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PONDER, Texas Nov 01 – One day, a North Texas 7th grader got an “A” for a horror story he wrote in class. The next day, he was jailed for his creative writing. In a small town like Ponder, Texas – where the uperintendent sometimes drives the school bus – big city worries seemed far away… until last Thursday. Jan Beamon’s 7th grade son Chris was taken to jail for a horror story he
was assigned to write for class. They said it amounted to a terroristic threat. “The teacher gave him an A – a 100 – plus extra points for reading the essay aloud,” Beamon said. “I don’t understand any of it. None of it makes sense to me.”
Chris’ story included characters named after classmates and the teacher – and in the story, they all end up dead. School leaders took that to be a threat. “He’s never been arrested. He’s not a bad kid. He didn’t even break window lights out. He’s a good kid,” Jan Beamon said tearfully. Scott McKamie, who is in Beamon’s 7th grade class, said no one takes the stories seriously. “We all know
it’s not true,” he said. “We think it’s funny.” No one from Ponder ISD would talk on camera, but Superintendent Byron Welch said in a telephone interview that in this day and age, any possible threat that names an individual inside the school must be taken seriously. “A threat is a threat, and I would be upset with my child to name anyone in that,” said Teresa Chance, a parent. “Imagination can go a long way, but he doesn’t have to pick out particular people.” Parents and students told News 8 a girl in Chris Beamon’s class read her tale of terror – and she named another classmate as her stabbing victim. She is still in school. Chris Beamon remains in jail in Denton. Late Monday, his mother met with the superintendent, but reported no progress in getting her son freed. Chris Beamon spent his sixth night in jail on Monday. The next hearing to consider his release won’t happen until Wednesday, when a judge returns to town.
