REMEMBER WHEN

Thursday August 27, 2009

A COUPLE feared for their six-year-old son’s safety after a classmate packed a kitchen knife in his school backpack with the intention of stabbing him.

Sonny and Kylie Burgess were angry at the way Southport State School handled the incident involving their son, Ciaran, who was in Year 1.

The parents were only told about the knife threat, which was believed to have stemmed from an argument over a paper plane, when Ciaran arrived home from school.

Education Queensland confirmed it was looking into the “circumstances surrounding the discovery of a knife in a student’s schoolbag”.

A decision on the boy’s punishment was expected to be made by the school that day.

Mr Burgess and his wife said they would consider removing Ciaran from the school if the boy was not expelled.

‘‘If they move him to another class, given what he’s done, it’s just going to make things worse,’’ he said.

‘‘There are four major issues here. One, we weren’t told about it by the school; two, the teacher was told not to speak to us about it; three, they sent the kid back to class after the knife was found; and four, the way the principal has discussed the issue with me over the phone.

‘‘I am not prepared for them to take this sort of gamble with my son’s life.

‘‘We don’t wrap the kids up with cotton wool, and we understand there are going to be arguments and scuffles, but I draw the line when someone brings in a knife to school.’’