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South Carolina Student Arrested For "Killing Pet Dinosaur"
Rambo Tribble (1273454) writes In South Carolina a 16-year old boy, Alex Stone, was arrested and charged with creating a disturbance at his school, as well as suspended, for choosing to write: "I killed my neighbor's pet dinosaur. I bought the gun to take care of the business," in response to a class writing assignment. The story has attracted international attention.
Maybe it is your anti-American hate that jumped the shark. Will it ever stop? I doubt it. No reason to expect humans to behave differently wherever you come from.
You might have missed the part where the story isn't from a newspaper that is claiming to have researched it and presented the facts. It is actually from a blog called the "mommy files," and they don't describe the actual charges, or interview anybody other than the student and his mother.
Also note that the assignment was not "creative writing." The students were supposed to write something about themselves. So that is what he wrote "about himself," that he acquired had acquired a gun and killed his neighbor's pet. Clearly that is protected speech, but it is perfectly reasonable in that circumstance to investigate if there was an actual pet (or human) who had been shot. It is common for teenagers who do something violent to make up a "story" so they can deal emotionally with their actions. Using an imaginary creature as a proxy for a real person or animal is normal in that situation. They weren't investigating him because he said the word "gun." There is more context here, and anybody with knowledge of child psychology should see that it is worth looking into whatever problems this child had that led him to this expression; at least in a preliminary way to see if he was discussing real violence. Obviously that would be more effectively done by a mental health professional than by the police. But if the police are the ones called, and his behavior towards them is disruptive, it is perfectly normal that he would receive a minor charge based on being disruptive. Unfortunately most schools don't teach children about their rights, and how to deal with police officers in a way that protects your rights without exposing you to legal charges. Freaking out and yelling at them and refusing to cooperate is usually going to get a person a minor charge. That is true in most of the world.