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Kid threatens then sues

This suit better get thrown out. The kid went seriously out of line and the teacher responded using appropriate measures. Emotional harm is a very real problem, but it never seems to ring true when the lawyers get involved.
 
rathi said:
This suit better get thrown out. The kid went seriously out of line and the teacher responded using appropriate measures. Emotional harm is a very real problem, but it never seems to ring true when the lawyers get involved.
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Gotta tell ya...some times the crap that gets put on a page or verbally tossed out by some teenager with little parenting and no restraint is pretty much "emotional harm." You wouldn't believe some of the stuff that kids in certain classes spew--and teachers have to keep them, and put up with it, because (at least in my state) school funding is linked to the warm body that shows up in the classroom with some regularity.

(I'm just b!tching because I've had a rough term with a particulary unruly bunch in my writing class :mrgreen: )
 
What the hell?! That kid is saying that his "free speech" was violated?

How about next time, he doesn't write anything like that?
 
I read the article and the kid's 'stories'. Firstly, from a critical standpoint, they weren't very good. I've read many, many creative stories from the teens that I work with, 90% of which were better then the ones I read. Secondly, it is obvious that the kid was degrading the teacher and attempting to intimidate her. She certainly did the appropriate and right thing in alerting school officials. Immediately sending him to a psychiatric facility, however, was a bit presumptuous. An evaluation by an outside therapist would have been the more appropriate choice, while, at the same time, removing him from school. I do not believe that the kid has any case against the teacher. The school? Not sure. I'd want to see the particulars around how he was committed.
 
Well if martin scorsese was a young children writing a creative writing story containing some of the things in his films would he be crazy.

Doesent much of creativity come from realife and ment to make the audience react and the audience was one teacher and had a reaction.
 

And some people pee in a cup, toss in a crucifix, and call it "art." G.K. Chesterton, a very underappreciated literary artist, had some choice words for such "creativity":

"Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere." - ILN, 5/5/28

"The decay of society is praised by artists as the decay of a corpse is praised by worms." - Shaw, 1909

"Savages and modern artists are alike strangely driven to create something uglier than themselves...but the artists find it harder." - ILN, 11/25/05

"By a curious confusion, many modern critics have passed from the proposition that a masterpiece may be unpopular to the other proposition that unless it is unpopular it cannot be a masterpiece." - "On Detective Novels," Generally Speaking
 

I would hope that a martin scorsese story would be a little more creative and well written. These were not. They were thinly veiled attacks on the teacher and whining about what had occurred. Nothing more.
 
CaptainCourtesy said:
I would hope that a martin scorsese story would be a little more creative and well written. These were not. They were thinly veiled attacks on the teacher and whining about what had occurred. Nothing more.
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I think the repetion of the "thinly veiled attacks and whining" is what led to the psychiatric facility. The kid escalated over such a minor slight and wasn't dropping it. I think she had valid reason to be afraid. Isn't the psychiatric facility better than holding him in jail?
 

I agree that the kid's not dropping such a minor issue and writing 'stories' relating to it, over and over and over is certainly cause for concern. I definitely think she had reason to be afraid, especially with the story about killing the teacher. I don't think, however, that the psychiatric facility was called for. Removal from school and a psychological or psychiatric evaluation for sure. I don't think he met the criteria for hospitalization, though I'm basing this on what I've read. There may be more to the story.
 

I believe conferencing with the student's parents would've been my first step; if that proved unproductive in resolving the issue, I would think psychiatric evaluation might be warranted, followed by a stint in ISS, or a temporary suspension from school, or whatever disciplinary measures the school's administrators deemed appropriate.

Hospitalizing teenagers for what amounted to disciplinary problems or delinquent behavior was a big trend, at least among families of my socioeconomic class, back when I was a teen in the 80s.
I hardly knew anyone who hadn't done a stint in one of our city's four youth psychiatric/rehab facilities, often for "attitude" offenses such as talking back to and/or fighting with their parents, or for such things as poor grades, staying out past curfew, "promiscuity", marijuana, dressing in ways parents perceived as inappropriate, etc. I don't know that these stints, which generally amounted to 30 days, really did anything to resolve the disciplinary issues the teen in question was having, although I guess it did serve as a "cool down" period for the whole family, allowing them to get some perspective and regroup.
On the other hand, some of my peers who really could've used some psychiatric help- some with eating and "cutting" disorders, others who exhibited symptoms of manic depression- more often than not didn't get the help they needed.
Because they were quiet and kept their grades up, their parents were slow to realize anything was amiss.
It was just the usual case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease, I guess.
 
Look its just a story he has written freedom of speech rappers write songs about killing other rappers all the time they dont get sent for psychological examination.Its a matter for the school not the police to deal with.
 
mikhail said:
Look its just a story he has written freedom of speech rappers write songs about killing other rappers all the time they dont get sent for psychological examination.Its a matter for the school not the police to deal with.
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Always remember. Words have consequences. Even freedom of speech is limited if it creates or purports imminent harm. You can't yell 'Fire' in a crowded theater (when there's no fire) creating a panic that causes injuries and not get consequences yourself. There are some limitations to what you can say without consequences.
 

You can't... lie on the witness stand.
You can't knowingly, falsely verbally accuse another person of a crime under any circumstances, without incurring legal consequences for yourself.
There are also laws against libel and slander.
 
I'm in accord with CaptainCourtesy on this one (no surprise =P). The kid is obviously messed up. My brother wrote violent stories when he was younger, but certainly not for a class assignment, and they certainly weren't directing hate at any real person, as that obvious attack on his teacher was. I find his stories badly written, disturbing, and just scary. I mean, I've said that I wanted a teacher dead before, but not for serious, and I would never write a violent paper for her that is obviously directed at her.

I do, though, think that they went way too far with the punishment. As I read it, it seems like the arbitrarily picked him up and carted him away, which seems vaguely sinister. I think, for sure, he should have been withdrawn from school for a while and subject to psychological inquiry, and had many, many long talks with his parents and teacher and others, but he shouldn't've been locked up and taken away in the manner that he was.
 
That was very interesting. What is up with the kids parents? If my kid writes something like that then I will be extremely upset. Feeling that way is one thing for a kid, but to write it down and turn it in to your teacher for an assignment is very disturbing. It shows that the kid does not understand boundary’s.

What a freak. And I still come back to the idiot parent that will then go and sue people. Enabling the kid and teaching them to not be responsible. Way to go Dad!
 
If something awful HAD happened (kid flips out and shoots people at school) I bet the teacher would be getting sued for NOT reporting his odd behavior.

Apparently nowadays it's better to be safe than sorry.
 
Well, I think he got only half of what he deserved (is anyone really surprised I feel this way? ). The climate in today's public schools do not allow for such savage and boorish expressions, especially when they are aimed at a teacher. Following his psychiatric evaluation, he should have been shipped off to military school where his life would have really been rough. I can't believe his parents have the gall to let him sue now...
 
Some people are confused as to what freedom entails I think. People have the misguided notion that freedom means, do whatever you want without regard to anybody elses well being.

So I have freedom of speech, I should be able to tell somebody I want to kill them and bathe in their childrens blood and they aren't allowed to do anything about it, unless I actually do it?? Ridiculous.
 

It's the freedom -vs- licence problem.

licence: 3 a: freedom that allows or is used with irresponsibility b: disregard for standards of personal conduct : licentiousness
Merriam-Webster Collegiate - !#+#!
 
Can I also take a moment to point out that when you are a high schooler, your freedom only goes so far as your authorities (teachers, parents, elders) allow it? This is not a freedom of speech issue; this is an issue of a juvenile verbal abuser. Instead of allowing him a lawsuit, the school should be making an example of him to discourage similar behavior from other students.

Part of the problem with the schools now is that the students have far too much control and freedom of expression. You are more than free to express yourself any way your parents allow for it before 7:30AM and after 3:00PM Monday through Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday.
 

Yeah people have forgotten that there is what you do outside of school and then there is what you do inside of school. While you're in school you are expected to follow the rules of the school not the ones set by your parents. If you don't like those rules, there is a very simple solution. Find a school that fits better with what your parents allow in their household. Good luck.
 
mikhail said:
Look its just a story he has written freedom of speech rappers write songs about killing other rappers all the time they dont get sent for psychological examination.Its a matter for the school not the police to deal with.
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Some rappers have had to pay the ultimate price for talking about killing other rappers. 2pac Shakur, Biggie Smalls(Notorious B.I.G.) and Big L are perfect examples. It's an occupational hazard. They have to live in fear of dropping a line that might rub somebody a different way and the situation escalating into some sort of confrontation. While it usually does escalate it usually cools quickly but only because most rappers nowadays have enough sense to hold "peace summits" so they can avoid situations like those that ended in the murders of 2pac and B.I.G.
 
I remember when I was in high school we had a very arrogant jackass bully of a student who would write stories like this. Our professor made him stand in front of the class and read one of them out loud (and he watched him the entire time with the class giggling through the whole thing) then he tore the kid apart with constructive criticism of his writing in a very dry manner, he never once mentioned the theme of his writings (sexual and violent) but focused instead on how horrible the writing and grammar itself was. He made a total *** of the kid in front of his peers and without once raising his voice. It was brutal but the kid was checked into place, the class was firmly reminded of who our authority figure was and we loved every second of it.
This kid's writing seem similar and they seem like the writings of a petty immature bully of a kid. However I don't think dragging him off to a psychiatric centre especially an adult facility was the right thing to do.This could have been handled far better.
 

I know people who write stuff like this first hand, and I would recommend them for mental help without a second thought. And they haven't even written about killing me yet.


Duke
 
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