I'm A Cop!...You Idiot!

[Winston Legthigh]

I doubt it. You don't see a distinction between drawing a picture of killing a teacher and a written expletive directed toward the teacher? I'm not sure that long ago there was as much of a problem with school-related violence/killings, either.

Well, the distinction is: The kid who wrote the graffitti didn't actually fuck Mrs. Bowman, and the kid who drew the picture didn't actually kill his teacher.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Well, shooting and references to shooting generally only mean that one wants to shoot something or someone else, whereas the word "fuck" is often used as a kiss-off, and in fact rarely refers to forced or consensual copulation (i.e. "fuck that shit," "fuck you," "fuck algebra").

 

And in my school systems at least, students caught writing graffiti concerning a student, staff or faculty member had to apologize to the person whom they were writing about as a part of their pretty comprehensive punishment.

[Lammycat]

Well, the distinction is: The kid who wrote the graffitti didn't actually fuck Mrs. Bowman, and the kid who drew the picture didn't actually kill his teacher.

There doesn't seem to be a pattern between expletives graffitiied about teachers/students and those teachers/students being murdered, though. Seems like a lot of the mass-shootings in schools reveal drawings of the murderous fantasy. Usually after the fact, too.

[Winston Legthigh]

Well, shooting and references to shooting generally only mean that one wants to shoot something or someone else,

 

So when a teenager says "I wish you were DEAD!" to their parents, the parents should call the cops, because that was a legitimate death threat, and not just a method of overly dramatic venting?

 

To JFF: Xs for eyes only means you're dead in cartoon land, and as every kid knows, in cartoon land death isn't permanent, it's just a temporary setback.

 

Should the kid get punished? Sure. Why not. As a felon? probably not. Thoughtcrime isn't real, yet... is it?

[Guest Speed Racer]

So when a teenager says "I wish you were DEAD!" to their parents, the parents should call the cops, because that was a legitimate death threat, and not just a method of overly dramatic venting?

 

Depends on the kid, obviously. A kid with many violent outbursts? Maybe. An otherwise fine 15 year-old girl who can't go to the mall on a school night? Probably not.

 

Should the kid get punished? Sure. Why not. As a felon? probably not. Thoughtcrime isn't real, yet... is it?

 

When it's on paper, it's not just a thought anymore, and I think you know that. I think the felony charge is overblown, not least of all because I didn't know of any third grade/eighth grade boys who WEREN'T drawing pictures of guns all day, but oh, how times have changed.

 

not just a method of overly dramatic venting?

 

My linguistic distinction still holds true. In the hypothetical you establish, the child is still referring to the death of a parent when saying, "I wish you were dead!", and not some euphemism or other meaning of the word "death." The word "fuck" only occasionally refers to the act of copulation.

 

ETA: If what was writting on the stall was, "I will fuck Mrs. Bowman up," or even, "I will fuck Mrs. Bowman," then it becomes a viable threat, as the first phrase generally refers to copulation and the second phrase "I will fuck [subject] up" generally refers to doling out a beating.

[Lammycat]

The kid isn't a felon (yet). He'll have his day in court to explain himself.

[Winston Legthigh]

When it's on paper, it's not just a thought anymore, and I think you know that. I think the felony charge is overblown, not least of all because I didn't know of any third grade/eighth grade boys who WEREN'T drawing pictures of guns all day, but oh, how times have changed.

My pictures were usually a messy amalgam of Star Wars and WWII: Huge battles of X-wings vs Stukas.

 

All I'm saying is that sometimes a picture might mean exactly what it portrays. Sometimes it might mean nothing at all.

Even your examples of the modified graffiti - I still don't see those as viable threats if it was never intended that Mrs. Bowman see it. What if the intent was mere puffery?

[bjorn_skurj]

The kid isn't a felon (yet). He'll have his day in court to explain himself.

That'll be a fine day for the justice system.

[Guest Speed Racer]

What if the intent was mere puffery?

 

Then that's exactly why school administrators should sit down with the graffiti writer - to deflate them and remind them about what happens when the threats are more explicit/what happens when they make threats like that as adults.

[bjorn_skurj]

Then that's exactly why school administrators should sit down with the graffiti writer - to deflate them and remind them about what happens when the threats are more explicit/what happens when they make threats like that as adults.

The kid is learning that already, by being slapped with a felony beef. I am not sure an adult would even catch a case that grave if he called someone up and said he was going to cut off their head and shit down their neck.

[Good Old Neon]

Has everyone forgotten this slightly important piece of the puzzle?

 

Shane Finn is a 14 year old Autistic boy from Atlanta, Georgia. Shane is in the 8th Grade and functions on a 3rd Grade level. He has an IQ of 75.

[Winston Legthigh]

Has everyone forgotten this slightly important piece of the puzzle?

That he's Irish? Exactly! That's already a kick to the nuts.

[ikol]

Has everyone forgotten this slightly important piece of the puzzle?

 

That's probably near Bush's IQ, and he doesn't get a free pass around here.