dom6996

click on one of our sponsors! OR REMOVE ADS

OCALA, Florida (AP) -- Two boys were arrested for making pencil-and-crayon stick figure drawings depicting a 10-year-old classmate being stabbed and hung, police said. The children, charged with a felony, were taken from school in handcuffs.

The 9- and 10-year-old boys were arrested Monday and charged with making a written threat to kill or harm another person. They were also suspended from school.

One drawing showed the two boys standing on either side of the other boy and "holding knives pointed through" his body, according to a police report. The figures were identified by written names or initials.

Another drawing showed a stick figure hanging, tears falling from his eyes, with two other stick figures standing below him. Other pieces of scrap paper listed misspelled profanities and the initials of the boy who was allegedly threatened.

The boys' parents said they thought the children should be punished by the school and families, not the legal system.
---------
I for one feel that this is a school/parent matter and the government should stay out of this.

nutkick_42

Wow, I'm really glad I went to grade school back when kids were allowed to be kids. I'm pretty sure a friend and I drew an almost identical drawing on more than one occasion. Yeah, they should be pulled aside and told, "that's not nice, don't do it any more," and that's about it. I can't stand this over-reactionary crap that goes on in society today. "He spanked his kid, let's kill him," or "That kid is almost showing signs of having a personality, lets get him some horse tranquilizers," seem to be the current mantras for early development. Parents, let your children be children. I'm begging you. Let them do stupid things, let them point fake guns at one another and pretend to die, let them hate some of their classmates just like I'm sure you hate some of your co-workers. Let's pull our collective heads out of our asses and use some common fucking sense!

Juan.©amaney

Fuck em. Make examples of the summbitches! Threats is threats and suspending them from school just gives them a long weekend. Scare them straight, see if they ever pull this kinda shit again.

___________________________________________

Wayne Brady

Damn cuz, ease up! He's only 10 years old. If the pictures were that disturbing, maybe he should be checked out by a psychologist or something before he becomes a Jeffrey Dalmer.

yawn

A friend and me did that stuff in grade school as well. They weren't of anyone we knew, hell they were just stick figures, but just all sorts of weird stick deaths. Lions, bears, falling, just stuff to make us laugh, not to hurt people.

It's all about intent.

0 snowman 0

I'm not going to say it as harshly as juan did, but I will say kids today need more than just words to keep them in line. I'm not saying beating or even spanking is necessary, but kids today from probably ages eight to sixteen show no common sense, respect, honor or integrity sometimes and it just boggles my mind why some things are done. Brute force is sometimes the only strategy that can be used today and clearly, if this story is accurate, more than a stern word is going to be necessary to get these kids in line.

billpl

The problem is adults these days are polluted by media panic and social anxiety. They should watch less TV, curb internet use and spend less time monitoring their kids. Just let kids be kids...

Juan.©amaney

I just hate punk as kids like that today that think scaring the shit out of a little kid and ganging up 2 vs 1 on him is funny and they canget away with it. Look, truth be told, those types of threats just get thekid thrown in juvi for a day or two until the parents go pick them up. I don't care ifhe is 10 or 17, its never too early to learn that if you a re a punk, you will be dealt with.

Parents wont stop it at home or give them time outs, let the cops step in and throw their little asses with the 15 and 16 year old pervs.

I got picked on a lot 2 on 1 or more as a kid. It wasn't until puberty kicked in and I was 5-6 inches taller that I stood up for myself. I told teachers and they laughed it off and gave the other kids detention which just pissed them off more. What did I do? I stored a golf club in an alley, ran up to one of them after school, pushed him from behind ran like hell to the alley. Once I got there....well he got 10 stiches and the other one ran. never got fucked with again.

___________________________________________

ej

I think these kids are already in trouble. They may be only nine or ten but there is some serious issues when they draw pictures depicting a violent death of others. To me that would indicate they are some serious desensatization issues here where death is no taboo. When I was growing up in school and you had an issue with someone you would fhave a fight and settle it one on one. There was a certain repect and honor that went with it and it was usually one fight and done. That does not exist today. Kids form these clicks and they decide who they like and don't like for whatever reason and then they beat the shit out of other in six-on-one situations. Then that person goes and gets their friends and it starts all over again and repeats for months or years. Even worse is when they involve guns and other weapons.

I think the parents are the problem here along with other factors. Parents seem to expect other people to raise their kids for them and it will not work. They let them watch whatever on TV, play grand theft auto and surf the internet for porn. There are ten and twelve year olds carrying condoms in their pockets. Then when things go wrong the parents blame someone else and call the police to get their child in line. By that time it is too late. If you plant corn you will get corn. And when the police finally do arrest a kid and send them to lockup for some stupid small time shit they meet the more experienced shitheads who then teach them new tricks.

In this case though I would have to agree that the government needs to be involved. The kids will probably not be locked up but they will appear in a court designed to act in the best interests of a child. That may include a court ordered assesment or anger managemant or the like. Maybe they are just montiored. I would just not trust the parent to deal with an issue that has already gone this far. Especially with the new trend on school shootings.

yawn

Not to change the subject, but I agree, those kids would have had it coming. The teachers ignored your attempts for help, but in today's society, if you would have got caught, your ass would have been expelled, not the kids picking on you.

Juan.©amaney

Off school grounds, it ain't in their jurisdiction. I would have gotten arrested, put in juvi, and had my parents pick me up a day later. I knew what I was getting myself into and knew the law. Besides, I had occurences in the past that had these kids fucking with me, reports to teachers that went unreprimanded, and I was being chased by two kids and "happened" to spot a club in an alley.

___________________________________________

dom6996

What happened here was a drawing, not discovery of knives or guns, nor a plot to kill or plans.

The school should have called both set of parents in (seperately) and discussed the problem and worked on solution (counseling, etc.). The school should have put the incident on record, reprimanded the boys (suspension, community service) and the parents should have been encouraged to discipline.

A poem, a story, a limmerrick, or picture is protected under the 1st amendment and this should have been treated as a cry for help and not a crime.

I have taught my kids that anger is a normal emotion and it's ok to be mad and think thoughts like I want to punch him! But it's not ok to act on them.

Truth is, the schools are underfunded, teachers and staff underpaid, and it's easier to dump the problem on the state than it is to deal with this properly.

These boys have probably been bullied by this boy and this is the way their immature minds thought of dealing with issue.

Juan.©amaney

I guess we really need a little more background on the situation. Basically, if another child was suspended for taking in a knife to cut her chicken, two kids can get the same treatment for drawing a school chum stabbed.

I mean, shit, I'm a pretty sick and twisted summbitch, but when we made fun of other students with drawings, it was always with missing teeth, stench lines, arm pit stains, weiners on girls, or guys with small cocks. Not someone getting stabbed. We did this in high school too and all got a kick out of it. We did this in an english class once and the teacher recognized my handwriting. She told me togo back after school. When I got there, she was laughing hystericaly at some fo the stuff I wrote. My punishment...getting thrown into the creative writing class with the hippies, thus begining my marijane fiddling....back on topic.

Screw that protected under the 1st ammendment BS. I'm pretty tired of having people hide behind the friggin Const. The consitution also gurantees every child an education, yet they suspend and expell children all the time. But I digress, stench lines and small tweeters, suspend, stabbing and hanging from a tree juvi.

___________________________________________

ej

I agree with you in that the 1st ammendment is there to provide and valuable and needed protection to our thoughts and speech but there are times when speech, or in this case pictures, can go beyond the protecttions provided by that great document. That point begins when the rights of another are infringed upon. When another person or student no longer feels safe or is in fear of bodily harm then the line had probably been crossed.

If someone handed you a drawing depicting a likeness of you with knives in it or hanging from a tree would you not feel the least bit disturbed or threatened? I know it would certainly make me uncomfortable.

The other issue here is to consider this from the standpoint of the school admin. You are responsible for the safety of 600-3000 students on a daily basis, you supervise 50-100 staff members, and you answer to a boss, a school board, and the parents of all those families. Now someone has brought to your attention this situation and you need to decide the best way to act on it to ensure the safety of all involved. Maybe it is nothing, or maybe it is the next school shooting waiting to happen. The problem is that now you are responsible and if you fail to do the right thing (and probably even if you do) you will get sued along with the school district. So you call the police and pass the buck. Can't say I blame them. School discipline is for being tardy for class and not doing you homework. Call the police when an assault occurs.