extra precautions are important and necessary to provide for student safety.  Therefore, the carrying, bringing, using or possessing of any knife, regardless of the length of the blade, on district property…is prohibited.” (Taken from our local school district’s education board-approved policy on “Weapons in School.”)

The problem is clear and it’s surprising no one has made the connection between the district-mandated policy and district action. It’s sad we have to have such an explicit addendum to a “no knives at school” policy but in our cover-your-butt society, butts must be covered. And in the process our school district totally mooned the middle school.

In absolutism problems arise. Every rule has its exception. Think back to the uproar when the media broke the story of a child being suspended for bringing a butter knife from home to cut a peach. We all thought, “Really?!?” Yes, the child was punished for breaking school policy, but this was innocent possession of a culinary tool. She was punished for the speculation on what could have been.

But look at the reported assault at our middle school. “What could have been” became reality. Our middle school provides plastic knives for use in the cafeteria and for some reason, this is an acceptable exception to school policy. Let’s play the odds here…put knives in enough hands enough times and eventually there will be an issue. And there was. A student reported receiving several slash marks on the neck from a plastic knife (and has the photographs consistent with the complaint).

Given the precedence of violation of knife policy in schools, what should happen here? Should the school also be held accountable?