The Box Cutter
Hypothetical: One of your best students, a conscientious and hard-working senior with good grades, a great attitude, and a full academic scholarship to Mississippi State, stops by your classroom during homeroom and asks to speak to you in the hallway. Once in the hallway, he says that he came to school directly from his early-morning job at the grocery store where he unloads and opens boxes. He takes a box cutter out of his jeans and says, "I forgot to leave this at work. Can you hold it for me? If I'm caught with it I will get in trouble."
District policy and state law mandate zero tolerance for any weapons, including knives and box cutters, on school grounds. The student, if caught with a box cutter, no matter how benign his reason, will automatically be expelled from school for the year. Furthermore, having witnessed a student with a box cutter on school grounds, you now have a legal obligation to report him to the administration. What do you do?
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Comments
I think this would really depend on the student. There are certain students who fit this description that I would absolutely trust their word... and others who I would hesitate.
I think one good option is to not take the box-cutter, but instead tell the student to go speak to one of the principals (And send them to the one who you believe is the most fair). Tell the student to repeat the same thing to the principal. Chances are, the principal will know the student is harmless, and give them a break --- and you are off the look as far as liability. But if you personally tell the principal about the situation, they will probably feel obligated to write up the incident and move towards disciplinary actions - since you were a witness.
Just kidding, but have we really gotten so cynical that we think this is a legitimate threat? Take the box cutter, slap him in the head for doing something silly, and tell him to get to class.