the sky is falling!
May 5, 2008 by kristina b
Shakha* said that the day students are allowed to bring guns is the day he quits. Mmmhmmm! I agree (not that I have anything to quit yet, but you get the idea). To reprint part of my comment to Shakha’s initial post:
I really don’t want students to be the one to make the call about whether or not to whip out the “people-killing tool,” as andrewska puts it above. When I started seeing fliers with big guns on them around campus, I got pretty emotional about it myself. If it really does become an issue I will fight against it.
The learning environment can be an emotional one, especially in sociology classrooms where we talk about race, gender, religion, and any number of other controversial issues. Students who are paying attention get their minds blown once in a while, but other students just hear buzz words and get angry.
So when i heard about a UT student getting charged with a 3rd degree felony for bringing a gun to campus and expressing some kind of plan to do harm with it (the article is nonspecific), I thought yes, that’s probably best.
However, when I heard about a second UT student being charged with the same 3d degree felony for only his words, I started thinking there’s something wrong here. Yes, MCelvey could probably use a stern talking to. And did the students who turned him in do the right thing? Sure. Should the university and even perhaps the police have investigated the issue? Yeah, absolutely. But as far as I can tell, this kid is getting a felony charge that involves jail time for being an asshole, and that just feels like the first few miles down the road toward a police state in a fear-fueled vehicle.
* Am I the only one who gets I Feel For You stuck in my head every time I see his handle? Just sayin.
Saying you wish you could do something doesn’t seem to me like a threat, unless you stretch the meaning of the word “threat,” which the prosecutors will probably do.
Worse, bringing criminal sanctions will probably have the reverse effect of what’s needed. This kid had some troubling thoughts and wishes. He voiced them to friends. The friends wanted to help and referred him to psych counsellors. That’s what should happen.
But if the kid is going to wind up with at least a criminal record and possibly jail time, it’s unlikely that the next troubled kid will reveal his thoughts to friends, and if he does, it’s unlikely that the friends will suggest he get counseling.