Comments on: Comments on 16848

Post number 16848

sixtwenty3dc — Thu, 02 May 2002 18:30:51 -0800

yet another victory for school boards against terrorism... an 11 year old girl is suspended for three days after drawing stick figures of her teachers with arrows in their heads after receiving a D on a vocabulary test. ie, more of this zero, tolerance crap. good thing my teachers never looked in my folders... i'd surely be in Arkham Asylum by now if they had...

By: Yelling At Nothing

Yelling At Nothing — Thu, 02 May 2002 18:34:13 -0800

We've had this discussion so many times that I can barely manage to keep getting worked up about it, but...

I only wonder if they talked to the parents before handing this girl the suspension?

By: donkeyschlong

donkeyschlong — Thu, 02 May 2002 18:42:31 -0800

The schools seem to be overreacting now because they've screwed up so many times before. 'Twould be nice if they could formulate a measured, comprehensive response.

By: spidre

spidre — Thu, 02 May 2002 18:54:58 -0800

This is really obnoxious... but most well balanced individuals can see that.

By: rushmc

rushmc — Thu, 02 May 2002 19:06:27 -0800

Won't someone think of the children??

By: Poagao

Poagao — Thu, 02 May 2002 19:37:12 -0800

Terrorism! It's all the rage! Don't like something? Well, don't just sit there, do something about it! Call it Terrorism(tm), and the US Government will sweep down and eliminate it for you, leaving nothing but the fresh scent of pine! Terrorism! You don't have to take it anymore. The next time you come across something that irks you...remember, we'll be there for you! (Yeah, I work at an advertising company and have way too much time....why?)

By: quonsar

quonsar — Thu, 02 May 2002 20:10:15 -0800

why not let the asshole know what you think?

By: Dreama

Dreama — Thu, 02 May 2002 20:15:31 -0800

This is a local story for me, and I was struck this evening, as I saw this little girl and her mother on the news, by the fact that this little girl had done exactly what child psychologists and educators have been recommending for children for years -- she had feelings that she knew that she couldn't (or shouldn't) express in words, so she expressed them via a drawing. Local coverage is here, a bit more in depth. I'm struck by the wisdom of the mother's comment: "Kids aren't allowed to be kids anymore. ... They're not supposed to act like children, speak like children, behave like children. They considered this a terroristic threat, which was just ludicrous." The little girl did what she was told, the picture was inadvertantly seen, and now the perception of this little girl is that she is a potential threat. Better that she act like an adult -- suppress all of her feelings, stuff them down and swallow them, don't be an emotional little kid. Then what? Then develop a mind full of neuroses, a stomach full of ulcers, and end up on prozac and Tagamet before her 13th birthday. Everyday, so-called educators prove that they have no concept how children function, and should be permitted to function so that they can grow into reasonably well-adjusted adults.

By: rushmc

rushmc — Thu, 02 May 2002 21:00:28 -0800

Repression: It Does A Body Good.

By: schlyer

schlyer — Thu, 02 May 2002 21:28:57 -0800

Maybe a haircut would calm the girl down. It seemed to work for the Al Qaeda guys @ Gitmo.

By: shepd

shepd — Thu, 02 May 2002 21:42:23 -0800

Well, I've only got one thing to say to that student: Why do you hate america so much? ;)

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 02 May 2002 23:29:53 -0800

When I was a kid we used to draw mean teacher pictures that would pale in comparison to "arrows in their heads." Of course back then, no students had actually mowed down a school with illegal firearms. The worst I recall happening was the occasional food fight involving plasticware. If they didn't get proactive about stuff like this now, and the girl actually did act out her feelings, then the school administrators would get yelled at for not having done something when there were 'clues.' Damned if ya do damned if ya don't. It must suck to be an educator nowadays. Oh wait. Less than $20K a year is still the average salary for a teacher last I checked. It's always sucked, hasn't it? In my senior year there were three casualties among the high school students of the city. Two in my alma mater. One in the school across town. A kid walked into class one day with a gun and killed himself. A kid was working part time at a pizzaria and accidently shot himself playing with the owner's gun. A kid was late to work racing on a two lane bridge trying to get around another car and ran into a utility truck. I'm not aware of doodles having anything to do with those incidents.

By: junkbox

junkbox — Fri, 03 May 2002 06:49:03 -0800

How can parents have any confidence sending their child to a school more interested in protecting itself than protecting its children? It's stories like this - not the tragedies like Columbine - that make the best argument for homeschooling or private education.

By: rushmc

rushmc — Fri, 03 May 2002 07:48:32 -0800

Don't forget the utterly dismal quality of the education being offered itself. That's a pretty persuasive argument too.

By: poseur

poseur — Fri, 03 May 2002 09:24:08 -0800

It is but a small step from drawing pictures of people you like, mutilated, to designing yourself a skin-tight outfit so you can go out and get punched in the nose by Batman. I agree. I agree wholeheartedly. Nip this problem in the bud, yes. (Arkham Asylum?)

By: sixtwenty3dc

sixtwenty3dc — Fri, 03 May 2002 11:18:30 -0800

re: Arkham Asylum, i was merely meaning that if a teacher had looked in my notebook during my grade school years they would have tried to send me to the looniest of loony bins to join the ranks of the legendary "patients" there. it sounded better than saying "be sent to community mental health clinic."

By: rushmc

rushmc — Fri, 03 May 2002 15:19:26 -0800

I was diggin' the reference, sixtwenty3dc. I can just see the next archsupervillain in Gotham: the Doodler!