Violent Drawings Lead to Felony Charges

[Johnny E]

Violent Drawings Lead to Felony Charges

AP - Jan 25, 2005

OCALA, Fla. (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.

[Brad]

I thought that in this country or in this legal system that you could only be punished for actual deed not evil thoughts.

[jazzypaul]

The biggest problem will be this: any problems that these kids might have are only going to be exacerbated by putting them in a juvie home instead of a psychologist's chair. These kids did something wrong, but federal charges?

[Johnny E]

The biggest problem will be this: any problems that these kids might have are only going to be exacerbated by putting them in a juvie home instead of a psychologist's chair. These kids did something wrong, but federal charges?

Exactly.

[Jazzmoose]

Now remember boys, working out your frustrations and anger are a waste of time. You'd be better off just knifing the classmate...

[ejp626]

What this country has is a severe shortage of common sense. Principals and school boards enact "zero tolerance" policies that are absurd (mostly to pat themselves on the back and say they are doing something about crime in school) and only back down when confronted by the media. At the same time, there are situations like the one in Berwyn in the Chicago region where a teacher had several reprimands for touching students inappropriately and they don't report this to the police. Now it turns out that 10 or more students have been molested by this teacher.

My impression of principals, formed in high school, is that they are inflexible authoritians who are nonetheless cowards when it comes to possible lawsuits. I see no reason to think any different now. If anything, the situation is much worse than when I was in high school.

[Noj]

When I was an elementary school student my friend and I used to draw multi-tiered, multiple room, completely diabolical torture chambers with conveyer belts to roll the victims through.

But we never named names, we just thought the details of the torture process were extremely funny to expand on for some reason. We didn't actually want to torture or kill anybody.

Tough to say from here whether these two kids were serious. The authorities will have to make the call. After Columbine, everybody's a bit paranoid.

[robviti]

I thought that in this country or in this legal system that you could only be punished for actual deed not evil thoughts.

only if you keep those evil thoughts to yourself. if you communicate them in a manner that leads the intended victim to believe you plan to carry out that threat, then that's considered assault, and it's a crime. there's no indication from the story that they're necessarily going to a "juvie home." still, i agree with the idea that this matter should be addressed from an emotional, as well as legal, perspective.

Edited January 27, 2005 by jazzshrink

[ejp626]

I still think it is very questionable judgment to consider badly drawn cartoons by 10-year-olds as something that meets the threshold of a felony. Part of childhood involves doing all kinds of stupid things, and I think putting these into an adult legal framework is inappropriate. I remember drawing cartoons (usually about classmates or the teacher) that would be libelous or grounds for a slander suit. Probably most of us did. Now this is going to be legislated out of existence, along with the drawings of tanks and machine guns and everything else. If you look at existence in the US on the ground as influenced by lawyers and pressure groups of all stripes, we live in a much more enlarged and oppressive nanny state than the EU members do, despite our so-called love of freedom and celebratation of the lone wolf hero.

[Jazzmoose]

When I was an elementary school student my friend and I used to draw multi-tiered, multiple room, completely diabolical torture chambers with conveyer belts to roll the victims through.

I'm thinking I'd have never made it out of sixth grade with my 'do it yourself coffin kits'. Hell, the other kids loved 'em, but I can imagine the reaction from today's educational system.

Still, conformity does seem to be one of the goals of education...

[JSngry]

I had a friend in kindergarten who was always, as in EVERY day at recess, making "Big Boy vs Little Girl" drawings. "Big Boy" was a bomb-dropping helicopter that had a flag depicting a penis urinating into a washtub, and "Little Girl" was a bunch of little girls in skirts running for cover.

That was in kindergarten. I wonder what became of that guy? His name was Billy O'-somethinornuther...

[Dan Gould]

You sure the tyke's name wasn't Little Theodore Bundy?

[Free For All]

Billy O'-somethinornuther...

[ejp626]

Maybe he changed his name to Henry Darger.

[Jim Alfredson]

Whatever happened to parenting? Why get the police involved?

My elementary school principle was an ass. He actually spanked me once and when my dad found out he marched right into the office, cornered the guy, and scared the living shit out of him without laying a finger on him. Seriously. The guy wouldn't even look at me anymore after that.

Later he got arrested for soliciting a prostitute. Fantastic.

[catesta]

Whatever happened to parenting? Why get the police involved?

That is the question.

In the world of today, I guess it's not a bad idea to have the kids talk about this with a professional. They definitely need some form of punishment from both the parents and the school, but beyond that unless these two little fuckers are crazy, I don't see the need for the law to be involved.

[sjarrell]

You know, even if they are insane, they're 9 & 10 years old. Intervention? Hell yes. Felony charges? Somebody needs a perspective check.