I read an interesting
article today about 25 kids from Chicago who got arrested for a food fight. Wait, a food fight, really? I didn’t think it was possible for a food fight to turn into a criminal offense. The article also states that the kids were suspended from school for two days. This seems like the better punishment. It seems ridiculous for 11-15 year olds to get arrested for a classic prank like a food fight, but it’s true! The charges were for reckless conduct. I thought that the article would report on injuries or how the food fight got seriously out of hand, but nothing else was reported in the article. With all the recent violence in schools in Chicago, it seems like having a couple officers in the school would help. Also, it got me thinking of their records for the future. Having this episode is ultimately going to hurt them finding jobs in the future. But was this arrest really necessary, was the so-called ‘reckless conduct’ a reason to throw kids in jail? Does the punishment fit the crime that these kids did?
(image via http://teezaday.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/food_image.jpg)
I think it's crazy that these kids got arrested for an innocent act. It's not like they maliciously tried to hurt someone. They were having fun. And frankly, I think there are bigger things to worry about when it comes to Chicago public schools than a few kids who were having fun, like making sure all their kids do well in school.
ReplyDeleteThis is just immaturity. It obviously calls for punishment (detention, possibly even suspension), but the kids definitely shouldn't be arrested! I think it would be a better idea if CPS Security were strengthened; although this event wasn't horrible, it obviously would have been better if it hadn't occurred at all. Especially with all of the ACTUAL danger happening at school (like the fact that some kids in CPS bring weapons to school), security can always be improved.
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