Heard that a Chicago area student was arrested for writing an essay

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

This was on WCPT news. They said that an area high school teacher was arrested for writing down his feelings as was required for an assignment. According to the report, the student did not threaten anyone. The father said his son was only following the assignment.

Does anyone have any more information on this? It wasn't on the noon news, when I hoped to hear more details. Is it legal now to arrest a person for writing something that is not threatening? If the kid exhibited signs of suicide or admiration for Cho, I could see sending him to psychologist, but arresting him?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. I was expecting this to happen.

This sort of witch hunt happened after Columbine. Kids getting arrested for wearing black clothes and whatnot.

[RebelOne]

2. Here's the story.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070426essay,1,1089899.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=2&cset=true

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Thanks

I'm at work and am limited on what I can do--keep getting interrupted by calls, which is what I'm paid to answer.

[damntexdem]

11. "Zero-tolerance policies gone awry."

Zero-thinking policies always go awry.

[k8conant]

3. 'Violent' Essay Leads To Student's Arrest..

http://www.nbc5.com/news/13197589/detail.html

CARY-GROVE, Ill. -- A Cary-Grove High School senior was being tutored off-campus Wednesday following his arrest for writing what officials called an alarming essay that allegedly referred to a shooting but did not contain any specific threats.

Allen W. Lee, 18, has been charged with disorderly conduct stemming from an essay that was part of a free writing assignment in a creative writing class.

The teen was charged because his teacher became alarmed by the violence he described, Cary Police Chief Ron Delelio said. The essay contained no specific threats but was disturbing and inappropriate, he said.
The paper allegedly made a vague reference to a fictional school shooting in McHenry County but didn't specify a school or district, a law enforcement source said.
"We think they have been too harsh," Lee's father, Albert Lee, said Wednesday. He declined to comment further, except to say "every story has two sides."

...

Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said that without knowing all the details of the essay, "You have to wonder whether (the charges were) an overreaction, given the events at Virginia Tech."
Normally, an essay done as homework would be protected speech, Yohnka said.
"He turned it into a teacher. He didn't post it online," Yohnka said. "It's not a communication between him and the broader world. This (charge) is just very puzzling."

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. Thanks for this information

this is what I wanted to know. Why the arrest? A psychologist would have been more appropriate.

[JVS]

4. ...feelings of an almost human nature..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE2t6HWmquc

[ThomCat]

5. A student with no history of problems, writing a required essay

and he gets arrested because the teacher doesn't like what he wrote? :wtf:

Does the fact that he's Asian have anything to do with it?

Are students not allowed to have thoughts about what motivated shooters in school shootings? Is that entire subject forbidden?

We're a nation of narrow minded hateful people who judge instead of listening. x(

[Bjornsdotter]

10. Don't kid yourself

...being Asian has everything to do with it.

Brief description of both towns that feed into that high school.

http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/illinois/fox-river-grove

http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/illinois/fox-river-grove


Cheers

[Javaman]

12. You hit it right on the head.

this had nothing at all do do with the essay, it was because he was Asian.

If I was that kids family I would file a gigantic lawsuit charging racial profiling, restrictions on his first amendment rights and anything else I can nail these stupid nazi's with.

I certainly hope the ACLU has been contacted.

[Bjornsdotter]

15. The ACLU

...has been notified and it was reported in the local paper that they hadn't seen the article yet.

I hope the family does follow up on this.

Cheers

[mrreowwr_kittty]

19. This satirical article from the Onion hits closer to the truth than anything.

Columbine Jocks Safely Resume Bullying


LITTLETON, CO—On April 20, when two students at Columbine High School opened fire in a brutal shooting spree that left 12 classmates and a teacher dead, many feared that this affluent suburban school would never be the same.

But now, more than four months after a tragedy that shook the nation to its core and marked the most notorious incident of school violence in U.S. history, the atmosphere is optimistic. Slowly but surely, life at Columbine is returning to normal.

Thanks to stern new security measures, a militarized school environment and a massive public-relations effort designed to obscure all memory of the murderous event, members of Columbine's popular crowd are once again safe to reassert their social dominance and resume their proud, longstanding tradition of excluding those who do not fit in.


more...

[LisaL]

21. How many people here on DU have complained not enough

was done to help Cho? I would say that an essay about a dream of killing people and having sex with dead bodies sounds kind of disturbing to me. Hindsight is always 20/20, and Cho can not be "helped" anymore, but what should be done to others who write disturbing things?

[AZBlue]

24. Sorry...did I miss something? How do we know he's Asian?

Not all the links above would work for me, so maybe I missed something? Thanks

[Bjornsdotter]

6. This is a local story for me

....and the people in the community are furious with the school and their reaction.

Cheers

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. I'm glad to hear it

if this were my community, I would be.

[seabeyond]

14. but a lot of people were suggesting the vt killer should have lost all rights

committed and any number of things with his writing and further, a police state should have covered the whole campus to protect the students from said killer, and we should be able to recognize all these things.

i guess we have to figure what way we want to go

blame the cops after the fact and school for not knowing, and not doing

or understanding that because a kid writes an essay it doesnt mean he is going to shoot up a school

[seabeyond]

13. in math drawing in dimension, my 12 yr son said drew a sniper

in a building to show dimensional size of road and building per a person. NO NO i say, no drawing sniper at school. ever again. either of you boys. no more. will get your ass hauled off to a psychiatrist.

we have already covered this in our house.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

20. They might get hauled off to jail, according to the OP article. nt

[Bjornsdotter]

16. Updated article

...this is from the local paper.

Read this quote at the end of the article.....
<<About six weeks ago, Emling said he gave a 10-minute speech in the same class describing what his life would be like as a “hit-man” and identified students he would shoot. He said he was not punished for that speech.>>

Cheers


http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2007/04/26/news/local/doc4630304f12dd7798473383.txt

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

17. Let me guess

Emling is white.

[LisaL]

22. I thinkthe timing is everything.

I think the teachers are on the look out for the disturbing writing considering Cho's plays.
The problem is, how do you know which one is a potential killer and which one is perfectly harmless but just expressing himself?

[Gabi Hayes]

18. Principal Popp????? did they mean Principal Poop?

Communist Martyrs' High School?

Raw Raw Raw! That's the spirit!

More Sugar! for More Science High?

[AZBlue]

23. I think arresting him was wrong, but it's good they brought attention to it.

Having an in-depth conversation wtih him, contacting his parents and then maybe having him talk to a counselor would have been a better reaction. I mean, did he write it because he's terrified it will happen? Or, is it a fantasy of his? That's the first thing that needs to be established. Then find out more about his current situation with family and friends, about his background and if there have been any internal or external changes lately (other than being a teenager). If he does indeed need help, no police officer will be able to give him the kind of help he needs.

Writing in very violent terms, as they have indicated, is cause for concern. But jail isn't the answer.