# Just what laws have been broken here? And the leeway police have with students **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 18, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-laws-have-been-broken-here-and-the-leeway-police-have-with-students/486436 "2009-02-18T20:08:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-laws-have-been-broken-here-and-the-leeway-police-have-with-students/486436/121 "2009-02-24T00:42:02Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I am saying that the school is responsible for what is done with children in its care, and that in the circumstances described in the police report, arresting the child was not appropriate. That’s for the police to decide, not the school. The school has no authority over the police. > [@](#): > > As far as it goes concerning a 14 year old student being passive-aggressive by refusing to cease texting, by shuffling rather than walking at a normal pace, by lying to hide the obvious, and assumedly by repeating siilar behaviour on other occasions, I suggest that involvement by a skilled social worker, and possibly psychological assessment and treatment, is called for, rather than arresting the child. This kid was not arrested for any of those things. The “disorderly conduct” was basically refusing to leave the classroom when told to by the teacher. All the other crap aside, if a kid is going to be disruptive to a classroom and _refuse to leave when told_, then you have no recourse but to call the SRO. Teachers are not permitted to physically remove children from the room, and it simply can’t be permitted for a kid to be able to disrupt a class and refuse to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-laws-have-been-broken-here-and-the-leeway-police-have-with-students/486436/122 "2009-02-24T07:07:21Z")
I was under the impression also that the student was uncooperative with the policeman. That’s a no-no. They get used to doing that with the teachers and forget that the police have more authority. > [@](#): > > **Muffin** : As far as it goes concerning a 14 year old student being passive-aggressive by refusing to cease texting, by shuffling rather than walking at a normal pace, by lying to hide the obvious, and assumedly by repeating siilar behaviour on other occasions, I suggest that involvement by a skilled social worker, and possibly psychological assessment and treatment, is called for, rather than arresting the child. Yes, the court system should also provide an entry point to such child services, but first and foremost, the school system should provide an entry point to such child services rather than dodge dealing with the child’s needs by having the child arrested. There was nothing “passive” about this student’s behavior. It can take weeks to get a psychological assessment done and most systems don’t provide treatment. The first year that I taught I spotted problems in one of my students that spelled out “trouble ahead” in far more serious ways than this. As I mentioned, it took weeks to get him tested and weeks to get a report back. All the time he was causing problems in my classroom and everyone else’s. But for the most part I could handle the loudness and distractions and the student and I generally got along okay. But he just didn’t seem to be quite in the same world. I finally got a report back. All it said was, “Needs to attend school regularly.” I was flabbergasted. Attendance wasn’t a problem at all. The next day in shop class, he took a hammer and tried to beat another boy “to death.” (That’s the way that it was related to me.) He was never allowed back in school. If we had referred every child who defied teachers to Psychological Services, we wouldn’t have had very good attendance. You have to come down hard on the repeat offenders _and let the consequences speak to the parents also._ The arrest actually will work in the girl’s favor in a strange way. Because of double jeopardy, they can’t keep her out of school after she is bailed out. (Not in Tennessee anyway) The parents will take notice of the bail and of her behavior and the student won’t miss any classwork. She also gets to save face by being back in that room. I doubt that she will be texting again in that particular class. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-laws-have-been-broken-here-and-the-leeway-police-have-with-students/486436/123 "2009-02-24T07:57:56Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I disagree. The person that caused the arrest was the child. Child acts right, Child doesn’t get arrested. Child is at fault, not Teacher, School, Police, Society, Conservatives, Gun Owners, Southerners, or George W. Bush. One of the problems with the country today is nobody dares to blame the child for any damn thing. Precious little snowflakes that can do no wrong–bullshit. Society has rules, and those rules must be followed. Better the child learn that now than go to prison in a few years. > > Seriously..how many people over 35 think this incident plays out the same way when we were in school? I’m 51. I went to school in the 60s and 70s. Back then, it was a pretty common practice for some teachers to paddle kids. This worked, in some cases. In other cases, the teachers were just a little too quick to paddle, and that’s why we, as a society, have decided not to use corporal punishment in our schools. I think that some kids need to be paddled just to get their attention. However, punishment/discipline is not one-size-fits-all. What works for one child might not work for the next. It’s damn near impossible for teachers to discipline kids these days, especially if the parents haven’t taught their little darlings to respect anyone or anything. I’m NOT saying that children should be beaten regularly, or even at all. But they do need to learn to respect their parents, teachers, and other humans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-laws-have-been-broken-here-and-the-leeway-police-have-with-students/486436.md?page=6)