In Texas, 2 9-year olds make journal planning on how to slaughter classmates, threaten to kill the

[Horse with no Name]

little girl who told on them, and the school district does NOT feel it is a valid terroristic threat AND the kids are back in school??:wow:
http://theparisnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=accf7904a0256f6b
>>>snip
The incident involves two fourth grade boys who wrote in an English class journal a plan to attack the school and kill as many people as possible.
They also allegedly were attempting to recruit other students to help them.

When they told a classmate about the plan, she turned them in to school authorities.
>>>snip
“I don’t feel the discipline was enough,” he said. “She has more of a concept of danger than the superintendent has. She was called in and asked to face them by the principal. I am surprised it has gone to this level. This is over the line. If we have learned anything from Columbine, we know these things are planned. These boys did not have guns, but they had the plans to get them and kill people. Either the superintendent doesn’t know what is going on in the schools or he is lying. If firearms had been obtained, this would have been a case of statistics now.”
>>>snip
The accused students faced 10-day suspensions and a series of other unnamed disciplinary measures by school officials, but were allowed to return to class after the March 9 incident that Kathleen Sessums said was kept “hush, hush” at the school.

[JVS]

1. .

:popcorn:

[Barack_America]

2. I would not want my kids going to this school.

Would you?

After a threat like that, my kids would never walk in those doors again, so long as those students were in attendance.

Why would they not deem this a threat? Have they forgotten Jonesboro?

[Horse with no Name]

3. Small town politics

and no, my child would NOT go back to school with these kids.
There are deeper issues at work here than just a foiled plan--like perhaps an alternate plan?

[No More Bushbots]

6. Yeah, they're nine years old

I'm sure they had a deeply planned out conspiracy going.
Maybe they were only going to kill the liberal children?
Or scrawl "Rush Rulz" on the wall with the blood of their victims.

[Horse with no Name]

8. They had a plan to obtain guns

They had a list of people they were going to kill.
They were trying to recruit more people to help them.
They threatened to kill the little girl who told on them.

Don't know about you, but they did have a plan of action and the fact that they are only 9-years old isn't the most important piece of this puzzle.

[kdmorris]

4. Terroristic threat??

They are 9 years old. Yeah, something more should have been done, but... terroristic threat? :eyes:

[Horse with no Name]

7. You don't think kids that young are capable of knowing right from wrong?

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Junior-Journalist-Lands-College-Scholarship.html?yhp=1

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5479117

[kdmorris]

9. Where did I say that?

I even said more should have been done, but I disagree with your characterization of a plan (not even carried out) as a "Terroristic threat".

1. Terroristic is not a word.
2. Not everything bad that happens in the world is a terror attack. Sometimes it's just a crime. Sometimes it's just plain murder.
3. They didn't do anything other than talk about it and plan. Perhaps you can understand my distrust of arresting someone for thought crimes.

They are 9 years old. Certainly young enough to rehabilitate (NOT ignore, and NOT arrest).

I think it's wonderful that the other 5th grader you linked to made obviously wonderful choices instead of acting in ways that obviously cry out for help.

What do YOU think the school should have done? Sent them to Guantanamo Bay? Because that's where we incarcerate terror suspects (innocent or not) right now.

Edit: Spelling

[SoCalDem]

5. Oh my.. a new wrinkle in the game show that is "Texas or Florida?".. n/t

[renate]

10. a principal who would let the boys know who turned them in is an IDIOT

Normally I can't say enough about teachers--I respect and admire them and I love them to pieces for doing a such challenging and important job with the level of commitment that good teaching requires... but when they are this massively incompetent, they can be dangerous. This little girl wouldn't have been safe if her father hadn't taken her out of that school. She and her family might not be safe even now that she's being taught at home.

This is terrible; these boys are going to think they're invincible, and no other student will dare turn them in if they get even worse.