Slashdot Mirror


Student Arrested For Classroom Texting

A 14-year-old Wisconsin girl was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after she refused to stop texting during a high school math class. The girl denied having a phone when confronted by a school safety officer, but a female cop found it after frisking her. The Samsung Cricket was recovered "from the buttocks area" of the teenager, according to the police report. The girl was banned from school property for a week, and is scheduled for an April 20 court appearance for a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. I applaud the adults involved for their discretion and temperance in this heinous case of texting without permission.

10 of 1,246 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What else can you do? by coolsnowmen · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can send a kid to the principle's office in every school I've been to and worked in. I know that's only 7 schools but you said "can't."
    When I was in HS, 1st time offenders always got sent to their guidance counselors. You'ld have to be doing something unsafe/dangerous/illegal to have the cops called on you.

  2. Hang on... by retro128 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Before everyone goes spouting off about how we're becoming a police state, has anyone (including submitter) bothered to read the linked police report? The cop refers to "prior negative contacts" with this person for both him and the administration. The chick ignores the teachers, lies to the cops, and brazenly continues to text in class. It's too bad the cops had to waste cycles getting involved, but judging from the police report the school personnel were at the end of their rope.

    --
    -R
  3. You reap what you sow by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Informative

    Snowflake had hidden the 'phone in her underwear so having Police present is the only way to avoid a lawsuit.

    --
    No sig today...
  4. Re:Mandated by QuickSilver_999 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apparently you did not read the criminal complaint. The student was "known to the security officer" as a problem , and had "negative contacts" with the administrators in the past. Sounds to me like a problem child, who continued to act out, from a broken home, had repeatedly ignored the rules, assuming that she could skate out of all trouble. And since it was school she probably could, but in this case, they decided to file the charges. Finally she is forced to have a little accountability for her actions.

    Not only did she lie about her actions, she repeatedly gave false numbers to the school for contacting her parents, and wasted several hours of the school employees time. She ought to be billed by the school district for the amount of time wasted by her.

    Treat teenagers like adults they act like adults. Don't and they will always act like little children.

    --
    - No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades really cramps his style.
  5. Re:Sounds fine to me by Trogre · · Score: 4, Informative

    Unfortunately that's what happens when you give kids most of the rights of grown-ups, but none of the responsibilities.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  6. Re:Sounds fine to me by Inglix+the+Mad · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yeah, well now it's blame everyone else because the precious little snowflake can't possibly be wrong. Even being disobedient in class is ok, because school doesn't matter.

    F*cking kids today should count their blessings. My teacher could've walloped me right upside the head and my mother probably would've only double-checked if it was a big mark, I couldn't get away with sh*t in school. Should I be caught, I knew I was dead meat. Teaches you quite a lesson about reality to learn that if you f*ck up, you've got to pay the penalty.

    Kids today should get a dose of that. You f*ck up, you get kicked out of class. You fail, guess what YOU failed, not the teacher.

    --
    People say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Why? Is there any shortage of bad ones?
  7. Re:Mandated by Xylaan · · Score: 5, Informative

    I suggest you read the arrest report in its entirety. Basically the officer waited till after class to ask her if she had a phone. After she said no, the officer confirmed with the teacher and two other students who had seen her with the phone. After being confronted with this, she STILL denied it. So the officer arrested her for disorderly conduct for her disrupting class and lying to him.

    She then proceeded to lie to the officer regarding the phone number that could be used to contact her parents. After eventually getting in contact (presumably by requesting the information from the school records), her mother was contacted and informed that her daughter would be searched. At that point, the female officer (who had been sent) proceeded to perform the search. Where the phone which belonged to her father was found.

    This is not the case of an officer immediately arresting her because she was texting. It was an officer who arrested her after he confirmed that several people had seen her texting despite being asked not to. He even stated that her arrest was partially due to her continued lying.

  8. Re:Don't they send kids to the Vice Principal? by Quothz · · Score: 4, Informative

    Cite an example of this ever happening for similarly-mundane infractions.

    If you insist.

    Those're from the first page of a Google search.

  9. Re:Mandated by rengav · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actions have consequences.

    Yes and consequences of this action should be either detention or in school suspension.

    If she had surrendered the phone upon the 1st request by the campus officer then detention would be appropriate. Since she continued to claim that she did not have a phone and further concealed it. She escalated it beyond detention or in-school suspension. I think that a fine is correct in this case. If you read the transcript of the officer's report, this student is known to the administration as a "problem".

  10. Re:Mandated by WillDraven · · Score: 3, Informative

    This absurdity I would assume stems from what's called "resist, obstruct or delay" around here, but similar statues are common across the country. Basically this gem of the legal system makes it illegal to lie to a cop, or not give them any information they ask for. Apparently the right to remain silent doesn't apply until you're actually under arrest.

    I personally have had the misfortune to be arrested and charged with this. I was at a friends house, and was taking a nap on the couch while they had gone out to the store. They came home while I was asleep and didn't wake me. I awoke to a loud pounding on the door right next to the couch. I got up and opened the door to see a cop standing there. They asked if my friend was home. I said "I don't think so" and looked over my shoulder. While my head was turned the cop said "I'm going to look around" and walked right past me into the house and into my friends bedroom. They found him laying on the bed and arrested him (he had a warrant for a failure to appear), and then walked back into the living room, looked at me and said "I'm arresting you for resist obstruct or delay" and handcuffed me and took me to jail where I spent the next 2 days.

    I got the charge dropped after shelling $600 out on a lawyer and doing 24 hours of community service, all for saying "I don't think so."

    --
    This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.