Comments on: High school student who wouldn’t stop using cell phone Tasered

By: Innocent Bystander

Innocent Bystander — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:02:43 +0000

I think you have to lie in any of these assesment tests. you’re a smart kid back then to have figured that one out. I only just figured out that all these online personality, IQ , whatever surveys are just to get personality info stored on us and then I realised that the Fly Buys at the supermarkets that are being pushed are just for tracking our buying patterns , which also tells alot about a person

By: Innocent Bystander

Innocent Bystander — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:56:23 +0000

Yep, no more to be added here as you have summed up the situation totally. t’s all about the fact that someone refused to bow to the godlike self of the policeperson. Thats why they join the these armed services against the people.

By: mikey

mikey — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:54:08 +0000

we need police cops. Police policing police.

By: Artyom

Artyom — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:56:02 +0000

Adam, you wrote an excellent reply! I do think rules and regulations have piled on over the years and you are right about the teenagers being through different stress levels than others as their bodies go through changes. I am sure they would react much different than anyone else. Respect has changed and it definitely has to do with society. The inventor of Taser has seriously took common sense out of law enforcement. And he shouldn’t have been tased. I remember not even having notebook computers in my school, but now the children have them. And on top of that mobile phones! There are too many distractions. Schools need to learn how to make someone want to learn. After all there job is to teach. Learning has been turned into a 9 to 5 type job and that takes the fun out of learning for many people. I think the system is more about sorting children into their pre positioned tiers of the pyramid scheme of rulers, thinkers, and workers. More so than actual education. It is a theory of mine… I have nothing to back it up. And if each generation says we are getting worse… What if we really are getting worse? Who would want that? Who is doing it to us? Because wouldn’t it take a controlled effort? Just ideas.. Anyways, I enjoyed reading your reply. I am sure all wish for the times of your father.

By: boo radley

boo radley — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:07:07 +0000

the cop said “can you hear me now?”

By: Adam_infowarrior

Adam_infowarrior — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:39:45 +0000

I hope your right. This kid should definately look into legal recourse. Maybe then the next time this happens the officer will show more restraint. Or perhaps he’ll lose his position as school (bully) cop.
Also, about the hierarchy of force you described that sounds very logical to me. Unfortunately where I live the cops have a policy of shooting first and claiming they feared for their lives after! It doesn’t even matter if the suspect is armed they shoot to kill. Afterwards they are given a couple of days before they have to file the police report and they are even allowed to meet privately with other officers involved as well as (I believe) staff seargents eta al. Then the worst they ever get for the cold blooded killings is a slap on the wrist, two weeks of administrative leave. If the public is really enraged then they will have some sort of grand jury or inquest hearing which are nothing more than show trials. The cops are never as much as fired, they are found not guilty in kangaroo court and resume their post on the force.
It’s sickening!

By: Adam_infowarrior

Adam_infowarrior — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:23:36 +0000

The fact is that none of us were there. We don’t get the benefit of the whole story. Having said that the student was probably showing a great deal of disrespect by not even responding to the officers request. Does that warrant being tasered though? Parents aren’t even really allowed to spank a child anymore but if they step out of line in an instution like public school they get 50 volts?!!!!
Also, it’s a valid point that we don’t know who he was talking to or what his particular demeanor was. He could have been wishing his grandmother a happy birthday for all we know. Maybe he was trying to wrap up the conversation but didn’t otherwise outwardly aknowledge the officer’s command and when he pulled a taser the kid might have just freaked and (over?) reacted.

Anyway, ultimately I agree with others who have mentioned the child/adult issue. If you want to label them an adult then their an adult and should be allowed all of the privelages that come along with it, not just the responsibilities. If however we as a society we are not willing to make that leap than we need to protect them as children. One thing I was always tuaght was that the punishment should fit the crime. So was the kid being disrespectfull? Yes. Did that warrant the use of physical force/violence by way of a taser? Probably not.
Also anyone who works in a school environment should realize that students, especially at the high school level get much more antsy and thus become more emboldened toward the end of the school year! I can still remember how you could almost feel the buzz in the air as the school days wound down getting that much closer to the hot care free days of summer and freedom from the institution of school.
Hell Alice Cooper wrote a song about it 30+ years ago!!!!!!

Also, about kids getting worse and worse, that’s probably true but there are also way more restrictions on kids now days.
Hell, when my dad was 17 he would be able to walk into a bar with his friends and have a cold one and shoot some fooseball without even being hassled for I.D.
When I went to school we would get busted for even smoking cigarettes within a hundred feet of the school. Even though I was 18 by my junior year. (my birthday fell just before cut off for enrollment in public school.) The rule was still enforced and I got cuaght a couple of times and had to spend a few afternoons in saturday school.

Anyway my point is that more rules restrictions and guidelines, especially of the unfair or stupid variety- To a teenager who’s hormones are going crazy and brain thinks a little differently from a full grown adult. This begs for more rebellion. Of course this usually prompts school boards to adopt even stricter policies and on and on…………..
I believe when I was in school, they called it a viscous cycle.

By: Adam_infowarrior

Adam_infowarrior — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:38:42 +0000

Also the id badge that I mentioned was proposed to have an electronic tracking chip in it (rfid) that would need to be scanned to enter any part of the school.

Very Orwellian!

By: Adam_infowarrior

Adam_infowarrior — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:34:59 +0000

Yeah, It’s wierd even when I was in school (ten years ago)there was a full time officer in the school. There were also cameras in every hallway and an office with full time rent a cop personell to moniter the cameras. So if anyone had reason to fight they would take it into the bathroom to avoid detection from all of the cameras.
Around the time I was getting out of school which was a year or two before 9/11. In the Clinton police state era. They were talking about giving all students an i.d. badge that would be required to be worn at all times to travel from classroom to classroom. This was touted as a benevolent security measure post Columbine. I don’t know whether or not that system has been implimented yet. What I did find out however is that all of those cameras in the hallways are linked up to the Central dispatch police station, located just down the street. The cameras which apparently are also affixed to the outside of the school send a live feed 24/7 to the police station and even to a SWAT van.
I had my own run in with this system just a couple years out of high school. I was out drinking (after having just turned 21) and needed to relieve myself. I told the designated driver to pull over somewhere that I really had to go. So they pulled over right in front of the high school. I looked around and didn’t see anyone or any cars so I ran up to the wall and did my bussiness. Well to my utter surprise before I was even finished I heard a couple of sirens and out of nowhere came a couple police cruisers who were on me like gang busters getting out of their cars as I finished. I turned around and was confronted with my old DARE officer who also happened to be the high school officer I reffered to earlier. His partner, I could tell wanted to arrest me or give me a ticket at the very least.
I quickly identified myself to him and he joked and let me go on my way. {This cop is actually I have to say one of the nicest you could meet.} It wasn’t until some years later that I discovered why and how the police responded so quickly to this incident. Although I had a few drinks that night my perception was very clear and I know that these cops weren’t just sitting on the corner they were actually called to the scene and arrived before I could even finish taking a leak! haha.
After reading a book called “Snitch Culture” penned by Jim reddin I discovered why. The school got a sizable grant from the federal government to set up the surveilance infrastructure in the school. For years schools have also used froms such as the posit (problem oriented screening instrument for teenagers) to keep tabs on the behavior and activities of students and even their families and friends. I remember having to fill these out on a couple of occasions, when it came to anything about alchohol use, (or ocassional pot use which was the extent of my youthfull escapades) even though I had tried it I would always lie. I rightfully felt that it was none of thier business, even if they did claim that the form would be kept confidential and not used for disciplinary purposes. This is probably why my unwitting stoner friends all ended up being enrolled in an anti drug diversion program. They probably filled out the form honesly and then were monitered when leaving school for breaks, followed and then eventually cuaght red handed.

Here is a sample of the posit form questions:

Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT)

Do you brag? Yes No
Do you get into trouble because you use drugs or alcohol at school? Yes No
Do your friends get-bored at parties when there is no alcohol served? Yes No
Is it hard for you to ask for help from others? Yes No
Has there been adult supervision at the parties you have gone to recently? Yes No
Do your parents or guardians argue a lot? Yes No
Do you usually think about how your actions will affect others? Yes No
Have you recently either lost or gained more than 10 pounds? Yes No
Have you ever been intimate with someone who shot up drugs? Yes No
Do you often feel tired? Yes No
Have you had trouble with stomach pain or nausea? Yes No
Do you get easily frightened? Yes No
Have any of your best friends dated regularly during the past year? Yes No
Have you dated regularly in the past year? Yes No
Do you have a skill, craft, trade or work experience? Yes No
Are most of your friends older than you are? Yes No
Do you have less energy than you think you should? Yes No
Do you get frustrated easily? Yes No
Do you threaten to hurt people? Yes No
Do you feel alone most of the time? Yes No
Do you sleep either too much or too little? Yes No
Do you swear or use dirty language? Yes No
Are you a good listener? Yes No
Do your parents or guardians approve of your friends? Yes No
Have you lied to anyone in the past week? Yes No
Do your parents or guardians refuse to talk with you when they are mad at you? Yes No
Do you rush into things without thinking about what could happen? Yes No
Did you have a paying job last summer? Yes No
Is your free time spent just hanging out with friends? Yes No
Have you accidentally hurt yourself or someone else while high on alcohol or drugs? Yes No
Have you had any accidents or injuries that still bother you? Yes No
Are you a good speller? Yes No
Do you have friends who damage or destroy things on purpose? Yes No
Have the whites of your eyes ever turned yellow? Yes No
Do your parents or guardians usually know where you are and what you are doing? Yes No
Do you miss out on activities because you spend too much money on drugs or
alcohol? Yes No

By: falafeloctopus

falafeloctopus — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:00:57 +0000

Please don’t ever reproduce.