Kindergarten student cuts finger with switchblade
Thursday, September 10, 2009
CASHMERE — A 6-year-old Cashmere kindergarten boy brought a switchblade to school Wednesday, cut his finger with it and was apparently suspended for bringing a weapon to school, according to the Chelan County Sheriff's Office.
The Vale Elementary School student was taken to a hospital and apparently needed stitches, said Jerry Moore, chief of administration.
He said the boy told detectives it was his brother's knife.
Moore said discipline will be handled by the school district, which apparently decided to suspend the boy for three days.
The Cashmere School superintendent was not available this morning to discuss the incident.
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Comments
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Chuck (C. Ulysses Farley) says...
Was it an actual, automatic, switchblade, or a legal, spring-assisted, one-handed tactical folder? No point in scaring readers unnecessarily when describing potential weapons.
September 10, 2009 at 12:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Laura (Laura Swafford) says...
I can only hope other than a being suspended that maybe just maybe children of that age have some other means of being taught why other than it hurts they should not have items like that at school. This childs going to possible think their home because they got cut by the blade and it hurts. Althought suspension is policy @ all schools but in this case aged 6 is it correct. How/when do the schools start to teach banned object vs non-banned? Are our schools proactive in class @ this age? I'm sure the parent(s) are taking action on this without question. It would be nice to see how each school would handle this same issue and what PROACTIVE steps are in place now in our schools. Sounds like a follow up story to me.
September 10, 2009 at 3:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
joanne (joanne saliby) says...
Follow up, yes! Does anyone think this six yeara old has any real idea of why he is staying home for three days? Did anyone just sit him down (after he was treated medically) and explain the problem to him? And what is his brother doing with a switch blade? Sometimes the so-called "letter of the law" is carried too far.
September 11, 2009 at 10:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Cactus (Jerry Patterson) says...
He does need to be taught why this is an issue however, to be fair, EVERY single school in this area, including elementary schools, have very clearly posted "WEAPON FREE ZONE" signs all over the place which typically include pictures of both knives and pistols. Someone does need to talk to the child, not only because of the severity of the offense (bringing a deadly weapon to school) but also due to the simple fact that the child needs to understand basic discipline, i.e., when there are signs all over your school that say not something is not allowed, it really does mean not allowed.
I'm also curious as another reader commented..was this a true switchblade, which is purely illegal to possess? IF that be the case, how did his brother get his hands on a weapon that is illegal to even possess?
September 11, 2009 at 2:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )