Parent rights at school with your kid being interagated?

[Himark]

My son is 12 years old and got called into the office for a problem involving a pocket knife.. We all know its against the rules to bring them to school, but my sons friend did bring his. He showed it to my son on the playground and was telling him how it was his grandpa's and his dad gave it to him last weekend. That was it, of course any kid with a cool new knife is worth talking about so my son told his friend and that is where the trouble started.


So I get a call at 1:30 aprox. at work from the principal "Dr. so and so" just eats my craw cause he sure as he11 isnt a doctor IMO!! but anyway, I find out that they called my son into the office at lunch hour (11:50) and they have all but got him admitting to about anything they say. I mean, Wyatt musta known he was bringing the knife to school, and he was braggin bout it to all his friends, while he also was telling them he had one to...<-------NOT. Anyway it was totally his friend that brought it and showed it to him and NOW the Dr. azzhoole principal is telling me that they COULD suspend my son as well just for his involvment, but they were not going to at this time.


At this point I am NOT very happy at all and I asked the principal why my son was even involved? He said because he admitted "if it were my grandpas I would have shown it to my friend to"


So the SERIOUS question,

How much leeway does the public schools have to interigate our children without us present? Shouldnt they have the responsibility to call us parents to be present before a 90 minute interagation? do our kids even have any rights?

 

[CADman]

Sounds like the next principal trying to get his 15 minutes of fame and hoping all the networks pick up his name.

So your son is guilty about talking about family airlooms? Criminal! I saw lock 'em up and throw away the key!

 

[Adrenaline Revolution]

Your child is a minor and as a minor he has the right not to be interrogated without someone from family or legal services present.

If it goes any further, get your attorney involved.

The "Dr Jackazz" was just trying to puff his chest up and show you he's in charge and in control.

 

[Himark]

Your child is a minor and as a minor he has the right not to be interrogated without someone from family or legal services present.

This is the answer I was looking for. In this situation it isnt a big deal since my son wont be being expelled but I was looking down the road a bit and wondered our rights as parents. It seems as a adult we have the 5th amendment right but as kids they can get grilled over and most definately are NOT wise to the ways of the world yet. As a minor if they were to do something or be accused of something that could legally effect me as the parent I would think there would be a law that the parent or gaurdian must be notified since its truely the parents azz on the line.

 

[Sambo11]

As a parent I always delt with these kinds of things on a case by case basis. If my kid/s screwed up then they needed to stand up and take it like a man and it was usually best if I didn't find out about it. But, if you got run thru the ringer because Principal Skinner is a douche bad, such as it sounds your son was, I better be the first person that hears about it.

Teachers and Principals are like Police officers. They have a certain amount of power. Power and a small minded attitude are a lethal mix. It to often creates an azzwhole type mentality such as the person in this situation.

If it were me I would have a one on one with your Principal. Get his/her side of what all went down and why and respond accordingly.

 

[w8tn4u]

You should have already taught your son that any weapon at school is illegal. If your son was to see or here of a illegal weapon we needs to walk away and report it to a supervisor. Looks like you have some responsibility as a parent that you neglected. It is to bad that the schools have to spend so much time "parenting" kids. The principle was most likely just as mad at you for not doing your job and having to step in and do it. looks like you and your son have been schooled on this subject.

The problem with todays schools is not the schools its the parents.

 

[ruffryder]

You should have already taught your son that any weapon at school is illegal. If your son was to see or here of a illegal weapon we needs to walk away and report it to a supervisor. Looks like you have some responsibility as a parent that you neglected. It is to bad that the schools have to spend so much time "parenting" kids. The principle was most likely just as mad at you for not doing your job and having to step in and do it. looks like you and your son have been schooled on this subject.

The problem with todays schools is not the schools its the parents.

Oh snap... Agreed! Good post.

If it goes any further, get your attorney involved.
The "Dr Jackazz" was just trying to puff his chest up and show you he's in charge and in control.

Get a lawyer? I thought most on this forum were sick of the "get a lawyer" mentality.. The principle IS in charge, he IS in control. That is his job.

Maybe it scares the crap out of him that there would be weapons on the school, and the students would think it was cool and not say anything.. What if it was a gun? What if the knife was used to hurt another kid? There is a zero tolerance rule for weapons at schools.. Does there really need to be an explanation as to why?

 

[Adrenaline Revolution]

Oh snap... Agreed! Good post.

Get a lawyer? I thought most on this forum were sick of the "get a lawyer" mentality.. The principle IS in charge, he IS in control. That is his job.

Read it again Dave, I said "If it goes any further"
I hat the "Sue the world" mentality and I have a boat load of Lawyers in my family.
IF and that is a huge IF...the School district was to try to go way overboard and push punishment on MY son nothing more than not ratting out his buddy for bringing a knife to school then there would have to be legal intervention to maintain MY son's ability and right to keep attending public school.
looked at
Absolute "Zero" tolerance is being scrutinized more as to whether or not it serves the students and faculty as it was designed as a safety measure when something of this "Show and tell" type issue comes up.
for instance a plastic "Army Man" that was brought to school to show another kid and molded in place on the army man's hand was a 1/4" long pistol and the dang kid got sent home for it.
There has to be some measure of common sense to come into play here.

Highmark's son was only witness to another kid, a friend's pride and joy that day.
I would hope that if he did not know the other kid with the knife that he WOULD report it to someone.
Prolly don't make sense but I hope you get my drift.

w8tn4u is correct about the parents not being involved as much as they should be these days but society has removed any recourse we, as parents had of disciplining our own children these days.
I am not a fan of "sparing the rod."
And I know ALL of the arguments against it but that's a debate I won't get into here.

 

[winter brew]

If it was a gun, how would you want the school to handle it?
I agree a knife probably isn't a big deal as long as it was not being viewed as a weapon.....but with the things that we see happening now days the schools MUST error on the side of caution with zero tolerance. If they don't and something happens later....well, you know the rest...
Maybe just tell the principal how you feel about how it was handled and then move on. JMO-

 

[Adrenaline Revolution]

If it was a gun, how would you want the school to handle it?
I agree a knife probably isn't a big deal as long as it was not being viewed as a weapon.....but with the things that we see happening now days the schools MUST error on the side of caution with zero tolerance. If they don't and something happens later....well, you know the rest...
Maybe just tell the principal how you feel about how it was handled and then move on. JMO-

A gun is a whole new debate. Everything would change.

The kid who brought the knife in should be suspended because they all know the rules but another kid who sees the knife and doesn't report it...? there are a few unanswered questions but I would hope that common sense came into play here somewhere.

 

[Sambo11]

Maybe Himark is concerned about the principle of their policy as much as he is the Principals attitude.

 

[XXL]

I think the school could talk to the boy in this situation probably depends on the state, the cops, not beyond basic info without parents.

 

[Scott]

Given that horrible events have happened in all types of demographic areas, rurual and urban...there HAS to be zero tolerance of ANY type of weapon. That kid should know better...and if he didn't there IS a problem on the parents accountability.

They didn't read the handbook but they signed the "I read and fully understand the handboook" form without reading it, right? LOL

As for a kid not squealing on his buddy about it...I can understand administration leaning on the kid to speak up next time. There have been a lot of kids who knew about weapons that were in possession but wrongfully didn't suspect anything (nor report it) because "he knew the kid and didn't think it was a problem". Unfortunatley YES (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) that kid has GOT to speak up. They just have to in this day and age.

They HAVE to error on the safe side.
Whether or not a kid can be disciplined for not speaking up...I have no idea about the specifics of the school and the situation. I wasn't there.



As for "Dr. Principal"...I have known those types. They have an advanced doctoral degree in Education (Curriculum & Instruction and Leadership in Education, which is above a Masters of course). The one that I knew insisted that he be addresses as Dr. Principal by the students. A little much IMO. How will an 11 year old understand what "Dr." means? LOL

 

[Superjag]

Your child is a minor and as a minor he has the right not to be interrogated without someone from family or legal services present.

Wow. More quality internet legal advice.
The problem is that you could not be more wrong.

A SUSPECT, who has been arrested and Mirandized in an ongoing criminal proceeding has a right to an attorney prior to answering any questions. Likewise, a MINOR SUSPECT has a right to have present a parent/guardian and an attorney prior to being subjected to the same.

A school, on the other hand, is well within in it's own right to ask questions of a student without the presence of a parent or guardian. It happens every day, and it is perfectly legal. This is assuming that a representative of the school is asking the questions, and not a law enforcement officer. For one, it's not interrogation. It's called asking questions. You can't seriously believe that a school is expected to call a child's parent every time a teacher or principal wants to ask "What happened"?

Now, having said that, if you believe that the questioning was inappropriate in either it's length or it's scope, take it up with the school administrators. Rationally and calmly explain your concerns, and be specific. Hopefully, you will get some feedback which gives you the assurance going forward for which you are looking.

Trust me, "getting your attorney involved" is not the answer here. And this is coming from someone who makes his living on lawyers "getting involved".

 

[IShartd]

I am certain that at the beginning of the school year you had signed something that stated that you understand and except the position of the school and Admin acting as the "Gaurdian" of your child while on school grounds, And if your child was hit by a car in the school parking lot, I am sure you would Lawyer up, however on the other side of the coin, if the Admin take the role of trying to get to the bottom of a serious issue that your son may or may have not been invovled with, that inadvernatly effects the safety of every other child at the school that they are responsible for, and you get pissed, gimme a break.

Im sure your Sons a great kid, but lets face it, there is a protocal that has to be followed in these types of situations, This Guy is just doin his job, what motivation would he have to go out of his way to be a Dick. Just because he is the one who is saddled with the job of clearing this up, doesn't mean he's pissing on your tree.

 

[ruffryder]

Wow. More quality internet legal advice.
The problem is that you could not be more wrong.

I guess you get what you pay for.
Maybe when the site goes paid it will get better?

 

[Himark]

my sons friend did bring his. He showed it to my son on the playground and was telling him how it was his grandpa's and his dad gave it to him last weekend. That was it, of course any kid with a cool new knife is worth talking about so my son told his friend and that is where the trouble starte

To the peeps replies that have stated my son should of known better or its a poor parenting problem. Please take the time to READ the post before commenting.

As for responsibility, my son takes a shotgun to school with him twice a week and shoots trap at the local high school shooting range so PLEASE dont lecture me on parenting responsibilities.

 

[yammadog]

To the peeps replies that have stated my son should of known better or its a poor parenting problem. Please take the time to READ the post before commenting.

As for responsibility, my son takes a shotgun to school with him twice a week and shoots trap at the local high school shooting range so PLEASE dont lecture me on parenting responsibilities.

OMG....and they complain about him talking about an herloom pocket knife? Talk about mixed messages!!

No question that schools have to error on the side of caution, but to give him a hard time for talking about it....not to metion, the bulk of school weapons problems are in city schools that don't have a trap shooting team.

Personally, I'd re-explain the school policy to your son and then explain to the "DR" your policy about questioning of your son. And be sure to let your son know your policy, so if something comes up again he knows what to do.

I had my first conversation with my 9yo about bringing a toy weapon to school....seems to me a lot of stuff/policy is just flat stupid.

 

[Adrenaline Revolution]

To the peeps replies that have stated my son should of known better or its a poor parenting problem. Please take the time to READ the post before commenting.

As for responsibility, my son takes a shotgun to school with him twice a week and shoots trap at the local high school shooting range so PLEASE dont lecture me on parenting responsibilities.

That's what some live for here.
I saw what you're saying and felt if he truly was being "Interrogated" then the school went too far IMO.
Simply asking questions is not confused with interrogationg.
no-one has the right to Interrogate a child without council...School grounds or not, they still are bound by the bill of rights and the constitution.
But I'll only get flamed for having an opinion.
Flame away dum bass.

Yes, you get what you pay for and some of us will give our opinions freely.
You don't agree with my opinion? oh well.

Oh, and GFYS

 

[Weekday Warrior]

Wow. More quality internet legal advice.
The problem is that you could not be more wrong.

A SUSPECT, who has been arrested and Mirandized in an ongoing criminal proceeding has a right to an attorney prior to answering any questions. Likewise, a MINOR SUSPECT has a right to have present a parent/guardian and an attorney prior to being subjected to the same.

A school, on the other hand, is well within in it's own right to ask questions of a student without the presence of a parent or guardian. It happens every day, and it is perfectly legal. This is assuming that a representative of the school is asking the questions, and not a law enforcement officer. For one, it's not interrogation. It's called asking questions. You can't seriously believe that a school is expected to call a child's parent every time a teacher or principal wants to ask "What happened"?

Now, having said that, if you believe that the questioning was inappropriate in either it's length or it's scope, take it up with the school administrators. Rationally and calmly explain your concerns, and be specific. Hopefully, you will get some feedback which gives you the assurance going forward for which you are looking.

Trust me, "getting your attorney involved" is not the answer here. And this is coming from someone who makes his living on lawyers "getting involved".

Looks to me like this went well beyond the "what happened" and got more into the interogation and threats. I know my son would be devistated until I calmed him down if the principal grilled him like that and then threatened him.

Also, a foldable knife with a short blade is not a weapon, until it's brought to school. I think we need some serious debate at the national level of just what power a school should have over the kids going there. I think they have way too much, and I really don't like kids being subjected to political idelogy.

Sure makes me glad to be where I am, the principal here would say nice knife and store it in his office until the parent could pick it up and not make a big deal of it. He's a hunter and die hard fisherman, not an obama loving libtard.