Weapons in CCSD Schools? In SC No One Knows Whole Picture

What's in that book bag?

Has any school principal ever rejoiced to find a weapon in his or her school? Hardly. That's why such events are "under-reported." The most serious problem, however, concerns the definition of "weapon." 

Anyone remember the little girl who got suspended for bringing a bread knife with her lunch?

For example, should we distinguish between a pocket knife and a gun? It's certainly true that a knife can be used as a weapon, but it just as easily can be used for non-violent purposes. 

That's not true of a gun.

Does it matter if a teen who hunts keeps his equipment in his car when at school?

"In December 2012, police arrested a 17-year-old student at Easley High School after finding a .22-caliber handgun, 200 rounds, two axes, knives, cuffs and a stun gun in his car. District officials said at the time that it appeared the student used the weapons for hunting and did not have plans to harm anyone." 

We can question the cuffs and even the stun gun, though the other equipment could be used in hunting.

"South Carolina schools say they found 1,000 weapons in 3 years — but reports are hazy and incomplete."

Is a slingshot in the same category as a pocket knife or a gun?

It certainly is aggressive but usually confers minor damage, leaving David and Goliath aside.

"At the very least, South Carolina can say that its schools found weapons on their campuses 1,089 times in the past three school years, while the types of weapons found were seldom guns." Some of them were slingshots. Who knows what else.

The Charleston County School District ranks second to Greenville in the number of weapons seized. However, Charleston County School District is also one of the largest districts in the state. The percentage per student would be incredibly more informative to parents. Greenville claims that seized knives outnumber other weapons by far.

"Currently, no schools in South Carolina are labeled persistently dangerous under the state's reporting standards. To avoid the scarlet letter effect of a 'persistently dangerous' designation, critics say schools tend to under-report — and states tend to set very high thresholds for the label."

As one expert put it, "But in real numbers, we typically have never known where that point is."

"Three years' worth of reports generated by the Education Department from . . . showed zero firearms confiscated in Greenville schools, despite multiple on-campus gun confiscations that made local news."

Not encouraging, is it?

Of the 88 firearms seized in the 2015-16 school year, only nine were in CCSD. That's about ten percent. Does CCSD have ten percent of the student population in the state? Were there really only nine guns found?

I doubt it.