Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Double Down on Idiot School Administrators

Just a couple days ago I wrote this post about the 6-year-old who was going to be suspended and sent to reform school for 45 days because he had the audacity to bring a cub scout eating utensil (which includes a knife) to school.

Today we learn about the Eagle Scout, who wants to attend West Point, who was suspended for 20 days because he had a pocket knife in his car on campus:

A 17-year-old Eagle Scout in upstate New York has been barred from stepping foot on school grounds for 20 days — for keeping a 2-inch pocketknife locked in a survival kit in his car.

Matthew Whalen, a senior at Lansingburgh Senior High School, says he follows the Boy Scout motto and is always prepared, stocking his car with a sleeping bag, water, a ready-to-eat meal — and the knife, which was given to him by his grandfather, a police chief in a nearby town...

He is concerned that the blot on his school record could kill his dream of attending West Point...

Whalen said he is not considering a lawsuit.

"I don't know what I could do, because technically ... I did break the rules, and I'll accept that punishment," he said.

"Perhaps I should have been more aware of the rules. However, I'm more upset about the additional 15 days.... That was entirely optional, and they decided to go through with that."


His positive attitude and acceptance that he broke the rules is clearly in line with what he'd learn at West Point.

According to the article, another student told the administrators that he had a knife on campus. When asked, he told the truth and showed it to them in his car.

2 comments:

neko said...

What happened here is so aggravating, I can't even type a proper response! How utterly asinine!!

Anonymous said...

glad i don't live in new york. in the state where i live, your car is legally an extension of your home and is therefore private property. as long as the weapon stayed in his car, the school or authorities would have no right to take action aginst him.