Students Arrested Over 'Violent' Stick Figures

[Lounge Daddy]

Students Arrested Over 'Violent' Stick Figure Drawings
Pictures Show Classmate Being Stabbed, Hung

OCALA, Fla. -- Two boys, ages 9 and 10, were charged with felonies and taken away from school in handcuffs, accused of making violent drawings of stick figures.

The boys were arrested Monday on charges of making a written threat to kill or harm another person, a second-degree felony.

The special education students used pencil and red crayon to draw primitive stick figure scenes on scrap paper that showed a 10-year-old classmate being stabbed and hung, police said.

"The officer found they were drawing these pictures for the sole purpose of intimidating and scaring the victim," said Ocala Police Sgt. Russ Kern.

The boy depicted in the drawings told his teacher, who took the sketches and contacted the school dean, Marty Clifford. Clifford called police, who arrested the boys after consulting with the State Attorney's Office.

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.

Parents of both of the arrested boys said they thought the boys should be punished by the school and families, not the legal system.

Ocala police said they stand behind the decision to arrest the children.




[url="http://www.local6.com/print/4130302/detail.html"]WOW[/url]

[Lounge Daddy]

im glad that the pics i drew when i was a frustrated kid were made pre- 9/11 and not in a Liberal dominant area

[Thy Geekdom Come]

Artist's Rendering of the Crime:

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/PrRaphael/hehe.gif[/img]

[spathariossa]

It would be funny if it weren't so stupid. That drawing is a felony? Gimme a break. Why don't they go after the real criminals instead of letting off rapists, child molestors, and murderers after two years?

[1337 k4th0l1x0r]

[quote name='spathariossa' date='Jan 27 2005, 12:06 AM'] It would be funny if it weren't so stupid. That drawing is a felony? Gimme a break. Why don't they go after the real criminals instead of letting off rapists, child molestors, and murderers after two years? [/quote]
I think you're ignoring the REAL criminals in society. Fortunately, police in Chicago are taking care of that.

Linky: [url="http://www.dailyillini.com/news/2005/01/26/Opinions/Column.Shuffle.Up.And.Steal-841644.shtml"]http://www.dailyillini.com/news/2005/01/26...al-841644.shtml[/url]

[Birgitta Noel]

LOL on the Chicago thing.

As for the kids there's probably more to this than is said here. I will say that I was in a similar situation once where there was real concern and a real threat and nothing was done about it. I feared for those involved.

I generally agree that people overstep, but sometimes there is a real issue.

[rachael]

*smacks head*

that's so dumb.

[SevenSorrows]

[quote name='spathariossa' date='Jan 26 2005, 11:06 PM'] That drawing is a felony? Gimme a break. Why don't they go after the real criminals instead of letting off rapists, child molestors, and murderers after two years? [/quote]
I'm sure the cops didn't just arrest them for the heck of it. I am sure there is way more to the story. the "real" criminals...oh i forgot, someone has to die before their is a criminal. I would rather that they get those crazy kids out of class before they actually did hurt or kill someone. I hope you are not one of those people who complains if they arrest someone....and then complain if they didn't arrest someone. Like if the kids had not been arrested and then they killed their classmates, I hope you wouldn't say "man they knew the kids were going to do something, why didn't they stop them before"

yeah the article does sound odd, but I am sure the cops didn't jump the gun.....I am a teacher and kids know what is wrong...they know what is ok and not ok in school...so if they choose to do something like that....then they get what they deserve. In california it is a law that if a child (over 3rd grade I think) sexually harasses someone (alot of things are considered sexual harassement), we CAN NOT deal with it...it is taken out of our hands and goes to the police, it is no longer a school issue. So if it was the teacher that turned them in...she was either paranoid (could be), smart (doing the right thing), or just being safe and saving her job.

[Birgitta Noel]

SevenSorrows, Thank you. That was exactly my point.

[franciscanheart]

I agree with sevensorrows. Sure it sounds dumb but most of the time these things are a lot deeper than what we see.

[spathariossa]

I completely disagree. The threat these kids presented (given the evidence at hand) was completely overblown and even so was dubious at best. If I draw a picture of me hanging some kid and stabbing him that doesn't mean I'm going to stab him. In fact, such expressions of frustration are common. How often do people say "Man I'd like to kill that guy," or other similar comments? The simple fact of the matter is that there is a big difference between a credible threat and a frustrated comment or in this case drawing. If I drew a picture of stabbing and hanging a classmate but had no history of violence and said I was just frustrated then to be honest I shouldn't be arrested. No crime has been committed and it would be total overkill to say that a credible threat has been made. If however I draw the same picture and the teacher finds a knife and rope in my desk, then the threat becomes much more immediate and credible. So the issue then becomes should we arrest people who make threats and charge them with felonies regardless of the credibility of those threats? Is it the same for a person with a criminal record to threaten a young woman as for a boy in a wheelchair to threaten the high school wrestling champion?

[franciscanheart]

personally id much rather see these boys taken into custody and be checked out then to have to find a rope and knives in their locker or bags. also, the article said that there were multiple drawings. i cant assume anything about the intentions of the boys but just looking at it i think it could at least be bullying and eventually that needs to be taken care of. why not stop it now before it gets out of hand?

im sure that there was already some bullying going on between the boys.


sounds ridiculous but something had to be done. there are other ways of expressing anger or frustration.

[Birgitta Noel]

And younger folks don't have the wisdom and life experience that (most) adults have. You and I may know that if we say, "I'm going to kill him" why that's a bad idea and that we aren't serious, but younger folks don't have the same capacity to deal with emotions etc.

There is clearly more to this than what has been reported.

[Oik]

Eh, I disagree with everybody. Although I am aware of the possible gravitiy of the situation, the state, at the current time, does not effectively address the issues that people deal with. the real renewal of the poverty of the soul has to come from the Church. The state can't provide the type of healing that is necessary.

Counselling? Maybe. However, in the world we live in we might actually do more harm than good with "secular" means of spiritual healing. Here take this pill...Or maybe the reason your child is so violent is because they have a repressed memory of some one abusing them...scary scary.

Mike, sympathize with you because you teach under a college level. You are brave, It is so hard to balance. There is a lot of room to make mistakes and a lot of pressure to be PC and all that bologna.

I used to draw "violent" pictures all the time. I actually used to make paper figures in class and have them fight each other to the death. I never stabbed anyone though.

It's a touch call, but leading nine and ten year olds out of school in handcuffs proves the reality of how horrible our society has gotten, nine and ten year olds in handcuffs people.

[karin]

Oh gosh tons of kids draw pictures when they are angry it is a way to relieve anger and stress without actually hurting someone. That would be like saying if some one was mad and they ripped the head off their friends picture then they were planning to decapitate that person the next day. that is just silly. I dont think those kids should have been arrested.

[spathariossa]

I don't think the behavior should have been allowed to continue. I never said that. What I'm saying is that before you bring the POLICE to bear on a couple of 10 year olds and slap them with felony charges maybe you should have found more than a couple of violent stick figure drawings. This is absolute and complete overkill. Why doesn't the school punish the children with detention or suspension first? Why don't the parents of the children get involved? The point I'm making is that involving the police and the courts over something like this is ridiculous in the extreme.

[karin]

^ yeah

[SevenSorrows]

But you are acting like police are dumb (yes I know that is another topic..but be nice). A cop isn't just gonna come to a school and arrest kids and charge them with a felonly cause of a picture.

In one of my classes...I actually had paper death threats placed in desks and on the ground for a few days...the cop came in and said "children is that good?" "no".... "ok be good".... I am not saying this cop was bad....but he obviously looked at the situation and saw it was not serious enough to start interrogating and arresting kids.

and just cause a kid is in a special day class...it could be many reasons.... he could be emotionally disturbed...he could have a bad record already. and special ed teachers know their kids...they know when it is just kids being kids, or kids being funny, or when it is serious. I commend this teacher for looking out for the saftety of her class and protecting those kids from maybe doing something bad.

and if it is found out that the kids were not that bad...or they get let off the charges...I bet they won't do it again..I bet no one else in the school will...I bet 1000's of parents are talking to their children right now about the severity of drawing picture or doing things like this...as well as teachers talking to their kids....so I think it is good...and much good can come from it.

and suspensions? those are a joke...come on....you get 1, 2, or 3 days off from school...wow big punishment....especially for boys like this who obviously don't like school.

[karin]

i am not saying cops are dumb my grandfather is a retired cop. but i just dont think the kids should have been arrested. but the thing is we dont know if this situation is a heck of alot more serious than the article says or if the article is just overdoing it because thats what newspapers often do. So guys calm down there is really nothing we can do about it here. We dont know the whole story

[Balthazor]

I am known for my violent stick figures... they are pretty darn funny too. If I do say so my self, but they are never depictions of other people, sometimes myself, but no death threats or anything. That would be mean.
My favorite is to draw a running stick figure on fire, I have finally got the race car flames down to an art, and I like to utilize them in my "art".