Given what happened at Virginia Tech, lots of school administrators are a little on edge these days. So, when Allen Lee, a high school senior and "A" student outside Chicago, turned in a free writing assignment complete with references to "shooting everyone" and having "sex with the dead bodies," the school had him arrested. Now, charged with two counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, he can forget about his dream of fighting for the Marines... they discharged him from the enlistment program because of the charges (he can reapply if charges are dropped). For his part, Lee says he just followed the teachers instructions, and "exaggerated his feelings." His dad is frustrated: "I don't see how somebody can get charged by writing their homework. The teacher asked them to express themselves, and he followed instructions." But, with a line directed at the teacher saying, "don't be surprised on inspiring the first cg (Cary-Grove High School) shooting," his English teacher, principal, and the police chief say the charges are appropriate. With all the heat Virginia Tech is under for not catching on to Seung-Hui Cho's disturbing behavior before he killed 32 people, was the school justified in having Lee arrested? Or is this a classic case of misdirected paranoia?
Blog of the Nation
I just blogged about this a few days ago. Thinking back to when I was in high school, my teachers encouraged all forms of creative writing. In one class I remember writing first-person accounts of suicide bombers, cannibals and soldiers on a murderous rampage. Rather than being punished or arrested, I was encouraged to read Ludwig Wittgenstein and even try to correspond with Stephen King. (He wrote me back, which blew me away.) My teachers recognized that it's possible to use creative writing as a way of exploring the fringes of the human psyche, from the sacred to the profane. I wonder how many educators would encourage me in to make such explorations if I were a student today.
Though I'm always wary of extenuating circumstances that are either unknown to the media or that the media fails to make clear, based on the account published in the Chicago Tribune, this is pure nonsense.
To quote:
"Cary Police Chief Ron Delelio said the charge was appropriate even though the essay was not published or posted for public viewing.
Disorderly conduct, which carries a penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine, is filed for pranks such as pulling a fire alarm or dialing 911. But it can also apply when someone's writings can disturb an individual, Delelio said."
Unquote
Disorderly conduct can apply when someones writings CAN disturb an individual?!!? Give me a break.
I would be glad to provide a list of folks who's PUBLISHED writings DO, IN FACT, disturb me. Are they all REALLY guilty of (or subject to being criminally charged with) disorderly conduct? What in heaven's name happened to freedom of speech?
This is just ludicrous.
Thos
As a senior in high school I understand this all too well. For a creative writing story that required a twist ending, i wrote about a friend who'd been a heavy drug user and my experience with her. I was guaranteed being reported just for mentioning drugs so I made the ending be my explanation to the principal of why I wrote the story, just to escape having to actually explain it.
That was two years ago, I've just given up and gone back to the peace, love and plastic flowers approach...
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