Hey, just because I prefer to have relations with my slaughtered cadavers, that doesn’t give you the right to judge me!
Even from that excerpt, isn’t it (well to me) blindingly obvious that, well… it’s parody! Especially with that ending? His timing is poor (too soon!) but I think it’s quite obvious that he was deliberately trying to provoke a reaction like the one that he got.
Perhaps he’ll make a point about it. I want to read the rest of the essay, that part leads me to conclude it’ll be a flunking grade 
atrocious writing style.
It should read “then defiled the dead bodies”. Defiled is a much better, and more graphic word.
I hope the kid makes a fortune from this. He should publish it with a garish banner, “The work so shocking it led to his immediate arrest and the Marines considered him too violent for the Corps.”
Dipshits, every last one of them from the teacher to the prosecutor. You’d think someone in that chain would have read the 1st Amendment.
If he can’t make a fortune publishing, I hope he makes his real killing in a lawsuit against the school district.
I once started a short story with “At that moment, Commander Tsala decided she liked the smell of burnt flesh.” but I wasn’t in school at the time.
I haven’t really changed my opinion from what I said in the GD thread about this. Yes, I’m somewhat concerned about racial profiling and what role the VT shooter’s ethnicity may have played in this.
Having said that, I still think this kid exercised extremely poor judgment. This whole episode was just him being a smartass, right? Probably. But it was really stupid to do this in light of what happened in Blacksburg. He’s demonstrated a problem with authority with this teacher over the year, and I can see why the USMC want nothing to do with him at this point. The recruiting rules may be relaxed but I don’t think Marines want recruits that bring that set of issues.
I do fault the teacher for giving such an odd instruction in the assignment. It seems a little provocative to ask kids to write and state “no censorship.” On the other hand, the teacher had worked with this student for a year and found it problematic enough to refer to the department chair… and to the principal. If you want to fault someone, I suppose you could fault the principal for contacting the police. I certainly feel that the police could have interviewed the kid, but who knows if after talking with him that he didn’t say more that raised concerns?
The teacher did what she should have done - consulted with her department chair about the essay. It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback, but if you want to take issue with the principal and the cops, I’m probably in agreement. The teacher, not so much.
I hate to seem like I’m cherry-picking, but this just leaps out at me:
Does it? Really? 'Cause here I thought that an educator censoring his students would be far more provocative. Students have plenty of opportunities to censor themselves. School should be an opportunity to do the opposite.
Nor have I.
No question it was stupid.
I still don’t think that the appropriate response is an arrest. Having the arrest come two or three days after the assigment is first turned in makes the whole ‘urgent concerns’ that the police and Deptartment chair are talking about seem more than a little spurious.
That made my day, thanks.
And where did you get this tidbit? Made up? How creative of you. I haven’t seen any link where he has demonstrated a problem with authority–have you?
In fact I have:
Doesn’t sound like a respectful student-teacher relationship to me.
When that instruction is given, it seems to me to almost goad the students into pushing the boundaries. I was given free writing assignments in school: “Write five pages on any topic you choose,” etc. I was never told that there would be no censorship - if I had, I might be inclined to write something really out there.
But not about shooting people and having dead people sex.
High schools, as I know them, are an exercise in figuring out what the teacher is looking for and giving them that. When a teacher says “no censorship” they really mean “you can swear”, or perhaps, you can write about a slightly controversial subject, as long as you stay on the ‘safe’ side of it. You are still expected to censor your topic selection and content. At least, that’s how it was where I went to school.
In short, the guy’s problem is that he (perhaps willfully) misunderstood what the teacher meant when the assignment was handed out. I’ll defend that statement up until he says that he wanted to go to court and lose his contract with the Marines.
As for that excerpt…
Well, I’ve seen that style of writing before and I have little respect for it.
That’s not “over the year”, considering the tone of the essay it may have been tongue in cheek, and besides a problem with one teacher does not a “problem with authority” make.
I’m a former elementary and middle school teacher, college teacher, and I have been a TA in grad courses. After any sort of tragedy like Columbine, the district counseling staff always alerted us to be alert for students who were having a particularly difficult time dealing with their emotions after the event, and to be aware of copycat threats. (Notice how many schools and universities have had bomb threats and the like over the past few weeks.) I imagine the teachers in the school were probably told something along the same lines.
I do agree that it’s a little odd that it took so long for the arrest if it was deemed to be that troubling, though.
True on the first point. I imagine, though, that such a provocative statement wasn’t a surprise. Conjecture on my part, but I suspect he had expressed some disdain for the teacher before.
Second point… I don’t know how serious he was about being in the Marines, but I was an Air Force JROTC cadet in high school - came this close to doing it in college. The one thing that would get you demerits quicker than anything (except getting suspended for drugs or fighting) was getting in trouble with teachers and administrators. I think stating that a teacher’s teaching method would encourage a school shooting is not the sort of thing a drill instructor looks upon with glee.
By all accounts this whole essay was tongue in cheek, but the student sure misread how his teacher would take it. If I was so inclined to write some of the stuff that the student wrote, I’d probably make sure I wrote it for a teacher that wouldn’t think I was a nutter for writing it - someone I liked and trusted. Not for someone who might not get my humor (if we can call it that).
Nor does it sound like a year long feud with the teacher.
From the article quoted in the OP
‘Lee, who has a 4.2 grade-point average and never has been in trouble before, is being tutored at administrative offices while school officials decide his future, said his lawyer, Thomas Loizzo.’
Doesn’t make him sound like a bad student and doesn’t sound like he was in trouble before. So your statement sounds at best like a bit of conjecture on your part.
Considering the current situation, I don’t blame him.
The last sentence may not be something a “drill instructor looks upon with glee”, but it’s silly to argue that the Marines (or any other branch of the military) reject recruits simply based on “trouble with teachers and administrators”. If they did, several of my friends certainly wouldn’t be in the military right now.
I agree… to an extent. I don’t think it’s fair to lay the blame on the student, though, for all of these teachers’, administators’, etc. overreaction.
LilShieste
Let’s not ignore the fact that this statement is coming from his lawyer, either.
The verifiable facts are that he was a strong student with a good GPA and he wrote a really creepy essay. The school has not commented on his disciplinary record, because they can’t. And grades aren’t a perfect proxy for behavior, either. He may be very intelligent but a jerk (not saying he is, but rather his high grades don’t make him an angel).
LilShieste, if he thinks the teacher sucks now, fair enough (although he might better direct the anger toward the principal and the police). And having friends who have been military recruiters, yes, trouble with teachers/administrators is not an absolute deal-breaker, but things like attendance and discipline records did matter to them (I know they asked kids about it, but I don’t know if they went as far to actually follow up on those records).
Look, this is the kind of thing that you don’t get classes on when you’re getting certified to teach - how to handle it when students drop essays with suggestions of violence. Again, I can see how some folks might think the principal (slightly) and the police (completely) overreacted, but I don’t think a wise teacher would sit on this, or even approach the student - especially since he’s suggested that the teacher could inspire a school shooting.
in fact, I believe that may be why several of my friends ARE in the military…
Agreed.
I won’t dispute that those records matter to the recruiters - I just don’t think they’re deal-breakers (except for extreme cases; like if the person actually shot up their school). I’m sorry if I misunderstood your point.
I understand, and I don’t blame anyone for doing a spit-take after reading the kid’s essay. I just think the situation was blown completely out of proportion, and has caused a lot more damage than these administrators et al. think.
LilShieste