Kirpan

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Kirpan have presented problems for [American] schoolchildren.

While it has never been a threat in [Britain] or [Canada] - despite [Sikh] populations over one million in those countries - and never been involved in an incident on school grounds in the U.S., the Livingston Union [School District] of [Merced County], California refused to allow them in schools and suspended the children found wearing them, saying "These kirpans are [dagger]s, with steel blades. In the wrong hands, they could be very [dangerous]." <P> Actually, a dagger is a [knife] that is sharp on both sides of the blade and intended for [bodily harm]. A kirpan, on the other hand, has blunted sides and is not meant to injure another person. [San Francisco] attorney Stephen Bomse demonstrated the kirpan in court, showing that its blade is short (three to four inches in length), it is sewn into its [sheath], and it is so blunt it would require considerable effort to even [pierce] the skin. Bomse compared the kirpan to the Jewish [yarmulke], saying it was a [religious symbol] rather than a [weapon]. He also pointed out that scissors are used in art classes and baseball bats are used in [P.E.], but these are never questioned because they are not intended to harm. <P> [Yuba City], also in California, permits Sikh children to carry kirpan if the tip is blunted and enclosed, and the knife is riveted to its sheath. In September 1994, the U.S. Ninth [Circuit Court of Appeals] overturned the Merced County decision as [unconstitutional] because it interfered with the students' [freedom of religion]. The Livingston Union district adopted a policy similar to that used in Yuba City. <P> Source: Multicultural Manners: New Rules of Etiquette for a Changing Society, by Norine Dresser. Published by John Wiley and Sons, 1996.