Schools have always had their fair share of “problem children”, but we used to actually be able to cope with them in a reasonable and sensible manner. Not so any more. A scan of headlines across America for just this past week showed me some bizarre and horrifying examples of how we in North America are doing our best to instill an abiding sense of fear and terror of police into our children.
For example, the case of a 12-year-old student at Stuart’s Spectrum Jr./Sr. High School was arrested for farting in class. Sure, the little puke was being disruptive. He’s a 12-year-old boy for crying out loud! He’s supposed to be disruptive at that age. It’s in his DNA.
You kick him out of class until he settles down… maybe even send him home after a phone call to his parents, but to bring in the police and arrest the kid? Put him in handcuffs and parade him out like a terrorist?
That is so far beyond absurd I don’t even know what to call it. Clearly police from the Martin County Sheriff’s Department need to get a life, or at the very least go find some actual criminals to harass.
If they’ve got the time to arrest 12-year-old farting boys, then perhaps Martin County doesn’t need a Sheriff’s Department at all.
I’m sure the intended lesson won’t be lost on this young man… “Obey or else.”
These police officers ought to be, at the very least, ashamed of themselves. They would appear to have missed out on even the most meager portion of common sense.
The next case of gross police absurdity comes from Midway, Georgia, where police found it necessary to shut down a lemonade stand run by a couple of kids.
Believe it or not, Midway Police Chief Kelly Morningstar said, according to Fox News, that “police didn’t know how the lemonade was made, who made it or what was in it.”
Now I’m no cop, but I’m willing to bet you that I could find out the answers to those questions inside of 60 seconds and have lots of room to spare, if I felt the need to grill these kids in the first place, which I don’t.
According to the good Chief Morningstar, the kids needed to have a business license, a peddler’s permit and a food permit before operating their lemonade stand would be legal. That would only cost a total of $230.
They were trying to raise some money for a trip to a water park. How many lemonade stands do you know that are pulling in that kind of cash?
Common sense anyone? Don’t ask Chief Kelly Morningstar for any… she’s clearly missed her quota as well.
Citing “the law’s the law,” Morningstar was quoted as saying. Well Chief Morningstar… in this case, the law is an ass, as is your enforcement of it.
Last on my list of asinine police actions is the case of a 16-year-old student and cheerleader who was arrested for “stealing” her cheerleader’s uniform.
Seriously?
Have we no bloody common sense any more?
Well, there is some. It comes from the attorney for the young woman, Terence Kindlon.
“I’ve been practicing law for over 35 years now, and I have to say without hesitation this is the most absurd criminal prosecution I’ve ever seen.”
The student from New Lebanon High School was arrested because her cheerleading coach said she stole her own uniform.
Wow. She won’t give back the uniform? Fine. Charge her for it and make her pay for the lost items if she wants to keep them so badly. Who cares?
Penny Black, the cheerleading coach in question, doesn’t have an issue with this sort of stupidity.
To quote another website:
Deputy Shufelt met with Amber and her mother before a criminal complaint was signed in an effort to reconcile the situation, according to the Sheriff’s Office, but Amber “repeatedly” refused to return the uniform.
“The owner then requested criminal charges be filed and after consulting with the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office, the defendant was charged with petty larceny,” said the Sheriff’s Office report.
Amber was asked to turn herself in and be issued an appearance ticket, according to the report, but she refused that request. Deputy Shufelt got a warrant for her arrest and Amber was picked up at her job here.
Arresting a cheerleader for “stealing” her uniform is just about the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard of.
Except, of course, arresting a kid for farting, or shutting down a kid’s lemonade stand because she doesn’t have a business license for it.
I must be old-fashioned or something, because none of this makes any sense to me.
Oh, there’s more that involves a combination of adults and kids. Did you see the one about Michigan terrorist, er, resident, Julie Bass who’s under threat of 93 days in the slammer for teaching her kids how to grow criminal tomatoes and peppers in the family’s front yard? Guess what? There’s no law in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park against feeding your family a healthy diet of organic produce grown in a front yard vegetable garden. I follow this absurd saga through InfoWars.com.
Oh, by the way, in your Florida Police Farting Around Arresting Farters, is it known if that 12-year-old passed environmentally-harmful gas in the classroom intentionally? Or did he, like everybody has done at some embassassing moment in church or other social gathering, let fly with a fart accidently? Either way, I can’t believe they hauled the lad off in handcuffs. And the police look serious as they do their dastardly deed.
Hey Jane,
Yes, the dastardly boy admitted to the deed being intentional, although I’m at a loss as to understand how one “passes gas” intentionally or on command!
I can understand how the readers find arresting this young man ludicrous for passing gas. However, as a high school teacher who is responsible for teaching her students their lessons in order for them to pass their end of the year exam, having a student disrupt the class so the rest does not learn, is insubordinate. I am certain this teacher asked him to stop several times, yet his goal to cause chaos and a commotion fed into his attention getting scheme. I am sure the teacher sent him to see his dean for a reprimand. Obviously, this was not successful. He return to prevent learning. Readers, please look at the whole picture. If your child was in this classroom and he/she was being distracted from learning, how would you feel. How would you feel if your child had to sit through an entire class having to deal with these smells and at the same time trying to learn from their teacher. As an educator, several actions had to take place before this young man was arrested. He just wanted to be insubordinate and take away learning time from these students because it was all about him and not the other children who were their to learn. We always need to look at both sides of a story.
Your just fucking guessing ? Making up excuses for this kind of bullshit based on nothing yourself is just as bad as what your accusing everyone else of. Dumb ass.nothing warrants ruining a kids life over this bullshit
You should stay faaaaaar away from children fair lady…
You are right up until the point where the police were called. In no way is that called for. My kids would be far more distracted by the kid being arrested than by any gas passing.
I am glad my children don’t go to your school..Obviously jail is an option that you seem to have no problem with..You can do what they do in our school district that is call the parents and send the child home..You don’t know if he did any more than what they said he did in the article..
Infowars… You need better sources.
It’s comforting to know, that while murderers, rapists, child molesters, and other vicious thugs run wild in the streets, we are safe from flatulent boys and lemonade selling young girls. Kudos to local law enforcement.
jim
If schools were still able to bust the ass of disruptive students we would not see this happening. So we now have police arresting students for farting when they could be out policing the area for real crimes.
This is insane, but commenting on a message board wont help. http://www.sheriff.martin.fl.us/ there is the link to the sherriffs dept website.tell them what you think, their contact info there.