South Carolina Student Arrested For "Killing Pet Dinosaur"

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South Carolina Student Arrested For "Killing Pet Dinosaur"

Posted by timothy on Saturday August 23, 2014 @06:50AM from the tell-me-again-about-our-troubled-youth dept.

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.

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Land of insanity by qbast · 2014-08-23 06:51 · Score: 5, Insightful

Only in America ...
1. Re:Land of insanity by CQDX · 2014-08-23 08:05 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  If I was a kid today I'd probably be institutionalized.
  When I was in 1st grade or so the Vietnam War was on the news all the time and I was just getting into plastic model building. My favorite thing to do was to build Army tanks and helicopters and play war with them. One day at school we had to write a little story and draw a picture with it. I wrote little scenario where a bunch of Army tanks and helicopters were blowing a bridge with a bunch of NVA crossing it (didn't know what a NVA was, they were just the bad guys). The picture had lots of explosions and bodies flying everywhere. It was very colorful and had a lot of detail. I got a good mark for my creativity.
  In the afternoon we'd play Army with plastic guns that looked liked the real thing. None of this pink gun shit. We didn't shoot imaginary dinosaurs. We were out hunting Germans and Japanese soldiers. Whoever got stuck being the enemy would at least have fun hamming up his death scene. I guess it wasn't such a big deal back then because I grew up in San Diego and there were more than a few WWII vets that would egg us on.
  I don't look forward to seeing what our world will be like when the current crop of kids grow up to be our nation's leaders.
2. Re:Land of insanity by easyTree · 2014-08-23 09:22 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Putting aside that these people are retards for thinking he's serious and that they massively overreacted... if you recall, your whole culture (certainly, appears to) celebrate guns, killing etc (certainly movies/tv, film, youth culture). Your armed forces have been at war overseas for hundreds of years. Relatively recently there was video of two good old boys laughing it up whilst shooting news cameramen from an attach helicopter with a 50mm gun. Your own police are now paramilitary organizations quite happy to use armed troop carriers, rubber bullets, tear gas, etc... on civilians.
  So, doesn't it seem pretty much like the horse has not only bolted but has evolved into an entirely new life-form and is on a beach somewhere drinking Piña coladas? Hint: yep, it does.
  For moderation purposes, troll != you-have-inconveniently-reminded-me-that-I-live-in-a-police-state.
  
  --
  Requiem for the American Dream
LOL by war4peace · 2014-08-23 06:52 · Score: 4, Insightful

Only in 'Murica.
Here' if a 16-year old writes something like that, everyone would have a good laugh.

--
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
1. Re:LOL by ColdWetDog · 2014-08-23 07:00 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  The child understood that dinosaurs don't exist anymore. It's not clear that the police were operating from the same viewpoint.
  
  --
  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
2. Re:LOL by 0123456 · 2014-08-23 07:12 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  The police were probably just hoping they'd get a chance to shoot a dinosaur themselves.
Just like Happy days.. by mrbcs · 2014-08-23 07:02 · Score: 3, Insightful

America has jumped the shark..
This is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Will it ever stop?

--
I'm not anti-social, I'm anti-idiot.
1. Re:Just like Happy days.. by msauve · 2014-08-23 09:44 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  "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."
  
  You definitely missed the part where they linked to their source article, which was on a Chicago TV station news site.
  
  The rest of your post just sounds like the sort of BS a psych major might spew.
  
  --
  "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
Please, don't tell them ... by Rambo+Tribble · 2014-08-23 07:04 · Score: 3, Insightful

... but I strangled my neighbor's unicorn, last night.
1. Re:Please, don't tell them ... by Eevee · 2014-08-23 07:10 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  ... but I strangled my neighbor's unicorn, last night.
  Now, I've heard the phrase choking the chicken before, but that one's a new euphemism to me.
Mandatory panic! by khasim · 2014-08-23 07:07 · Score: 5, Insightful

a. He's a he.
b. He's a teenager.
c. He goes to a school.
d. He wrote the word "gun" in a "fantasy" story.
Mandatory panic! Alert the police! Search EVERYTHING! Connect the dots!
Personally, I blame the teacher for not sufficiently explaining the limits of the assignment.
1. Re:Mandatory panic! by Jane+Q.+Public · 2014-08-23 07:13 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Mandatory panic! Alert the police! Search EVERYTHING! Connect the dots! Personally, I blame the teacher for not sufficiently explaining the limits of the assignment.
  I doubt very much the reaction would have been the same if he'd written that he did it with bow & arrow.
  
  As far as I am concerned, it was the school's actions that were criminal. First, censorship is not the business of schools. Second, they called the police over a non-crime. They didn't even have a reasonable suspicion that any crime had been committed.
  
  It's one thing to say "no guns in school". It's quite another to ban any mention of them. This isn't China.
2. Re:Mandatory panic! by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-23 07:18 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Yes this stuff gets outrageous. We had a personal experience with it 3 years ago. In a high school English class our son - 15 at the time - was assigned to write a simple biographical essay. They got to chose the subject and needed to have it approved by the teacher. Our son chose Mikhail Kalashnikov and the teacher approved it. They were then allowed to use class computers to do some research. The teacher freaked out and had our kid taken the to the office and there was a big brouhaha because he was "looking at a web site with guns on it". Really? Really? You don't expect to have some pictures of guns in biographical information about the guy who designed the fracking AK-47 along with several other guns? Argh! If they didn't want guns to be seen on school computers perhaps they should not allow students to select the designers of said guns as their biographical assignment. Yep, out of control loonies running the schools.
3. Re:Mandatory panic! by jedidiah · 2014-08-23 08:00 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Actually, based on the writeup it sounds like he could be guilty of nothing more than knowing his rights.
  He was questioned by police without his parents. That's not acceptable. He shouldn't be punished for anything that arose from an illegal interrogation. He may have simply refused to cooperate.
  
  --
  A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
4. Re:Mandatory panic! by BronsCon · 2014-08-23 08:02 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I dunno, I robbed a bank once by walking in, unarmed, writing "gun" on a piece of paper, and then shooting everyone in the place with it. Once I'd shot all of them, there was nobody to trigger the alarm or stop me from walking out with all the money.
  
  Letting people write the word "gun" on a piece of paper is very dangerous.
  
  And yes, for those who can't detect satire, this really did happen. We should ban pens and paper so it doesn't happen again.
  
  --
  APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
5. Re:Mandatory panic! by meerling · 2014-08-23 08:03 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Irate? Yeah, I'd have become "irate" if some blithering idiot was accusing me of violating the law for a piece of fiction written for class in which his character (modeled as himself) hunted a species that became extinct millions of years ago. (Of course, being a "pet dinosaur" you could probably classify it as fantasy.)
  
  As to fiction including guns. Oh no! Go arrest EVERY AUTHOR ON THE PLANET!!!
  
  The ones disturbing the school were the police and the idiots that panicked over the short story/assignment. At least one person deserves to be fired.
  
  When I think back to the stories I wrote for class back in high school, morons like the ones at his school would have called out the police, fire department, FBI, NSA, NASA, Marines, Air Force, and MIB!
6. Re:Mandatory panic! by flayzernax · 2014-08-23 08:07 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  yeah, losing your shit is a sure fire way to demonstrate calm and respectful behavior to a young kid writing about *his* fantasies.
  if it was a girl she probably would have been treated differently too
  our culture is a culture of fear and cowardice :( plain and simple, when we all realise this collectively (lets hope it doesn't take a collective ass kicking) we'll grow up
  Until then, our empire is tiny and shitty compared to the aztecs and mighty vikings that came before it, we will see
7. Re:Mandatory panic! by flayzernax · 2014-08-23 08:09 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  p.s. ps this isn't a testosterone fueled rant, about warrior races, this is coming from someone who is out and proud of who they are and unafraid of their speech still.
  we could stand to learn a lot from independent more decentralized cultures from all over the world if they were studied as such, but they are put down as primitive and backwards in history class, while the great white empire of the east india trading company and royal academy of sciences is touted as the greatest achievements of mankind
8. Re:Mandatory panic! by AthanasiusKircher · 2014-08-23 08:13 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  He was questioned by police without his parents. That's not acceptable. He shouldn't be punished for anything that arose from an illegal interrogation. He may have simply refused to cooperate.
  I don't know anything about what happened in this particular case, but in general, your assertion about the law is not true. Minors may be questioned by police without parents present. However, what the Supreme Court has said is that police may have to adjust their standard of when to issue a Miranda warning, depending on the subject's age. The normal standard is that Miranda is not required for questioning when a reasonable person in that situation would feel free to leave at any point. However, minors may sometimes assume they must be more obedient to authority figures and therefore may not feel they are free to leave -- thus, in some cases the Miranda standard should be altered to take that into account. Minors may therefore need to be advised of their rights earlier, or offered an opportunity to speak with parents or counsel to help them understand their rights in that situation.
  But there's no legal requirement in the U.S. that parents always need to be present for police to talk to a minor or ask him questions. You haven't presented any evidence of an "illegal interrogation."
9. Re:Mandatory panic! by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-23 08:53 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  So, you do not find cops questioning and searching 16 years old boy after fictional Facebook post mentioning gunning down dinosaur overreaction?
  They questioned and searched him and he became difficult cause they acted like bunch of idiots. Then they arrested him, because you have to totally submit yourself to cops no matter how ridiculous their reason for detaining and searching you. Right?
10. Re:Mandatory panic! by ShanghaiBill · 2014-08-23 09:06 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It's one thing to say "no guns in school". It's quite another to ban any mention of them. This isn't China.
  Why the China bashing? It is not illegal to write a story about guns in China, and I have never heard of this sort of political knee jerk reaction there. An American is FOUR TIMES as likely to be arrested and imprisoned by their government as a Chinese citizen.
11. Re:Mandatory panic! by Cryacin · 2014-08-23 09:16 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Exactly, the pen is mightier than the sword! Will someone think of the children having to witness these horrors!
  
  --
  Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
12. Re: Mandatory panic! by TheTurtlesMoves · 2014-08-23 09:28 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  No, but a lot of peoples reaction to the event will.
  
  --
  The Grey Goo disaster happened 3 billion years ago. This rock is covered in self replicating machines!
13. Re:Mandatory panic! by arth1 · 2014-08-23 09:30 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Exactly, the pen is mightier than the sword! Will someone think of the children having to witness these horrors!
  Google does. Their new e-mail filter might reject statements like the above depending on the word frequencies in spam du jour, because it contains the phrase "pen is".
  I wish I were only joking.
14. Re:Mandatory panic! by DexterIsADog · 2014-08-23 10:18 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Contrary to what many, especially Americans, think, you cannot win a war. The "winners" are simply the last ones standing, whether they have lost arms legs or heads. We still lost the war, like every other participating country.
  It's not that I disagree, it's that you are demonstrably wrong.
  
  Which countries redrew borders in the Middle East after World War I? Germany? Guess again. Did Germany voluntarily pay reparations? No.
  
  Which country dominated the world in trade and influence after World War II? Again, not Germany, Italy, Japan, etc. It was the "winner", the U.S.
  
  If you are making the point that even the winners were worse off after the war, I'd have to disagree. The U.S. was booming within a few years. If you argue that the world as a whole was worse off after, for example World War II, tell me, do you think it would have been better to let Germany continue its policy of lebensraum, or two fight the war?
  
  I avoid violence whenever possible, it sickens me. But I cannot deny that it sure solves lots of problems.
15. Re:Mandatory panic! by lgw · 2014-08-23 10:21 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Through all of history, every place with a remotely hospitable climate was eventually governed by a nation with a strong military. If on government didn't have that, it would be conquered by one that did. There's no evidence that it's even possible to not have a strong central military for a long time (unless you live someplace where the environment is so hostile it's not worth anyone's effort to conquer, but sometimes even then).
  
  --
  Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
16. Re:Mandatory panic! by Rick+Zeman · 2014-08-23 10:45 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  It's one thing to say "no guns in school". It's quite another to ban any mention of them. This isn't China.
  Why the China bashing? It is not illegal to write a story about guns in China, and I have never heard of this sort of political knee jerk reaction there. An American is FOUR TIMES as likely to be arrested and imprisoned by their government as a Chinese citizen.
  Hey, did you see the Dalai Lama in Tiananmen Square? He was talking about all of the corruption in upper reaches of the Chinese government with some Maoists while he was on his way to the Falun Gong Meeting.
17. Re:Mandatory panic! by hawkinspeter · 2014-08-23 11:45 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Unless you were there fighting the war, it's a bit disingenous to take on other people's war victories as your own. I'm a Brit, but I had nothing to do with World War II or any other war since then. Just being born on the same piece of land as someone else is a strange way of measuring your worth.
  
  --
  You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
18. Re: Mandatory panic! by LordLucless · 2014-08-23 11:58 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  There's also quite a difference between "strong central military" and "three times the size of any other military force in the world"
  
  --
  Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
19. Re:Mandatory panic! by AK+Marc · 2014-08-23 12:28 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  If the US were to close the military tomorrow, all standing army, all reserves, all Coast Guard, every gun owned by the feds were destroyed tomorrow (not sold, but destroyed), we'd still have a military force in just the local police enough to repel any threat, including the rest of the world combined invading. China may have a larger military, but has no ability to project that force. Sadly, England would be able to do the most damage, but even then, not able to "invade" or hold anything that wasn't right on the coast under near-constant navy bombardment.
  
  A "realistic" disarmament, leaving national guards, Coast Guards and such in place would be able to repel the rest of the world combined in a world war.
  
  Comparatively, the world has had a large decrease in military force, where world wars were a 20-year occurrence. But those mostly ended after WWII. And yes, lots of wars in the 1800s that weren't world wars were still world wars because Spain, England, and France were battling behind the scenes in lots of "local" skirmishes.
  
  --
  Learn to love Alaska
20. Re: Mandatory panic! by schlachter · 2014-08-23 15:05 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I think China has a military of this size partly to keep people employed. It's not like they really use it.
  But it is only twice as large as any other force in the world...twice the size of the USA, twice the size of India, and North Korea.
  
  --
  My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
21. Re:Mandatory panic! by drkim · 2014-08-23 21:37 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Writing "gun" on a piece of paper and handing it to the teller might actually be effective - it conveys the threat of force and probably would lead to armed robbery charges.
  Does this look like "gub" or "gun"?
22. Re:Mandatory panic! by ganjadude · 2014-08-24 01:14 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  when I was in 8th grade i had a smaller than kid hand sized, see thru blue water pistol in the last few weeks of school. the principal brought me in, and the cops were there. I wasnt arrested but i was yelled at by both the cops and principal, because "someone might mistake it for a real gun"
  
  my mom and dad are just laughing at them like are you kidding me?? I ended up getting suspended for a day, my dad took me to the shooting range to show me what a real gun was (and made sure the principal and cops knew, and knew i wasnt in any trouble)
  
  --
  have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
I thought this only happened in Florida by Issarlk · 2014-08-23 07:10 · Score: 4, Insightful

And as for the kid and his pet dinosaur killing, here's an even more disturbing news: so kids as young as maybe 8 are shooting at each other in pretend cowboy-indian or thief-policeman "games". Time to build more prisons for youngsters.
Don't Ask if you Don't Want by The+Raven · 2014-08-23 07:23 · Score: 4, Interesting

This is ludicrous. He should get an A on the assignment... it was completely convincing apparently, despite the inclusion of a pet dinosaur. The school administration and cops were all convinced. The kid should put it on his fucking college resume: "Turned in a story that was so well written I got arrested for the fictitious deed."
Alternately, his college application could be, "I got this excellent ACT score despite being taught in a school that doesn't realize Dinosaurs are extinct."

--
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
Yes it is. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-23 07:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

This isn't China.
We have gone to idiotic mode here in the States - beyond plaid.
We have been taken over by the lying bullying pundits - Hannity,Maddow, O'Reilly, Oberman, etc ....
Our media isn't really state controlled as it is corporate controlled - the corporations use the government to solidify their idiocy.
Even my beloved NPR doesn't escape my cynicism when the Koch brothers sponsor it along with many corporate sponsors - regardless of their political leanings.
We are being bombarded by shit.
Shit media.
All of it.
And it has become impossible for us to differentiate the shit from the Truth.
Mix in 110 proof pundits like Hannity and Limbaugh, and we're fucked.
I am trying to cut myself off from media - even the Internet.
It is getting ridiculous.
To paraphrase Thich Nhat Hanh, 'Don't watch the news. If it is really important, you will hear about it.'
I don't mean to stick my head in the sand, but when I cannot get the facts - or I have to sift through countless media outlets to get it - I just have to say, "Fuck it! Let me take care of my neighbor!"
1. Re:Yes it is. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-23 08:09 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  "my beloved NPR.." - there's your problem. No news organization should be "beloved". It just makes you their bitch. Just because you don't like the facts that you are getting doesn't mean that you "cannot get the facts".
2. Re:Yes it is. by lgw · 2014-08-23 10:16 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  There's no better decision you can make, IMO, than to walk away from broadcast media, and newspapers, and all those centrally-controlled outlets for news. If you have a deep distrust of blogs, that can work for you. Find a blog or two of interest; look for ones that routinely correct stories when commenters point out flaws, avoid those that instead ban the commenters. As long as you keep your distrust of blogs, that's a good way to keep your head out of the sand.
  The only way to learn anything about current events is the combination of a hard-to-censor channel, a willingness to correct mistakes, and your own distrust of everything on that channel.
  
  --
  Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
3. Re:Yes it is. by AuMatar · 2014-08-23 16:10 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Where do you think those blogs are getting their info from? Their large collection of reporters circling the globe and getting the real scoop? Or do they just check out the big news sites for 99% of their stories? (Hint: the answer is B). So you have yet another layer of obfuscation and bias in there. Congratulations, your news is even worse.
  
  --
  I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Re:Debbil in de details by WaffleMonster · 2014-08-23 07:57 · Score: 5, Insightful

If you read the details of the story, it becomes quite a bit less sensational.
The details make it worse because not kissing police officers asses resulted in bullshit disturbance charges. (e.g. retaliation)
Not only did the grownups at the school abuse their authority so did the police.
I give up by Guru80 · 2014-08-23 08:02 · Score: 3, Interesting

Society is collectively out of their damn minds. Pretty soon sneezing in public will almost certainly be considered a biological weapon attack, because Ebola!!!...arrest and solitary him immediately!
Mod parent up! by khasim · 2014-08-23 08:14 · Score: 4, Insightful

From TFA:

Police told My Fox Chicago that Stone was difficult during questioning and they arrested him and charged him with disturbing the school.
How did "the school" know about this? At most his teacher and the school principal and the regional/district/whatever superintendent should have been aware of the issue.
If anyone was "disturbing" "the school" it would have been one of those three (or the cops) and they should be arrested.
For a student, being "difficult during questioning" should (at most) result in expulsion AND NOT ARREST.
Re:Debbil in de details by sjames · 2014-08-23 08:43 · Score: 5, Insightful

In what way? 16 year old writes two clearly flippant sentences that cannot possibly be true. School officials, apparently too mentally ill to distinguish reality from fantasy, call the cops. Cops, apparently also mentally ill, question the boy as if what he wrote could possibly be a confession. They then arrest him for the perfectly natural outrage he expressed at being subjected to their madness. Then principal Nutty McCuckoo suspends him for a week over the incident that the school instigated.
In what way is that not sensational?
In a just world, the students and their parents will mock and ridicule the principal until he is forced to resign. He brought it upon himself by refusing to be more mature than the kids in his charge.
The school did the right thing by real+gumby · 2014-08-23 10:43 · Score: 3, Funny

Pet dinosaurs are quite rare. In fact I’ve never seen one. So to kill it is a crime against humanity.
At least this kid had enough remorse to need to admit his crime.
I know his message was a cry for help but the school must pursue criminal action as a warning to others who might kill dinosaurs. Thank God we live in a country that takes “If you see something, say something” seriously.
Hanity runs the government? or points out stupid by raymorris · 2014-08-23 14:29 · Score: 3, Insightful

Hannity,Maddow, O'Reilly and Oberman run the government? I thought their job was to point out when the government is screwing up. Matter of fact, if you go to their web sites and look for this story, that's exactly what they're doing.