Stick Figure Arrests

Sometimes the things you find in the news are just so ludicrous, rediculous, laughable, that you just have to shake your head and wonder ... "What are they thinking!".

There was a time when being young meant doing stupid, silly things which got you in trouble at home. No big deal. Your parents got upset, maybe you got grounded, spanked, whatever. Now, you can get arrested.

Today, I found a news story about two boys, around 10 years-old, being arrested for drawing stick figures depicting the killing and hanging of another student. Okay, so the drawings are not right, but does this mean the school has to overreact to the point of calling the police.

Give me a break!

Here's a quote from the article:

"The children, charged with a felony, were taken from school in handcuffs."

and another:

"The 9- and 10-year-old boys were arrested Monday and charged with making a written threat to kill or harm another person. They were also suspended from school."

Is this an acceptable response to a child drawing something inappropriate? Someone here is overreacting. Parents, counselors, teachers, and other responsible adults are there, or should be there, to help the kids understand their behavior. Being arrested is the wrong answer.

There is more to this than meets the eye.

Could there be rules, by which schools are to respond to kids' behavior, pushed upon the schools forcing them to take such measures? Perhaps some penalties for not following the rules?

Are we turning into a society where we look to authority, whether police or government, to solve our problems FIRST instead of handling the problems OURSELVES?

A final quote from the article:

"The boys' parents said they thought the children should be punished by the school and families, not the legal system."

Even more disturbing, did the parents have no say in this matter?

Stripping away individual liberties, one by one...