Student charged after writing 'disturbing' essay?

Question

By Associated Press: April 26, 2007

CARY, Ill. -- An 18-year-old high school student faces disorderly conduct charges for writing an essay that authorities described as violent and disturbing.

What do you think about this? Do you think students who write "violent and disturbing" things should be arrested?

Full link: http://pantagraph.com/articles/2007/04/27/news/doc4630b274cec33671097737.txt

Answer 1

Freedom of speech is not absolute. The Supreme Court said long ago that you cannot yell "fire" in a theater. Schools are special places too as the students need to be there (children) or are there by choice (colleges) but the delicate fabric of the relationship must be maintained. In the post Virginia Tech days, we must be very cautious of saying things that will incite others.

Answer 2

No. Half our suspense and horror movies and books and such would never be written. I would hate to think what the psychological evaluation of Steven King and other authors would be.

Thoughts are separate from actions. I know I was encouraged to WRITE out my anger or frustrations etc. to get it to where I could work through it instead of keeping it inside to fester.

This class was told to just write and not censor their thoughts......depending on my mood or what's going on I'd be thinking alot of weird things at any given time.

Yes, thoughts precede the action and it could be an indicator but from what I understand in this case....it's a one time thing.

My daughter has a friend and they were in a college class. A boring one with a strange teacher and her friend doodled a picture of a shark swimming up to a stick person and she put the teachers name by it and the teacher saw it and she had to go into counseling for it. I would hate to think of all the mindless doodles I made that could have me in trouble now. I'm surprised they haven't outlawed the "hang-man" game.

Anyway....no....people shouldn't be arrested for thoughts or doodles. The teacher might make a quiet assesment to keep a heads up for other incidences but going this far is stupid.

I'd rather a kid write the stuff than do it. If you're going to be punished as much for your thoughts as you are for the action.....it may encourage more living out of the thoughts. Or we may see more violent outbursts because there's no safe outlet for wierd thoughts.

Answer 3

No. If writers of violent and disturbing things should be arrested then Stephen King should get the death penalty. Point is just because some writes about something doesn't mean they are going to act it out. Authorities are now panicking and trying to prevent another VT situation so they are over reacting. I think that the overall behavior of the author should also be considered before authorities take action.

Answer 4

Wow. Unless the kid is being a probelm in class or something, it's pretty normal for kids to write blood and gore kinds of essays. Especially when you give them an open kind of assignment like that.

Now how many kids in that school are going to write about anything they're interested in, for fear that they too will be "violent" and "disturbing" and be punished?

Answer 5

Oh good God!! School districts can be SO stupid!! I remember writing a paper in high school about how a group of us would take over the school, and I wrote about specific people, disguised lightly (for example, Mrs. Pee for our principal, Mrs. Lee--easy stuff to figure out). I'm glad my english teacher had a sense of humor. Schools think that they are some sort of governmental enforcement institution, and that all students are potential terrorists. I remember that when the War in Iraq had just begun, some of our teachers told us, basically, that if we didn't agree with the war, we had better just keep our mouthes shut.

I think that we are slowly giving up the freedoms that our forefathers lived and died to give us--sometimes willingly. I think we, as a people, need to stand up to our government and tell them in a firm, resounding, unyielding voice that we will NOT surrender our freedoms in times of crisis. For it is in these times that such freedoms are most important. They remind us of who we are--a strong, proud, wise, prominent nation of equals--and where we came from--poor immigrants, slaves, oppressed colonists, etc. And they remind us to keep fighting for what is right, and to choose not to fight when it is unnecessary.

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would give up some of their liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty, nor safety."

Answer 6

Enjoy your new coming dictatorship thanks to executive orders!

Recipe for Tyranny

One of the primary uses of executive orders involves the exercise of so-called emergency powers. This is perhaps the most dangerous possibility for the misuse of executive orders.

The most obvious national emergency situation involves war, but other domestic and international crises (real or perhaps even fabricated) have come into play to justify the use of executive orders.

For example, in 1971 Richard Nixon declared an emergency because of the growing discrepancy in our federal balance of payments. He disconnected the value of the dollar from the gold standard, levied a surtax on imports, and froze domestic prices for 90 days.

Many people thought Nixon was overreacting, but even if he weren't, the situation clearly showed a president pushing the limits of Constitutional power.1

On June 3, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order that consolidated the powers set forth in a number of executive orders that were issued by his predecessors.2

Originally created in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy, this particular collection of executive orders allows a total subjugation of the fundamental freedoms that Americans often take for granted.

The first of the Kennedy-issued executive orders (E.O. 10995) allows the president to take control of all media, as long as a national emergency exists. Included as media are radio, television and, conceivably, telephone and Internet outlets.3 Other executive orders from this cluster (E.O. 10997, 10990, 11003 and 11005) allow the seizure of all facilities that produce energy, including electricity, gasoline, and solid fuels.4

All means of transportation, both public and private, including ground and air transportation, could be completely controlled by the executive branch as well.5

Another declares that our food resources could be taken over by the executive branch (E.O. 10998). This includes all agriculture, distribution, and retail facilities.6

Furthermore, reminiscent of the Japanese internment under E.O.9066, other executive orders allow for the involuntary registration and relocation of U.S. citizens into labor groups under government surveillance (E.O. 11000, 11002, 11004). The order also grants the executive branch authority to take over labor, services, and manpower resources.7

Under E.O. 11921, the government is empowered to take over health, education, welfare, mechanisms of production and distribution, energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money.

There is very little of the economy and private life which hasn't been included under these orders.

A common but erroneous belief is that the above executive orders have either expired or been rescinded. We shall see in the next section that this is not true.

Also, what comprises a national emergency has not been clearly defined by the courts. Rather than setting forth specific criteria, the courts have given the President wholesale discretion to determine the boundaries of what constitutes a national emergency.

The familiar rationale is that extra latitude should be given to the President in this area due to the need for expediency.

http://www.khouse.org/articles/1999/235/

Answer 7

Absolutely not. That essay should be protected as free speech. He didn't threaten anyone or write anything that could potentially incite violence--he just made an observation in fulfillment of the assignment. I have a feeling that it'll get dropped, though. At least, I hope it will...as a writer, it scares me when I hear about the government silencing people.

Answer 8

yes. from my experiences as a mother I think an arrest can turn the student around (that writes violent material) Before Columbine my son wrote a letter to a high school teacher stating he "would see them all dead" and after hours of discussion and no expulsion or criminal activity my son thought better of ventilating his anger. He is now still in college and doing well with no more violent outburst of that nature. I am one of the lucky mothers.

Answer 9

No, I don't. But maybe their writing is a cry for help and they should seek counseling or at least talk to an adviser.

To make a reference to the VT shootings demeans the suffering of the VT community. He should not have been so tactless... that's what the media's for.

Answer 10

No, it wont solve the problem. Just gives them an excuse to lash out even more.

They need to be helped.