Re-delurk and Rant: "Well, no one was hurt, so....."
Musketaquid
ago, retreating to lurk mode. We expanded my home-based business, and
the added workload drained my brain cells to the point where I had
enough energy to lurk, but no creative juices left to add to
conversations. On a good note, I can't even count how many times
we've noted that no way could we have invested this kind of time and
money if we had kids. Whew. I'm now out for a much needed breath of
fresh air, and I promise I won't prolong winter if I see my shadow. :)
Please help yourselves to mint chocolate chip brownies, still warm
from the oven.
Onto the rant. File this in the same place as the Kansas City "It's
okay to plagiarize" story. I was lamenting about that very incident
to a colleague, who then told me about a recent incident within our
area's school district involving a teensprog who held a grudge against
a classmate and who decided to express said disenchantment by stepping
onto the bus with a hyperdermic needle full of....battery acid.
Teensprog then proceeds to rush the target of his gripe, and yes,
before anyone could stop him, manages to stab the student and empty
its contents. Fortunately, the poor guy is ok ONLY because he was
wearing enough outerwear that the needle failed to penetrate all the
way down to the skin. And what happend to our shining example of the
fyooture? Nothing. Zippo. Zero. And why? You guessed it: "Well,
no one was hurt." Forget head explosion. I'm left with a total body
meltdown. WTF, indeed! I didn't get the chance to find out if
criminal charges have been filed (can we say, "attempted murder"?),
but as far as the school is concerned, everything is okee-dokee.
Unbelievable. Yes sirree, our tax dollars hard at work, ladies and
gentlemen.
-Musketaquid, stepping out, but not too far from cave entrance
DPH
That's amazing. This attack is still battery and charges
should be pressed.
Meanwhile, other school systems suspend kids for drawing pictures
of weapons or for having pen-knives etc.
> -Musketaquid, stepping out, but not too far from cave entrance
Hopefully, you'll be around more often.
--
--dph
(dph AT luckytrout DOT com)
snevel...@sonic.net
> [...] a teensprog who held a grudge against
> a classmate and who decided to express said disenchantment by stepping
> onto the bus with a hyperdermic needle full of....battery acid.
> Teensprog then proceeds to rush the target of his gripe, and yes,
> before anyone could stop him, manages to stab the student and empty
> its contents. Fortunately, the poor guy is ok ONLY because he was
> wearing enough outerwear that the needle failed to penetrate all the
> way down to the skin. And what happend to our shining example of the
> fyooture? Nothing. Zippo. Zero. And why? You guessed it: "Well,
> no one was hurt."
This is UNFSCKINGbelievable...
In a time when kids (3rd graders even) are getting
disciplined/expelled/arrested for bring butter knifes to school or sharing
lemon drops and asprin, for writing an essay expressing unapproved/un-pc
opinions, for stealing a kiss on the cheek, this is simply dumbfounding.
Do you have an on-line link to this story?
Simeon
--
The address in the header *is* actually replyable.
If replying, use mail or post here. Please, not both
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention
JesterKat
musketaq...@yahoo.com (Musketaquid) wrote:
>Hi, all! I managed to fall off the face of the earth about a year
>ago, retreating to lurk mode.
Welcome back! Weren't you the person who was in danger of having a
humungous daycare center built very near your house? Whatever happened
with that?
---JesterKat
***************
It ain't no myst'ry, if it's politics or hist'ry
The thing you gotta know is, everything is showbiz...
---Mel Brooks, "The Producers"
Musketaquid
> Musketaquid <musketaq...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > [...] a teensprog who held a grudge against
> > a classmate and who decided to express said disenchantment by stepping
> > onto the bus with a hyperdermic needle full of....battery acid.
> > Teensprog then proceeds to rush the target of his gripe, and yes,
> > before anyone could stop him, manages to stab the student and empty
> > its contents. Fortunately, the poor guy is ok ONLY because he was
> > wearing enough outerwear that the needle failed to penetrate all the
> > way down to the skin. And what happend to our shining example of the
> > fyooture? Nothing. Zippo. Zero. And why? You guessed it: "Well,
> > no one was hurt."
>
> This is UNFSCKINGbelievable...
>
> In a time when kids (3rd graders even) are getting
> disciplined/expelled/arrested for bring butter knifes to school or sharing
> lemon drops and asprin, for writing an essay expressing unapproved/un-pc
> opinions, for stealing a kiss on the cheek, this is simply dumbfounding.
>
> Do you have an on-line link to this story?
>
> Simeon
Funny, I was just searching for any mention in our local papers, but
came up dry. This wasn't the first time I'd been told by a first-hand
insider about some recent atrocities perpetuated by the district, so
despite the lack of print, I'm inclined to believe this story. The
impression I got was that the matter was quickly shoved under the rug,
which might explain an absence of news coverage. Still, I'm hopeful
that some revelations will surface about criminal charges. One can
only hope.
Adding fuel to the fire, our area's schools are also suffering from
the "dumbing down" effect. It's become so bad that parents are
scrambling to try and get their kids into "accelerated/advanced
placement" classes, just to escape the idiot-level "regular" classes.
Really, who can blame them? 'Course, the irony is that the influx of
so-called "average" students is resulting in the accelerated classes
themselves being dumbed down, and all around, grades are being
inflated. Just sickening. Oh, but what am I saying? Someone has to
protect these precious self-uhsteems from Big Bad Reality!
-Musketaquid, suddenly wistful of those years when homework was so
massive, Mom thought I was "inventing" extra work for myself (I
wasn't). Hah! All but extinct from today's McEducation system.
J.W.T. Meakin
> unapproved/un-pc opinions
Can you give an example of this?
Bill.
Veronique
>
> -Musketaquid, stepping out, but not too far from cave entrance
I noticed someone was missing...welcome back!
V.
--
Veronique Chez Sheep
Love will get you like a case of anthrax.
snevel...@sonic.net
There were a rash of news reports of this in the time after Columbine.
Kids who expressed any sympathy and/or understanding of why those kids
acted as they did we're variously escorted from school, to the principal's
office or to a shrinks office.
Caelan
'Course, the irony is that the influx of
> so-called "average" students is resulting in the accelerated classes
> themselves being dumbed down, and all around, grades are being
> inflated. Just sickening. Oh, but what am I saying? Someone has to
> protect these precious self-uhsteems from Big Bad Reality!
>
> -Musketaquid, suddenly wistful of those years when homework was so
> massive, Mom thought I was "inventing" extra work for myself (I
> wasn't). Hah! All but extinct from today's McEducation system.
I can't wait until these little 'genius' sprogs enter the labour
market and can't understand why they aren't getting praise heaped on
them for spelling their name correctly on the application.
GeniusSprog: 'I can't believe I can't get a job when I have a 98%
average in the HomSkuling Kr8tiv Lernin Klas! Cousin Mom is a great
teacher! Once, she figured to use half buried tires in the front yard
for a fence. '
J.W.T. Meakin
>
> J.W.T. Meakin <jw...@autoclerk.com> wrote:
> > snevel...@sonic.net wrote:
> >>
> >> In a time when kids (3rd graders even) are getting
> >> disciplined/expelled/arrested for ... writing an essay expressing
> >> unapproved/un-pc opinions
>
> > Can you give an example of this?
>
> There were a rash of news reports of this in the time after Columbine.
>
> Kids who expressed any sympathy and/or understanding of why those kids
> acted as they did we're variously escorted from school, to the principal's
> office or to a shrinks office.
An actual example, please. A link to one of the news reports will do fine.
It is not clear that the "sympathy for or understanding of..." was in an
essay, though it may have been, and none of the things you describe
happening
constitute discipline, expulsion or arrest. Again, these things may have
happened but you have not yet convinced me that they did.
Bill.
Unkle Megs
"J.W.T. Meakin" <jw...@autoclerk.com> wrote in message
news:3C66079E...@autoclerk.com...
How about this:
http://www.news-journalonline.com/2001/Mar/14/FLAG1.htm
--
Unkle Megs
"When I'm driving here I see a sign that says,
CAUTION: SMALL CHILDREN PLAYING.
I slow down, and then it occurs to me: I'm not
afraid of small children." --Jonathan Katz
Meri
> > Kids who expressed any sympathy and/or understanding of why those kids
> > acted as they did we're variously escorted from school, to the
principal's
> > office or to a shrinks office.
>
> An actual example, please. A link to one of the news reports will do fine.
>
> It is not clear that the "sympathy for or understanding of..." was in an
> essay, though it may have been, and none of the things you describe
> happening
> constitute discipline, expulsion or arrest. Again, these things may have
> happened but you have not yet convinced me that they did.
At my school, right after it happened, a girl was sent home for the day
because she would not take off her trench coat. Apparently, despite the
fact that it was winter, wearing that coat was a warning sign that she was
going to go on a wild shooting rampage. No one bothered to take into
account that she did not have the most well off family, the coat was older
than she was and she probably couldn't get another one on short notice.
They sent her home. Same thing happened to Adam, and a few of my other
friends in tech theatre.
Meri
naomi
<unkl...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>"J.W.T. Meakin" <jw...@autoclerk.com> wrote in message
>news:3C66079E...@autoclerk.com...
>> snevel...@sonic.net wrote:
>> >
>> > In a time when kids (3rd graders even) are getting
>> > disciplined/expelled/arrested for ... writing an essay expressing
>> > unapproved/un-pc opinions
>>
>> Can you give an example of this?
>>
>> Bill.
>
>How about this:
>http://www.news-journalonline.com/2001/Mar/14/FLAG1.htm
>
>
Here's another:
http://www.sptimes.com/News/011701/Columns/Do_school_safety_conc.shtml
Naomi
Veronique
Don't know if this has the particular essay-expressing example, but
Randy Cassingham collects "zero tolerance" stories here:
http://www.thisistrue.com/zt.html
Musketaquid
Whoa! You've got a great memory! Yes, that was me. Heh. For once,
the very reason that people sometimes complain about living in this
town--all the hoops you have to jump through to make even the tiniest
of changes to your backyard--became our savior. DH attended a public
meeting which was supposed to unveil the plans for this
monstrocity....instead, the zillion rules, codes, and regulations that
would have been imposed upon the Sprogcare company (among the demands,
the Old Town committee insisted that the whole building be completely
redesigned to give it even more of an Old Town "look", and the
attorney to the homeowner's association came just shy of calling it a
McDaycare when he pointed out that it's basically a drive-thru, and
the bylaws of the Old Town section of our town forbids such a thing)
proved one too many, and the company's spokesperson ended up leaving
in a huff, withdrawing the plans completely. And the village
rejoiced....literally! DH and one of our neighbors, who would have
been similarly impacted by the nightmare (actually moreso, as he's
closer) walked out chit-chatting (ok, teeheeheeing would be the better
term), only to have the property's current owner, a crochity old
geezer, belt out something along the lines of what the bad guy says at
the end of a Scooby Doo rerun ("And it would have *worked* if it
weren't for you damn, meddling kids!").
So here we are. And there the historic farmhouse and barn continue to
sit. We know their days are numbered--the property is too valuable to
sit, undeveloped, forever, but we're still giddy over the foiled
MegaKinderspullen.
Thanks for remembering...my mood is suddenly improved!
-Musketaquid (Ah, good to be back)
Kent
: Adding fuel to the fire, our area's schools are also suffering from
: the "dumbing down" effect. It's become so bad that parents are
: scrambling to try and get their kids into "accelerated/advanced
: placement" classes, just to escape the idiot-level "regular" classes.
: Really, who can blame them? 'Course, the irony is that the influx of
: so-called "average" students is resulting in the accelerated classes
: themselves being dumbed down, and all around, grades are being
: inflated. Just sickening. Oh, but what am I saying? Someone has to
: protect these precious self-uhsteems from Big Bad Reality!
I would love to know what the "Advanced" classes are doing now...learning
multiplication as high-school Juniors as opposed to Seniors? (Of cvourse I
have heard quite some time ago that learning multiplication tables is now
deemed A Very Bad Thing because "memorizing" isn't necessary for
Kaightlynn'e to cure cancer).
Kent
Crazy Chick
Report from Podunkia.
What happened at my old school was this: If you got an A in 8th grade english,
you go into the high school Honours English class. If you got a B in 8th grade
english, you go into the high school Honours English class. If you got a C and
your parents begged, you go into the high school Honours English class. My
freshman teacher was shocked when some kids were using chat speak and
abbrieviation in their papers. They could barely write. My sophmore teacher
quit when he was told to dumb down his class by the administration. He had
tried to teach the class as an actual honours class, but sophmores can't
*possibly* handle that level of work, doncha know... Luckily, the
junior/senior HE teacher is a hard ass who's been their forever, so that weeds
out some of the idiots.
For math, you were just placed in the next year up class, which wasn't
particularly advanced since there were a bunch of regular older kids in it. If
you were in an advanced math program from early on (atip, atyp, can't recall
the acronym), you ran out of classes pretty quickly. The other option was to
apply to the math and science center, which is pretty much the last bastion of
hope against the dumbing down process.
My school had no AP classes.
Crazy Chick
-
"I choose to live or to lie, kill and give and to die, learn and love and to do
what it takes to step through." -- Tool, "46 & 2"
Renee
<jw...@autoclerk.com> wrote:
Here in Canada (I want to say Alberta, but I could be mistaken) a kid
was kicked out of school *and prosecuted* for writing a *creative
writing assignment* where the protagonist fantasized about killing
abusive classmates. Yes indeed, the kid was charged and it went to
court (uttering death threats, perhaps?).
Renee
LadySycamore
Musketaquid wrote:
> File this in the same place as the Kansas City "It's
> okay to plagiarize" story. I was lamenting about that very incident
> to a colleague, who then told me about a recent incident within our
> area's school district involving a teensprog who held a grudge against
> a classmate and who decided to express said disenchantment by stepping
> onto the bus with a hyperdermic needle full of....battery acid.
> Teensprog then proceeds to rush the target of his gripe, and yes,
> before anyone could stop him, manages to stab the student and empty
> its contents. Fortunately, the poor guy is ok ONLY because he was
> wearing enough outerwear that the needle failed to penetrate all the
> way down to the skin. And what happend to our shining example of the
> fyooture? Nothing. Zippo. Zero. And why? You guessed it: "Well,
> no one was hurt." Forget head explosion. I'm left with a total body
> meltdown. WTF, indeed! I didn't get the chance to find out if
> criminal charges have been filed (can we say, "attempted murder"?),
> but as far as the school is concerned, everything is okee-dokee.
> Unbelievable. Yes sirree, our tax dollars hard at work, ladies and
> gentlemen.
Sheesh!! And "society" expects people to bring children into such a
crazy world...NOT!
--
SCARY MEN IN HIGHER GOVERNMENT:
Representative Donald M. Frasier (Minnesota. D),
expressed the view that pregnancy is punishment by
saying that women "bear the responsibility for avoiding
pregnancy. They must be punished if they do not."
Pledge-A-Picketer for Reproductive Choice
http://wichitachoice.org/pledge.html
LadySycamore
But...but...it's our FUUUUUUUUUTURE!!!!!! Blech!
Noelle
news:a45opk$s7h$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
>
>
> "J.W.T. Meakin" <jw...@autoclerk.com> wrote in message
> news:3C66079E...@autoclerk.com...
> > snevel...@sonic.net wrote:
> > >
> > > In a time when kids (3rd graders even) are getting
> > > disciplined/expelled/arrested for ... writing an essay expressing
> > > unapproved/un-pc opinions
> >
> > Can you give an example of this?
> >
> > Bill.
>
> How about this:
> http://www.news-journalonline.com/2001/Mar/14/FLAG1.htm
A *fourth-grader* drew that? I would have guessed it was done by about a
three-year-old...
--
Grant the fond darkness its mystical way with you;
Morning returns to us ever too soon.
--Dorothy Parker
Veronique
> "Unkle Megs" <unkl...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:a45opk$s7h$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
> >
> >
> > "J.W.T. Meakin" <jw...@autoclerk.com> wrote in message
> > news:3C66079E...@autoclerk.com...
> > > snevel...@sonic.net wrote:
> > > >
> > > > In a time when kids (3rd graders even) are getting
> > > > disciplined/expelled/arrested for ... writing an essay expressing
> > > > unapproved/un-pc opinions
> > >
> > > Can you give an example of this?
> > >
> > > Bill.
> >
> > How about this:
> > http://www.news-journalonline.com/2001/Mar/14/FLAG1.htm
>
> A *fourth-grader* drew that? I would have guessed it was done by about a
> three-year-old...
Have you read "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain"? I believe in
the introduction the author talks about who various skills mature as
we practice and mature, but for some reason, art is neglected unless
one is labeled "artistic" right at the outset.
Noelle
news:3c499a9e.02021...@posting.google.com...
> Have you read "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain"? I believe in
> the introduction the author talks about who various skills mature as
> we practice and mature, but for some reason, art is neglected unless
> one is labeled "artistic" right at the outset.
Yes, I have, and in fact took a continuing education course in right
brain/left brain drawing when I was sixteen, and I own a copy of that book.
It's why most people's drawing skills never mature beyond those of a
child's, because at a certain point, we're given the message that drawing is
a childish thing to do. Those who ignore that message become artists, or at
least artistic.
Some of the things we did in that class included: drawing with our
non-dominant hands; drawing something without looking at the paper as we
drew; and copying a picture upside down. This last proved to yield better
results than copying that same picture with it turned right side up, because
your brain will "see" more faithfully if you don't recognize what you're
seeing. Rather than try to turn that dark shape into an eye, or that line
into a nose, your brain reports "just the facts" and when you're finished,
you've got a drawing that looks quite a bit like the original, and that was
true even for people in the class who didn't think of themselves as
artistic. It was an interesting experiment.
I was praised as and accused of being artistic all the way through public
school. People would always ask me to draw things for them, but they
couldn't understand that I couldn't look at something and draw it. I
couldn't draw people's portraits, for example, but I could draw things "out
of my head" just fine. That those drawings weren't especially realistic
didn't trouble me.
When I got to college and started taking formal art instruction, the first
class required us to sit and draw vases and fruit. It bored me to tears,
until I realized that I was learning valuable things about observation, and
about shading and highlighting and the mechanics of drawing. That was when I
learned to fuse the two talents of pure artistic invention and visual
observation, although drawing still life scenes still bores me silly.
Veronique
I loved the only art class I took in college, as it was mostly working
with negative space and shadow. I'm an excellent horse artist, quite a
good dinosaur artist, and miserable at "drawing what I see." I found
"Drawing On the Right Side Of The Brain" (which I found after college)
quite useful whenever I need to get past creating icons to drawing
realistically.
Curiously for me, I've been told by any number of people that my quick
sketches are quite good, but I'm not much on follow-through. Possibly
a general result from an overall feeling of lack of time.
J.W.T. Meakin
>
> Here in Canada (I want to say Alberta, but I could be mistaken) a kid
> was kicked out of school *and prosecuted* for writing a *creative
> writing assignment* where the protagonist fantasized about killing
> abusive classmates. Yes indeed, the kid was charged and it went to
> court (uttering death threats, perhaps?).
>
> Renee
Can you give me any tag or lead to find the story?
Bill.
J.W.T. Meakin
>
> "J.W.T. Meakin" <jw...@autoclerk.com> wrote in message
> news:3C66079E...@autoclerk.com...
> > snevel...@sonic.net wrote:
> > >
> > > In a time when kids (3rd graders even) are getting
> > > disciplined/expelled/arrested for ... writing an essay expressing
> > > unapproved/un-pc opinions
> >
> > Can you give an example of this?
> >
> > Bill.
>
> How about this:
> http://www.news-journalonline.com/2001/Mar/14/FLAG1.htm
That's a good one. Horrifying, to me. What the child learnt by
the disproportionate reaction is secrecy. And the mandatory "counselling",
which has to be "passed" in some manner, makes me think of mind control.
A disturbing example of Political Correctness Rampant.
Bill.
J.W.T. Meakin
> >> >
> >> > In a time when kids (3rd graders even) are getting
> >> > disciplined/expelled/arrested for ... writing an essay expressing
> >> > unapproved/un-pc opinions
> >>
> >> Can you give an example of this?
>
My very first unconditional Head Explode. I Can't Believe This! It's
beyond the power of imagination. Someone wrote a work of fiction as
a class assignment. Fiction. He read it out. It scared a brain-dead school
administrator so the kid was arrested and charged with uttering death
threats. And was held for a month. And still has to face trial.
But wait, there's more.
There's a very unpleasant underside to this story. Consider:
Before his arrest, the boy complained that other students often bullied
him
and mocked him for a minor speech impediment. Once, his parents told a
reporter,
he came home covered in dried blood after he fell during a game and was
kicked
while he lay on the ground. The parents say they notified school officials
but
nothing was done.
And:
To school administrators the story sounded frighteningly real.
In other words, the administrators knew damn well that the boy was being
bullied, and they were doing nothing about it, and they knew that the boy
and
his family knew they were doing nothing about it. And their response was to
lay
it on the boy.
Hanging's too good for them.
Oops, better not go to Ottawa.
Bill.
J.W.T. Meakin
>
> > > In a time when kids (3rd graders even) are getting
> > > disciplined/expelled/arrested for ... writing an essay expressing
> > > unapproved/un-pc opinions
> >
> > Can you give an example of this?
>
> Randy Cassingham collects "zero tolerance" stories here:
>
> http://www.thisistrue.com/zt.html
No, it didn't, but a fascinating site nevertheless. I am still
looking for an instance of a politically incorrect writing, as opposed
to an act, causing expulsion or prosecution. I hope never to find one.
The nearest was Naomi's:
http://www.sptimes.com/News/011701/Columns/Do_school_safety_conc.shtml
which is outrageous, but the writing did contain something which was
perceived as a threat.
Back to thisistrue.com, I am horrified that the dumbest example of political
correctness (G'day, sport) came from England. Worse than that, from North
Yorkshire! From a school 10 miles from where I went to school (and hated it,
but that's another story) (and shared a study with a boy who made bombs, in
the study, but that's way off topic, innit). If they've gone soft i't'head
oop THERE, there's no hope left anywhere.
Bill.
Silvermoon
bouts of depression. It is the only time when I can draw very well. I
would get the urge to do something creative, play my flute more often and
HAVE to grab a box of Crayola's, anything, and draw.
Years later I saw an article in Scientific American about 'Manic Highs'. I
tried doing a search on their website, but articles only go back to 1998.
They mentioned how artists like Van Gogh and Schubert would pump out many
works during their manic high states. There was a Schubert timeline showing
that when he was in 'good spirits' he would churn out sometimes up to 10
pieces in that time. When he was in his depressive state he would only
churn out 1 or 2 and sometimes none at all. Very interesting.
Noelle
news:u6fds6h...@corp.supernews.com...
I've often wondered if I'm mildly manic-depressive. I stopped drawing for a
long time (about 5 or 6 years) and before that, some of my best, weirdest
work came out when I was angry or unhappy.
http://www.fastlane.net/~gnoelle/gettoyou.jpg
The link above shows a 36"x48" painting called "...But Don't Let It Get To
You" that I did in 1991, acrylics and multimedia. This was done for a class,
and I was pretty depressed at the time. We were talking about Frida Kahlo
earlier; this was very much influenced by Kahlo's self-portraits, although I
wasn't brave enough to do a self-portrait (RobertsonChai, this is the
painting I was telling you about in Tahoe).
I came home one day and this painting was hanging on my parents' living room
wall. I was horrified and asked them to take it down. They've always been
100% supportive of anything I wanted to do artistically, and they couldn't
understand why I didn't want them to show that off to company. I tried to
explain to them that it was visual evidence of a very unhappy person, and
did they really want to brag about that? I won; the painting went upstairs
to my room, where it was hidden for years. Now I can look at it and say,
okay, I went through that and it's over now.
Since I started drawing again in August 2000, I went through a period where
I turned out an amazing amount of creative work: drawing, computer art, and
writing. It seems to have dried up for a while, although I'm still writing
and drawing a little.
Shadbus
wrote:
{snipped}
>I've often wondered if I'm mildly manic-depressive. I stopped drawing for a
>long time (about 5 or 6 years) and before that, some of my best, weirdest
>work came out when I was angry or unhappy.
>
Yes, you can be mildly manic-depressive. The correct term is
cyclthemic. Spelling might be off there. But basically, your highs
aren't as high and lows aren't as low as a true manic-depressive (or
bipolar, if you want the scientific term).
I was diagnosed about 5 years ago. I love the highs and so do the
dogs. I can't get organized worth a wit when one hits, and have been
known to throw the ball, chase the dog, throw the ball, admire the
tree, chase the dog, pet dog, study a leaf, decide I have to go out to
eat, chase the dog, sit in chair, clean stove (partly), re-wax the
no-wax floor, pet the dog, etc.
But unfortunately, the lows are just as low as the highs are high.
And then I just sit in the chair doing nothing or sleep a lot. Thank
God for anti-depressants. Although I miss the highs, getting rid of
the lows is wonderful.
Shadbus
jbrown
From: "J.W.T. Meakin" <jw...@autoclerk.com>
>
> No, it didn't, but a fascinating site nevertheless. I am still
> looking for an instance of a politically incorrect writing, as opposed
> to an act, causing expulsion or prosecution. I hope never to find one.
Well I do not have a URL for this, because it never made the papers, but I
do know for sure that it happened. The reason I know it happened? The kid
was on my caseload when I did juvenile probation. The parents and I fought
the school.
I had a kid on my caseload that was your typical loner, had the black trench
coat and all. However he never wore it to school. The kid had just been
returned from states custody to his parents. I was his case manager. To be
honest the kid did have some anger management issues. He had been placed
into state custody for fire setting. However he had gotten treatment and had
done well. There had not been a problem from the kid in over a year.
The week of Columbine I told my supervisor that the school would target this
kid.(I also was sure that a few of my other kids would be targeted, however
I was wrong in that regard.) I warned her and the parents, that the school
would target him in the future for the way he acted and what he wrote. One
month to the day, I got the call. The school was suspending him pending an
investigation. The crime? His journal. He had a journal with death poetry
and shorts in it. (what 14-15 year old does not write morbid poetry and
stories?)
The local police had also been notifed, because one poem they considered to
be a letter of intent to blow up the school. The poem in question, did talk
of the school, and the people in it. There was one reference to the school
being no more and a scorch spot where it once stood. To me that was not a
letter of intent to blow up the school. It was a poem that was written out
of frustration and anger over being picked on and harassed. Had you read the
poem as a whole and not taken out those two lines for scrutiny then anyone
could see it was not a letter of intent.Thankfully the cops did not press
charges or do anything.
I feel like I have to take some blame in this. I instructed the kid to
write. I told him that when he was angry and upset at his parents (long
story there, that would take up too much time to write it out). Or when the
problems at school became to much to bear.
I told him when I was the that age, I would write out what was bothering me,
to get it out of my system. I too would get frustrated and angry and the
best way for me to deal with it was to put it on paper. I contacted his
therapist who agreed with me.
So the kid wrote. He had a lot of potential, and I did enjoy his writings.
Now granted these weren't great writings by any means. But for a 15 year
old they were ok. They were the typical writings of an angry 15 year old.
I instructed the kid to leave his writing at home, to not take it to school.
He was to keep his journal at home, or when he was out, so that he could
write when needed. His mother was aware of the writing and we had discussed
it at length.
The Saturday before, he had taken his bookbag and journal on a church day
trip, and forgot he had it in his bag. The following Monday he took the bag
to school. The school had a "locker check" that day, and lo and behold his
was one of the lockers targeted. And what do you know, they found the
journal in his bookbag. Now why they looked in a journal for a weapon or
drugs is beyond me <sarcasm> but they were disturbed by the content.
So they suspended him to determine if he was a threat to the school or
students. I was of course outraged. I, his parents, and his therapist landed
on the school like locusts. They did not want to hear what we had to say,
they had made up their minds, the kid was a threat.
He was out of school for over two weeks, and it wasn't until the parents
attorney and the DCS attorney stepped in was the situation resolved. The kid
was allowed back in school. However I was told by the principal that if he
went on a shooting spree it would be on my head. I would be to blame. I was
encouraging him to be violent. I tried to explain to this dolt that I was
encouraging the kid to be creative, and to deal with lifes pressures in a
constructive manner. I was told I was a fool.
Funny but it has now been almost 3 years. The kid has from what I can tell
never blown up the school. And the last thing I heard he was applying to
college. His major, English. (I am a sap, I do sometimes inquire as to the
whereabouts of my former juvenile probationers.)
So what the fuck do I know? Had the school been allowed to prevail who
knows where this kid would be today?
IleneB
<mag...@CF.net> wrote:
> Years later I saw an article in Scientific American about 'Manic Highs'. I
> tried doing a search on their website, but articles only go back to 1998.
There is some evidence that at the beginning of a manic phase (known as
"hypomanic") creative people are working at peak efficiency. And
successful treatment for manic-depression will flatten this peak.
Unfortunately, no one has figured out how to operate at that point and
not have the crashes, and not go further manic to the crazy awful manic
stuff.
Ilene B
Moggy
> In other words, the administrators knew damn well that the boy was being
> bullied, and they were doing nothing about it, and they knew that the
> boy and
> his family knew they were doing nothing about it. And their response was
> to lay
> it on the boy.
That was a common situation here in Northern California in the 90s too,
not just Canada. Being physically bullied and threatened with rape "if we
ever catch you alone" on a daily basis for two years was NOT fun. In
classes, I was hit (often with objects like a ruler, on the head), kicked,
shoved, elbowed, sneered at ("widdle girl gonna cry?" "we're gonna rape
you till ya bleed, slut") in full view of the instructors. I didn't dress
or act in any way that could possibly have given them cause to harass me;
I was very shy and always wore baggy t-shirts, a jacket, and jeans.
My parents complained to the teachers, the principal, counselors, school
board, etc but NOTHING was done. Oh, except that one of my teachers
announced "Since Ms. ____ clearly has a PROBLEM in this class, she will
have to move her seat" and made me sit all alone at the far end-corner of
the room.
A few years later, another few girls sued the school district after the
same experience and won a very nice settlement. Wish I'd had the guts...
--
Moggy ... amergindd et myrealbox splort com
http://www.sonic.net/mustang/moggy
"Some would sooner die than think. In fact, they often do."
-- Bertrand Russell
Kent
: I feel like I have to take some blame in this. I instructed the kid to
: write. I told him that when he was angry and upset at his parents (long
: story there, that would take up too much time to write it out). Or when
: the problems at school became to much to bear.
And you did the right thing.
WTF were they doing reading his journal, anyway? Even if it's the kind
where teachers want you to write and turn it in, turning around and using
it AGAINST him is a sure-fire way to completely eradiactate any grain of
trust in authority figures he'll ever have.
: The Saturday before, he had taken his bookbag and journal on a church day
: trip, and forgot he had it in his bag. The following Monday he took the bag
: to school. The school had a "locker check" that day, and lo and behold his
: was one of the lockers targeted. And what do you know, they found the
: journal in his bookbag. Now why they looked in a journal for a weapon or
: drugs is beyond me <sarcasm> but they were disturbed by the content.
Oh, never mind--I didn't read all the way down.
: So what the fuck do I know? Had the school been allowed to prevail who
: knows where this kid would be today?
I still think he will have a hard time gaining trust of anyone ever again.
You OTOH did him a lot of good.
Kent
J.W.T. Meakin
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "J.W.T. Meakin" <jw...@autoclerk.com>
> >
> > No, it didn't, but a fascinating site nevertheless. I am still
> > looking for an instance of a politically incorrect writing, as opposed
> > to an act, causing expulsion or prosecution. I hope never to find one.
>
> Well I do not have a URL for this, because it never made the papers, but I
> do know for sure that it happened. The reason I know it happened? The kid
> was on my caseload when I did juvenile probation. The parents and I fought
> the school.
Thank you for the story. It's good to know there are people like you
in the system.
Bill.
naomi
<jw...@autoclerk.com> wrote:
>naomi wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> > In a time when kids (3rd graders even) are getting
>> >> > disciplined/expelled/arrested for ... writing an essay expressing
>> >> > unapproved/un-pc opinions
>> >>
>> >> Can you give an example of this?
>>
>> http://www.sptimes.com/News/011701/Columns/Do_school_safety_conc.shtml
>
>My very first unconditional Head Explode. I Can't Believe This! It's
>beyond the power of imagination. Someone wrote a work of fiction as
>a class assignment. Fiction. He read it out. It scared a brain-dead school
>administrator so the kid was arrested and charged with uttering death
>threats. And was held for a month. And still has to face trial.
>
There's a good ending to this story (it actually happened some time
ago). The judge dismissed the charges against him, and the allegations
of him having made threats were dismissed as unfounded. But the fact
that it happened at all is just outrageous.
Naomi
Renee
I see someone else seems to have forwarded it to you. So, there ya go.
Renee