Teacher files charges against 10 year old for a "violent" drawing

[Dakata]

[link]

A Taunton teacher is pressing criminal charges against a 10-year-old student after she caught the fifth-grader drawing a menacing picture that depicts him, a gun and a figure of her with a "bullet whole" in her head.

But the boy's furious mother said she plans to fight the charge in court and believes Taunton police and her son's teacher at the Mulcahey Middle School overreacted to the drawing.

"Bringing charges against a 10-year-old? I'm irate. It's caused a lot of turmoil to my son," said Angela Smithson, who has enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union to fight the charge.

The teacher, Karen Boudreau, 44, filed a police report Wednesday after she yanked away from Cullen Smithson a drawing that depicted a girl named "Kailey" as well as a figure named "Mrs. Boudreau," both with the words "bullet whole" next to them. A stick figure named "ME" is shown next to a gun, according to the report.

Cullen will receive a summons to court to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed with criminal charges, police said.

Boudreau told police she wanted to file charges "in the hopes that the system could help the child," according to the report, which indicates that Cullen has unspecified "behavioral issues."

She told police "in this day and age with school shootings, she also has to think about the safety of the remainder of her class."

(Read the article for the rest)

Watch out guys, 10 year olds are dangerous now! Damn, I drew worse when I was that kid's age.

We should draw her some fan art, guys. You know, to cheer her up over this. Anyone got any pictures of her? 'Cuz I heard she loves pictures with her and bullet wholes and guns.

[rabid_fox]

And that's funny how? No, really. I've been a teacher in schools where every day, students have had bag searches for knives and guns. I'd be up in arms if a pupil drew me being shot dead, regardless of age. Not to 'legal charges', but there'd be more than half a stink about it, I can tell you.

Draw the fan art. In the meantime, I wonder how you'd enjoy witnessing yourself threatened in effigy knowing fine well that effigy could become reality at the drop of a hat. Draw the fan art. 

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I'm with rabid, here.

Given the teachers are likely first in the queue when the kid gets a gun and starts going postal, I really don't blame her for being a bit jumpy.

And if the kid is drawing things like that, then he needs help. And not just with his spelling. His parents are obviously not managing to resolve anything, so what else is the teacher to do?

[Ragesquid]

I agree with the both of you, but I think pressing charges is overreacting. It's scary what schools are like today, and it seems nearly every day there's something on news about violence in school. This kid needs serious help, but I don't think pressing criminal charges is the answer.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Whilst I don't think pressing criminal charges is likely to do any good...

... I'm not so sure the teacher in question had too many other options.

Bearing in mind: The student had displayed disruptive and unhelpful behaviour, and his parents weren't doing anything about it. Assuming that they had been informed, chances are they wouldn't do anything useful anyway.

At which point, what else can the teacher do? At least this way the teacher can teach the _rest_ of the class.

[Faerie Alex]

Refer them to the school psychologist? I dunno if they have one there...or if they would need a court order to force him to go But besides that, I don't really see what good pressing charges would do.

[Jack McSlay]

she's right to react, but I really don't see how filing it on the police is going to help. I've never heard of laws against drawing one self killing someone else.

[AngelSephy]

I'm with rabid on this, but the whole pressing charges is overreacting. Child Services should have been called instead of the police.

The kid has obvious aggression issues. I won't be surprised if it's from problems at home combined with bullying.

[Sunblink]

I'm also with Rabid.

However, I don't see how filing criminal charges would help the kid at all. In that respect, I think the teacher's method of trying to "help the child" was only exacerbating the situation.

~Keaton the Black Jackal
EDIT: Though as Llearch said, the child's parents were apparently being uncooperative and the kid was really disruptive, so I guess there weren't a lot of options left.

[Jack McSlay]

frankly, I don't see how drawing dead people is a concrete sign of aggressive tendencies. I don't see thinking of killing a person you hate is not an actually unusual behavior, specially among kids.
I've read the whole article and doesn't mention the teacher doing anything besides going to the police, so I guess she barely even talked to the kid before going to the police.

And if you think the parents were not helping, you can say that again when a teacher files your 10-year old son on the police over a drawing without even talking to you first.

[Alondro]

Keep in mind this is at a time where children of that age have been caught plotting the deaths of other children, and some actually have killed each other over as little as being mad at losing a video game.

Children today are becoming quite evil, as they are mostly left to their own devices and allowed to view endless violence without any supervision.  If a child sees nothing but violence and learns nothing of law and order, and is never punished for fear of harming its 'self-esteem', what can one expect that child to become?

[Dakata]

And that's funny how? No, really. I've been a teacher in schools where every day, students have had bag searches for knives and guns. I'd be up in arms if a pupil drew me being shot dead, regardless of age. Not to 'legal charges', but there'd be more than half a stink about it, I can tell you.

Draw the fan art. In the meantime, I wonder how you'd enjoy witnessing yourself threatened in effigy knowing fine well that effigy could become reality at the drop of a hat. Draw the fan art. 

I didn't say it was funny. But god damn, is she overreacting.

He's ten. Kids his age, especially boys, like guns, violence and explosions. Heck, one of my brothers is obsessed with Resident Evil, Freddy Krueger, Jason, and all that, and he's only 6! But he doesn't go and threaten anyone with guns or draw pictures of people dead. And apparently his friends, and my other brother's friends, love that stuff too. Some of them even play Grand Theft Auto.

Pressing charges is overreacting way. Too. Much. Tell the school therapist, not the freaking police.

"Cullen gets good grades and does not get in trouble at school, she said. She also said her son works out his anger through drawing, she said."

What's wrong with that? It's like beating up a pillow when you're pissed. Hell, lots of people draw to let out their feelings.

""This is sad that a teacher felt she needed to draw a child into the criminal justice system," she said, adding she believes the charge won't stand up in court because it doesn't constitute a threat. "Everybody tells us this is not a kid who has serious problems.""

Does that seem like a crazy gonna-shoot-up-the-school kind of kid? I don't think so.

[Insert Jack's post here, cutting it off because my post's long enough]

QFT, Jack.

Like Jack says, drawing violence doesn't mean you'll do it.

Teachers, parents, everyone, is overreacting these days. Hell, I got sent to the principal because I was listening to music before class started, and it was a little too loud, and someone thought it was "nazi music". Apparently it sounded like there were nazis marching, and the parts of the song about taking over the city, "no human beings surviving", "the meek inheriting the earth", extermination, mutation, and all that made it so nazi-ish. (It was about aliens/monsters taking over, FYI)

Like that's so much worse than rap about killing people and doing drugs and hookers. Puh-lease.

[ShadesFox]

Teacher files criminal charges.  Fine, we only brought this on ourselves.  Maybe if discipline was more then asking kids politely to stop this would not be necessary.  Maybe it won't help the kid, but helping the kid is impossible, the system will not allow it because it 'might hurt his feelings'.  Make noise in the system until someone figures out something is wrong.

Oh yes, and "He gets good grades in school!" means nothing anymore.  As long as you are at least a marginally functional human they will find a way to give you good grades.

[AngelSephy]

It honestly frightens me and makes me more determined to make sure that Samantha knows the difference between fantasy and reality. Plus, Vinnie and I are going to make sure we supervise any gaming or tv watching. I can't stand those parents who buy games for their kids without checking the rating first, just because the kid won't leave them alone about it.

I just saw a girl tonight at WalMart who was pitching a fit and crying because her dad wouldn't get her something, yet they were laughing like it was funny. They gave her something and she shut the hell up. The girl is spoiled and I'll be damned if my daughter will be that way. She's going to be taught to be grateful for everything she's given, just how I was.

[Darkmoon]

I tend to think that the whole system overreacts. There are kids that will go over the edge and plot and actually kill. However, a drawing of death is not the same as actually doing the deed. The parent think he was drawing it out to work out aggression. Better through drawing than through acting.

There was a lot that could have been done long before police were drawn in. Many stages of care should have been put into making sure this kid was on the right track. This is actually the perfect time when a teacher should step in and do their job as a counselor. If the child had reacted badly then, tried to bite her or run off screaming, then sure, further, more serious steps could have been taken. But it's a big leap from aggressive drawing to police involvement.

Society coddles far too many people. We blame the media for the violence of TV when we should be blaming to parents for not taking an active interest in what their kids watch and for not imparting a realistic view of the world on their children.

I was watching horror movies when I was 6. I saw Robocop when it came out in theaters (and, my most standards, I was probably much too young for it). Have I ever felt the need to kill someone? No. Do I even want to own a gun? No. My parents taught me  the difference between fantasy and reality, between right and wrong. If they were able to do that, it can't be impossible for everyone else.

[Lushin]

She probably felt the cops needed to be alerted on this. In fact in school that could be counted as an act of terrorizing. Before someone says it can't be. Thinking about he drew a pic where he just killed two people. Plus the fact atleast one of the people who where killed is a real person and he stated he was the one with the gun and had shot them. She might have figured the cops would be the ones to get him some type of therapist. It's like the punching the pillow thing. On some people it back fires and teaches them to punch things when they get angry. *NOTE I SAID SOME.* For some people it works. Others it teaches them to act out their anger with aggression and violence. The problem is figuring out which people are which. I tend to worry about people who play GTA 3 who shoot people just to see the reaction they have.

[Darkmoon]

I don't just shoot them. I steal the ambulance that shows up and run over the paramedics too. Good times.

I think it's a problem with the teacher as much as with the child. She overreacted. She steps outside the bounds of what she should do. She should have given this to the school counselor if she didn't feel comfortable dealing with it herself, or the principal. Instead, she called the cops.

[Zina]

Whereas I do think she was over reacting by calling the cops, we do live in a day and age where kids are bringing weapons to school and killing others. A lot of these kids have doubtlessly been to the school counselors many times.

While you say they over reacted, I bet there's a ton of people out there that lost friends and family to school shootings that WISHED they over reacted when they saw the warning signs.

[Darkmoon]

But isn't that why we have metal detectors in schools now? To catch the guns and the knives that kids bring to school?

Beyond that, there's kids that are going to do the violent deeds that never show signs. I doubt that giving this kid over to the cops is going to end well. Beyond all the trouble this kid's family is now going through, anyone that was actually thinking of doing violent things is going to go further underground, making the time when they attack that much more surprising and unexpected. This is going to have more negative effects than positive ones.

[Zina]

I've honestly never been to a school that had metal detectors, and I went to school only 20 minutes away from Columbine.

Or, alternatively, it could scare them into not wanting to do anything violent. We wont really ever know. This whole "school shooting" thing is still relatively new to us, and we still don't know how to react to it. Teachers are told to look for warning signs, and violent drawings would surely look like a warning sign to some.
To tell the truth, most of the kids involved in acts of violence, especially ones that end up with a death of a fellow classmate, show signs of being pretty disturbed or unstable.

[Goatmon]

I'm with rabid, here.

Given the teachers are likely first in the queue when the kid gets a gun and starts going postal, I really don't blame her for being a bit jumpy.

And if the kid is drawing things like that, then he needs help. And not just with his spelling. His parents are obviously not managing to resolve anything, so what else is the teacher to do?

I'm a little torn here.

I understand the teacher's reason for concern, I do.  She has every reason to be upset about what happeend.  The parents aren't helping either, which puts her in a difficult situation.  I sympathize with her wanting to do somethin.  But, honestly, I can't see how what she's done will make things better overall.

Sure, maybe she'll feel safer knowing the boy is being analyzed, but all she's doing is taking her fears and frustrations and channeling that into Cullen, who could end up even more pent up and frustrated after all this is over with, whenever it IS over with.

Who knows what will happen to him?  He could end up with an aversion to drawing entirely, later on.  Do we really want a child to feel guilty over drawing pictures as a means of venting unhappy feelings?  Does that really make the world better for anyone?

[Jack McSlay]

yeah, there's kids who go on a rampage killing teachers and schoolmates, or ones who kill over stealing a weapon on a MMORPG, yet, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't statistics say that you're several times more likely to die in a car accident than by an angry kid, even if you're currently working/attending school?

on most cases this would be resolved by a simple father/children talk. no reason to automatically assume that the child is a potential murderer or that the parents are not helping.

frankly, by calling the police with something that doesn't count as a felony nor a threat, it's the teacher making things worst

[Zina]

yeah, there's kids who go on a rampage killing teachers and schoolmates, or ones who kill over stealing a weapon on a MMORPG, yet, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't statistics say that you're several times more likely to die in a car accident than by an angry kid, even if you're currently working/attending school?

...really? That's like saying statistics show that labs attack more people than pit bulls. That's because there's way more labs in the US than pit bulls. Millions of people drive cars on a daily basis, of COURSE there's going to be more car crashes than school shootings.

And honestly. I mean, yeah, I'm probably more likely to die in a car crash than say...an earthquake, even if I'm living in an area that has a lot of seismic activity. I'm still going to take the precautions needed, should an earthquake ever hit and make sure I'm prepared and know what to do.

Yeah, I do think the teacher over reacted. But I don't think she's a complete idiot for doing so. There's a lot about this situation we just don't know. What is his home life like? Does he have a father? His mother says he's a good kid, but mothers tend to say that about their children, regardless of how they actually are.
We can sit here and say "well this can be solved by X reason" when honestly we don't even know if that reason is an option.

[Brunhidden]

my highschool didnt have anything other then a handful of teachers who could take down the football team by themselves..... and one cop stationed there....

the cop was a joke, and probably actually encouraged kids to do stupid things thinking the only thing in their way was a obese police officer who smelled like bacon and had the mental capacity of a parakeet. it practically taught the kids how to get away with it, which was really just setting them up for failure once they got into the real world where cops have an IQ greater then 85 and can move at speeds over two miles per hour.


however, back to the teachers. yeah, a few of my teachers were tough enough to take down unruly football players, despite being very nice and noble people. based on my experiences with them i would encourage schools to arm teachers- if something happens i would much rather the teacher taze or shoot someone in the leg then just stand there waiting for the class to be shot.

i am reminded very much of one year, after a bad school shooting elsewhere, the school instituted drills for such an occasion. the class i had currently been in was in the metal shop, and they had us practice cordinated huddling and hiding when we were in a room filled with hammers, prybars, and enough various sharp metal items to arm a decent sized mob. sad.

Tazers for all!

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Do you really want me to collect interest or are you just going to quietly walk away?

[Alondro]

This is why child labor laws are a mistake.  The lil brats won't be doing much murdering after a 12 hour shift in the coal mines!

And that ridiculous ADHD?  Forget it!

A lil black lung'll slow em down right good!  They'll be usin all their energy just to breathe!   

*orphan asks a question* 

Oh?  You want MORE?  STFU!!!!  *beats the obviously spoiled child!* 

[Dakata]

i am reminded very much of one year, after a bad school shooting elsewhere, the school instituted drills for such an occasion. the class i had currently been in was in the metal shop, and they had us practice cordinated huddling and hiding when we were in a room filled with hammers, prybars, and enough various sharp metal items to arm a decent sized mob. sad.

Probably because the parent(s) of the kid who shot up the school or whatever they did would sue because their kid got beat with hammers...out of self-defense.

Hammers and prybars hurt, Brun! Those could break a bone or two. Or worse! Break his skull open! And no one wants blood, brains and guts all over the floor, oh no.

Silly Brun, have you forgotten how irresponsible and stupid parents are these days? Not that I'm saying you are, because you have a beautiful little daughter who'll most likely grow up to be insane like everyone on this forum. Insane in a good way of course.

Like when some black kids (Yes, I have to mention that. I am secretly a racist nazi who hates blacks, jews, gays, and gayish black jews. </sarcasm>) at my school got their butts suspended (It was either suspended or expelled, I can't remember which) because the superintendent found out they had pictures of themselves posing with guns and drugs (Apparently the guns were fake, but who knows about the drugs, I've heard multiple things at school) in a limo that was at a school dance, and in one of the gyms. And it didn't help that there were rumors about their so-called-music-group-that's-also-a-"gang" fighting another music-group-that's-probably-a-"gang"-too either before, during, or after a sports game.

They got kicked out after that, but their (All but one, out of 5 kids, which were all juniors and a senior I think, and luckily that one was smart enough to know "Hey, I fucked up! I'll just move on so I don't look like a whiny prick.") parents thought it'd be a wonderful idea to threaten to sue the school for a million bucks for each kid (Ha ha, good luck with that, unless you're suing Bill Gates), and of course, they pulled the race card. They also claimed that they were good kids, and were too smart to get kicked out, with their C+ averages (Tell me you didn't just fall out of your chair, or spit your drink out all over the keyboard/monitor.) and all. (Here's a link for anyone who doesn't believe me about the C+ average thing.

Amazingly enough, they were let back in, and I think there was another rumor about them having a fight again. Either them or someone else. But still, you gotta admit that C+ average part was pretty friggin' hilarious.

[Sofox]

I remember once when I was helping out at this kids thing.
I overheard a supervisor talk to a parent (guardian?) about a painting their child had made that apparently had blood and/or violence in it.
The supervisor went something to the effect of: "Yeah, you see, these days with kids watching movies and all that, they naturally tend to put a lot of what they see in their painting. I don't think you need to be worried about it, it's natural, but we'll keep an eye on him just in case and if it continue or gets worse, we'll talk to you about it and see where we go from there."

[gh0st]

hehe, when i was in public school i scared the crap out of my teachers....of course i didn't know until a few months ago. still one of my third grade stories was butterfly wars... turning possibly the most harmless thing in the world into a gun toting war machine... i say possibly because of the butterfly effect... and the entire time i was in third grade i was wondering why i was being sent to the office for the smallest of things.

[Darkmoon]

Seriously, this thread was almost a month old. Did you really need to revive it?