# They drew stick figures! Take them away in chains! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 10, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476 "2005-02-10T23:00:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/21 "2005-02-11T02:27:03Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Funny how dear **Reeder** gets upset about this yet fails to mention this zero tolerence bullshit started during the Clinton administration. Wonder how the OP would look if it was Bush? :dubious: This from a guy who recently defended torture because it was done under the Bush administration… ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/22 "2005-02-11T02:28:32Z")
Did no one catch that they are “special education” students? Matters not to anyone in the system I guess. And if the “target” was so intimidated…how did he get the drawings? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/23 "2005-02-11T02:35:25Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > But that said…seems to me they meant the drawing as as specific intimidation to another boy. A specific threat of future viloence. Now we’re talking “thought police”. People can be arrested for what others think they might do. And I thought _Minority Report_ was sci-fi. See how this seemingly inane shit slowly creeps into everyone’s lives? Zero tolerance of intimidation is fully backed by the likes of me. I don’t use intimidation, and believe me, I very easily could. This is simply another (latest) case where a small group of people make enough noise to be placated in the interest of saving the Republic by getting special rules or policies set up, then abuse the shit out of them. I put it right up there with the few parents here and there trying to end Christmas in public schools. Give an inch, take a mile and all that. It may not be “slippery slope” yet, but somewhere it starts going downhill. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/24 "2005-02-11T02:37:22Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > This from a guy who recently defended torture because it was done under the Bush administration… When did that happen? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/25 "2005-02-11T02:40:40Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > At least he ain’t Brutus. See? I told you we were old friends. [Sally Field] He likes me! He really, really likes me! [/Sally Field]\* \*If you’re not old enough to get this reference, turn off the computer and go to bed. You have school in the morning! ---
**Author:** ![Princess\_Clara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@Princess\_Clara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princess_Clara)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/26 "2005-02-11T03:04:16Z")
I don’t think this is even a case of “boys being boys” since me and my female friends also use to draw crude drawings of girls we didn’t like being decapitated and dipped in acid in such back in school. Granted this was highschool and we weren’t “special” (or atleast I don’t think :P). Man, thinking back if someone of authority had found those drawings I would have been in deep shit since I went to the Florida school that made the news with the kid and his “hit list”. Met the dude about a year later. Very narcissistic and cynical but no potential murderer. I wonder how he’s doing now. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/27 "2005-02-11T03:04:56Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Think on this for a bit. Do we let them blow off steam with a few stupid drawings, or do we force them to bottle it up inside and grow up to be either 1) mindless PC robots or 2) truly deranged freaks who snapped due to grossly excessive control? I’m thinking that this isn’t actually an “either/or” choice…or even an “either/or/or” choice, as you seem to have presented it. So… if we _don’t_ allow these kids to “blow off steam” during classtime by depicting profanity-laden pictures of themselves murdering their classmates, then they will grow up to be either: 1. completely nonviolent or 2. uncontrollably homicidal. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that it might be possible to prevent the kids from drawing in class without either of these things happening. It’s also sort of interesting that according to the story as covered in the [Ocala Star-Banner](http://http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050126/NEWS/201260327&SearchID=73198768962551), the mother of one of the arrested kids contends that her son told her that the threatened boy had been pushing and shoving him earlier (a detail somehow overlooked by the Fox News featurette). If true, this clearly demonstrates how badly these two boys had already been “pussified,” since they only retaliated by drawing threatening images rather than with wholesome violence. What’s wrong with kids these days in this politically correct, Clinton-induced dystopia? Let’s hope that they were toughened up by being clapped in irons, and next time they’ll respond more appropriately, with firearms. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/28 "2005-02-11T03:08:21Z")
[fixed link](http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050126/NEWS/201260327&SearchID=73198768962551) ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/29 "2005-02-11T03:10:24Z")
> [@Princess Clara](#): > > I don’t think this is even a case of “boys being boys” since me and my female friends also use to draw crude drawings of girls we didn’t like being decapitated and dipped in acid in such back in school. Granted this was highschool and we weren’t “special” (or atleast I don’t think :P). Damn. What a quandary. What’s the statute of limitations? If we don’t report this, do we become accessories to the crime? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/30 "2005-02-11T03:24:51Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > I’m thinking that this isn’t actually an “either/or” choice…or even an “either/or/or” choice, as you seem to have presented it. So… if we _don’t_ allow these kids to “blow off steam” during classtime by depicting profanity-laden pictures of themselves murdering their classmates, then they will grow up to be either: > > 1. completely nonviolent or > > 2. uncontrollably homicidal. > > I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that it might be possible to prevent the kids from drawing in class without either of these things happening. > > It’s also sort of interesting that according to the story as covered in the [Ocala Star-Banner](http://http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050126/NEWS/201260327&SearchID=73198768962551), the mother of one of the arrested kids contends that her son told her that the threatened boy had been pushing and shoving him earlier (a detail somehow overlooked by the Fox News featurette). If true, this clearly demonstrates how badly these two boys had already been “pussified,” since they only retaliated by drawing threatening images rather than with wholesome violence. What’s wrong with kids these days in this politically correct, Clinton-induced dystopia? Let’s hope that they were toughened up by being clapped in irons, and next time they’ll respond more appropriately, with firearms. To the first part, heck. Zero tolerance is pretty extreme. It is declaring “I will tell you what to think, what to feel, what is allowed to be in your head. If you fail to comply I will crush you.” As to the drawings being in response to some other little asshole bullying him, well the kid can either fight (and get punished for protecting himself - it happens, or in this case be a doormat and get punished anyway). It’s fucking stupid. They reacted to bullying in a nonviolent manner, and were dragged off in chains for it. Now the deal about reacting next time with firearms, bullshit. But, since this is from Faux News, I am not surprised at all, that they left out anything except the Village of The Damned Stick Figures. I know how I would react, I would be harboring a very real hate for the bullying classmate who intitated this and everyone else involved too. Someone would pay. But hey, that’s just me. By the way, what happened to the little shit who started the ruckus? I bet he skated away clean. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/31 "2005-02-11T03:29:32Z")
> [@Phnord Prephect](#): > > Look out! He’s got a crayon! Take him down! _Blam blam blam_ If only this were beyond the realms of possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/32 "2005-02-11T03:32:26Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > is my username causing a knee-jerk? :rolleyes: Once it has been established that something is a cockroach, most people don’t usually wait around to see if it is, in fact, an unhygenic cockroach. That you have firmly established yourself as a cockroach is your own problem, not those of posters who react to you in a predictable way. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/33 "2005-02-11T03:38:11Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Once it has been established that something is a cockroach, most people don’t usually wait around to see if it is, in fact, an unhygenic cockroach. > > That you have firmly established yourself as a cockroach is your own problem, not those of posters who react to you in a predictable way. He is not a cockroach. He’s more like a parrot that just repeats talking points. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/34 "2005-02-11T04:30:41Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > …seems to me they meant the drawing as as specific intimidation to another boy. A specific threat of future viloence. Are we supposed to accept that as so much “boys will be boys”? I don’t think they dealt with it in a good way…is your suggestion we don’t neeed to deal with it at all 'cause boy’s intimidating other’s with threats of violence is ok? I am checking in here as a parent of boys–four of them–and I say they may have meant the drawing as intimidation, possibly (but not necessarily), but that it was not as a specific threat of violence. Really, a lot would depend on what happened to the drawing. If it was shoved into the locker or lunchbox of the “victim” then obviously it’s more serious than if it was just done for the two of them to have a giggle over and let off some steam. But it’s still not serious enough to cuff 'em and book 'em. I would really like to know how the authorities get away with doing this without notifying the parents. I would like to know what kind of nutjob thinks it’s a good idea to take little boys away in handcuffs and slap felony charges on them. This is really not promising. I don’t picture any good outcomes. I don’t see this as a good lesson about the evils of violence, since there was no violence–just a cartoon. I will say that I believe I’d feel the same even if I were the parent of the subject of the drawing. My understanding was that schools had to notify parents if they called kids into the office to ask them questions about _anything_, and that they couldn’t be questioned by police unless a parent or guardian was present. I guess that doesn’t apply in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/35 "2005-02-11T04:41:27Z")
The stupid thing is that the boys may well have meant all sorts of nasty things by their drawings, but that doesn’t mean the response was appropriate. They could well have been complete little shits. Even if you take away every last scrap of benefit of the doubt from the boys and assume the absolute worst, that _still_ doesn’t mean that the appropriate response is to treat them like adult crims. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/36 "2005-02-11T04:47:36Z")
I don’t necessarily think drawings of that kind, especially so specifically targeted, should go unpunished. But let the punishment fit the crime. Give the kids extra homework or something. Don’t have them arrested! What is that going to teach them? That they aren’t allowed to express themselves? The world of entertainment for a kid is wall-to-wall with visual representations of graphic brutal violence, often with no consequences shown. How the hell would anyone expect a kid to react to this but to imitate it? Not in the act of performing the violence, but portraying it artistically! In fact, that’s so much more preferable than to do the act itself, they should really be encouraged to express themselves in this more harmless way than to actually commit the acts themselves! Argh! Your country sucks! ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/37 "2005-02-11T04:52:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Argh! Your country sucks! Please realize this is one school, in one state, in the US. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/38 "2005-02-11T05:02:38Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Please realize this is one school, in one state, in the US. This single example is one of hundreds I’ve seen mentioned here on the SDMB. It’s not even close to being _just_ one school in one state. That’s not to say other countries don’t also have absurd incidents like this too. Those countries also suck. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/39 "2005-02-11T06:04:22Z")
Had these regulations been in place when I was a lad, you’d never have seen me post on SDMB-I’d have been locked away. Cripe-one of my best friends in grade school would spend time with me drawing-we constructed tracked flame throwing nuclear vehicles capable of mayhem, bullet spraying machines, and one of my teachers (I think it was 4th grade) noted on a report card that “He shows great interest in mechanical design and drawing”. Then again, we all (most of the guys, at least) carried pocket knives, those of us in the model car club had X-Acto knives (and we got to enjoy toluene fumes) and nobody got killed. I’m so tired of this stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476/40 "2005-02-11T14:45:11Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > But let the punishment fit the crime. Give the kids extra homework or something. Don’t have them arrested! What is that going to teach them? That they aren’t allowed to express themselves? > ! Good grief! That might require a little, dare I say, common sense? A disapproving look, maybe a scolding even. But not arrest and felony charges. As for expression, apparently only the ASSHOLES are allowed to do that in this country. I hope this starts a major political shit storm. I hope it blows up to the point where the school officials, teacher, principal, mayor, police chief, the arresting oficers and prosecutor all get tossed out on their ears. Further, I hope the parents can file counter charges and bring them all down in both civil and criminal court. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-drew-stick-figures-take-them-away-in-chains/289476.md?page=3)