Tommy, you're permanently expelled!
December 14, 2003 3:18 PM   Subscribe

"Want to get arrested? Walk home with me." It's LawForKids, the site devoted to giving the kids the education they need about drinking and other kewl stuff through the aid of really, really, really crappy cartoons. Plus, enjoy the intellectual and grammar-rich discussion on hard knocks in Juvie, plus Flash games about being a good citizen. Not sure about discouraging kids from crime, but I sure as hell want to stay away from a life of web design now.
posted by XQUZYPHYR (29 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- Brandon Blatcher



 
You are correct. Those cartoons are really, really, really crappy. Like Jack Chick after he was beaten stupid with a 2x4.
posted by moonbiter at 3:26 PM on December 14, 2003


Wait a minute: isn't the snitch in this cartoon the same as the dope dealer in this cartoon?

What's the message here? Be a snitch, go to jail?
posted by SPrintF at 3:49 PM on December 14, 2003


Wow, the front page has a link for a quiz: "The Affects of the Civil War (High)  - See how much you know about the affects of the Civil War "

Someone needs to go back to skool before they start teeching impreshunable kidz.
posted by planetkyoto at 3:50 PM on December 14, 2003


OMG. This probably got federal funding (In the 7 digit range) to create.

Yup:
LFK is made possible through funding from the Arizona Supreme Court's Juvenile Crime Reduction Fund, composed of surcharges on fines paid by those convicted of breaking the law.

What a waste.
posted by Decypher at 4:00 PM on December 14, 2003


Oh, now I notice the quiz is on a rotating script, so you may get a different quiz. How very unfortunate for you.
posted by planetkyoto at 4:06 PM on December 14, 2003


Do cops actually do that in the states - go into private parties and ask to se ID?
posted by spazzm at 4:15 PM on December 14, 2003


Valley girl airheads in wheelchairs are not to be trusted.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 4:18 PM on December 14, 2003


huh?
posted by dolface at 4:25 PM on December 14, 2003


Surreal. Are these girls stunned because they got caught smoking, or because one of their teachers is endlessly opening and shutting the bathroom door?
posted by eddydamascene at 4:28 PM on December 14, 2003


Dolface - I think that cartoon has something to do with "mixed-race" couples.
posted by dpkm at 4:31 PM on December 14, 2003


thanks dpkm, i guess i shoulda scrolled down a bit for some context.
posted by dolface at 4:38 PM on December 14, 2003


This probably got federal funding

Er, the Arizona Supreme Court is not a federal agency.
posted by moonbiter at 4:42 PM on December 14, 2003


spazzm - yes, but it generally must be triggered by a public complaint (such as a noise complaint from a neighbor.) Cops will not enter a private residence unless permission is granted, or there is an obvious illegal activity within sight (thus satisfying the Fourth Amendment ban against unreasonable search and seizure.)

It looks hokey, but the goal of teaching kids the basics of criminal law is quite a good one, because of its deterrence effect.

Very few people who haven't spent a year in law school know that you can be convicted as an accomplice merely by knowing of another's criminal activity and doing something - whether being a lookout, selling supplies, or in some cases just hanging around - in furtherance of the crime. When you are convicted as an accomplice, you are usually subject to the same sentence as if you were the main offender.

Giving teens a solid legal basis for what their mothers have been telling them all along - don't hang out with kids who are up to no good - is a pretty solid method of outreach.
posted by PrinceValium at 4:44 PM on December 14, 2003


Okay so this site is meant for kids. I called both of mine in here to look at this and we all pretty much peed all over ourselves laughing at it. WTF where the idiots who approved this thinking? Jesus. What a waste of tax money for the people of Arizona.
posted by damnitkage at 5:35 PM on December 14, 2003


This one implies that if you don't smoke pot you'll be sentenced to give PowerPoint presentations.

I agree with PrinceValium that the information and intent are fine but the presentation is so bad that I can't imagine any real kids taking it seriously.
posted by TimeFactor at 6:02 PM on December 14, 2003


If the toons are bad, the comic strips are evil.
posted by synecdoche at 7:50 PM on December 14, 2003


Is there a reason why their mouths move much longer than the voice over lasts? Did they dub this from the original Japanese? And if so, did all these toons used to end in tentacle sex?

Points to ponder.
posted by Hildegarde at 7:51 PM on December 14, 2003


LawForKids.org has earned Top educational website honors from:
National Conference of Bar Foundations (NCBF)
National Association of Bar Executives (NABE)
National Center for State Courts (NCSC)


and there you have it, in a nutshell.
posted by quonsar at 9:04 PM on December 14, 2003


The message is good, but the delivery is horrible. Insulting. I would've found this insulting when I was 8. The whole thing has the feeling of "talking down" to someone. Not a good way to connect with kids.
posted by Lafe at 9:05 PM on December 14, 2003


Yeah really. HI KIDS WE KNOW YOU'RE ALL SUBMENTAL HYPOCEPHALLIC FAILURES TO THRIVE, SO WE FIGURED THIS RIDICULOUS PARODY OF INFORMATION WOULD DO YOU SOME GOOD.

Thanks!
posted by kavasa at 9:21 PM on December 14, 2003


Wow if these are the gestapo like cops in AZ im glad i dont live there.

Just for fun i emailed them and asked them which law they would intend to indict the passenger with in http://www.lawforkids.org/Cartoons/3.cfm
posted by MrLint at 9:38 PM on December 14, 2003


I found the link to the juvie interesting, being a former authority on the subject. Bizarre to me to have glass walls on the individual cells. I've been a guest of 3 such places (including 1 in Arizona, and California and Texas) and long-term resident of 1 in my home town, and never saw such a thing. Of course, that was 30 and more years ago. Usually such total denial of any privacy is a method of brain washing (or torture).

Superficially the program described sounds like a decent one, but of course it wouldn't be on the official web site if it made the authorities look bad in any way. In any case, one would expect it to appear more humane than some privately operated 'boot camp' sort of place.
posted by Goofyy at 9:53 PM on December 14, 2003


regarding the mystery strip, according to the index, it is supposed to show joyriding. I wasn't quite sure what that was, so I found the definition here. Just out of curiosity I scrolled down to the user comments, and wow. These kids certainly need something. I suggest a dictionary and a revocation of their number-pad rights for starters.
posted by rorycberger at 10:10 PM on December 14, 2003


Hey, I got jipped! I got to the 10th question of that retarded Flash quiz, and then it just reset itself! I was going to print my certificate out! lol
posted by ookamaka at 2:10 AM on December 15, 2003


Godammit! I only got as far as question eight before that quiz reset itself - the one with some child-of-the-corn asking:

"Hey-tom-ee wanna-come-drink-with-us?"

And don't bother clicking on the 8-Ball game link. Rather than offering something useful like a 'Young Person's Guide to Malt Liqour', it's just a series of surly non-sequiters.
posted by backOfYourMind at 6:14 AM on December 15, 2003


holy calamity these are some of the most awesomely painful cartoons i've ever seen! i'm serious. f--king hilarious. thank you for this link
posted by Peter H at 8:52 AM on December 15, 2003


i go to high school in phoenix. if you take any sort of civics class where i go, you can expect to have this website pounded into your head all year.
posted by jimmy at 10:44 AM on December 15, 2003


What the hell are The Federalist Papers doing on that site? Who planned this, Justice Scalia?
posted by profwhat at 12:20 PM on December 15, 2003


and now, one can be arrested and charged for merely being in a car where contraband is found. (NYTimes link). so sure, maybe the delivery is awful, but americans need to know more about how the criminal laws in this country work: both to protect themselves from being stupid and to be appropriately outraged

(oh, and the private automobile is the american's greatest enemy, but that's my personal axe to grind. . .)
posted by crush-onastick at 3:00 PM on December 15, 2003


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