Chicago Asian student arrested for questionable creative writing essay

[TB4000]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/3...ssay27.article

It begins.

[LaiSteve66]

Not the most responsible thing to write in this day in age, but an arrest is overdoing it IMO.

[Sven]

Asked to write about whatever he wanted in a creative writing class, would-be Marine and honors student Allen Lee, 18, described a violent dream in which he shot people and then "had sex with the dead bodies.''

Well he kind of overdid it with that piece. But the arrest? Still not nessecary.

[eos]

my sister told me that on postsecret.com, someone wrote "asian people scare me."

i see we're pretty much rounded all the stereotype bases here: people think we're scary, shy, submissive, kun-fu masters, evil, cheap, smart....i mean, unless they start pulling things out their asses, we've got everything down. you can't mess with us anymore, we've heard it all. *yawn*

the arrest AND posting his picture on the front page no less....=T

[deez nuts]

i say we feed him to the crocs that ate that kid in china.

[SunWuKong]

he shouldn't have been arrested, but damn, there's always some dumbass prodding a croc with a stick.

[kimpossible]

Arrested for an essay about a violent dream involving shootings and necrophilia is sketchy but considering he also wrote about being the first to shoot up the high school. I don't see why that should be ignored.

[Yeahman]

Originally Posted by kimpossible

Arrested for an essay about a violent dream involving shootings and necrophilia is sketchy but considering he also wrote about being the first to shoot up the high school. I don't see why that should be ignored.

He should be kept on an eye on for sure.

[eos]

they fucking arrested him...that's what pisses me off. disorderly conduct??? ok, worst case scenario, if he's really one brick short of a load, he's going to remember this incident and use it as fodder for....something. yes, keep an eye on him....but i think the damage is done here.

[kimpossible]

Even if there was some racist motivation on the teacher's part I don't think she was wrong to report a threat to shoot up the school made by a, hate to say it, male student.

At the same time I think there's cause to investigate the matter to see if it was a typical procedural reaction by all authorities involved or if this was a departure from the norm if a case with a white male student was handled differently, all else being equal.

Disorderly, if I remember correctly, is sort of a catch all for non-serious offences.

My problem isn't that there was an arrest because teachers sadly are in a vocation where they have to take this seriously, but it seems extremely short on the investigative portion. As in where the hell was there any effort and time to put in a solid investigation. I think the panic was fueled by the student's race. Hence a rush to action.

[sandra]

he wasn't arrested for criminal threats probably because there were no threats in his essay. but then the question becomes - what was the disorderly conduct? can we articulate that?

race is obviously a factor. what of other authors who write essays/stories/books with storylines that are much more violent and gory? what about those who create violent video games? should they be arrested as well? perhaps the fact that he was a high school student was a factor. however, what steps were exhausted before the teacher called the police to have the kid cuffed? what were the other circumstances surrounding this, if any? did he exhibit any sort of strange behavior? if so, don't you think the teacher would have said so by now in her own defense?

again - probably cause for the arrest for disorderly conduct was what? just that he wrote the essay? if we follow that logic, then perhaps the teacher should be arrested for soliciting a crime since she told him to write it without any censorship.
*************************************************

Illinois police arrest teen after teacher "disturbed" by essay
By Jeff Long and Carolyn Starks

Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — Told to express emotion for a creative-writing class, high-school senior Allen Lee penned an essay so disturbing to his teacher, school administrators and police that he was charged with disorderly conduct, officials said Wednesday.

Lee, 18, a straight-A student at Cary-Grove High School in Cary, Ill., was arrested Tuesday near his home and charged with the misdemeanor for an essay that police described as violently disturbing but not directed toward any specific person or location.

Neither police nor the school would release a copy of the essay written Monday. School officials declined to say whether Lee had any previous disciplinary problems, but said he was an excellent student. Authorities said Lee had never been in trouble with the police.

The charge against Lee comes as schools across the country wrestle with how to react in the wake of the massacre that claimed 33 lives at Virginia Tech.

Cary Police Chief Ron Delelio said the charge against Lee was appropriate even though the essay was not published or posted for public viewing. Disorderly conduct, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine, is often filed for such pranks as pulling a fire alarm or dialing 911, he said. But it can also apply when someone's writings disturb an individual, Delelio said.

"The teacher was alarmed and disturbed by the content," he said.

The teen's father said he understood concerns about violence but not why a creative-writing exercise resulted in charges against his son.

"I understand what happened recently at Virginia Tech," said Albert Lee. But he added, "I don't see how somebody can get charged by writing in their homework. The teacher asked them to express themselves, and he followed instructions."

Some legal experts said the charge against Allen Lee is troubling because it was over an essay that even police admit contained no direct threats against anyone at the school.

A civil-rights advocate said the teacher's reaction to an essay shouldn't make it a crime. "One of the elements is that some sort of disorder or disruption is created," said Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. "When something is done in private — when a paper is handed in to a teacher — there isn't a disruption."

[nameless]

It was pretty stupid timing, but the teacher / school also over reacted. In middle school, I had a writing assignment that got me sent to the prinicipals office. Even though they took what I wrote out of context, it was still meant to be threatening (lol my teacher was a bitch); I don't blame them for at least bringing me in to explain myself. Still, arresting Lee was just a knee jerk reaction of dealing with another Cho. Next time, write in 3rd person genius.

[eos]

there were no direct threats to anyone in the particular school. this was a first-year teacher who jumped the gun. how unfortunate that seasoned teachers at vtech and this teacher's roles weren't reversed. and all pretty much based on a creative writing exercise.

[j&j2]

From the Northwest Herald -

Student reaction

Students who know Lee said they didn’t expect him to write what he did.

“He’s an outstanding kid; a good athlete,” said Nick Charles, a senior at Cary-Grove who wrestled with Lee their freshman and sophomore years.

Lee’s friend, Jameson Emling, who also is in the class, said he felt the teacher overreacted to the essay. Emling also has enlisted in the Marines.

About six weeks ago, Emling said he gave a 10-minute speech in the same class describing what his life would be like as a “hit-man” and identified students he would shoot. He said he was not punished for that speech.

“The teacher threw up a red flag on someone who is going to be fighting for her freedom,” Emling said.

Some enlightening commentary -

lilac wrote on April 26, 2007 3:40 PM:

"Jamie and Allen are both in my creative writing class, and I totally agree with the people who are claiming racial profiling. Jamie is a good kid, white, middle class, wrote AND presented a disturbing paper. For this same assignment, I wrote and presented a paper written from the mind of a homicidal schizophrenic. No disciplinary action was taken on either of us. Allen is a good kid, Asian, middle class, wrote a FREE writing paper and was arrested. Does this make sense? As for why Capron's teaching methods may cause a school shooting, she and Allen haven't gotten along all semester. It's a personal vendetta against the student by the teacher, and I think she just wanted to get him in a little trouble. I don't think she realized that it would cause this big of an uproar, but trust me, she's feeling it constantly now. Most students that know him are on Allen's side. "

It seems to me that the school admin and the local police are playing keystone coppers.

In light of the the VT tragedy, it is perfectly rational for them to look into this matter - but aside from writing an essay with a violent theme - what did Lee have in common w/ Cho and the other school shooters?

Nothing - he was pretty popular, a good athlete, etc. - totally lacking the profile of school shooters.

And why didn't the other students who wrote/presented violent material get the same scrutiny - it's not like Columbine and all the other school shooting never happened?

In another story - an Asian boy got suspended for being "quiet and Asian."

[j&j2]

Here's the link -

http://nwherald.com/articles/2007/04...7798473383.txt