Growing up in Dystopia
More and more U.S. schools have police patrolling the corridors. Pupils are being arrested for throwing paper planes and failing to pick up crumbs from the canteen floor. Why is the state criminalising normal childhood behaviour? The following reads like the Onion’s darkest satire but is, in fact, the sad truth for many kids who have to grow up into what is, quite literally, a police state.
Each day, hundreds of schoolchildren appear before courts in Texas charged with offences such as swearing or misbehaving on the school bus.. Children have been arrested for possessing cigarettes, wearing "inappropriate" clothes and being late for school.
In 2010, the police gave close to 300,000 "Class C misdemeanour" tickets to children as young as six in Texas for offences in and out of school, which result in fines, community service and even prison time. What was once handled with a telling-off by the teacher or a call to parents can now result in arrest and a record that may cost a young person a place in college or a job years later. Read on…
about 4 months ago
Pupils arrested for throwing paper planes? Heh, they shouldn’t appoint me as teacher in Texas – I spent much of the previous two days teaching my own pupils how to fold paper planes. It is at times like these that I am very grateful to be living in Dark Africa rather than the civilized West… :-)
On a more serious note, I think I can see what part of the problem here is. All over the world, it is increasingly common to see government schools trying to follow these two well-intentioned philosophies:
1. All pupils have a fundamental, inalienable right to an education.
2. All pupils have a fundamental, inalienable right to be in the classroom.
It should be pretty obvious that these two policies are fundamentally at odds with one another. If even disruptive kids may not be sent out, then this interferes with the right of the others to an education. If you do sent the miscreants out, this interferes with their right to be in the classroom. Catch-22.
The result is that teachers and principals are at their wits’ end; they don’t know WHAT to do anymore, because whatever they do someone will come down on them like a ton of bricks. Parents apparently genuinely think it’s the job of the state to educate their kids, and they themselves need not do anything at all, not even as much as teaching their own kids manners and a work ethic.
Under such circumstances, schools inevitably become completely dysfunctional, and all manner of wild and idiotic policies are instituted. I suspect it is not so much a sign of an authoritarian conspiracy as desperate school staff grabbing at straws.
about 4 months ago
I went to a small country high school during the early 60′s. We did not have campus security then but we had Mr. Shannon who was the school custodian and bus driver. He was a 6’6” tall Irishman with incredibly huge forearms and hands. He was a gentle giant of a man and a favorite among the kids. One day this big Samoan kid, a known bully, was knocking me around between classes. Mr. Shannon picked him up by the hair on the back of his head and belt and threw him head first into a trash can and said “That’s where you belong.” No one reported or said a thing. Today that would be child abuse.
about 4 months ago
That IS child abuse [insult removed by mod]
about 4 months ago
‘Child abuse’?
My God, people have become so obsessed, so extremist, they don’t even know what these two words mean anymore.
Child abuse. Oh for God’s sake.
No one is going to give socially correct points here. No one is impressed.
But do stop talking nonsense: a clear case of necessary correction of a teen in the face of what is REAL child abuse is simply robbing the term of its meaning, and creating absurd situations like the ones mentioned above.
I assume you are the type that if a teacher grabbed the two columbine killers by their hair, you would want him sued for child abuse.
Turn that (erased) insult back on yourself, will you please, and learn to gauge your comments.
about 4 months ago
Apparently somebody’s never been abused as a child. I’m glad that we have an authority on here who knows the REAL definition of child abuse. Let’s appoint the new judge, jury, and executioner.
about 3 months ago
Yes, but is it fair that Bruce had to be pushed around like nothing was going on? Wouldn’t your typical definition of ‘child abuse’ be that your parents/guardians are going physically or mentally overboard on punishment or even hitting you out of the blue? Besides, it only sounds like the bully got a taste of his own medicine, and this being the 60′s I think that there was still even physical punishment by the teachers in the classroom. Of course, this is way before my time, so I could be totally wrong.
about 4 months ago
All this is beyond me grasp. It’s beyond conception in my world… :/
about 4 months ago
Insane!
about 4 months ago
I thought the paddle did the talking in Texas schools and there would be a lot of stinging bottoms coming out of the principals office.Not police arresting you for smoking or a policeman breaking your arm.
about 4 months ago
Well, for the most part public schools in America have banned corporal punishment. Most of the proponents are people my age that went through it. They believe in the ‘shared misery’ phenomena; what was good for them should be good for the rest. I vehemently disagree. I went to a private school through the six grade. The whole school was run by women. And their school system of ‘order’ was maintained by corporal punishment. But not some standardized method, no, these women provided whatever torture technique they deemed personally necessary. Which included metal rulers all the way up to giant paddles with holes drilled in them for more efficient swinging.
You were drug out into the hall by your teacher and beat to whatever extent she deemed necessary. All the teachers had different reputations. We were terrified of the teachers and plotted real revenge to get even…stuff like you see in the movies. So I’d be the last person in the world to back corporal punishment in school settings. It’s beneath human dignity and used because faculty & administration doesn’t have the cerebral wherewithal to deal with normal youth behavior. Same thing in this story; use cops for your corporal punishment and rule by fear. It’s never worked and just breaks and ruins lives.
about 4 months ago
Yeah,America used to be cool…
about 4 months ago
My daughter was home schooled. Both boys went to the mass state funded Vocational High School before they went all 9/11. The high school has a different solution. Put “the bad kids…mostly black) in a locked high school operated as a day jail. Its very sad. However, the schools in the “burbs” dont seem to have these issues. The current trend is toward paranoid existance. Shame.
about 4 months ago
Why did race need to be brought up? Even if they were mostly black, does that really need to be mentioned?
about 4 months ago
Just for some of you who seem confused let’s remember most of this problem is localized to Texas. Most Americans are well aware of what Texas is like, and it’s no surprise at all that Texas has so many job openings, especially teaching jobs… no one wants to be a part of that.
Also remember a lot of the imprisonment in Texas was inflated due to juvenile detention centers paying off judges for giving out jail time sentences.
about 4 months ago
The ‘burbs aren’t exempt. Did you follow the case of the school on Philadelphia’s very posh “Main Line” where laptops with cameras were sent home with students. The students were under monitored surveillance in their own homes without the knowledge or consent of family or student.
about 4 months ago
Land Of The Free.. lol
that’s so Chinese!!!
about 4 months ago
What ever happened to the days when a kid would misbehave and just get sent to the Principals office for a “chat about their behavior.” When I was a Sophomore in High School, I told this kid to F-off. Yeah I got sent to the Dean of Boys, and was told that my behavior was unacceptable in class and I would spend one afternoon in the In School Detention or take 3 swats with the paddle. I chose the 3 swats. Mischief Managed!
about 4 months ago
When you consider that children as young as 6 & 7 years old can now be branded sexual criminals for merely being curious, one begins to see how out of kilter things are getting.
about 4 months ago
Doesn’t surprise me in the least…
about 4 months ago
I didn’t realize Groundskeeper Willy is not totally fictitious ….
about 4 months ago
mashed up with Otto… yes, that’s what I was thinking about as well :P
about 4 months ago
He’s Scottish !
about 4 months ago
The war on parental authority has been going on for decades. Exaggerated notions of “abuse” now include spanking or almost any other display of parental dissatisfaction outside of ‘time out’. All a kid has to do is call Child Protective Services with any kind of complaint and suddenly the family is in the system -interviews, inspections, even removal to foster care. What’s a mother to do? NOTHING of course. Terrified into paralysis, parents now defer the business of rearing their young to the schools. And you’re surprised that the schools have cops? What else is the school to do? Liberalism’s campaign to undermine every traditional social value has brought unintended consequences.
about 4 months ago
This is a gross exaggeration of how CPS operates and really, is just a reflection of how parenting has changed in American society over the yrs. In reality as technology has made things easier for families, they have gotten lazy in how they spend time with each other. It’s an easy formula for disaster; parents don’t think they have to spend time with their children and children don’t feel like they count for anything. End result; young adults are completely indifferent and/or act out. You don’t need a doctorate in child behavior to figure that one out.
I know of very few families where the parent(s)’ forced involvement with their children turned out to have youth always breaking ‘rules’ and in trouble. Their kids may moan and say how lame their parents are, but the parents are doing the right thing. It’s not a class issue either, it’s about the time and involvement you spend with your own children. If they think you don’t care, then why should they care about any rules?
about 4 months ago
on the contrary…i would argue then that it’s the fault of those that control the economy(and/or society)… it’s because of those that adults needs to work more(or have been indoctrinated by society to act a certain way) and neglect their children.
about 4 months ago
Not really. You have to understand how ingrained it is to follow the American Dream. Two car garage, white picket fence, good neighborhood. 2.5 kids blah, blah, blah. It’s all about maintaining an image…the ultimate posers. Married couples ofter both work because they want the Dream, not because they absolutely have to. Make a little less money and have more quality time with your children…nah, not when there’s the Dream to chase.
about 4 months ago
jesus christ horselips go away
about 4 months ago
You get lost, and do us a favour. You’re the type creating these situations with self-glorified extremist nonsense. You are precisely what is so truly insane in that country and their hysterical reactions to everything.
about 4 months ago
“Those who give up liberty for safety does not deserve liberty or safety.” Benjamin Franklin
And wouldn’t the money save for the police go to more teachers and make it safer that way.
about 4 months ago
Privately funded prisons spend tens of millions for lobbying in the Congress. The result is a tendedncy towards criminalising all instances of “inappropriate” behaviour.
Raising children to believe that police repression and arrests are “business as usual” is a good way to ensure that these practices sustain in the future.
about 3 months ago
Okay Castro. That’s a great way to start fear in society- the children! What’s next, the police work their way up to the cities and start shooting people because they aren’t working enough?
about 4 months ago
It seems like every other day there’s news that makes me thankful I’m in Canada. This kind of thing is just ridiculous.
about 4 months ago
Just give Harper and his Conservatives another couple of years. They’ll turn us into Republican paradise too.
Did you note the headlines a while back? Crime rate is the lowest in several decades but we need higher/mandatory sentences and more prisons.
Sound familiar?
about 4 months ago
If you have to put a cop in the building, it’s no longer a school. People are being detained against their will (shown by them not being there to learn), that makes it a jail, no matter the extra fluff.
We have almost totally lost the concept of what school is SUPPOSED to be about.
- Teachers aren’t paid for what they know, they should be paid (and paid well) for their ability to INSTRUCT, to TEACH.
- Students shouldn’t go in with an attitude of being forced to be there. Their parents (and indirectly the students themselves) are paying to be taught. Students should go in with the idea they are there to TAKE that knowledge, to compete against every other kid in that class to make sure that THEY are the ones who get their money’s worth! And if the teacher isn’t getting lesson clearly and understandably taught, then that student should DEMAND the teacher works with them till they get it.
- The administrator is there for the teacher’s benefit. The teacher is the one there for the student’s benefit. The students are the ones who should drive the whole thing. Somehow, this has become all backwards.
If a kid doesn’t want to fight to achieve & their parents want to let them drop out, the kid should be allowed to drop & let the real students have a better chance to learn.
And for those ready with the follow up, social support services should be pro-rated pending completion of a diploma or GED or military honorable discharge.
about 4 months ago
http://univrm.com/2011/12/20/3913/current-event-news-busted/
An article from a blog I read. 41% of Americans under the age of 23 ARRESTED. Statistics are from the American Journal of Pediatrics.
Land of the imprisoned, home of the afraid.
about 4 months ago
This is almost unbelievable – God forbid that the UK should ever have police in schools. The only reason the fuzz should ever be asked to get involved is in cases of theft or drugs. If the USA had proper gun laws kids would just not be able to get hold of a gun and bring it into school to shoot someone they don’t like. And what a sheer waste of police time and manpower when they could be pursuing real criminals…
about 4 months ago
This is about police in school, not guns. To me it would make me want to bring a gun to school, not knowing what the police will do.
The second amendment is there to guaranty a free country. But they have stopped teaching the Constitution to people and no one knows what it means.
about 4 months ago
You’re right. Our American gun laws are indeed a problem. They’re way too restrictive. Teachers and administrators should always be armed.
about 4 months ago
This is an outrage!
about 4 months ago
@AnemicFairy:
I agree with you. I am an educator, and kids in the U.S. are simply out of control. I’m not saying they should be arrested, but certainly there should be some form of consequences for disrupting class EVERY SINGLE DAY. The problem with my school is that there are no real consequences and parents and students have more power than teachers. Parents don’t parent at all and then expect teachers to somehow ‘fix’ their kids. The behavior of kids in general is appalling–from rolling their eyes to talking back to lying to stealing things from your desk to the “f you” that occasionally comes up (in MIDDLE school, nonetheless). Something needs to be done. I don’t think it’s arresting kids–I think the kids’ parents need to be set straight. If they don’t care, then they certainly shouldn’t have had kids in the first place.
about 4 months ago
The school system is one of the most failed institutions ever created. If you really wanted to solve the problem you would close the schools and start all over from scratch.
about 4 months ago
Sure, that’s right ….. keep even more children ignorant. You couldn’t even spell “Mama” correctly in your name.
Change it, yes …. but hardly “start all over from scratch.”
about 4 months ago
TOO late to blame the ‘rents – they risk jail disciplining their kids. Liberalism has made parenting almost impossible. And liberalism has also successfully emasculated the schools as well. We have met the enemy and it is us.
Solution? Simple. Take liberalism out of the equation. Privatize education. Immunize it from liberal lawyers. An expulsion for any kid in high school should carry the same weight as a felony conviction – just like a dishonorable discharge from the military. Let parents discipline (not abuse) children without fear. Misbehavin’ Not Allowed. Dissing Not Allowed. Phys Ed required -no excuses. And Gawd ‘elp any kid who’s grades are slipping. No social promotion. If you’re 21 and still in 7th grade, too bad.
You get the idea. Kids won’t take school and parents seriously until adults do.
about 4 months ago
@Jen:
Wow I guess things are really out of control nowadays. When I attended junior / senior high school back in the ’60′s (grades 7 to 12) the school was very strict. If you misbehaved, you got sent to the principal’s office, where you could expect to get ‘the strap’. Although I never received or witnessed it, others told me you held your hands out palms up, and the principal would strap both palms. You behaved yourself, or else you were punished, including expulsion, and God help you if you were in trouble because your parents would be informed of what you did and believe me, they would be defending the teacher’s position and not yours. If you were in trouble at school, then you would be in trouble at home also. There were even parallel lines painted down the center of the hallways forming a ‘lane’ where students were not allowed to walk in, as that was for teachers and staff only. We had dress codes, and jeans, even coloured or dress jeans were expressly forbidden.
about 4 months ago
It is the empowerment of children by a massively complexed society (guilt of single-parenting, of the unsaid yet deep rooted generalized pedophilia, and the general decline of values in a society to rich and egotistical to care any more) that is behind this.
There IS no way out of the fact kids are no totally out of control. A cop in a playground is like putting a band-aid on a severed limb.
It just needs a ‘reset’ of society. These ‘restes’ usually come in the form of a horrendous disease or massive war. Perhaps a massive decline of wealth in that part of the world.
about 4 months ago
What else do you expect from Texas? They just arrested two 10 year old boys who are mentally slow for child molestation on a boy in the same condition as they are. All three are unfortunately mentally challenged. What does that tell you about the school system in Texas?
about 4 months ago
Part of the problem I see noone mentioning, is that Parents these days, unless they are fairly well-to-do most both work just in order to make ends meet. Almost every family where one wage earner makes less than $75,000 a year (almost twice the average for Americans!) needs either two wage earners, or must do without what most of us consider essentials. That is not to say that some families do not make do with less, however, most of those families are getting Welfare, or are simply subsisting and struggling to get by as best they can.
How are you supposed to make time to be there for your kids, when you are working two jobs at 5-6 hours a day each, and your spouse is also working 5-6 hours a day at each of two jobs? in case you didn’t read between the lines, that’s 10-12 working hours, plus travel time to the first job, travel time to the second job, AND whatever time between shifts, and then travel time back home. all total, that can add up to 14-16 hours if things don’t work out just right. That is the reality for most working parents these days.. noone wants to pay more than $8 an hour, or work you more than part time to ‘cut costs’ Most employers do not have to provide health care benefits for part time workers, so working you 6 hours a day 5 days a week, or 5 hours a day 6 days a week is becoming the norm. which means after you get your wonderful $200 paycheck for the week, you have to shell out a good chunk of it for healthcare. (8 x 30 = 240-taxes)
So, yeah, I can see how many parents leave the discipline to the schools, because in trying to simply put food on the table, they are working themselves to death for wages that barely cover rent and food, let alone anything else :(
about 4 months ago
families in pretty much every other country of the world seem to do fine without having schools turned into prisons though?
about 4 months ago
@Ivan: I think you mean the other way around. Putting a Cop in a play ground is like amputating a limb because you got a paper cut. The way you phrase it, it sounds like you’re trying to fix a hopeless situation with a something utterly useless that makes it seem normal for an instant. I, personally, don’t think the youth of the world are hopeless. And, quite sadly, Police seem to be the opposite of utterly useless. And by that I mean, too much power over too many things, in too many juridictions.
This is pretty much just insanity and hyperactive fear.
I’m currently in 9th grade, and, looking back at my history, if I had been born and raised and schooled in Texas. I’d be dead by now. Shot or Suicide, take your pick.
Not that I’m a trouble maker. When people act like they have paramount authority and I’m nothing, I simply express my opinion and analyze in a cold, harsh, condescending tone. Like they taught us in Kindergarten, “Treat others how you want to be treated.” If you treat me like garbage, I’ll do the same. Everyone wins, right?
And, a teacher that would call the police on a lot of this stuff needs to grow up. Even the littlest of kids know now to call 911 unless it’s an emergency. Sure, it’s more convenient, so is cheating, copying homework, and just not doing anything at all. Convenience doesn’t always imply the correct method of action. If you expect them to choose to be tolerant instead of just taking the easiest course of action because it’s convenient and you probably won’t be held liable, why should they expect any less of you?
And on that Police Chief guy who says that others learn from those who get in trouble? Yeah. That’s called ruling by Fear.
I have a lot to vent. This helped. Sorry if I offended anyone (Except for that Police Chief guy. Cause, teaching children to become obedient via fear. Yeah. That’ll help our future.)
about 4 months ago
The core of the problem in public schools, at least in the US is the way boys are taught presently. Since video games and cartoon shows are the norm, there have been studies that confirm that after awhile with video gaming, boys need the visual stimulation of screen play & changing screen visuals at that….at some specified rate to keep them interested. Furthermore as they continue with video games, they get more into the control factor of gaming…controlling an outcome.
So here are these same boys who sit in class with a paternal/maternal teacher lecturing them all day. They can’t really interact like they want and need to…they can’t control the situation at all unless they act out etc. It’s a one dimensional hell for most of them. I’m amazed that even 50% graduate HS. You put cops in the mix like in this article, and basically, you’ve declared war on the boys.
about 4 months ago
Really? Blaming it on video-games?
What about the dysfunction between the current education system and the technological knowledge era?
Considering most children are brought up with lies since the very beginning of their understanding, and that they have self acquired access to the true shortly after, wouldn’t it be fair to believe that these kids simply don’t believe anything they are told by anyone?
Schools are just time spending farms, students wake up to a reality of lies, appearances, selfishness, insecurities.
Then is the greatest-kid-on-earth-you-deserve-everything-and-you-will-get-it-just-because-you-are-worth-it way of raising kids most parents have, specially in the US.
about 4 months ago
No, you jumped to that conclusion. I’m stating that video games are FACT in most US households. And since it would now be impossible to reverse that, I’m saying to adjust curriculum to encompass the fact that boys need interesting stimulation along the same lines in school. If they (teachers) don’t do that, they lose the education potential along with a high drop-out rate.
about 4 months ago
This is getting like all too Orwellian … WTF ?
about 4 months ago
I wonder if this helps for real problems, like bullying?
about 4 months ago
In all honesty, my firm opinion is that if you’re not going to take (or have or find or whatever you want to call it) the time to properly raise your kids, then you definitely should not be having kids at all. Unfortunately, it seems that unfit parents (or people who don’t want to be parents at all but don’t do anything to stop it) tend to pop out 5 or 6 kids before thinking about their future or the wellbeing of their kids. It’s sad, really, and it’s unfair to teachers when parents won’t even meet them halfway. It’s their kid, for crying out loud!
about 4 months ago
Not so long ago if you were caught for bulling in school you knew what you were in for the paddle.Today the bullies get away with it a weeks suspension or two, that does not hurt them and they carry on with their bloody nonsense.
about 4 months ago
Basically these right wing lawmakers are stupid. Sure there needs to be strong discipline and respect in schools. However criminal records for trivial offences will only further alienate these kids, ruin future prospects and cause them to further resent authority: madness…
about 4 months ago
“Amazing grace.” I actually agree with you. :)
about 4 months ago
Permission to speak, Sir -?
So traditional social value is to be maintained either by spanking or by cops, in any case by use of force. Interesting tradition, could you specify it more detailed?
Thank you, Sir.
about 4 months ago
Yeah, too bad we can’t re-institute corporal punishment back into public schools….or better yet, public caning. Violence is always the solution and after all, it worked well for religious factions over the last millennium, correct? ;-)
about 4 months ago
The “traditional social value” involved here was the power and prestige of parents & education. The rod was not spared. The kids were not spoiled. My generation generally grew up respectful, obedient, and attentive, and as a result generally became successful, productive and prosperous adults. Exceptions noted. Among my friends, all of our parents spanked -some even with belts (ouch!). As a result, they rarely ever had to. Because my father had no problem with corporal punishment, and I knew it, I made damn sure he wasn’t provoked, or I didn’t get caught. I don’t think I was spanked more than 2 or 3 times, and never as a teenager. It’s a fact that (unless Mom or Dad is psychotic), parents who spank rarely ever have to. Their authority is established, and the correct relationship between parent and child is created early on, and survives forever.
The schools had prestige. It was shameful to be in trouble at school. It was embarassing to have to “stay after” when everyone else got to go home. “Staying back” – not being promoted to the next grade – carried an almost insurmountable stigma. Your behavioral or academic failure wasn’t just on you, but was also a reflection on your parents – and they made sure their reputation was restored when they got their hands on you. Nowadays, rebellious, disruptive, underperforming and even violent kids are promoted, tolerated, celebrated by their peers, & even immunized from punishment by weak administrators, lawyers, and powerless parents. For many lost kids, a temporary suspension is a vacation. It’s insane.
Kids are entitled to be raised right, to be disciplined, directed and focused in the successful development of their minds and oh-so-delicious teenage bodies. Minors are not qualified to manage their own lives or we’d make them adults a lot sooner.
Rigorous academic performance and hard physical effort can only be realistically demanded by schools which posess the prestige that motivates such conduct, and the prestige to socially marginalize slackers.
about 4 months ago
and each of these to “obedience” educated children later worked on the parade ground when drilling.
They followed their commanders in blind obedience!
about 4 months ago
y’know i’ve always remarked how schools are looking more and more like prisons why coulnd’t I have been wrong.
about 4 months ago
@real one, I would rather take swats from a teachers paddle than have some bloody pigs arrest me for smoking or break my arm for having a packet of cigarettes on me.
about 4 months ago
Corporal punishment is not the answer; it’s rule by fear & intimidation. It was a stop-gap measure carried over from the home; in local parentis. As we grew ‘smarter’, the idea of rewarding children for good behavior and good grades by other means became prevalent. Unfortunately, this led parents to believe that schools should raise and discipline their children. Corporal punishment went out, cops & security came in. Parents got lazy, indifferent and uninvolved with their children. School have always been a reflection of what trends parents want. So….either parents take back the schools, or watch them decay.
about 3 months ago
I suppose the youth of today are lucky. They should have gone to catholic schools run by the Christian Brothers. Back then the strap did the talking.An irish school strap was two peaces of leather stitched together, 17 inches long, two inches wide,half an inch thick, the strap had lead or whale bone near the end in between the leather and a handle at the teachers end.Some boys got strapped on the hands, others boys got a strapping on the bottom.If your strapping was on the bottom,you would have one very sore bottom and sitting down would be a problem and you would also be red faced