Hysteria over violent fiction

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Pretend you're a teacher. Pretend one of you students has handed in a paper in which he tells you 'don't be surprised if you inspire our first school shooting'.

What do you do?

Me? First thing I'd do is convince the cops to throw him in jail, and then proceed to figure out whether he was serious or not (i.e., make him spend lots of time with mental health pros). The last thing you want is for him to kill some people while you figure out whether he's a threat.

Has it gone too far? Probably.

 

Nonesense! I agree with Iku, this treatment will not help him whatsoever, IF he had any mental disorder in the first place judging solely from a piece of paper he himself said to be junk is ridiculous. The world's crazy I tell you.

 

I just finished reading the Essay, myself. This is ridiculous. First of all. There are only 3 lines in the whole stinking essay that were actually offensive in content and, when I was in High School, I wrote far more disturbing things than that a few times. I wasn't arrested. I wasn't psychologically evaluated. It didn't stop the Navy from granting me my security clearance. And, 11 years later, I haven't killed anyone, either.

 

bah read the essay, as far as i can see he is just a bit mad with his teacher, which I find quite normal, some teachers you like some you dont. he says she is such a bad teacher that she shouldn't be surprised if she inspires a school shooting, thats hardly a death threat, thats more like normal anger, he dosn't even say that he will do it.

the only reason he is arrested is because of the resent shootings and its quite stupid.

 

Let me just say that, as a recent (well, 5 years ago) high school student myself, I understand his submission. I think it was in bad taste, but I understand it. This was certainly not 'disorderly conduct'.

In my experience, high school heirarchies are generally totalitarian dictatorships. In my HS, one almost kid got suspended for writing an INTERNET SATIRE about all the stupid policies the administration had come up with, and let me say, there were some doozies. Now, I'll admit, he did e-mail the link to every student he could find an e-mail address for, but that doesn't give the school the right to regulate what he said in his own free time. The only reason they didn't actually suspend him was because his dad was a lawyer.

I think if the teacher and admin had taken 1/2 an hour to try and figure out what the violent articles were a reference to, and, oh, I don't know, maybe talked to the kid, none of this would have happened.

 

I think this fits a general pattern of being hyper-sensitive and over-reacting in schools, not exclusively, but especially in America.

Just think of these ridiculous stories that regularly hit the news: About that Swiss boy Raoul, who had helped his little sister go to the toilet, and whose neighbor woman had seen this - and who was then arrested and senteced to jail as a 'sexual predator'. Or a six year old kindergarten kid arrested for having a tantrum. Gimme a break. A kindergarten teacher who can't handle that and has to outsource disciplining a pupil to the cops and the school system should quit. From all candidates they're the least suited for it, the last ditch, and for all practical purposes a blunt instrument.
And about this text? Ridiculous. Just like all these discussions about how dangerous FPS games are. The word public hysteria describes it quite well. It's the white flag: While common sense went AWOL, education surrendered.

In my view that's a result of tragedies like High School shootings, and of course, the public fallout. Question of culpability and accusations in the aftermath, not to mention the renowned lawsuits, suffocate initiative and inevitably lead to over-reaction. To be 'safe' you gotta be hyper-sensitive and set the treshold for 'no nonsense' tough action quite low. Better one too many than missing 'the big one'. With a grain of salt you can say: If they lock up a six year old for having a tantrum, what do they do to a principal they think has failed? Principals and teachers try to take a 'better safe than sorry' approach, even if that means to push a pupil under the legal bus, being all 'no nonsense'. The quest is to cover their asses and to achieve elusive total safety. It's a pity these people seem to have lost all sense of proportion. That includes their communities.

And indeed, legally, teachers walk a tight rope today. On the one hand they are increasingly asked to take over educational duties once left to the families, while at the same time they are held accountable and work under tight supervision and reglementation. For good reason. But think about how that can work: We ask more from our teachers, while allowing them less, and holding them fully accountable for everything that goes wrong.

[ May 14, 2007, 21:09: Message edited by: Ragusa ]

 

Ragusa, you bring up very good points. The issue is really quite complex. We could easily branch off covering the inadequacies of teaching in the US, or the fallacy of using the police to protect individuals, or even how litigation has handcuffed education.

...actually I think I will bring up a few points.

In an ideal world, teacher would be paid well for their work -- and only the competent would be allowed in the profession. There would be a good process to weed out the child predators and those who are in teaching because they don't fit in anywhere else. The unions would actually put the children first and there would be no need for tenure (which primarily protects substandard teachers). But this is real world and many teachers enter the profession with serious personal issues which they take out on their students. Too many teachers push their politics and personal beliefs on their students instead of actually teaching.

In an ideal world, the police would actually try to help in a situation such as those listed. Common sense would dictate the appropriate actions. But the police have their hands tied. Gone are the days when a police officer could put 'the fear of God' into a kid instead of 'arresting an offender.' Now is a police officer is called to a scene, they must follow specific protocols and that may mean arresting a child if the school decides to push the issue. In the end, for the officer, it easier to make the arrest and have the courts work it out.

And the key force behind most of these changes are law suits. For example in Chicago, custodial grandparents are suing the Chicago School District because a substitute chose to ignore lesson plans (and violate district rules) and instead showed Brokeback Mountain to their 12-year-old granddaughter. Talk about a waste of time and money. The state should revoke the teaching certificate of the substitute or require additional 'student teaching' (at the teacher's own expense) to ensure that teacher understands their job. The grandparents (and any parent) should have a good discussion with the child about the movie. I don't know if those things are happening, but the lawsuit is just going to far.

The real question is what can anyone do about it? Nothing. We're not going to take the right of parents to sue a school district. Teachers are already at a critical shortage and so we cannot get rid of the dead wood teachers without causing a crisis. We also cannot get the unions to change the rules to help get rid of the dead wood. School districts are not going to allocate more money to teaching because taxpayers must be willing to pay for it (good luck there). Police department simply do not have the manpower or finances to specially train and dedicate officers to act as child psychologists while dealing with schools and children. This is real world and the only solution is parents and children must change with the times (mainly the parents).

 

Don't schools in US have child pyschologists? That might be a reasonable preventive measure against school system. And if the schools do have one then why did this case go first to the police and not the child psychologist? I do understand that some teachers might a bit on the edge after recent happenings but this is ridiculous.

 

As far as I know generally speaking; schools in the US do not have child pyschologists on staff. A school nurse may be available.

They may have consultents who can be called in.