14-year-old high-school student arrested for texting in class

[crankmob]

Source: rawstory

"The School Resource officer at Wauwatosa East High School was asked to go to room 242 and remove a student who refuses to stop texting on her phone during class," the Wauwatosa Police Department officer wrote in his report. "The student (w/f 6-23-94) is known to me and the administration based on prior negative contacts."

Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/14yearold_student_arrested_for_texting_in_0217.html

[muntrv]

1. Jeez, school staff are too lazy to take care of this themselves?

[MadMaddie]

3. I am betting that if the teacher and the principal would

have done their jobs and removed her and put her in detention or suspended her the school would have been sued.

I think arresting the student is extreme but the power of school teachers and administrators is dwindling to nothing. Parents don't discipline their kids and get pissed of when the school trys to enforce rules.

[Bill McBlueState]

69. if they're trying to avoid a lawsuit...

It's beyond me why they would take the extreme step of bringing in law enforcement.

[AB_Positive]

85. As someone that works in a school...

it's true, the power of Administration in public schools is non-existant. Just try to keep a kid back for bad grades. Go ahead... *try*. Enjoy getting sued to oblivion.

Lack of empowerment for teachers and staff has directly helped the complete lack of education we give kids. A lack of consequences means a lack of desire to do what's right. Sad.

[tritsofme]

88. A high school teacher friend of mine told me that they can no longer give a 0 grade

on homework if the student turns in anything, and I mean anything.

They will receive at least a 49% if anything gets turned in.

The reasoning just makes no sense.

[kiva]

5. Errr...how were they supposed to take care of it?

The girl refused to stop texting-was the teacher supposed to physically stop her? Somehow I suspect that many here would be screaming if a teacher assaulted a student. Should the school security have stopped her? Since she lied to them, telling them she didn't even have a phone, it's difficult to see how they could have dealt with it.

The fact that this situation escalated is due to the student's actions, not that of the teacher or police. I'm just happy that no one was shot or tasered, and this girl will likely get her hand slapped when she goes to court.

[Donnachaidh]

10. that $298 ticket for disorderly conduct will REALLY impress her friends

The school should ban phones in the classroom and put the blame entirely on this little brat. She was already suspended over the phone previously.

[wordpix]

15. c'mon, if this happened over and over, just call her parents and ask them to pick her up

Nuff said. Calling the police is just dumb.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

17. They called the Student Resource Officer to be fair.

[wordpix]

18. I know that, but then they called the police in - that's a bit over the top, wouldn't you say?

A 14 y.o. text-er is hardly a "criminal" worthy of a policeman being called.

[JerseygirlCT]

19. Yeah, I'd say that's a job for the parents

and if they didn't act on it... well then bans start, I suppose. Suspensions, etc.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

22. The SRO is probably a cop, he likely just called a squad car to transport her.

[saigon68]

24. Hey we need more cops

To make us safe
</sarcasm>

[digidigido]

30. Actually I think it was pretty smart. We had a teacher here in L.A. who was great

there was one obnoxious kid who wouldn't shut up, the teacher told him to go outside and run a lap around the school yard.
His parents had a fit and the teacher was fired. She was the only teacher who wouldn't take crap and demanded respect. She
was also the only teacher that they really really learned from. The power of teachers in a class room has waned greatly from
my youth, and parents spoil their children. This is the consequence.

[wordpix]

58. depending on the age of the student, the teacher's asking for a lap run shouldn't result in firing

BUT
I still think calling in police over a texting 14 y.o. is just plain dumb and unwarranted.

[proud2BlibKansan]

87. The school resource officer might BE a cop

They are in my district.

[Mojorabbit]

49. It seems the teacher could

have made her hand the thing over and returned it at the end of class? I guess things have changed alot since I was a kid in the early 60's.

[izquierdista]

56. Changed??

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
You can't even begin to imagine!

[Mojorabbit]

82. Yes,

I am an old fart I guess. :)

[GinaMaria]

64. I thought the same thing

That's what I would have expected as a HS student. I feel really old today :-(

side note: Seems more and more people are addicted to texting. It's like crack. I guess it would be like taking drugs away from a drug addict. You can't really expect them to go along with that quietly.

[immoderate]

77. How do you make her turn it over?

Suppose she says no.

--imm

[crim son]

63. Well, it strikes me that you expect too little, and one can hardly blame you.

I'm glad there was no tasering, too, but calling the police because a student is basically being rude and uncooperative is ridiculous and a waste of law enforcement resources.

[Kittycat]

2. Why didn't they confiscate the phone, and call the parents?

Implement detention? WTF with the police?

[MUAD_DIB]

13. If the girl is a "problem child" then even having a teacher touch her

could cause a lawsuit.

If she was my kid, and she had been expelled previously then guess what?


No phone for her. Period.


Some parents just can't cope with responsibility. Hopefully her parents will pay attention now.

[JerseygirlCT]

20. Yup, that's what I'd think, too.

And I'd sure hope the parents' reaction would mean little missy no longer had a cell phone. At least for a good long time.

[progdonkey]

53. did you read the article?

First, she lied about even having it to the teacher, the resource officer, and then the police officer who arrived. They had to call a female officer to the scene to conduct a body search to find the phone. Then, when they wanted to call her parents, she kept giving them false numbers.

Lying to police is a crime--and she did it twice: first in re to the very existence of the phone, and second when she kept giving them fake numbers. Wasting police time because you'd rather waste your teacher and classmates' time is also a crime.

She deserved to be arrested. Her parents should take the phone away and make her work off the $298 fine.

The headline is just sensationalist. She wasn't arrested for texting; she was arrested for lying to police officers and wasting everyone's time with her bullshit.

[Trillo]

73. Honest rewards and dishonest punishments?

Or should the headline be "dishonest rewards and honest punishments"?

"First, she lied about even having it to the teacher, the resource officer, and then the police officer who arrived. They had to call a female officer to the scene to conduct a body search to find the phone. Then, when they wanted to call her parents, she kept giving them false numbers."

We already know who, where, what, when, and why, in regards to the variety of punishments used by a variety of entities to discourage lying and non-desired behaviors. Where are the rewards for desired behaviors and being honest?

Surely this relates, however seemingly distant, to dictator and rush-to-war.

Whimsical username change.
Trillo: not exactly an inverted mordent; see Johann Ambrosius Bach.

[baldguy]

4. We live in a time when the sum total of human knowledge is literally at our children's' fingertips.

Our schools should seek to harness that resource for it's educational value - instead of arresting students who use the same technology.

[rpannier]

9. She was texting in class

Not doing research on some topic to enhance her knowledge

She was told she couldn't

She lied to the officer

She's been suspended before

[Dirigo]

14. Texting In Class

I predict this defiant girl with a reputation as a piss poor student with a disciplinary record is going to get pregnant by a hockey player and not graduate high school.

[baldguy]

26. Do ya think - maybe

that fundamental changes in the level & ubiquitousness of information technology *might* require different methods of instruction?

hmmm?

Instead they're try to teach the kids to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bear skins.

[enlightenment]

43. Piffle.

There are plenty of methodologies at work in classrooms.
ALL of them require the student to PAY ATTENTION.

A student who is texting during class is not paying attention. Trying to blame the system for this brat's behaviour is foolish.

[Hobarticus]

47. OH, no you didn't!

Don't even say you held a student accountable for their own actions and subsequent failure! Horrors!

[canetoad]

51. Bullshit and you know it

And on the topic of the ubiquioutness of IT, keep in mind that we are in the very early years of the digital revolution and many, many people, students and teachers alike, do not have the discretionary skills to know when something is errrrr... bullshit. As in the need to text every thought that pops into your brain every five minutes.

I doubt you are radical (or reactionary) enough to propose anarchy in the classroom, so I ask you at what stage must a teacher call for attention and administer discipline when a student choses to ignore the call?

[Scout]

74. do you have kids? n/t

[Hobarticus]

45. Erm....yeah.

Obviously not a teacher.

[mitchum]

62. Agreed...and probably a former "special" student

[mitchum]

61. "R U blah blah blah..." hardly constitutes research

[The2ndWheel]

66. Shouldn't that make schools inefficient and obsolete?

[Trillo]

76. Sure! Excellent Observation!

The proportionality of rewards versus punishments, in our institutions, are seriously out-of-balance.

Whimsical username change.
Trillo: not exactly an inverted mordent; see Johann Ambrosius Bach.

[zazen]

6. do they drag her out kicking & screaming? I guess you have to call police if she won't leave

Hell, I'm always the first out there against zero tolerance, but this is BS. First, it's disrespectful as hell to use it even once. But she had already been repeatedly called down for it, suspended, gone back on campus, and then repeatedly used it in class AGAIN, lied about doing it, lied about having it, lied about where it was, and refused to give her parents' number so they could the called to pick her up. What else was the school supposed to do?

I think the school did the right thing. I know this headline sensationalizes it, but I wouldn't want that brat in my daughter's class. Teachers deserve better than that.

[emilyg]

23. Agree.

[Hobarticus]

48. I second that. eom

[dipsydoodle]

7. Crushing the phone

would've solved the problem.

[zazen]

8. or donating it to an Iraqi soldier n/t

[dipsydoodle]

11. Fair comment

n/t

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

16. Until the parents make you buy her a new one.

[shadowknows69]

12. While I agree in theory that texting should be outlawed due to its utter annoying quality

This is a BS arrest to be sure.

[immoderate]

79. Then how do you deal with an outlaw?

Texting is outlaw. Student refuses to comply. What's your scenario?

--imm

[theoldman]

21. It's too bad that you cannot arrest the parents for failing to raise

a child properly. This child will grow up to be a terrible adult. I must have done something wrong with my three children because they never had to be disciplined in school. Perhaps it was because I paddled their little butts. Now they are in their forties earning a living and staying out of jail.

[droidamus2]

25. Why?

Why do they even allow cell phones in school. I know I made it through 12 years of school without one. In high school there was one pay phone on campus (it was a closed campus so you couldn't or weren't supposed to go off campus) and you had to have permission to use the one phone. This idea that people have to be in contact or at least have the ability to be in contact 24/7 is ridiculous. Before you ask I have two cell phones one I bought a year ago with 600 hours and I still have 400+. The other one I still haven't activated.

[samdogmom]

27. They are not allowed in the WI school district I live in for very good reason...

Kids can text answers to test questions if cell phones are allowed! In my district, if a student is caught using a cell phone for any reason during school hours in a class room, the device is confiscated and the parent is required to come in and retrieve the phone!

[JenniferJuniper]

35. It used to be called "cheating"

And when you were caught cheating, you failed the course. The Mod Squad was usually not called in....

[mitchum]

60. They allow them in school due to state legislators who are in the bag...

for the telecommunications industry

[JenniferJuniper]

28. We used to smoke pot out on the cafeteria patio....

No one bothered us. We bothered no one.

It must truly suck to be a kid today.

[PM Martin]

37. It seems in the past decade

there is a reason to arrest anybody for anything.
On the other hand, I was in high school a many years ago.
Not that I did anything horrible in school, but so long as we didn't bother anyone, they didn't bother us.
Things have changed.

[rpannier]

52. Cafeteria Patio

Not in the class

[Prometheus Bound]

29. The article says she was arrested for disorderly conduct, not for texting.

Making the headline a bit misleading.

[JenniferJuniper]

31. As can the charge "disorderly conduct" be misleading:

"The arrest was more for her behavior than for the texting," Leone said. "All she had to do was put the phone away and that would have been that."

So she was arrested for not putting her phone away and they classified it as disorderly conduct.

Texting is generally a non-disruptive activity. Fail the girl for cheating. Call the parents. (oh, but the school had no numbers!) Have her expelled again. But arrest her? Just making her a cool little anti-hero to her peers, that's all.

[Prometheus Bound]

33. The headline is wrong though.

When I read it, as with all headlines, I naturally started to predict what might have happened, and if it is a well written headline, this usually works. In this case I predicted from the headline that the girl was texting, so the police were summoned and she was arrested for texting. In fact it was her behavior subsequent to the actual texting that got her arrested.

[JenniferJuniper]

34. Okay, but what is the actual difference

between being arrested for refusing to stop texting vs being arrested for failing to put the phone away?

[Prometheus Bound]

36. 14-year-old high-school student arrested for reading in class

14-year-old high-school student arrested for laughing in class
14-year-old high-school student arrested for talking in class
14-year-old high-school student arrested for singing national anthem in class
14-year-old high-school student arrested for reading Shakespeare in class
14-year-old high-school student arrested for using calculator in class

The point is that she was not arrested for texting, though the headline and opening paragraph would like to give that impression. It was her subsequent behavior.

I'm not defending the actions of the teacher, school authorities or police. I think they are all pathetic authoritarian assholes.

But that doesn't excuse the misleading headline.

[JenniferJuniper]

39. The headline is only very slightly misleading

See the police report. The authorities were called in because she was texting. She was arrested for "disruption in class for having the phone out..., refusal to obey the teacher and her not telling us the truth".

Scary shit if you ask me. And I can pretty much guarantee a lawsuit with eventual settlement to the girl.

[Politicalboi]

32. Break her thumbs

That'll show her. :sarcasm:

[Honeycombe8]

38. LOL! But seriously, I'm guessin' there was a particular problem w/that student. Violent, maybe.

Past fighting incidents or something, maybe. It's just so weird to have police arrest her, and that police WOULD bother with it, says that maybe she was a special case.

[DeltaLitProf]

40. This is a gutsy teacher

When my college students text during my class and (once) during my in-office conferences, all I can do is look incredulous. If this doesn't work, there's no further step to take. Education cannot cease because one person is a text-addict.

[JenniferJuniper]

42. Gutsy?

I've been a college professor as well, and can think of a few slightly more appropriate adjectives.

[jmm]

41. A cell phone jammer would've cost less than arresting her

She probably was being obnoxious but the reaction was still extreme.

[Massacure]

44. Jamming is illegal in the United States.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

55. Don't go in a sports book in Vegas then, they all have jammers.

[Hobarticus]

46. So everyone suffers because of her?

Students who may call home, or whatever, can't take calls for the sake of one sociopathic jackass?

Fuck that. Remove the cancer. Move on.

[catawampus]

50. The public caning

of a couple brats* like this, maybe during halftime of the big
game, would likely go a long way toward filling the gap
created by irresponsible parenting.  Teachers and
administrators need all the help they can get, as evidenced by
many of the responses to this thread. 

*And why not give the parent(s) a few whacks too?  

[Bill McBlueState]

71. Yeah, life would be better

if we just started beating the hell out of everyone.

[aquart]

54. My sympathies with the teacher.

ENTIRELY.

[geckosfeet]

57. Prior negative contacts --- woooo - better lock her up and throw away the key.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

59. Ridiculous -- this shit should be handled by the teacher/principals/parents

[Scout]

75. did you bother to read the story? n/t

[kath]

65. Isn't it wonderful that we have cops in high schools. Keeping. Our. Children. Safe.

Yeah, right.

[Renew Deal]

67. Seems reasonable.

:wtf:

[L0oniX]

68. Ah well maybe the judge will send em to one of those private prisons with kick backs.

:evilfrown:

[slackmaster]

70. Sensationalist headline

She wasn't arrested for texting, she was arrested for disorderly conduct.

That probably happens in a high school somewhere in the country every day. Kids act up, break rules, refuse to comply with instructions, get ejected, and sometimes turned over to the police.

Nothing new under the Sun.

[Swede]

72. Good. Judging by some of the responses some posters didn't read the story.

She also came to school twice during her week of suspension and was charged with trespassing. Also good. See how we learn.

[FloridaJudy]

78. I'm old than dirt

But when I was in High School we passed notes. I remember getting into trouble for it, but I don't recall any of us ever getting arrested. This just strikes me as a high tech version. Sending the kid to the principle's office should have been sufficient.

[immoderate]

80. OK, try this scenario:

Teacher: Go to the principal's office.

Kid: (Ignores teacher. Continues texting.)

Then what?

How did your teacher get the note? Suppose you denied the note passing, and refused all instructions of the teacher. What does the teacher do then?

--imm

[FloridaJudy]

86. I've swallowed more than a few notes!

But still got in trouble anyway. As to that student, do what schools always have done: call the principle, call the parents. If they refuse to co-operate, suspend or expel him or her.

Calling the police for anything that is not a crime is ridiculous. Of course, if the student comes back after being expelled that's trespass, and a perfectly valid reason to bring in the authorities.

Schools are getting too quick to have the cops in. If a student assaults another student or a teacher, or steals something valuable, or is caught selling drugs that's appropriate. But texting - or wearing a cow hoodie - while annoying doesn't break any laws that I'm aware of. Are food fights in the cafeteria now going to justify calling in the Tac Squad to tazer the perps?

Unreal.

[immoderate]

90. I think the student escalated to this point.

When I taught in NYC we had security personnel, who were not cops, but provided by the police department. My general strategy was to bug the parents until they got their kids in line. But that doesn't always work. We got our share of felons, they bore special watching.

My kids got a lot of leeway, but some things really destroy the learning process. I see suspension as a reward, and expulsion surely is not the answer. Kids have to be in school somewhere. That's just palming off the problem. (My fantasy here is to put the kid in a small room with a video link.)

--imm

[Swede]

81. In the old days a teacher could physically search you and or strap you.

Those days or so last century.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

83. Was the student a minority?

[WI_DEM]

84. I don't think we know the whole story. Teachers have a tough job.

Maybe the parents should try showing some discipline and take cell phone away from her. Maybe they will.

[liberal1973]

89. This is so stupid

Arresting a 14 year old kid for texting. A $298 ticket? lol..WTF?

The cop sounds like the principle from that movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

What's next getting arrested for giving the teacher a apple.:yoiks: