How Fu***d Up is This?!?

[Bubba]

10 Year old Girl Arrested for Cutting Steak with a Knife!

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.

"And we didn't handcuff her or treat her like a criminal. But, we took her to the assessment center to be assessed," said Capt. James Pogue, Marion County Sheriff's Office.

School officials said it doesn't matter what the knife was being used for. They said they had no choice.

"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.

But the sheriff's office said the extreme measures in what some may say was a harmless incident had to do with school policy, not theirs.

"But once we're notified, we have to take some type of action," Pogue explained.

The student now faces a felony charge for the possession of a weapon on school property and the principal suspended her for ten days. The parents of the girl could not be reached for comment.

The sheriff's office has turned the case over to the State Attorney's Office.

If she is found guilty of this felony, does that follow her into adulthood? Because a felon can't vote, can't own a firearm, etc.

These teachers have unnecessarily scarred this little girl. I also think the two teachers that took away the knife and called the sheriff's office, and the Principal that suspended her for 10 days need slapped around for awhile to see if some common sense can be knocked into them!

[Army_of_One]

This is the "zero tolerence" policy in schools which is a replacement for common sense and judgement. See how wonderful out public school systems are?

[357 mag]

I'm not sure of Florida law but in Kansas if they are adjudicated (convicted) as a juvenile it does not show up on their record. Juvenile records are sealed and when you do a background check it does not show up.

[wordsmythe]

Originally Posted by Army_of_One

This is the "zero tolerence" policy in schools which is a replacement for common sense and judgement. See how wonderful out public school systems are?

You get what you put into it. if you claim the government is broken the LAST thing you would want would be to put any effort into fixing it.

[K C Muffin]

Does anybody else see something wrong other than the arrest? A 10-year-old child bringing steak in a brown-bag lunch? Holy cow! When I was a kid, brown bag meant sandwiches, chips and maybe, just maybe some pudding and an apple or something.

The school was way out of line. If they really feared she'd use the knife outside of the lunch period, they could have silently separated her from the rest of the students, watched over her while she ate her lunch, then took the knife from her till it was time to go home. I agree - we've lost the common sense. We're all afraid. Of 10-year-olds.

[Bubba]

Maybe they're a family that has more money than ours did when we grew up...thus their children eat steaks, while we ate sandwiches.

[TexKan]

What I really see wrong here is - they couldn't contact the parents for a long enough period of time that they needed to make a decision to take her to the detention center.

I understand zero tolerance and they had to do something because IF she used the knife they were liable. There is also that little pesky thing about not favoring one student over another. If you aren't willing to nab the little girl with the steak knife - then why would you mess with the banger with a knife? Just cause you come from a good family and eat steak doesn't mean you aren't as crazy or disturbed as the Columbine kids. A threat is a threat.

Next time she will cut her sandwich at home. Bet she won't be bringing knives to school anymore tho. Just a sad state we as a society have gotten to.

It's easy to call foul - but ya gotta administer the rules without favoritism. Any attorney will tell ya that! Sad story - but not surprising at all.

[Bubba]

But it wasn't a weapon, it was a utensil for cutting her steak. I wonder if the teacher's or the principal use a steak knife when they eat steak?

[TexKan]

A knife is a weapon - school kids can't have pocket knifes either. A steak knife is longer than a pocket knife. We can mince the terminology all day long but any parent knows you can't send a knife to school with your kid anymore than you can put an aspirin in their pocket. If a kid has an aspirin they are carrying a controlled substance. - It's against the school regs and those regs are there to protect all - like them or not -

Don't be angry with the teachers and officers - the school board decided what can and can't be brought to school.

Like I said - Why the hell couldn't they get the parents? What if the kid had been injured? The detention center is the last resort - my DIL is a school cop and she could tell ya stories that would curl your hair. Truth is the issue to me is - the parents were AWOL............ for probably hours!

[Bubba]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. In the video the school spokesman even said that she was using it as it was intended to be used. In the article it even says the teachers took the utensil.