I found two related articles to this story about the 10 year-old girl in Orlando, Florida arrested for bringing a steak knife to school so she can cut her steak for lunch.

Elementary School Student Arrested for Having Steak Knife

Story, here (http://www.myfoxorlando.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5247577&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1).

WOFL-TV Channel 35 (Fox), Orlando, Florida-December 17, 2007

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Community Stands behind Steak Knife Girl

Story, here (http://www.myfoxorlando.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=5271907&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1).

WOFL-TV Channel 35 (Fox), Orlando, Florida-December 19, 2007

I saw that on the news. ohno:

Uhhh, a steak knife is not a weapon UNTIL IT IS USED AS A WEAPON. Maybe next time the lackeys in the lunchroom kitchen could try tenderizing the steak and/or cutting up their meat servings so kids won't have to go through this traumatic embarrassment.

Wow, ten year old "felons". Only in America. :rolleyes: "Cutting her steak, a likely story!!"

I think they said the girl brought the steak from home - it was leftover from dinner the night before.

I'm sure the poor girl was shocked and very scared, she didn't know any better. She's just not used to our criminal world yet. I understand why knives are not allowed at school, and that's fine, but I think the school could've handled it in a different manner with no police involved. She's probably going to be feeling guilty and looking over her shoulder everyday at school now :(

My God -- is an arrest really necessary? It's not like she even planned to hurt anyone with it.

I think they said the girl brought the steak from home - it was leftover from dinner the night before.
She should have cut the steak at home then brought it to school...common sense

She should have cut the steak at home then brought it to school...common sense
My mom said, "why couldn't the parents have cut the meat for her before putting it into her lunch bag?" :idea:

Whatever happened to common sense? No police should have been called. It wasn't her intent to hurt anybody. I'm glad I'm not in school. The world's gone crazy.

Whatever happened to common sense? No police should have been called. It wasn't her intent to hurt anybody. I'm glad I'm not in school. The world's gone crazy.
Well, if your kid was in that school (hypothtically speaking) and some kid brought in a knife, wouldnt you be upset if the teachers did nothing...just in case something happened? On the other hand, i think arresting the kid is a bit much, since she didnt threaten anyone with the knife. They simply should have taken the knife, and had the parents over to the school for a chat over this.

Whatever happened to common sense? No police should have been called. It wasn't her intent to hurt anybody. I'm glad I'm not in school. The world's gone crazy.

I know, unfortunately common sense is long gone from our society, lol. It shouldn't have to be this way, people should be able to bring things such as a knife to cut meat, but unfortunately because of the stupid crazy morons we have in this world, we all have to suffer and must live by rules to stay safe. Uniforms in schools, having drills in schools for preparation of an intruder, etc.

Well, if your kid was in that school (hypothtically speaking) and some kid brought in a knife, wouldnt you be upset if the teachers did nothing...just in case something happened? On the other hand, i think arresting the kid is a bit much, since she didnt threaten anyone with the knife. They simply should have taken the knife, and had the parents over to the school for a chat over this.
I've heard of some kids getting in trouble for bringing butter knives to school....totally stupid. Yea it's a rule and the teachers should have taken the knife away but calling the police is ridiculous. That child could be traumatized by it. I don't have a kid but I do have a young niece in school and if this happened to her , I'd be livid. Schools should use common sense. I use to take silverware to school with my lunch and it's too bad that today's kids have to be under guard all the time. I guess it's a sign of the times. I wouldn't want to be in school today for anything.

You couldn't PAY me to go back to public school!! :eek: :mad:

You couldn't PAY me to go back to public school!! :eek: :mad:

Makes you not want to have kids anymore, knowing they'll have to live through that :confused:

You couldn't PAY me to go back to public school!! :eek: :mad:
This girl was taken by the police for using a steak knife to cut meat and at VA Tech, the students weren't even properly notified that a gunman was loose on campus. Between the nuts at school and the idiot administrators, I'm glad I'm done with it.

Makes you not want to have kids anymore, knowing they'll have to live through that :confused:
I don't have kids of my own, but I have a 1 1/2-year-old nephew. I wonder how much more horrible things will get by the time he's ready for kindergarten. :eek: :mad:

This girl was taken by the police for using a steak knife to cut meat and at VA Tech, the students weren't even properly notified that a gunman was loose on campus. Between the nuts at school and the idiot administrators, I'm glad I'm done with it.
AMEN!

Well, if your kid was in that school (hypothtically speaking) and some kid brought in a knife, wouldnt you be upset if the teachers did nothing...just in case something happened? On the other hand, i think arresting the kid is a bit much, since she didnt threaten anyone with the knife. They simply should have taken the knife, and had the parents over to the school for a chat over this.
i agree completely. whether or not she intended to hurt anyone, the knife DID have the potential of being used as a weapon and thus shouldn't have been allowed on campus (which obviously it wasn't.) but it should have been dealt with by the school and the girl's parents alone, not the police.

It’s a controversial subject in the Ocala neighborhood. On one side a no tolerance for any kind of weapon or could be weapon in school.

Could be a weapon? This term would certainly describe more than a steak knife. There are things found on every school campus that could be used as weapons. A sharp-pointed compass or lead pencil for instance or scissors. Walk into any locker room and you'll find baseball bats which can be used effectively as a weapon and I know from personal experience that this is true.

Like Alairican Pie said, It's not a weapon until it's used as one. If the girl had brandished the knife and threatened others then I could understand the police being called but she wasn't and unfortunately for her, Common sense was replaced by stupidity. I will agree with what others have said and that is the steak should have been cut at home before taking it to school.

I could see comfiscating the knife. If knives aren't allowed, knives aren't allowed. That part I get. But the cops?! That's really carrying it a bit too far.

What makes me mad the most is the fact they confused and scared this poor girl. I remember being in first grade, my mom for whatever reason had been bringing me to school later than usual that week, and i would be about 5 minutes late for class everyday. One day my teacher started fussing at me and then another one came along and they were accusing me of playing and not getting to class on time or something. I was confused and didn't even understand what they were mad at me for. I'm sure this was the case for the girl, they took unnecessary actions and the cops sure freaked her out for sure. I feel so bad for her.

You couldn't PAY me to go back to public school!! :eek: :mad:
I know that's right.

Stupid

Something should be pointed out here:the girl was not arrested, she was
just held in police custody until her parents could come pick her up. The
Sheriff of Marion County said that she was not treated as a criminal and
that the state attorney's office will decide whether or not to prosecute.

that's dumb the girl probably didn't even know WTF she was doing with the knife the POLICE?? thats way to far maybe just a conference between the parents and the principle

I feel so sorry for the little girl, she didn't have a clue what kind of trouble she'd be getting in to. When my son was little, he'd take a blunt pair of children's sissors in his lunchbag to open different packages, its a wonder he didn't get trouble over that. What a terrible world we live in now.

Something should be pointed out here:the girl was not arrested, she was
just held in police custody until her parents could come pick her up. The
Sheriff of Marion County said that she was not treated as a criminal and
that the state attorney's office will decide whether or not to prosecute.
Student Arrested After Cutting Food With Knife
10-Year-Old Charged With Possession Of Weapon On School Property

POSTED: 3:40 pm EST December 14, 2007
UPDATED: 4:08 pm EST December 14, 2007


An elementary student in Marion County was arrested Thursday after school officials found her cutting food during lunch with a knife that she brought from home, police said.

The 10-year-old girl, a student at Sunrise Elementary School in Ocala, was charged possession of a weapon on school property, which is a felony.

According to authorities, school employees spotted the girl cutting her food while she was eating lunch and took the steak knife from her.

The girl told sheriff's deputies that she had brought the knife to school on more than one occasion in the past.

Students told officials that the girl did not threaten anyone with the knife.

The girl was arrested and transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center.

what wrong with bring a Knif from Home just to cut her Stake

what wrong with bring a Knif from Home just to cut her Stake

Stupid zero-tolerance policies that have been in place since the Columbine shootings and other school tragedies. I heard that students at one school built a memorial that paid tribute to the soldiers in Iraq and the kids used plastic toy soldiers.

The soldiers were carrying plastic weapons such as machine guns and knives but because of the school's overly strict zero tolerance policy against weapons, The teacher made the students snip off the weapons from the toys.

The stupid thing is that while these harmless toy soldiers posed absolutely no threat to human life, The kids were allowed to use scissors to snip the weapons off which as I stated earlier can be used as a weapon. :rolleyes:

Student Arrested After Cutting Food With Knife
10-Year-Old Charged With Possession Of Weapon On School Property

POSTED: 3:40 pm EST December 14, 2007
UPDATED: 4:08 pm EST December 14, 2007


An elementary student in Marion County was arrested Thursday after school officials found her cutting food during lunch with a knife that she brought from home, police said.

The 10-year-old girl, a student at Sunrise Elementary School in Ocala, was charged possession of a weapon on school property, which is a felony.

According to authorities, school employees spotted the girl cutting her food while she was eating lunch and took the steak knife from her.

The girl told sheriff's deputies that she had brought the knife to school on more than one occasion in the past.

Students told officials that the girl did not threaten anyone with the knife.

The girl was arrested and transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center.


Why are you trying to dispute the actual facts of this case that I got
from FOX 35 Orlando? Do you seriously think that the Sheriff of Marion
County, the highest law enforcement official in Marion County, would
lie to the public when making a statement to a local television station?

Why are you trying to dispute the actual facts of this case that I got
from FOX 35 Orlando? Do you seriously think that the Sheriff of Marion
County, the highest law enforcement official in Marion County, would
lie to the public when making a statement to a local television station?
You said she wasn't arrested. That's not what all the articles say. Why would they give it to the DA if she wasn't arrested? All the sheriff said was that she wasn't handcuffed and wasn't treated like a criminal which I am glad although she was still probably terrified. They did also say that they had no choice in the matter after the school called them. I'm not blaming the cops as much as I am the school. Don't the police have better things to do , especially since everybody knew the kid had no intention of hurting anybody?

I feel sorry for the girl, but the parents should really be held responsible too.

My son is also 10 and sometimes takes things to school that have to be cut up. Because I know that his school does not allow knives of any type on campus, I cut them up beforehand. I think the parents failed to read the student handbook. Which in 99.99999% of schools prohibits knives of any type on school grounds. A little bit of common sense can go a long way.

Coming from Florida, I know how sensitive they are there.

What if she had taken the knife to school because she was planning on using it against someone that was picking on her? Suppose that person was killed or injured? Then everyone would be saying, "Why didn't the school do something about it before it happened?"

Sometimes, the parents need to use some good old fashioned common sense. Something that is sorely lacking in this day and age....