My 15yr old son in a bit of bother at school.?

Question

He's about to sit his GCSE's and recently during a lesson in DT put a craft knife in his pocket and forgot to hand it in. He subsequently handed it in to a teacher but the school have now excluded him for three weeks for theft and carrying an offensive weapon. There is to be a meeting with the Board of Governors shortly when it will be decided if they let him back to school at all. I dont know what to do.

Answer 1

You and your son have the right to be at the meeting. Have your son explain what happened clearly and calmly.He should apologise for the mistake and explain the need for him to be in school at this critical time.
Points in his favour;
He handed it in,
Seems like he is a good student,
Has your backing.
Points against;
The general attitude of some adults that all 15 yr olds are thugs
The zero tolerance of schools of carrying a weapon.
Bearing in mind the points against he must present himself at the meeting in the best possible light, stressing the point he handed the knife in and it was a genuine mistake.
Good luck to him both in this instance and in his exams

Answer 2

Is this a first offence? Is he usually well behaved? If so an exclusion is REALLY odd. See a solicitor as a matter of URGENCY!

If he has a poor behaviour record, this could be the last straw and they want him out.

Kids with a poor behaviour record are liable to be hit with a ton a bricks when then they are seen to step out of line in this way. I mean theft is alleged and it involves a knife!

It is really difficult to exclude kids these days, the only ones permanently excluded have usually stepped over the line loads of times. If your kid does not fit into this category see a solicitor!

Make sure your kid is apologetic at any meeting with school Govs.

You must do your best to stop an exclusion. Kids who get excluded have a much greater tendency to end up in prison within a few years.

If you cannot afford a solicitor see the citizens advice bureau.

Answer 3

First of all stop punishing yourself for his mistake, support him, but don't cover up for him. We'd all like our children to be perfect but they can all make errors.
My concerns are that it sounds like a pretty difficult mistake to make, I know people are writing otherwise but after several years of DT training it's a pretty unnatural error. However credit to him that he handed it in, praise where due.
I honestly don't think that matters would be taken further if he was thought to be squeaky clean. It hints that there are issues to be explored.
Things to consider a) Is it worth asking him if there is any reason why he felt the need to take a knife. Might have been a knee jerk reaction if he was being bullied, picked on, frightened.
b) School's are damned if they do, damned if they don't. If a child is injured by a child carrying a knife. Or if a child is injured themselves when in possession of a knife school staff will be hung, drawn and quartered for not maintaining a secure and safe environment for all pupils.

The school may just be doing what they have to do to ensure that guidelines have been met and other parents won't be up in arms. They will know whether your child is a 'trouble maker ' or not so stand firm in your own beliefs about him without deluding yourself. You will know if he was in any way guilty.
Try not to be nervous, you are not on trial. Welcome the fact that the school are being rigorous about pupil safety and let them know they have your full support. At the same time, let your son know that he did the right thing in the end and you are there for him.
Good luck, take care.

Answer 4

Your son seems of good character, he handed the weapon in once he found he had it, even suspending him seems somewhat unfair. It sounds like an honest mistake to me and i'll be surprised if they don't let him back in.
When your in the meeting keep your cool, if he has a good relationship with any teacher ask if they might be willing to attend the meeting or write him a letter of confidence, as i'm sure this will help.
I'm sure the school are just following the procedures and this will just be a formality.
Hope it all goes okay, good luck.

Answer 5

has yr son been in trouble before? if not u should be ok, get him to apologise.
Check every thing is ok with him, why did he do this, sounds a bit dodgy to me that he put it in his pocket in the 1st place but he did hand it in though & i'd say that to the school, if it was a genuine mistake he could of just put it in the bin instead of doing the right thing and handing it in, also surely the teacher should have realised it was missing at end of class or are they letting the children use potentialy dangerous weapons with no way of telling if they are all returned at end of class, i think a lesson has been learned by both yr son & the schools procedures.

Answer 6

As a good parent, if you believe your son is telling the truth, you should go and stand behind his story. Back him up with confidence. If it was done in innocence, then the Board will surely see to give him a second chance. Every one of them has made some kind of innocent mistake in life. Do your hearty rebuttal from that angle. Your son will admire your willingness to stand by him through this trying time and you will, in essence, be his hero.

Answer 7

If this is his first offence and is some what of a good student he should be ok,

It seems like a firmly innocent mistake and no body was hurt, o he should get nothing more that a warning.

Good luck and i hope everything goes well for him now and in his GCSE'S

Answer 8

A lot of it depends on whether he handed it in without any teacher realising that he had it or whether the staff found him with it first - perception of guilt.
Make sure that you keep very calm when you speak to the Govenors if you get the opportunity but if not make sure a letter gets to them explaining your case.
Good luck

Answer 9

Get a lie detector.

And have the kid prove it was not intentional and an accident.

Also he did hand it in so no theft.

Also the lie detector can show if he intened it as a waepon likewise his past conduct.


Note he may have been thretened of cared of bullies.


Many bullies now are part of gangs and may have access to sub machine guns

Answer 10

Calmly explain to the teachers or the board of directors that it was accidental and he meant no harm.
Make your son write a letter of apology and make sure he never does it again.