School District Nazis At It Again

[SUMG]

Is there no common sense at these freaking schools any more?

http://www.wftv.com/news/14858405/detail.html

[UNTflyer]

This is why so-called "Zero Tolerance" policies don't work.

It excuses allegedly mature and experienced adults from making rational judgements.

[Censored by Laurie]

School districts are really only the Franco-like facists compared to the Nazi's at the airports...this hardened street thug would've been thrown to the ground and all flights delayed two hours had she tried to bring that blade through security.

[Bryan316]

I can see both sides of this. Yes, she only brought the knife to cut her steak (Seriously? Eat a sandwich like the rest of us) and didn't wave it about or anything. However, now that other kids know she has a sharp knife, any of the real troublemakers in the school could come up with a way to get it and do something less than upstanding. The knife could have been taken from her and kept in the principal's office until her parents came to get her.

[gruu]

Yes, and what about the Every Child Left Behind policy now in schools?

[greenminer]

The teachers probably yanked the knife and reported it in fear of their jobs.

Not saying she couldn't use a knife, but having a steak knife around travels fast among those kids. A parent would have flipped out at the thought, and found out which teachers allowed this to happen without doing something.

[JesseMartin]

I wonder if they searched her bag for aspirin, condoms, and birth control.

Am I the only one here who went to a school like that?

God, I'm glad to be in Texas. Still weird policies, but not as insane as Philly.

[greenminer]

I wonder if they searched her bag for aspirin, condoms, and birth control.

Am I the only one here who went to a school like that?

God, I'm glad to be in Texas. Still weird policies, but not as insane as Philly.

West Philly? Born and raised?

[Quoner]

I wonder if they searched her bag for aspirin, condoms, and birth control.

Am I the only one here who went to a school like that?

God, I'm glad to be in Texas. Still weird policies, but not as insane as Philly.

you're from Philly!?

so many answers just appeared in my brain.

[untgirl04]

I wonder if they searched her bag for aspirin, condoms, and birth control.

Am I the only one here who went to a school like that?

God, I'm glad to be in Texas. Still weird policies, but not as insane as Philly.

I grew up in Texas, in Granbury (southwest of Ft. Worth), and they had drug dogs in the schools that would randomly search classrooms for drugs, etc. Oftentimes, things like Midol and Advil would get confiscated. But then, I knew someone who had a sheet of acid in her bag and the drug dog never found her out.... Go figure.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

I doubt that the dogs were trained or could be trained to find that one (LSD). [ I don't really know but does it have an odor?]

The world has gone nuts with weapons and rules. Under today's world I would have subject to suspension every day when I was in high school (early 60's) ... I kept a gun in my pickup. We raised cattle and it was in a gunrack or under the seat all the time. I often drove out and fed cattle after school and it was needed to kill rattlesnakes that sometimes were found in the barn under bails of hay. I wasn't the only one that did this either and everyone knew they were there.... we just knew to not mess with the guns during schools hours and no-one cared. The only incident I even remember was kid had his father's WWII war souvenir German Lugar... unloaded.... to show another guy. He was suspended for a few days. Everyone understand he wasn't trying to harm anyone but he should not have handled it at school. That may have not been a great policy then but my sons buddy was thrown out just because he had a hunting knife in the back of his SUV along with all the camping gear he had used the previous weekend. Crazy... of couse a hammer would have acceptable as well a tire iron or baseball bat, showt put, or key-hole saw to have in the back of that SUV.

We even had a history teacher (while I was teaching) bring a couple of very old guns (unloaded) to class that his great-grandfather had used as a Texas Ranger during the 1870's. He was ok but there are some city-types I would not want touching a gun..

These things might not should happened today but it hass gotten crazy.

Edited December 19, 2007 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[KRAM1]

Zero Tolerance policies are very challenging when this sort of thing happens. I hate them as too may times "good kids" get caught up in them and are unduely punished as this 10 year old will undoubtedly find out. On the other hand...how loud would the cries have been and how many lawsuits would have been filed if the young lady used the knife to threaten another student after being allowed to "keep" the knife during lunch? Man, I can hear the folks screaming for the teacher's, principal's, superintendant's heads now.

The schools are pretty much in a "darn if we do and darn if we don't situation". My heart goes out to them in trying to enforce any level of discipline and any number of rules these days. TOUGH JOB! Every body is looking for a piece of their "you know whats", and often they give everyone just the right amount of gunpowder to blow their own a.....s off.

man, tough job!

[UNTflyer]

The world has gone nuts with weapons and rules.

The problem is that today the kids are more prone to violence. They are constantly flooded with violent imagery, usually in a glorified context.

I know, a lot of people will roll their eyes at this... but the entertainment culture DOES have an impact on the human mind.

[greenminer]

The problem is that today the kids are more prone to violence. They are constantly flooded with violent imagery, usually in a glorified context.

I know, a lot of people will roll their eyes at this... but the entertainment culture DOES have an impact on the human mind.

I don't buy it.

*edit: video games, that is.

I'll think about this more while I'm at work.

Edited December 19, 2007 by greenminer

[Guest JohnDenver]

The problem is that today the kids are more prone to violence. They are constantly flooded with violent imagery, usually in a glorified context.

I know, a lot of people will roll their eyes at this... but the entertainment culture DOES have an impact on the human mind.

Definitely rolling my eyes.

Go back and watch any movie from my childhood, they are WWWAAAYYYY more violent than today's movies. Way more. Commando? Predator? Evil Dead? The horror movie genre is almost dead in today's hollywood.. they are too violent. But I was raised on Slumber Party Massacre and movies of that genre.

Now video games? Kid Icarus couldn't get the real violence in it.. but maybe Metroid was violent. But back then, people blamed music and D&D. Now they have moved past D&D and target video games and trench coats. It is all absurd.

More prone to violence? I don't know. Lynching, slavery, genocide (gassing), witch burnings, etc, those are all pretty violent things from the past.

I am not ready to fly the "good ole day" flag yet.

[KRAM1]

Hey, I remember when they said we kids were all going to hell because we liked Elvis and his shakin' pelvis!

[UNTflyer]

To clarify what I said... the entertainment culture does affect the human mind. You cannot be subjected to violent images and not be affected by it.

But I never claimed it causes violence, I just think in a lot of ways we have become indifferent to violence and the consequences because we are subjected to it every day in pop culture, the news media, the Internet.

And John Denver, to say that Commando and Predator is "wayyyyy" more violent than today's movies?? I don't get that, have you seen any of the "Saw" or "Hostel" movies?

[emmitt01]

West Philly? Born and raised?

Just wondering, was the playground where you spent most of your days?

Edited December 19, 2007 by emmitt01

[Guest JohnDenver]

And John Denver, to say that Commando and Predator is "wayyyyy" more violent than today's movies?? I don't get that, have you seen any of the "Saw" or "Hostel" movies?

Sure, Hostel and Saw movies are just slasher films. Nothing more gruesome than Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Sleep Away Camp or Slumber Party Massacre. They are the same. The only difference is that slasher movies are very rare now, when compared to how many were pumped out in the 80s when I was growing up.

Now, Hollywood pushes all movies to PG-13, so nudity and violence take a back seat to ticket sales. In the 80's, that wasn't as big of a concern. So comparing Commando to Hostel? No valid. Comparing Commando to Doom, that is valid. And Doom was way scaled back (in language and gore) to my childhood rivals.

The genre that exists now, as opposed to when I was a kid, is street gang movies. But when compared to Mob movies (gangster), they are similar violence. I remember vividly seeing heads busted open with baseball bats in my childhood gangster movies... And movies like Platoon and Hamburger Hill. You rarely see that type of violence anymore. It is all watered down and implied. They will have one big scene of chaos (like Saving Private Ryan), but over all the movie isn't violence throughout.

Horror movies are almost gone, since they are all PG-13. Action movies as well.. they are all PG-13. Rated R movies are pretty rare.

And nudity!? wow. I watch movies from my childhood and am amazed at all the boobage. That doesn't happen anymore.

[Monkeypox]

Before I get back to the subject at hand:

I agree with JohnDenver. The studios push movies to go to the broadest audience and most screens possible, which means they chop them up and get them in under PG-13. John McClain can't even say his freaking catchphrase.

The girl brought a steak knife to school. She's 10, not 6. She theoretically has parents. Any of them should know it's no bueno to take a knife to school. There's rules against it, and for obvious reasons. It's dumb to bring a knife to school. This is the price. It's not gonna ruin the girl's life. Maybe it will make her and her parents smarter.

[UNTFan23]

And nudity!? wow. I watch movies from my childhood and am amazed at all the boobage. That doesn't happen anymore.

Huhu... huhu, he said boobage... huhuhuhu

[UNTFan23]

Before I get back to the subject at hand:

I agree with JohnDenver. The studios push movies to go to the broadest audience and most screens possible, which means they chop them up and get them in under PG-13. John McClain can't even say his freaking catchphrase.

The girl brought a steak knife to school. She's 10, not 6. She theoretically has parents. Any of them should know it's no bueno to take a knife to school. There's rules against it, and for obvious reasons. It's dumb to bring a knife to school. This is the price. It's not gonna ruin the girl's life. Maybe it will make her and her parents smarter.

While it was wrong for her to bring the knife in the first place and her parents should have stopped it from happening, they are charging the girl with a felony. She never brandished it or threatened/hurt anyone with it. I could understand a lesser charge for bringing it, but charging a 10-year old with a felony is extreme.

"She did not use it inappropriately. She did not threaten anyone with it. She didn't pull it out and brandish it. Nothing of that nature," explained Marion County School Spokesman Kevin Christian.

...

The student now faces a felony charge for the possession of a weapon on school property and the principal suspended her for ten days.

How about we visit the punishment ...

Punishment

A felony may be punishable with imprisonment for one or more years or death in the case of the most serious felonies, such as murder, treason, and espionage; indeed, at common law when the British and American legal systems divorced in 1776, felonies were crimes for which the punishment was either death or forfeiture of property. In modern times, felons can receive punishments which range in severity; from probation, to imprisonment, to execution for premeditated murder or other serious crimes. In the United States felons often face additional consequences, such as the loss of voting rights in many states, exclusion from certain lines of work, prohibition from obtaining certain licenses, exclusion from purchase and possession of firearms, ammunition and body armour, ineligibility to run for or be elected to public office. In addition, some states consider a felony conviction to be grounds for an uncontested divorce. These, among other losses of privileges not included explicitly in sentencing, are known as collateral consequences of criminal charges. Finally if a felon is not a U.S. citizen that person may be subject to deportation after sentencing is complete.

Civil sanctions imposed on United States citizens convicted of a felony in many states include the loss of competence to serve on a grand or petit jury or to vote in elections even after release from prison. While controversial, these disabilities are explicitly sanctioned by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a Reconstruction-era amendment that deals with permissible state regulation of voting rights.

Expungement

Theoretically, federal law allows persons convicted of felonies in a federal United States district court to apply to have their record expunged after a certain period of time with a clean record. However, the U.S. Congress has refused to fund the federal agency mandated with handling the applications of convicted felons to have their record expunged. This means that, in practice, federal felons cannot have their records expunged.

For state law convictions, expungement is determined by the law of the state. Some states do not allow this, regardless of the offense.

How about we consider the severity of the offense before we go and ruin a young life for a very, very simple mistake where no one was harmed.

Edited December 20, 2007 by UNTFan23

[UNTflyer]

Screaming Eagle's point was that he and his classmates were more responsible than teenagers are today. They were taught by their parents that a gun is a tool for protection.

Today, parental tutelage is crap. Way too many parents fail to teach kids any kind of responsibility. Role models and familial guidance is substituted with an entertainment culture and the Nanny State. Now John Denver and I were raised watching violent movies, we were both children of the 80s and saw the Friday/Nightmare/Halloween/Commando/Predator/Alien movies a hundred times. And I agree... movies, or video games, or other entertainment media do not, by themselves, cause violence. But I do believe it is one of many factors, along with lack of a role model, psychological issues, genetics, economic despair, and dozens of other "causes" that psychiatrists and sociologists have pointed to for decades.

And as I originally stated, violent images do have an affect on the human brain:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/TV--Radio/St...8514926841.html

http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/14406?badlink=1

http://www.livescience.com/health/050811_a...on_problem.html

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art...rticlekey=80507

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6154696.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4594376.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2005/feb/18/health.uknews

[greenminer]

Ya'll want to see violence? Check out some '80s Italian horror flicks. YES. It's like they completely abandoned decent script writing and quality acting to sign up the grossest ideas they could come up with (and the cheesiest soundtracks out there)

Fulci baby!

We've certainly gotten better at faking blood, but the whole "gore" factor has been tame for years.

[untbowler]

man parents are the main issue today.

I grew up running around til dark with no worries, stay up late and try to catch some Skinnemax and Showtime as well as the B-Movies on USA during the weekends. Movies now are pretty tame although the torture genre is pretty twisted.

As for examples of Commando, Predator and such I saw those when I was around 11-12 and I am not overly screwed up.

Grew up in a bowling alley 3 nights a week and was assisting out on a gun ranch at the age of 6 as well as shooting a .22 at that age.

All it takes is a little parenting to fix the kids buit even that is apparently outlawed these days under the disguise of abuse.

A good ole a$$ whipping never hurt anyone.