Bag, Bucket & Bullies

Well, definately no armor for Dave. Damon's was not forthcoming with my yarn, so the skein is lost (I'm adding it to my "Skeins Out" total anyways, though.) I'm sure I'll still have enough yarn for my project, but there's still that nagging fear that I'll be short by just a few yards.

And look at this yarn-y goodness:

It's my Entrelac Bag, all felted and blocking on a bucket. Older Son called it a "bucket warmer". All I have to do is sew on the straps (I need to pick up a few buttons)and I'm done.

Ok, I'm going to vent here, so leave now if you just came for the yarn-y goodness.

Younger Son was involved in an incident yesterday after school (while still on school grounds) in which three boys cornered him and forced him into a fight. Here's the vent: The school has a supposed "Zero Tolerance" policy for violence. What that means is this -- YS can't turn in these three bullies to the school authorities because if he does so he will be subject to the same punishment they are. No, I am not overstating this, I was told this point blank by the principal at his school: If my child is involved in any way in a fight, even if he does NOTHING (i.e. just stands there and takes the abuse) he will be suspended. (Let alone if he defends himself!) The only possible exclusion is if a teacher is standing right there to witness it and is willing to state this to the principal. I see this as a further victimization of a child who is being bullied, this time by the school. I'm also sure that since they've instituted this policy incidents of school violence have decreased (would you report being beaten up if you knew it would get you suspended?) So since YS pushed one of the boys trying to get away from the fight (and then proceeded with a fight until he did finally get away) not only would he be seen as being involved in the fight, but he would be the instigator so he would be punished the most severely. To top things off, his father was going to speak to the school on his behalf, but on hearing about that first push, refused. (Let's just not even go into that.) Lest you worry too much though, I stepped in at that point and called the school counselor. The outcome is that she spoke to YS and got the names of the boys involved and talked to one of them who she said was "very apologetic" about the incident. Hmmmm, I'm sure. BUT, because of the whole "Zero Tolerance" thing, I could not make an "official" complaint and so the other boys will not be punished. The counselor will continue to speak to YS and make sure he's not being harrassed. At least it's something.