Can you believe these school officials? They are sending 6-year old Zachary Christie to a reform school just because he brought camping utensils for lunch. What happened was, the innocent six year old, a first grader at Downes Elementary School in Newark, Delaware brought with him a spoon, a fork, bottle opener, and knife. When shcool officials asked the youngling why he brought the utensils, he said “it’s for my lunch”. The School official, because of the zero-policy in the said school, had no choice but to suspend him. But that’s not all, he is also being considered by the school board to be sent on a reform school for 45 days together with other juvenile delinquents.. that is just because the kid wanted to have a decent lunch at school with the utensils and all. Absurd isnt it?

This is not the first time that a child was suspended. A nine year old girl in the same school was also penalized because of a Cake. Her grandmother sent the third grader a birthday cake for her birthday, but what irked the officials was not the cake, but the knife that came with it. C’mon, it’s common sense. How can you slice a birthday cake without a knife?

The school took its cue from the massacre that happened in Columbine and Virginia tech schools. They are very strict in their rules and zero-tolerance to anyone has been implemented in the institution. But what is wrong here is the common sense of these officials.

The utensils were confiscated from Zachary Christie by the school officials and deemed it as a possible weapon. Take note “WEAPON!”

What? a six year old who only wants a descent lunch, and who has no concept yet of murder and mayhem, would bother killing his classmates with spoon, fork, bottle openener and a swiss knife? These fools should attend Growth and Development classes to better understand the psychological and physical development of children. At six year old, the child has not yet reached his full devopment of his motor skills, so how can any kid with that age precisely pull off murder with the aid of a swiss knife? would he spoon out the nostrils of his classmates? would he prick his classmates with fork as if their skins are meatloaves? will he gouge their eyeballs with his bottle opener?

The kid who wear a tie at times going to school and is studying karate is no way a threat to the safety of other kids. Unless of course these asshole officials believe in the movie OMEN and “Children of the Corn” where satan incarnate kids are possible, but then again, these very same officials who has a duty to protect kids from unwanted harm is now actually doing the opposite and putting poor Zachary Christie into an unnecessary trauma and pressure.

The kid is too young to be the poster child of kindergarten weapons. Only assholes who are fond of watching “Problem Child and Dennis the Menace” will be paranoid with a six year old kid. And now, the New York times has picked up the story, its only a matter of hours before public perception against these officials take its toll, both in the bowels of the internet and in the airwaves of media spotlight.

I say, Fire these dumb asses from their job— America doesn’t need school administrators who has an IQ level of a toilet bowl and offers the public with no intelligence at all. Case to case basis is obviously not in their M.O.

Addendum: An email letter has been circulating these days encouraging the residents and parents of the community near the school to attend the board meeting and throw their support behind Zachary Christie. Here is the content of the letter,

Zachary is six years old and was a first grader at Downes Elementary School in Newark, Delaware. [...]

On Tuesday, September 29th, Zachary brought his camping utensil to school to use at lunch (spoon, fork, bottle opener, and knife). As he was getting off the bus, a teacher asked him what he was holding in his hand. Zachary showed it to her and explained why he had brought it… to eat his lunch. The teacher gave the utensil to the principal, at which point Zach was suspended from school pending a school district hearing.

The [Christina] School District committee recommended that he be alternatively placed at The Douglass School, a reform school for juvenile delinquents. This is the same school where they place children who have severe behavioral problems and who are guilty of such offenses as assault and battery, rape, drug offenses, concealing a deadly weapon, and more. Since there is absolutely zero chance that we will allow that to happen, the only hope for Zachary being able to rejoin his friends at Downes Elementary is if Christina School District Superintendent Marcia Lyles or the Christina School Board intervenes to overturn the committee’s decision.

Did you catch the fact that HE IS SIX YEARS OLD?!?!?! We haven’t spoken to anybody who believes that the zero tolerance policy is either rational or reasonable, but the District continues to follow it in spite of legislation (HB 120) that calls for school districts to use sound judgment in reviewing these cases.

Please help! Please send emails and letters to the Christina School Board and to Christina School District Superintendent Marcia Lyles (contact info listed below)… MOST IMPORTANTLY, Please come to the School Board meeting on Tuesday, October 13th. Our goal is to have 10,000 people there to make the School Board listen to reason and stop victimizing the same innocent children they are supposed to be protecting.

Come to the School Board meeting and make your voice heard!

October 13, 2009
General Business Meeting ~ 7:30 pm
Porter Road Elementary School
500 Caledonia Way, Bear, DE

What do you think? Does the suspension of a six year old justifiable? what do you think of the school officials? are they Paranoid? Or are they over reacting? Is this child abuse or what? Tell TromPilyo your thoughts and opinion….