Base on the news stories, they have brought their sleepy little community to the fore of national attention – and none of it good. They managed to take a high school incident and give it more media attention than the debate between the Democrat presidential candidates. THAT is one hell of an accomplishment. They have added a new level of meaning to the word “overreaction.”
What’s the deal?
Well … seems like a young Asian student, Allen Lee, as part of a class assignment, wrote something violent. No argument there. The teacher freaked. With visions of Virginia Tech dancing through her head, she took what she deemed a dangerous document to her superior, and from there it went to the principal. He, in turn, sends Lee’s creative writing to Police. Of course, no one tells the kid’s dad about this.
Now here is the rub, as Shakespeare would say.
According to the LAW, they were not allowed to contact the parents. According to the LAW, they were REQUIRED to bring in the police. This is just the kind of thing that helps you to understand how liberal zealots, lawyers and legislators are screwing up America. But, that’s another issue.
In Cary, we have two fault points. Knowing the idiotic law, the teacher should never have done the equivalent of smashing the fire alarm glass. By all standards, this was a kid well within the range of normal. I think a little teacher-student conversation would have done the trick. By all reports, Lee is a reasonably popular student – not given to dark moody weirdness of past mass killers. He is an honor student. Good family. Okay, so he is a bit quiet.
However, the greater blame belongs to the police. They did not have to arrest the kid and charge him with multiple felonies. A little common sense and an informal visit with the dad and the school officials would have prevented the national outrage. And yes, the police can go to the parents.
Why DID the police arrest him? Because he committed a crime? Way no. They arrested him FOR THE PUBLICITY. Yeah! They, like the comic Gestapo, not only arrested the poor kid, they sent out a press release to make sure the world knew it. A press release, for God’s sake!!! I think this is where the Internet chatterers add … lmao.
Of course, all the officials involved did not seem to care about Lee at all. What will all this false accusation do to his career? What if he is actually convicted of a felony? Will his arrect record follow him through life? (And yes, arrest records are still public information even if you are not prosecuted or acquitted. But that's another issue, too.)
It is very likely that some of Lee’s career options have already dropped dramatically. No matter what happens next, there will always be a shadow over his reputation. They have damaged him significantly --- and undeservedly. It is possible his scheduled entrance into the Marines could be nixed. If that happens, the kid will be elevated to national hero status, and the folks in Cary will be the villans.
My question is: What are the leaders of Cary going to do about the police? Maybe suspension … public scolding and a bad mark in their permanent record?
Oh! Did I forget to mention the obvious racism? Would this have happened if Lee was not Asian – Chinese to be precise? I am betting not. Thanks to the Virginia Tech shooter, Asians are under special scrutiny.
One can only hope that some level of sanity will descend on the little town of Cary, and Lee will be set free, get profuse apologies and be the guest of honor at a school assembly. In a funny sort of way, Lee is a hero for making us aware of how ineptly dangerous are our new laws regarding parental notification and how overzealous school officials can do their own version of damage. It is an example of zero tolerance and mandatory action run amok.
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