"Politically, zero tolerance is what everybody clamours for, until we start to realise how harsh zero tolerance can be," School board member John Mackenzie told AP ahead of the vote.

Has the concept of exercising a bit of common sense never occurred to him?

Only a matter of time before someone on my course is stopped by police At college we carry grafting knives for taking cuttings and we're supposed to carry the student card in case... i bet one day someone forgets and is arrested

Three to five days off school?

Sounds good to me!

Kid looks pretty shifty to me.  They start young these days you know!

He looks totally murderous to me

I used to love getting suspended!

Actually, I'm with John Mackenzie on this one, The whole point of "Zero Tolerance" is that it is applied severely and equally to everyone. It does not allow any scope for exceptions. The problem is that a lot of people blindly support its introduction without fully appreciating the consequences: I bet the boy's parents were perfectly happy with the "zero tolerance" policy when it was being applied to other people's children...


I tried to make the same point to "The Real BB" when they claimed to introduce "Zero Tolerance" in BB9. It became clear very quickly that he hadn't really thought about what the concept actually meant: it was just a cool term to make it look as if BB was being tough without actually doing anything...

3/5 days off school seems fair. I appreciate the innocent intention of the cutlery, but it could have got into the wrong hands and been used to harm kids or staff.

But that's all it was - cutlery.
The children still have to use a knife and fork to eat, and unless we say anyone in a public place has to eat with their fingers isn't there always going to be that risk?

The problem was not the presence of the cutlery, but the fact that the boy brought a knife into school. The school has decided that if a pupil brings a knife (any knife) into school, they will be suspended.

It may sound harsh, but that's "Zero Tolerance" for you, The whole idea behind the concept is that you punish even the most minor crime severely, so as to prevent minor crimes from turning into major ones.
The parents appear to have supported the introduction of "zero tolerance", so I've no sympathy for them when it get's applied to their son...

Apparently, he was frightening the other kids by hanging the spoon on the end of his nose.  These thugs need to be stopped in their tracks. 

He should be hung drawn and eighthed.......true evil personified

Moomin cutlery is fine in a supervised dining room where it belongs.
Cutlery, specifically a knife is classed as a weapon though when carried around.

You should have a look at what he took to school here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t...s/article6874258.ece 
It wasn't a simple piece of cutlery - it was a proper penknife...

Fair enough - I didn't see the picture in the original article - I thought it would be more like this -
all clipped together like the camping cutlery sets I have seen.

I still maybe think the punishment was a bit harsh though.

It probably was, but as I keep saying, that's "zero tolerance" for you. The parents wanted "zero tolerance", so that's what they got.


If something positive comes out of this, it will hopefully be that all those parents who demand that their schools and politicians act tough over "knife crime" will stop for a moment to think about how such demands are met in practise, instead of just blindly supporting whatever looks good on paper...

you wouldn't let a 6 year old kiddie walk around with a knife/pen knife or whatever, plus he takes a packed lunch