OCALA, Fla. -- A 10-year old Ocala girl brought her lunch to school and a small kitchen knife to cut it. She now faces a felony charge after being arrested. The school and the sheriff's office disagree on the reason for the arrest.

School officials say the 5th grader was brown-bagging it. She brought a piece of steak for her lunch, but she also brought a steak knife. That's when deputies were called.


It happened in the cafeteria at Sunrise Elementary School. The 10-year-old used the knife to cut the meat.


"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.


But a couple of teachers took the utensil and called the sheriff. When deputies arrived, they were unable to get the child's parents on the phone, so they arrested her and took her to the county's juvenile assessment center.

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

Can we please have some common sense in the public school system.

I understand bringing a knife to school is against the rules, I understand that the teachers have a responsiblity to act, but this kind of thing really identifies the ignorance of school officials and this "zero tolerance" mentality.

Just use some common sense people. I wouldn't have a problem if the teachers who noticed the knife would have walked up to the 10 year old and explained she couldn't have knife at school and took the knife from her, then call the parents so they understand the seriousness of the policy. But this #### where they call the sheriff's department and have the girl placed in their custody was waste of tax payers money, and the departments time. While the public school systems ignores bully violence, the drugs, the gangs in their schools, it's sad to see that they take such an aggressive position on 10 year old bringing a steak knife to cut a steak for lunch.

Thank you liberals for making the world safer.

Exactly! I completely agree!

What happened is absolutely RIDICULOUS!!!! What is the world coming to??? Sigh....

Either these teachers are too smart for their own good?
Or too stupid to teach our kids!!!!!!!

Most are too stupid, have never had children, have no common sense and are idiots.

Mind you, there ARE some exceptions but it's more an exception now than the rule that you run into good teachers.

My kids had some horrid teachers... but also some good ones... and a ton of so-so who cares teachers... sigh... and it's just getting worse, not better.

The Teachers jumped the GUN (sort of speaking) by calling the COPS of course before even trying to work out the situation.

I could have understood this if you had a kid with a knife that was meant to do other things then cut a piece of meat.

But I have to ask, DID her parents know the RULES of the school?

Why not send her to school with a lunch where don't need a knife?

I'm not the biggest fan of our current educational system here in the States... but I wouldn't be too quick to blame the teachers on this one. Chances are good that there is a district policy that outlines actions to be taken in the event that a district employee finds a knife on a student.

Had an angry parent of a student justifiably placed in custody for having a knife in his/her possession found out that another student was exempted from the policy, the teachers could have lost their jobs for not adhering to district policies.

Unfortunately, Those In Charge have taken common sense out of our schools.

__________________

Why not precut the food? Or even use a serrated butter knife, unless your steak is super tough!! LOL

Her parents may not have even packed her lunch. My daughter always INSISTED on doing it herself by the time she was eight or nine (fussy kid!)

And it's hard to remember all the nit picky rules these days while we try to do all the parenting for the kids whose parents can't do it right the first time...sigh... banning an entire school from bringing peanut butter because of ONE CHILD's ALLERGY? Why????? My son hated most other lunches. Why not just let that child eat in a classroom alone to be safe? Too bad if it's lonely - it's the price you pay. I went to school with three kids with life-threatening peanut butter allergies but we never had to ban it from SCHOOL!!! The kids knew what to do and what to watch for - kids aren't stupid, you know. They're VERY intelligent and can easily learn these things if you parent then properly and not throw them in a daycare and expect them to do it for you.

Okay... I'll get off my soapbox now...

My daughter's one classmate was a PKU child which placed severe restrictions on her diet... but her mother was very cautious as to what her daugher ate. She alerted the teachers and parents who planned classroom parties, and always made sure that alternate treats were available for her child.

It was as it should be -- the parent was the responsible party. The teacher and other parents were simply part of her support system.

__________________

That's wonderful and as it should be!! We had a couple of diabetic twins in school with my kids when they were young. The class knew all about it as did the teachers of those kids and they all knew what to do, what not to do and how to handle it. They didn't have to restrict the entire school because of those two kids - as it should be

I agree with cavs statement. Its a total waste of taxpayers money. The sad thing is, that there is no gray area's any more. No one wants to be responsible for making a judgment call, and instead, they make an example of someone that is simply trying to eat her lunch.

Its wrong, and this kid will be traumatized for this. Who is going to see to her mental health after being arrested? And I'm sure that they cuffed her and put her in the back of the car, just like anyone else. And there is probably more to the story, if you look closer, the parents were probably charged with something as well.

I'm sorry people, you can disagree with me all you want, but our kids are being robbed of their childhoods because of these types of rules. They are thrown on probation for things like this that could have been handled differently.

OUR children are expected to act like ADULTS, and follow strict rules. And their brains are NOT equipped to do this at the age of 17 let alone 10.

I read another story just exactly like this about a year ago, about a kindergartener that brought a butter knife to school that was handcuffed and taken in on arrest. Society is treating our kids like criminals and if they are treated that way, whats to say they won't live up to the expectations. We don't even give them a chance to learn from their mistakes any more.

__________________