sundries

[rm]

Apparently, the way to punish tweens for sexting is to threaten to charge them with child pornography and for them to take "re-education classes" on "what it means to be a girl." The boys who passed the photos around, of course, faced no consequences. Thank god for the ACLU.

Meanwhile, schools issued laptops to students and then used the computers to spy on their activities at home, ultimately punishing students for behavioral issues that transpired in their own houses. Thanks to regyt for alerting me to both this item and the one above.

More absurdity in the schools -- you have all heard by now about the 12-year-old handcuffed and escorted out by police for doodling on a desk?

You know, when I was a kid I had intensely overprotective parents. But at the same time, no one had a cell phone. No one had a laptop that was being used to spy on you and partof growing up was learning about lying -- how to get away with stuff ("I couldn't find a payphone.") and the very real consequences of lies when you got busted. Maybe less sneaky kids will make better business leaders. On the other hand, maybe less sneaky kids just produces a generation that expects to be policed into utter conformity. I don't know, but it sure does make me nervous (an aside: is Buffy the last teen-focused show that was a big hit where kids get away with stuff because everyone doesn't have a mobile?).

A small plane stolen from another airport was intentionally crashed into a building in Austin. What new, ineffective and possibly problematic restrictions will be imposed on general aviation as a result of this? Meanwhile we are told this was not a terrorist act (despite the fact that 199 IRS employees worked in the building and may have been the motive) because we all know Americans are never terrorists. Oklahoma City? What?

British broadcast admits on air to suffocating lover dying of AIDS with a pillow. He's subsequently been interviewed by police and released on bail. The whole thing is heart-breaking.

eumelia reports on two high profile rape-related news stories in Israel and the bill being proposed that allows anyone accused or rape to file counter-charges against the victim for provoking the rape. Yeah. Really.

Despite warnings, there is little evidence to suggest that location-based tweets have created a rise in burglaries.

Duane Reade has been sold and New Yorkers care. Mostly because we really, REALLY hate Duane Reade.

Comments

[malle-babbe.livejournal.com]

Now now, white people can't be terrorists; they're *Freedom Fighters*. Saviors of Real Americans from the scourge of competence! Because everyone knows that clean drinking water and timely pothole repairs are gateway drugs to becoming a Stalinist police state!

Re: the girl arrested for doodling. So, before Columbine, adults ignored violently unbalanced teens, and thought that letting kids fend for themselves against said violently unbalanced teens was a Wonderful Character-Building Experience. After Columbine, they presume every student is a violently unbalanced teen?

I can see some of zero tolerance as a means of avoiding being accused of favoritism by parents, but I also wonder if it is also a sign of how much Columbine (and later, 9/11) were such profound shocks to American society that paranoia has arisen as a coping mechanism.