A fifth-grader in Cupertino, California was suspended and threatened with expulsion for bringing a small Swiss Army knife on a school-sponsored, science-oriented camping trip (to Marin Headlands)….Braden’s particular model contains a can opener, tweezers, a toothpick, a nail file, a tiny pair of scissors and a small blade.
*facepalm*
“They called me,” explained Tony Bandermann, Braden’s father. “They said, ‘You have to come and get him. He has a weapon.‘”
These people are not idiots; they know exactly what they’re doing. It used to be that one would not attribute malice to an action where stupidity or ignorance would explain it. When dealing with these people in today’s society one should always assume malice. No other explanation makes sense.
Jimmy me boy
U really didn’t post that, did U????
When I was in 4th grade I went on a camping trip that required all the students to bring a knife. We used it for whittling and cooking, I think. And I’m not even old.
Used a Swiss Army knife when I was age ten got a feeling at that age I was much more independent than Ms.Hucko has ever been
Unless this was band camp or computer camp camping without a knife is very difficult. When I was a pup teaching survival to aircrew I always insisted they carry a knife. Even better carry a hatchet.
When you think you’ve seen the ultimate in moonbat stupidity, the morons go one step further. When I was that age, any time that I went into the bush I had a hunting knife attached to my belt. It wasn’t long before I got into the habit of carrying a pocket knife on me always. Swiss army knives are tools and in my pack I also normally carry a leatherman type tool, a block of Mg to use for starting fires, a compass and anything else that might be necessary where I’m going.
One time when I was involuntarily partaking of some airport security theater, I was asked if I was bringing any weapons into the country. My answer was, “yes, hands feet and a brain”. A Swiss army knife is the last thing I’d think of using as a weapon but in the forest, there are lots of nice stout branches which can be swung easily with fatal effect depending on the amount of force one applies when swinging this extension of ones arm.
Knives are tools and when I was a kid we’d use them to carve tree branches and to make willow whistles. Those were also the days when an 8 year old lugging a .22 rifle almost as tall as they were didn’t set off any alarms.
One of the games we played back in my martial arts days while walking around was to have one member of the party randomly state: “find all potential weapons in this place”. A university classroom was a very weapon rich environment containing chairs which could be picked up and used either as shields or to impart force to ones opponent. A glass window could be smashed and a piece of cloth could be used to pick up sharp jagged pieces which would make very good knives. Outside, conveniently sized rocks could be used. A sharpened pencil jammed through someones eye socket would likely be lethal. A ball point pen can be shoved through someones ribs into the heart. I still do a quick mental inventory for potential weapons in any new environment that I’m in.
Stupidity like this needs to be responded to aggressively and should result in the firing of every idiot involved in this incident.
I take exception to this:
This school is not part of the Cupertino School District, it is part of a commercial chain of “progressive” schools run by Stratford. Cupertino schools still say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning … WITH the word “God”. They also sing the National Anthem at school events. In Cupertino’s Memorial Park on Stevens Creek Blvd at the intersection of Mary near Highway 85 you will find a veterans memorial. It features a statue that means a lot to the people of Cupertino. The statue is called Guardians and is to Navy SEALs back to back. They commemorate two local boys who joined the SEALs and lost their lives together in Operation Redwing in Afghanistan. You might just read about them in a book titled Lone Survivor. On a Sunday afternoon, you might find the father of one of those boys sitting on a bench at that memorial reading his Bible and spending a little time being as close to his son as he can manage.
The people of Cupertino live in a little bastion of sanity surrounding by “progressive” lunacy. It is a little island of “old school” California in the San Francisco Bay area. I love that little town and the people there.
If you ever get the chance to be in the area, stop by and visit that little park and if you see an older fellow sitting on a bench reading his bible, you might offer a quiet, kind thanks for raising such a fine young man and condolences for his sacrifice.
http://cupertinoveteransmemorial.org/
Oh, and if you visit that web page for that veterans memorial and if you have the means, you might pitch in a small donation. The upkeep of that sacred piece of ground doesn’t come from the city budget, the citizens and friends of the town do that out of their own pockets. Your donation would be most gratefully appreciated.
Just reflecting on my Boy Scout days, back in the 60s. At our regular Wednesday evening meetings, most of the boys in the troop had pocket knives on their person. They were used in the meetings in cutting rope for knot learning, various other learning activities. When we went on weekend camping trips, most of the boys, myself included, carried a hatchet and a sheath knife with a 4-6″ blade. These were used in getting wood for fires and various outdoorsy activities. Nobody was ever hurt with these evil weapons. (Oh, and no gay scouts or scoutmasters, either. The scoutmasters were all good family men who gave of their time and themselves and were fine role models.)
I suppose nowadays, this would be grounds for a State Police raid, arrests. Insanity!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and flesh out the story, crosspatch.
I learn something new every day.
Sorry I made so many typos, was in a bit of a hurry (it was about dinner time here).
Hmm, I’m still looking for the typos…
:>)