Why? It was not the principal’s decision to arrest her nor to charge her with a felony offense.
Their policy led to the cops being called.
“Their” policy? You mean the School Board.
Yes, and the administration.
The administration follows the school board policy.
The administration asks for and participates in the development of policy.
[quote=“SneakySFDude, post:24, topic:214727”]
Their policy led to the cops being called.
[/quote] Here’s another, slightly different perspective about the same story: Police charge 13-year-old girl with felony for making 'finger gun' at school - TheBlaze
Nonsense. A school resource officer, although assigned to work in a school, is employed by the local police force.
Anyway, what do you suggest the school itself could have done differently? Again, keep in mind that officer chose to arrest her and the district attorney chose to charge her with a felony… NOT THE SCHOOL.
Also, in light of the rash of school shootings that have happened lately, how do YOU propose schools approach potential threats of violence? As a junior high teacher, I personally would have had her speak with her counselor and perhaps suggested that the counselor refer her to more in-depth services with a psychologist. I also would have talked to the students that she had targeted to see if there were any trends of either mistreatment/bullying from them or perhaps a history of mutual antagonism between her and the other kids.
I do think it’s a bit over the top to charge her with a felony, especially if this is a first offense. However, when occurrences like this are either ignored or played off as not serious, they can and do lead to actual shootings.
A 12 year-old girl’s finger.
What’s the offense?
Dude, I work with 12- and 13-year-olds every day, and have done so for 18 years now. The fact that she’s identifying students that she WOULD kill if she COULD is cause for caution. Yes, the cop way overreacted. But in a school setting, you can’t just ignore something like that. Some kids that are constantly bullied snap and retaliate. 12-and 13-year-olds, as a general rule, don’t have a fully developed sense of inhibition and can often react impulsively in situations like this without considering the consequences. Better to address it when she’s only pointing a finger than to allow her feelings to fester and potentially turn into something more violent.
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A finger. On a 12 year-old girl.
A minor one that doesn’t warrant a felony arrest. By the way, go back and re-read the article and you’ll see what the officer labeled her “offense” as.
What specifically is the offense? Misdemeanor finger pointing?
What about the idiotic police officer that put her in cuffs?
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Let me clarify. I didn’t mean offense, as in breaking a state or federal law. I meant a violation of school rules and policies. Some are very minor, such as not being prepared with paper and pencil or coming to class late. Unless these types of “offenses” become chronic and habitual, teachers are usually expected to deal with them in class. Other violations, such as assault, sexual harassment, and theft (which generally have an actual state law connected to them), are a basis (at least at my school) for immediate office referral. There’s a variety of ways that school administrators can respond to these violations, both minor and major. Most commonly, minor violations are handled by a phone call to parents. Administrators may also choose to give students a lunch suspension, in-school suspension, overnight suspension, behavior contract, etc., depending on the severity of the student’s action. At my school, the list of occurrences that warrant an automatic office referral includes “threat/harassment/intimidation”. I would assume that this young lady’s actions would fall under that category. A police officer is often called into these types of situations to help determine the severity of the threat/intimidation, as a higher degree of threat may cross over from a simple school violation to an actual criminal act.
My opinion is that the officer overreacted and “threw the book” at this girl, when such a decision was unwarranted. I think we are in agreement on this. I think the only thing we might be disagreeing on is whether or not the school administration, district administration, and school board are responsible for the officer’s decision and subsequent action. My opinion is that they are not. Yours appears to be that they are. I doubt that either of us will change the other’s mind.
How about you address the damn bullies? Your post implies you need to work on this girl and HER problems without addressing those who are causing the problem in the first place.
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No. Never advocated any such thing.
So glad I could clear that up for you.
A finger. A 12 year old girl. Cops. Handcuffs.
Yup. It’s like you didn’t even actually read anything I wrote.
To those who have never stood on one.
