Kid brings not a knife into school
Discussion
Just looking for thoughts and opinions here.
My eldest daughter is 8 and attends a village CofE primary school. It really is a lovely school attended by local village kids and we've never been aware of any issue even close to this before now.
A new boy joined my daughter's class a couple of weeks ago. The family haven't just moved into the area but are neighbours of another parent and the word was he may have been expelled from his previous primary school, or at the very least it became impossible for him to stay there.
On Friday word went round the school that a child had brought a knife into class. We didn't know who it was or which class until yesterday and it turns out it is this new boy.
The head sent an email out last night stating that she was aware of the rumours but to rest assured that it was not a knife that was brought in but "a fidget spinner than looks like a knife".
My daughter is unaware of all of this (she has autism so is in her own world a lot of the time) but a close friend's son (same class) has told his parent that this was a "butterfly knife". This isn't a term he would have known of before this and his parents are shocked he even mentioned the words.
I am aware that there are 2 types of butterfly knives (those that are bladed and those that are described as "training knives") and I'm not sure of the legality of the latter. But my obvious main concern is for the safety and welfare of my vulnerable daughter.
I accept that there are scrotes in every school but in a similar situation what, if anything, would the residents of PH do?
All thoughts gratefully received
My eldest daughter is 8 and attends a village CofE primary school. It really is a lovely school attended by local village kids and we've never been aware of any issue even close to this before now.
A new boy joined my daughter's class a couple of weeks ago. The family haven't just moved into the area but are neighbours of another parent and the word was he may have been expelled from his previous primary school, or at the very least it became impossible for him to stay there.
On Friday word went round the school that a child had brought a knife into class. We didn't know who it was or which class until yesterday and it turns out it is this new boy.
The head sent an email out last night stating that she was aware of the rumours but to rest assured that it was not a knife that was brought in but "a fidget spinner than looks like a knife".
My daughter is unaware of all of this (she has autism so is in her own world a lot of the time) but a close friend's son (same class) has told his parent that this was a "butterfly knife". This isn't a term he would have known of before this and his parents are shocked he even mentioned the words.
I am aware that there are 2 types of butterfly knives (those that are bladed and those that are described as "training knives") and I'm not sure of the legality of the latter. But my obvious main concern is for the safety and welfare of my vulnerable daughter.
I accept that there are scrotes in every school but in a similar situation what, if anything, would the residents of PH do?
All thoughts gratefully received
It sounds like it's being dealt with.
Speaking as a former child, and pupil of schools like you describe, there is usually the occasional strange child/family in the village.
It may have been 40 years ago, but there was a kid like the one you describe at my school. When I started there I fell in company with him for a few days, but soon found other mates.
It's a case of not letting you kids get too pally with them and making staff aware of anything dangerous or worrying you hear. The Butterfly knife being an example.
This lad could be absolutely fine. It's a fine balance between keeping and eye on things and making the lad a folk devil.
Surprisingly, schools have little choice when it comes to accepting kids on so-called "managed moves"
If it becomes a serious issue then you could raise your fears with the governors, Education authority or OFSTED.
I'd not be too concerned at this stage.
Speaking as a former child, and pupil of schools like you describe, there is usually the occasional strange child/family in the village.
It may have been 40 years ago, but there was a kid like the one you describe at my school. When I started there I fell in company with him for a few days, but soon found other mates.
It's a case of not letting you kids get too pally with them and making staff aware of anything dangerous or worrying you hear. The Butterfly knife being an example.
This lad could be absolutely fine. It's a fine balance between keeping and eye on things and making the lad a folk devil.
Surprisingly, schools have little choice when it comes to accepting kids on so-called "managed moves"
If it becomes a serious issue then you could raise your fears with the governors, Education authority or OFSTED.
I'd not be too concerned at this stage.
Edited by Wildcat45 on Wednesday 16th June 08:22
Wildcat45 said:
It sounds like it's being dealt with.
Speaking as a former child, and pupil of schools like you describe, there is usually the occasional strange child/family in the village.
It may have been 40 years ago, but there was a kid like the one you describe at my school. When I started there I fell in company with him for a few days, but soon found other mates.
It's a case of not letting you kids get too pally with them and making staff aware of anything dangerous or worrying you hear. The Butterfly knife being an example.
This lad could be absolutely fine. It's a fine balance between keeping and eye on things and making the lad a folk devil.
Surprisingly, schools have little choice when it comes to accepting kids on so-called "managed moves"
If it becomes a serious issue then you could raise your fears with the governors, Education authority or OFSTED.
I'd not be too concerned at this stage.
Thanks for the constructive comments. I’ve emailed the head back (as she said we should in her email if we had any concerns or questions). Apart from the obvious I’m concerned that she described this as a “fidget spinner” when a butterfly knife is no such thing, and certainly not a toy. Speaking as a former child, and pupil of schools like you describe, there is usually the occasional strange child/family in the village.
It may have been 40 years ago, but there was a kid like the one you describe at my school. When I started there I fell in company with him for a few days, but soon found other mates.
It's a case of not letting you kids get too pally with them and making staff aware of anything dangerous or worrying you hear. The Butterfly knife being an example.
This lad could be absolutely fine. It's a fine balance between keeping and eye on things and making the lad a folk devil.
Surprisingly, schools have little choice when it comes to accepting kids on so-called "managed moves"
If it becomes a serious issue then you could raise your fears with the governors, Education authority or OFSTED.
I'd not be too concerned at this stage.
Edited by Wildcat45 on Wednesday 16th June 08:22
We will obviously keep an eye on things but this in itself is tricky as my daughter struggles to communicate feelings and ideas, so we wouldn’t necessarily know if she were caused any issues by this lad or not.
wiggy001 said:
I accept that there are scrotes in every school but in a similar situation what, if anything, would the residents of PH do?
All thoughts gratefully received
Let the school deal with it. They will be taking anyhting like this very, very seriously, no matter what you have 'heard' or what 'appears' to be being done (or not).All thoughts gratefully received
My partner is a Primary School Teacher and their school has an unofficial 'parents of' facebook group.
The stories, tales and 'facts' that are presented (by Mums, mainly, I have to say) on that group could often not be farther from the truth if they tried.
wiggy001 said:
Thanks for the constructive comments. I’ve emailed the head back (as she said we should in her email if we had any concerns or questions). Apart from the obvious I’m concerned that she described this as a “fidget spinner” when a butterfly knife is no such thing, and certainly not a toy.
I'm guessing this lad is a similar age to your daughter, so there's a good chance that the object might actually be just a peculiar shaped/decorated fidget spinner which he simply calls a butterfly knife due to an adult in his social group putting the idea into his head. snotrag said:
Let the school deal with it. They will be taking anyhting like this very, very seriously, no matter what you have 'heard' or what 'appears' to be being done (or not).
My partner is a Primary School Teacher and their school has an unofficial 'parents of' facebook group.
The stories, tales and 'facts' that are presented (by Mums, mainly, I have to say) on that group could often not be farther from the truth if they tried.
Completely agree with the school mums winding each other up, as a parent I have seen it first had in the playground on the odd occasion I start work late and drop my daughter off at school.My partner is a Primary School Teacher and their school has an unofficial 'parents of' facebook group.
The stories, tales and 'facts' that are presented (by Mums, mainly, I have to say) on that group could often not be farther from the truth if they tried.
I saw it a couple of weeks ago where three or four mums were stood near me talking about an "incident" in class the previous day where one of the kids claimed a teacher shouted at them and I could see the anger rising amongst the four people in the group as theyt fired each other up more and more.
I listened in for a few minutes and then asked my daughter on the quiet if she knew anything about it and she didn't have a clue, and my daughter is nosey and usually knows everyones business in class.
School playgrounds are a breeding ground for gossip and rumour, and my wife wonders why when I go I don't speak to anyone there apart from my own kids and leave as soon as they are in the door.
This one is just two dollars on Alibaba. It's even got flashing lights on it.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Kids-Flash-...
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Kids-Flash-...
Jamescrs said:
snotrag said:
Let the school deal with it. They will be taking anyhting like this very, very seriously, no matter what you have 'heard' or what 'appears' to be being done (or not).
My partner is a Primary School Teacher and their school has an unofficial 'parents of' facebook group.
The stories, tales and 'facts' that are presented (by Mums, mainly, I have to say) on that group could often not be farther from the truth if they tried.
Completely agree with the school mums winding each other up, as a parent I have seen it first had in the playground on the odd occasion I start work late and drop my daughter off at school.My partner is a Primary School Teacher and their school has an unofficial 'parents of' facebook group.
The stories, tales and 'facts' that are presented (by Mums, mainly, I have to say) on that group could often not be farther from the truth if they tried.
I saw it a couple of weeks ago where three or four mums were stood near me talking about an "incident" in class the previous day where one of the kids claimed a teacher shouted at them and I could see the anger rising amongst the four people in the group as theyt fired each other up more and more.
I listened in for a few minutes and then asked my daughter on the quiet if she knew anything about it and she didn't have a clue, and my daughter is nosey and usually knows everyones business in class.
School playgrounds are a breeding ground for gossip and rumour, and my wife wonders why when I go I don't speak to anyone there apart from my own kids and leave as soon as they are in the door.
Cold said:
This one is just two dollars on Alibaba. It's even got flashing lights on it.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Kids-Flash-...
This. Some kids graduated towards fake/training butterfly knives to appear cooler than the other kids. Facebook marketplace shows them for sale and quite cheaply. Videos like the ones I have linked below demonstrate how it gets pushed as "cool" quite easily by losers that probably go on to spend their adult lives in camouflage trousers and who probably belong in the Walter Mitty types thread. Harmless but understandably concerning if it descends into a game of one-up between school kids.https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Kids-Flash-...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RfZ_PdrZYM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umqb9PG3h7M
Let the school handle it.
I would imagine you've nothing to worry about and its a toy of some kind, but likely the school will ban it regardless.
It reminds me of a tale from the early 90s. I was getting dressed and noticed I had a broken nail, went to my mums dressing table and took her nail file which was kind of shaped like a knife. Anyway, I put it in my pocket and forgot about it, mistakenly taking it to school with me.
Found it later and showed some of my friends, and being about 7 we all declared it was a knife and was very cool. Next minute, one of my 'mates', the fat git, had dobbed me in and I was in front of our head teacher, who was a nun, explaining why I had brought it in with me.
It reminds me of a tale from the early 90s. I was getting dressed and noticed I had a broken nail, went to my mums dressing table and took her nail file which was kind of shaped like a knife. Anyway, I put it in my pocket and forgot about it, mistakenly taking it to school with me.
Found it later and showed some of my friends, and being about 7 we all declared it was a knife and was very cool. Next minute, one of my 'mates', the fat git, had dobbed me in and I was in front of our head teacher, who was a nun, explaining why I had brought it in with me.
Just to conclude this, I have spoken to my daughter's teacher in person and the head called me this evening. Despite being described as a "fidget spinner" it was actually this or something very similar: butterfly training knife. And by that I mean it was blunt, made of metal and rainbow coloured.
Although I feel the incident itself has been handled well within school (the head spoke to a member of staff who is ex police to get advice, they had the right conversations with the parents, such items should not be in school etc), they admit that "fidget spinner" was not an accurate description of what this actually was, but said this was because of "ignorance of the product" on their part rather than my suspicion that they (probably rightly) were playing it down to quell the lynchmob.
Thanks for the previous comments, which are appreciated.
Although I feel the incident itself has been handled well within school (the head spoke to a member of staff who is ex police to get advice, they had the right conversations with the parents, such items should not be in school etc), they admit that "fidget spinner" was not an accurate description of what this actually was, but said this was because of "ignorance of the product" on their part rather than my suspicion that they (probably rightly) were playing it down to quell the lynchmob.
Thanks for the previous comments, which are appreciated.
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