This is a simply ridiculous story. An Eagle Scout, an honor student, an Army soldier who is applying to enter West Point, has been suspended from his high school where he is a senior because he had a pocket knife locked in his car that was parked on school grounds. So much for the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared”!
The craziest thing is, the school said they would let him return if he could produce a letter from either the U.S. Army or the Boy Scouts saying that he required the pocket knife. He promptly got a letter from his scoutmaster and then was informed he was suspended for an additional three weeks.
Well, turns out this school district messed with the wrong kid.
He’s my godson.
Here’s the first of what is lining up to be many media stories on this.
For more, you can read about it here.
And here’s a bit of an update from the boy’s father.
I actually heard from the reporter that he talked to Congressman Tonko and that his office knows of the situation and that they talked to West Point already and were told this “issue” won’t be a problem for Matt.
It’s something when people in authority have no common sense.
Talk about an over reaction.
I am curious how the school even knew the knife was in the car. It was locked and protected. This boys sounds like he has a head on his shoulder and took all the neccessary precautions.
The school first asked him if he had a knife on him. He replied no. They then asked him if he had one in his car. He honestly replied that he did.
Such is the absurdity of our government schools. I carried my Boy Scout knife to school every day from fifth grade until the day I graduated, as an Eagle Scout.
Hi Riley,
I am a production associate with Channel One News. We are a national news organization that broadcasts directly in to more than 230,000 highschool and middle school classrooms across the country. Our viewership exceeds 6 million teenagers and young adults (both in schools and online). I’m interested in putting a story together about Matthew and his experiences with the formentioned incident. We are hoping to examine the topic of “zero tolerance” as a whole, using Matthew’s story as a platform for such a debate.
I have been unsuccessful in obtaining contact information for Matthew and am hoping you might be able to point me in the approriate direction. Please get back to me and let me know your thoughts. My email and office number are below. Thank you.
Evan Groll
Channel One News – CBS
Production Associate
New York, NY 10019
grolle@cbsnews.com
212-975-1567
[...] School Suspends Eagle Scout For Being Prepared [...]
Somehow I didn’t weigh in on this although I intended to. There are many schools in the country, particularly in the Southern region, where pocket knives are considered acceptable accessories. This, in my opinion, is a dangerous and risky policy.
This situation with the Eagle Scout is much different and was clearly handled very poorly, to say the least. Still the question that begs to be asked is how public schools continue to be so polarized and what can we do to bring a balance that will provide for the safe school environment while also offering flexibility so that administrators can make common sense determinations?
I just joined a Samurai League. I brought a katana to school in my car. That is my right and I need it to be prepared! They can’t sue me! I may use it for a weapon later on, but screw that!