School violates mans rights in fear of another massacre...

[Autolycus]

Link to Fox Video

Link to Fox Article

Suburban Teen Charged After Writing Disturbing' Essay

Last Edited: Wednesday, 25 Apr 2007, 7:15 PM CDT
Created: Wednesday, 25 Apr 2007, 7:15 PM CDT
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Poll
Based on what you know, did police and school officials overreact to a student who wrote an essay that depicted violence?

Poll Results:
Yes 68.29%
No 31.71%

Total number of votes: 924

A Cary-Grove High School senior was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with disorderly conduct after writing an English class essay that school officials deemed to be inappropriate, authorities said.

Allen W. Lee, 18, of 1205 Ardmore Drive, Cary, was arrested by Cary police early Tuesday morning near his home, Police Chief Ron Delelio said.

Lee was charged with a Class C misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 30 days in the McHenry County Jail and a fine of up to $1,500, in addition to up to two years probation. Lee is scheduled to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. June 18 in Woodstock, Delelio said.

“(Lee) turned in an essay Monday that depicted violence, was disturbing and inappropriate,” Delelio said. “It alarmed the staff, which discussed and reviewed the incident and then promptly contacted Cary police.

“It is important to stress that the essay did not contain any specific locations or names. We did not feel the safety of the students or the staff was compromised.”

Delelio said Lee, who did not have any prior arrests by Cary police, was not in school Tuesday. He also said the police would have reacted the same even if the massacre at Virginia Tech University last week had not taken place.

Jeff Puma, a spokesman for District 155, declined to comment on any further disciplinary action Lee could face.

Link to NW Herald Article

Disturbing essay details revealed


By NICK SWEDBERG - [email protected]
and ERIC R. OLSON - [email protected]
Comments (80)
CARY – When asked by a teacher to write an essay about anything he wanted, Allen Lee made references to violence, drug use, and a dream about a shooting spree where he had sex with dead bodies.

According to a criminal complaint signed by Cary-Grove High School Principal Susan Popp and filed in McHenry County Court, Lee's free-form essay also included the line "as a teacher, don't be surprised on inspiring the first CG school shooting."

“At the very last sentence, I said that this teacher’s method of teaching could lead to a school shooting,” Lee, a senior at Cary-Grove High School, said Wednesday.

School officials also alleged that Lee used violent and strange imagery in the essay, which was detailed in the complaint charging Lee with disorderly conduct.

"Blood, sex and booze," according to the complaint. "Drugs, drugs, drugs are fun. Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, s ... t ... a ... b ..., puke."

"So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out two P 90s and started shooting everyone, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I did."

The essay led Cary Police to arrest Lee Tuesday morning on disorderly conduct charges. The arrest shocked those who know the 18-year-old Cary-Grove High School senior, and prompted some students to circulate a petition complaining about the way the incident was handled.

School officials said they had since removed Lee from the general student population and placed him in a separate building to continue his education. Lee said he had been told he could face expulsion from school.

The essay was the result of what Lee said was an in-class assignment in his creative writing class during the last period of the day on Monday. He said his English teacher, Nora Capron, told the students to write whatever they wanted.

They could even write “I don’t know what to write about” repeatedly for the duration of the class period, Lee recalled his teaching saying.

He said that he wrote the entire essay as a joke.

Student faces penalties

Allen Lee said he had a 4.2 grade-point average, wrestled on his high school team and planned to join the Marines after he graduates later this year.

But with graduation a month from today, Lee could be sentenced to up to 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine if convicted, and might not get to finish the year at Cary-Grove.

Tom Carroll, first assistant state’s attorney for McHenry County, declined to comment on the essay.

He said in the light of recent events, particularly the Virginia Tech shooting last week where Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students before killing himself, and the 1999 Columbine tragedy, the statements made in the essay were inappropriate.

“Ten years ago, maybe a statement wouldn’t raise as much comment or concern,” Carroll said, “but you have to factor in the world and the fact that these tragedies had happened.”

Lee was set to begin boot camp in October, but now is worried that if he can’t get his high school diploma before that, he won’t be able to attend.

Principal called police

District 155 Superintendent Jill Hawk said the response to remove the student from the others, put him in a separate annex on the campus and call the police was appropriate. Lee still is being supervised and receiving an education, she added.

“Concern doesn’t just come from a mention of violence,” Hawk said. “It’s a continuum of a combination of factors from what is written in the essay.”

“Our response was based on the essay,” she added. “That was the issue.”

She said the teacher, whom she declined to identify, called her department head, who then called school Principal Popp.

Hawk said it was Popp, not the teacher, who decided to call the police.

“I think it’s appropriate that we do everything possible to make students safe,” Hawk said.

The district responded to another threat made last week at Crystal Lake Central High School. About half the students at Central stayed home Friday and police presence at the school was increased after threatening graffiti was found on a bathroom wall. The graffiti was determined to be a prank, officials have said.

Student reaction

Students who know Lee said they didn’t expect him to write what he did.

“He’s an outstanding kid; a good athlete,” said Nick Charles, a senior at Cary-Grove who wrestled with Lee their freshman and sophomore years.

Lee’s friend, Jameson Emling, who also is in the class, said he felt the teacher overreacted to the essay. Emling also has enlisted in the Marines.

About six weeks ago, Emling said he gave a 10-minute speech in the same class describing what his life would be like as a “hit-man” and identified students he would shoot. He said he was not punished for that speech.

“The teacher threw up a red flag on someone who is going to be fighting for her freedom,” Emling said.

School essay’s author explains statements

C-G High School officials, law enforcement authorities say suspension, charge both appropriate

 

[Autolycus]

This young man is a credit to himself and society and the school is trying to violate his first amendment rights. He is 18, holds a GPA of 4.2, and plans to enlist in the USMC. A lot of people are very interested in what happens here becuase this affects a lot of us still in college and high school.

He was arrested for talking about violence while no specific threats were made. Does that mean that if we talk about a violent situation or something poetentially illegal (and dont even commit the act being discussed) we are possibly facing arrest?

 

[Sage of Seattle]

Lee said he had a 4.2 grade-point average...

Lee was set to begin boot camp in October, but now is worried that if he can’t get his high school diploma before that, he won’t be able to attend.

A kid that smart? He should be able to get his GED, no problem.

 

[Trebor]

Another tragic "thoughtcrime." Remember, wrongthought will be punished. Rightthought will be rewarded.

 

[Autolycus]

Sage of Seattle: When I was 19 about 6 years ago to enlist in the USMC you needed 13 college credits if you had a GED. However to enlist in the army you do not need the college credits. With a HS diploma you dont need college. It may have changed recently due to lower standards but you need something.

Either way this is rediculous.

 

[Uenoparker]

Thomas Jefferson said, "I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

This event bears disconcerting resemblence to some described in Orwell's "1984". Beware Thoughtcrime!

 

[Prince Yamato]

A highschool male speaking of violence! no way!

Is "Lee" an Asian name or is it western... kind of curious, because if he's Asian, he could charge discrimination. Honestly, unless he's physically violent or a total wierd recluse, just give him detention for writing something gross and inapropriate.

 

[pax]

With a 4.2 GPA, the kid should have been smart enough to know better.

pax

 

[Sage of Seattle]

Sage of Seattle: When I was 19 about 6 years ago to enlist in the USMC you needed 13 college credits if you had a GED. However to enlist in the army you do not need the college credits. With a HS diploma you dont need college. It may have changed recently due to lower standards but you need something.

Ah. Thank you for the correction.

The article does mention several other previous instances of a fairly violent nature. Personally, I'd hope that his home life and friendships and other outside school activities are taken into consideration and that he not be criminally charged solely based on what he wrote.

 

[bclark1]

i remain something of a nerd, albeit with no time to spend playing video games. but i played some online MUD-type text-based games years ago, from like 5th - 8th grade. the graphic text combat "bled" over into a lot of my writing - i enjoyed writing very braveheart-esque things when allowed to pick my own topic. i've never been unnecessarily violent and turned out just fine. if they'd arrested me and marked up my record at the time, i probably wouldn't have attended the schools i did or had a shot with OCS. talk about spazzes. discretion seems to be eluding decision makers these days.

 

[mdao]

Heck, I wrote "How to make an IED" in the 8th grade and got an A for the paper. This was about... 10 years ago.

“Ten years ago, maybe a statement wouldn’t raise as much comment or concern,” Carroll said, “but you have to factor in the world and the fact that these tragedies had happened.”

Yep. School's changed.

 

[Cosmoline]

Lee was charged with a Class C misdemeanor,

Charged with a crime for writing something that scared someone. That's about as low as a government can get. Maybe it's time we had more killing in this country.

 

[nico]

Absurd situations make me really glad I'm not 10 years younger (I'm 23); each one makes me more and more amazed at just how much schools have changed in the few years since I graduated from high school.

When I was in elementary school, I remember playing "war" during recess and "killing" kids that my friends and I didn't like. Every boy I knew growing up played similarly violent games at some point, and I don't know of any who have gone on any rampages.

When I was in 5th grade, I was given an assignment to write a short story mimicking the style of some well known author. I chose Edgar Alan Poe and wrote a gory story about a guy having his finger cut off over a card game. My teacher was really impressed with how imaginative my story was and gave me an A. Today, they'd probably call the cops on a kid who did something similar.

Somehow, even with such "deranged" (by today's standards) thoughts, I've managed not to kill or maim anyone (even with the handful of guns I own) and am 3 years away from my DDS.

ETA: given the kid's background, he doesn't fit the profile of a school-shooter at all. When I was in high school (maybe this has changed too) the kids with 4.x GPAs were well known by at least some of the faculty. If the teacher was really that concerned, why didn't they take him aside and talk to him. Something along the lines of "you know, the story you wrote was really a little over the top. Is everything ok?" could have averted this idiotic situation

 

[bender]

With a 4.2 GPA, the kid should have been smart enough to know better.

exactly. I mean, what's the point of writing crap like that? Wait till you're out of school at least... sheesh...

I'm not agreeing with the actions of the Thought Police, but what's the kid expect in the current environment...?

 

[sm]

So when is the school going to start burning books?
I mean *my gosh* a student might read something that goes against Tyranny.

I wrote a speech paper about youth's stealing a car and dying from decapitation. Speech teacher stole that paper and it ended up in a text book she wrote.

I also wrote a Essay, about Crack Cocaine. I researched using the school and public library. Chair of English Dept asked permission and I granted it - this essay was in the text the Chair of English Dept wrote and used in classes.

A classmate also wrote a descriptive essay on how to roll a cigarette.
Publisher called and "you do realize this is cocaine and marijuana these students wrote about?"

Chair replied , he did in fact know. The reality being opiates and cannibas have been used forever from medicinal to abusive means - and will continue to be used as such.
These essays and papers were going to used in a College Eng Class. College is about getting educated, and not everything one learns in life is in a college building with "education" on the door.

Personal responsibility, and none of the Governments damn business to be indoctrinating and brainwashing anyone , including college students.

*somewhere* is another work I did under a pseudo, about Southern Justice.
Southern Baptist Preacher was attacking teenage girls and ladies.
Democrat Mayor was in on the deal, and participating too. He was the "local cog" in the Political Machine.
These attacks continued, and finally the ladies figured this all out.
Political Machine lost a few more "cogs", Church had to find a new preacher.
Alligators gotta eat too you know?

 

[Limeyfellow]

Not the first time it happened either. DHS took away a highschool student and charged him with terrorism for writing a story about zombies attacking a school last year. This is just another story added to the list.

 

[skinnyguy]

I wonder if these "feel gooders" who tromped all over this kids rights have ever rented a video/dvd starring Arnold (the governator), Steven Seagal, Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood, or any other number of major actors known for making shoot'em-ups. I wonder if they get a kick out of the movie or if they wonder who comes up with the rather creative violence they've just seen on the screen.

Oh well, I'm off to watch the Alien trilogy....

 

[CNYCacher]

It is important to stress that the essay did not contain any specific locations or names. We did not feel the safety of the students or the staff was compromised.

So. . . . it really was just a thought crime?

 

[Robert Hairless]

I am alarmed and disturbed by those news reports. Please arrest and charge the reporters and publishers of them. Thank you.

 

[azredhawk44]

While it may be a bit off-topic, could someone please explain to me just where the heck the idea came from for a GPA scale that exceeds 4.0?

With a 4.2 GPA, the kid should have been smart enough to know better.

Where I come from, and when I was in high school (and college, for that matter), the highest GPA you could pull was a 4.0. That was straight "A" grades, no A- or lower grades ever.
A=4.0
A-=3.66
B+=3.33
B=3.0
B-=2.66
C+=2.33
C=2.0
...and so on.

This was in 1996, when I graduated from our illustrious public school system with a 3.7 GPA, enrolled in "honors" classes, a member of National Honor Society and even exhausted the high level class load at the high school, taking courses at the local community college while still technically a high school student. Same rules still held through college.

I get out of college and I am talking with some bubble-headed high school girl in Texas one day in various "honors" classes, who claims a 4.7 GPA.

4.7? How?

This new GPA system emerging really irks me.

 

[nico]

The "new" grading system has been around for several years, and is actually pretty simple. Advanced Placement (or whatever a given school's equivalent may be) courses are graded on a scale where A=5 B=4, etc. Theoretically, a student taking all AP courses could have a 5.0 GPA if they get straight A's. The point is just to show that the student took courses that were above the "normal" high school curriculum.

That being said, the AP courses I took were definitely not comparable to the entry level college courses they were said to equal. I know a few people who were put at a significant disadvantage when they got to college and were placed in more advanced courses (based on their AP test scores) that their AP courses had not prepared them for.

 

[Vairochana]

Surely the 1st Amendment would cover this or would the "patriot act" supercede it too?

 

[Soybomb]

He was arrested for talking about violence while no specific threats were made.

Boy I'm torn on this one. Certainly one can imply violence without making specific threats. "It would be terrible if someone were to hurt you" could be a very sincere concern for a friends well being or it could be a threat depending entirely on context. If TSA asks me dumb questions like "did you pack your luggage" and I give them a smart ass answer of "oh no I let some guy from the lobby do it, crap is that ticking from the suitcase?" I can probably safely expect to be given a hard time even if I'm just making a joke. If the kid has a brain rattling around in his head he should know that an essay about a school shooting won't be taken lightly. I think I agree with his suspension, sometimes you don't do something just because you can, discretion is necessary. Past that I'm just not sure and would want to find out a bit more about his past incidents I think.

 

[Caimlas]

Sophomore year of college I took a creative writing class because I didn't know what else to take (was feeling a bit disillusioned with their Institution and I enjoy writing). I was given an assignment to describe a simple event in detail. Most students turned in a 1 or 2 paragraph "Jim brushed his teeth and flossed" type blurb. Me, I handed in a 2-page "story" about someone brutalizing a prisoner in a room with hands, feet, and a chair to the point of fibrous and disintegration. We then had to "share" our papers with our classmates.

The professor and my fellow students were kind of silent for a while after I had finished (feverishly) reading mine.

In my defense, I had to carve up and tenderize a big, excessively fatty roast for dinner the night I wrote it.

These people over-react way too damn much.

While it may be a bit off-topic, could someone please explain to me just where the heck the idea came from for a GPA scale that exceeds 4.0?

It's asinine. Basically, he's taken one or two AP courses, more than likely, or possibly even an entire curriculum of AP courses after his junior year. AP (Advanced Placement) courses count as a maximum 5.0 in averaging the grade, as well as count as "double". In other words, they also count as 100-level classes once the student gets to college and are AFAIK automatically transferable. I knew a guy in college who already had 35 college credits before he even started his first college class (he graduated uni in 2001). It's pretty ridiculous, though quite likely appreciated by those who can take them. I know I'd have appreciated knowing about them when I was in high school (if they were even available to me as a private schooler!).

 

[1911Tuner]

Essay

Lemme get this straight. A week or so after the worst campus massacre in US history, the lad wrote:

>"So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out two P 90s and started shooting everyone, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I did."<
************

...and he's surprised that the administrators in his school seem to have overreacted?

Perfect example of a kid with near genius-level intelligence and not a shred of common sense. Or maybe he was just lookin' for a little attention. Well...He got it.