Two Boy Scouts Both Treated Like Common Criminals- What is wrong with America!!

I am an Eagle Scout and I achieved this rank when I was only 15 years old. It was one of the proudest days of my life. My Congressman appeared and gave me a citation. It was truly a momentous day. I have accomplished many things since that day, I graduated from both college and law school. I have passed two state bars and I am a member in good standing in both states but the only things that rank above being an Eagle Scout is being a father and husband. These next two scouts I am about to describe have been treated with such disrespect that I have to wonder what happened to our country.

First, we have Matthew Whalen a model student and citizen. "High school senior Matthew Whalen is the kind of student any parent would want. He's an Eagle Scout, on the honor roll, taking Advanced Placement classes, and never been in trouble with the law. He's received commendations from the City of Troy and the Boy Scouts of America for saving a woman's life, and this past summer, he completed Army basic training. All of it was accomplished before the age of 17." http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=11283345

Whalen has been suspended for 15 days because he kept a 2 inch pocket knife in his locked car. The reason he kept the knife was not malicious but rather in case he was ever stranded. He also had a sleeping bag, water and an MRE in the car in case of emergencies. Whalen's dream of attending West Point is now in jeopardy because of this school's utter lunacy.


This next story is equally despicable. Zachary Christie is six years old and just joined the cub scouts but he now suspended from school because of his excitement. "A 6-year-old boy's excitement over joining the Cub Scouts may just land him in reform school for 45 days. Zachary Christie was suspended from his 1st grade class in Delaware's Christina School District after bringing a camping utensil - a combination knife/fork/spoon - to use at lunch, prompting calls to reexamine schools' zero-tolerance policy for bringing weapons to school, according to a New York Times report Monday." http://cbs3.com/local/zachary.christie.suspended.2.1243386.html

He brought the knife/spoon/fork to eat with not because he wanted to hurt anyone. He was simply excited about scouts.

Anyone who defends these schools is an idiot and should be prevented from reproducing. Normally, even though I am attorney, I feel that the majority of people sue for the most trivially of things but in both these cases the parents need to get good lawyers and put these out of control school officials in their places.

We have all read the stories from England about Scouts banning knives (http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/other/outdoors/story/793995.html) and we all laughed at how out of control the nannie state is in England. But the truth of the matter is that if we don't take action soon we will all wonder what happened to our freedoms and we will have no one to blame but ourselves when we have lost them.