Eagle Scout suspended from school over pocketknife in car

October 20, 9:28 AMChristian Living ExaminerJoanne Brokaw

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Christian Living Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Proving yet again that the world has gone mad, seventeen year old high school senior Matthew Whalen was suspended recently from Lansingburgh High School for having a pocket knife in his car. The knife was part of a survival kit Whalen kept in his car that included a sleeping bag, water and a ready-to-eat meal.

Whalen is an Eagle Scout who this summer completed a 10-week Army basic training session; he teaches Boy Scouts how to safely handle knives. He hopes to head to West Point after graduation.

The story comes on the heels of a story last week about a 6-year-old Cub Scout Zachary Christie who brought his new Swiss Army knife, with a fork, spoon and yes, knife, to school to use at lunch. The first-grader was initially ordered to go 45 days in reform school, but got a reprieve when the school board voted to relax their zero-tolerance policy for kindergarteners and first graders.

Whalen is not so lucky. Lansingburgh School District Superintendent George Goodwin suspended Whalen for five days, and then extended the suspsension to a month citing the school's rule book, which considers possesion of a knife to be "violent" conduct. There is no mention of a zero-tolerance policy, leaving punishment up to the discretion of the superintendent. 

Whalen's father, Bryan Whalen, has hired a lawyer in the hopes of getting his son's suspension overturned and his record expunged. The younger Whalen is concerned that the incident will mar his academic record and hurt his chances to get into West Point.

Does anyone else think this story is nuts? Here are two model kids suspended from school for possessing what 20 years ago was considered a necessity for any young man. Kids have carried pocketknives forever; any violence done with them is not the fault of the knife, but the kid. When did we stop letting guys be guys? 

An Eagle Scout with Army training is more than qualified to keep a pocketknife in his car. And a first grader so excited about joining Cub Scouts that he brings his new pocketknife to school doesn't need reform school; he needs someone to gently explain that the knife isn't allowed in school and let the parents handle it.

Subscribe to the Christian Living feed and have the headlines delivered to your email inbox daily. And don't forget to follow me on Twitter!