Girl, 10, Arrested for Using Knife to Cut Food at School

A friend of mine sent this article to me.

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 WFTV.com.

School officials say the Ocala 5th grader had brought a piece of steak for her lunch, and had brought a steak knife. 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."She did not use it inappropriately. She did not threaten anyone with it. She didn't pull it out and brandish it. Nothing of that nature," explained Marion County School Spokesman Kevin Christian, who added that it made no difference what the knife was being used for, they had no choice but to call police.

"Anytime there's a weapon on campus, yes, we have to report it and we aggressively report it because we don't want to take any chances, regardless," Christian said.

The girl now faces a felony charge for possessing a weapon on school property and has been suspended from school for 10 days.

My first reaction was, "Are you fucking kidding me?" This school's administration called police on an 11 year old child and had her arrested for having lunch. You know that this kid's mom probably was packing her lunch and thought, my baby can't eat the steak without having a knife to cut it. And, for that matter, this child probably just learned how to cut her meat on her own.

The administration's position is that they have to call the police, no matter what, if a weapon is found on campus. This type of blanket rule is ridiculous. A steak knife, accompanied by a steak, is not a weapon. It is an eating utensil. But because the school "had no choice" this poor little girl will be scarred for life over trying to eat her lunch properly.

And does the school have no choice in what punishment it hands down? Are they forced to suspend her for 10 days? I am infuriated. Not only are they attacking a, by their own account, innocent girl, they are casting a shadow over proper table manners.

Honestly. How much harm could an 11 year old girl armed with a single steak knife do? I get that they probably did need to punish her in some way, just to send the message to the other kids that no matter what, knives are not accepted, but two weeks' suspension? People, when I found out I had a D in English, I stole a blank report card, filled it out, forged my teacher's name, had my mom sign the fake, and in turn forged her name on the original and when I got caught I only got 3 days' suspension.

Marion County School, I hate you and I hate your assface.