WRAL.com
Ashley Smithwick, 17, of Sanford, was suspended from Southern Lee High School in October 2010 for after school personnel found a small, green paring knife in her lunchbox.
Posted on 12/29/2010 7:59:57 PM PST by ri4dc
A standout North Carolina high school student has been suspended for the remainder of her senior year and charged with a misdemeanor for having a small paring knife in her lunchbox.
Ashley Smithwick, 17, of Sanford told WRAL she accidentally took her father's lunchbox to Southern Lee High School in October instead of her own when school officials searched the lunchbox, along with several other students' possessions, possibly looking for drugs.
Ashley's father, Joe Smithwick told the station the lunchbox had a paring knife inside so that he could slice up an apple that accompanied it.
"It's just an honest mistake. That was supposed to be my lunch because it was a whole apple," he said.
But school officials didn't see it that way.
The athlete who takes college-level courses was suspended for the remainder for the school year, banned from campus and this month was charged with misdemeanor possession of a weapon on school grounds, WRAL reported.
Ashley says she finds the punishment particularly alarming because she's never been in trouble before.
[excerpt as required - read more at link]
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Sometimes I wonder if Obama is all part of Karl Rove's plan. For some temporary pain, the 'rat party and socialism could be destroyed for generations.
my prayer for you as that you will homeschool all the way through... we are in our tenth year... oldest son is ninth grade and youngest is in fifth... it can get difficult as they get older, but it is so worth it... in some ways my oldest needs me less, and in other ways he needs me more...
I’ll call these fools.
I definitely appreciate that encouragement. We did figure home schooling would get more difficult over time, which is why we started early. Oldest is six, youngest is two. Both speak two languages. Six year old is great in math and science, and has really demonstrated her love of knowledge; she is even interested in a 3rd language. Youngest will be a challenge for sure, she hates anyone telling her anything about anything as she has her OWN ideas and the attention span of a nat :)
My biggest prayer is that my income remains stable so that my wife can stay at home focused on their learning. So when I say as long as we can, that’s what I mean.
If we hit some specific issues, I may tag you for some advice :) Thanks for raising great kids and God bless !
ping
While hardly a believer, I can wonder if there might be something beyond even Rove - after all, socialism is really theft.
And, I seem to remember a reference to “Don’t Steal” being allegedly recorded on a piece of stone.
;-)
bump ping
Its just ridiculous. In what world is a paring knife considered to be a weapon? The problem with “zero tolerance” is they take no account of the nature of the offense, whether there was an actual threat involved and the student’s record. Its not justice in my book to punish someone for a mistake any one could make.
I look at this situation in light of the actual dangers that exist within our schools. This girl was obviously no threat to anyone and her parents backed up her claim. At that point the school was obligated to back off this kid. Yet these same officials likely ignore daily clear and present dangers from bullying and harassment to drugs and sexual predators. Something smells wrong about this story. Sounds more like the liberal establishment targeting this family for some reason. I hope whatever it is gets fixed for this kid’s sake. She’s a good performing high school Senior taking college courses.
WRAL.com
Ashley Smithwick, 17, of Sanford, was suspended from Southern Lee High School in October 2010 for after school personnel found a small, green paring knife in her lunchbox.
Goodness gracious, the handle on the knife is longer than the blade.
I will happy to contribute to any fund or organization that steps up to help this girl and her family. Schools have done this thing in the past simply because they could. Time to put a stop to that. Let ‘em have their silly rules and policies, but make certain it takes a lot out of them to enforce them. As bad as the financial situation is for schools at every level the cloud’s silver lining is that they have fewer and fewer resources to fight silly fights like this one would be.
Goodness gracious, the handle on the knife is longer than the blade.
I will be happy to contribute to any fund or organization that steps up to help this girl and her family. Schools have done this thing in the past simply because they could. Time to put a stop to that. Let ‘em have their silly rules and policies, but make certain it takes a lot out of them to enforce them. As bad as the financial situation is for schools at every level the cloud’s silver lining is that they have fewer and fewer resources to fight silly fights like this one would be.
We are committing national suicide.
re: committing national suicide
Amen. Has any nation or society in history managed to reverse the trend once they started down the slippery slope to ruin? We have so many things going the wrong way now that I frankly don’t see much hope of stopping our slide.
Update: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8851902/
She not currently under suspension at all, according to the school, and the paring knife wasn’t in a lunchbag, it was in her purse. Although, the lunchbag in question kind of looks like a purse. Albeit a very ugly one.
The only thingthat ill change it is a complete collapse, a massive war like WW2 to where everyone has to fightfor survival, or something like that.
Oter than that - we are screwed.
My grandfather, who died in 1954, used to say depressions were the forest fires of economics. Just like the forest needs the occasional fire to restore balance to its system, the economy needs the occasional depression to let it start over.
There is not a single problem we’ve encountered in my lifetime that’s been solved. They are either kicked on down the road to be handled by our children, or something is done that not only fails to solve the problem, but actually makes it worse, or introduces new problems.
And the problem with problems is, they add up. At some point the combination of problems becomes such that a relatively small new problem will bring down the house of cards. I fear that’s where we are now.
I say again, it MUST be destroyed.
What in the hell is wrong with North Carolina!
I started carrying a knife to school in the 3rd grade. Except for travel in foreign countries, I’ve had one there ever since.
Did a suburb of San Francisco get dropped into NC a la the Wizard of Oz? Do the good ole boys of NC walk around with fingernail clippers in their pockets, since knives would be too aggressive?
Of course, I suspect some of the schools in Commieville Arizona (Tucson) have the same repulsive rules, but I’ve never heard of someone being suspended for a knife in a lunchbox. And what in the commie hell are they doing searching lunchboxes?
I suppose, in honesty, I should admit I home school our daughter. The local school district recommended a few years ago that she get psychiatric counseling. Why? Because while in the 4th grade, she licked her fingers and chased boys around the playground.
Asked why she did it, she replied, “I wanted to create pandemonium, and I succeeded!”
The only voice of reason was her teacher, who confided in private that she had done the same sort of thing when she was in the 4th grade...
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