Students Having Fun (ie, future mass murderers planning attacks)
Given events, it’s prudent to be cautious, but this is ludicrous. If I had to go back to school today, I don’t know if I could handle the crap students have to put with. From the administration! No wonder some kids snap. Actually, I’m surprised the kid wasn’t slapped with a lawsuit for harming the self esteem of the student in the photo he pointed to.
Boca student’s comments about classmates spark probe, concern
A Spanish River High senior won’t be returning to school this year after making negative comments directed at his classmates on Tuesday, school officials said.
Superintendent Art Johnson said the school’s principal told him the student pointed to classmates in a photo and made remarks such as “I like this one” and “I don’t like this one.”
The remarks prompted a police investigation and an agreement between the school and the student’s family for the student not to return to campus, Johnson said.
It is not clear why such comments triggered a police investigation or prompted Principal Constance Tuman-Rugg to send an automated voice message about the incident to the homes of Spanish River’s 2,124 students. Tuman-Rugg did not return repeated calls on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, district officials said the 18-year-old senior had made not just negative, but threatening, remarks against classmates. But they would not specify the nature of the threats or to whom they were directed.
A voice message to parents of Spanish River High students on Wednesday also said that police had searched for a list, weapons or symbols during their investigation, suggesting a serious threat was made. In the voice message, Tuman-Rugg acknowledged the heightened security concerns following this week’s mass shooting at Virginia Tech University and today’s anniversary of the Columbine High School attack.
Though Johnson later Thursday downplayed the student’s comments and denied there were any threats, the principal promised additional officers at school today.
District officials, who cited juvenile privacy laws, have refused to release any police reports connected to the incident, though the student is legally an adult.
Officials’ refusal to release details of the incident have prompted rumors and frustrated parents who suspect the school is trying to cover up a serious problem.
Since the 1999 Columbine shootings in, schools nationwide have taken a zero-tolerance approach to student threats, and in some cases drawn criticism for criminalizing student misbehavior.
Kenneth Trump, a national school security expert, said school officials “foil plots” on days leading up to the Columbine anniversary.
In St. Augustine on Thursday, a 14-year-old high school student was arrested for making e-mail threats that he would top the Virginia Tech massacre by killing 100 people. Officials found nothing in his home he could use for an attack. Still, he was charged with a second-degree felony for the threat.
Found by my brother Don
That should be Principal if you are refering to the person in charge of the school, not principle…
For a high school senior to refer to classmates as “ this one” or “that one” sounds like he either hasn’t picked up English very well at Spanish River or is a bit out of touch and needs some counseling. I think there’s more to the story here.
”school officials “foil plots” on days leading up to the Columbine anniversary.”
This witch-hunt mode should be pretty disturbing.
This is a attempt but schools to show locals “we are on top of our school. VT would neveer happen here!!” School officals are worried that thier jobs may not be safe or maybe someone would ask questions. stupid and pointless and i agree with sdf that it is indeed a witch hunt.
mmmm time for a spell check. its Principal. 😉
I’ve been whacked by the spelling police! It was the middle of the night when I posted this. Yeah, that sounds like a good defense…
#2: He was pointing to people in a photo while saying “I like this one” or “I don’t like this one.” How was his English incorrect?
Shawn’s right – there is more to this story. In particular, we don’t know if the kid was a recluse or a class cut-up, angry or cheerful; and we don’t know if there were other remarks made by the same student that the school knew about.
Even if the kid was joking around, after VT and in Columbine’s shadow it was poor, poor judgment, like joking about bombs at an airport, and the kid paid a price. It’s a damned shame, but in this case it seems to me like a justified case of “better safe than sorry.”
TJGeezer: “Poor judgment”? He’s a teenager! What did you expect? The adults in the story were the ones expected to show good judgment.
“(…) an agreement between the school and the student’s family for the student not to return to campus (…)”.
Yeah, if I was the kid, I wouldn’t wanna go back to that school either.
8.
Was Cho that much older? You never know…
#6 If he had said “ Bobby picks on me” or “Sally made fun of me” that would have been one thing but, his English ( not spelling or punctuation but, intelligent articulation ) for a 12th grader is off a little – wouldn’t you say? If you do or do not like someone, for whatever reason, wouldn’t you at least know there first name?
I agree with TJ – there’s more here than meets the eye and we can’t play jury with out all the facts.
There has to be MUCH more to this then the school or family is saying. Simply because if he had committed a crime then the police would have charged him. If the school won’t allow him to attend then maybe it is because the school has allowed bullying and has made a quick payoff to stifle it.
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Geeze, the terrorists have really won.
Are we supposed to like EVERY student in school????? I remember I didn’t like many of them, but I didn’t get thrown out of school.
#10: No, I would not say his English was a little off. We have zero way of telling that from what is written in the article. He could be exceptionally fluent for all we know.
What makes you think he needed to say why he liked or didn’t like someone? Perhaps what he said was appropriate for the situation. What makes you think the person to whom he was speaking as he was pointing didn’t already know each person in the photo making the naming of the person superfluous?
“…we can’t play jury with out all the facts” is exactly right, although you seem to be able to do it with his English abilities.
And you’re one to talk about English usage using ‘there’ instead of ‘their’ and your improper usage of commas.
You have to like everyone..or else!