No Tolerance for Preteen Doodlers in New York City

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-02-08 21:31:00 UTC
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Yes, I certainly think doodling on a school desk with a Magic Marker is serious crime worthy of calling the cops over and having a 12-year-old led off in handcuffs. Tough on crime all the way.

Over on Change.org's Criminal Justice blog, Te-Ping Chen reports on a dangerous student who posed a severe threat to public safety by writing, "I love my friends Abby and Faith" on her school desk. In lime green, no less! That color will not go with the table at all. Fashion crime.

Somehow, I managed to get through the New York City public school system as a child without ending up in handcuffs. But I admit, I'm just as guilty as this latest perp. In fact, I'm a repeat offender: I've lost track of how many times I drew on a desk as a kid.

New York police have a less-than-amazing record on appropriate responses to childhood antics, like tossing a five-year-old who threw a temper tantrum into handcuffs and then a psych ward. For doing, you know, what five-years-olds do. Perhaps it's related to the fact that 5,000 cops are assigned to NYC schools, and they're bored, or trying to justify the existence of their jobs by picking up some truly dangerous criminals.

The Magic Marker will probably wash off. But the damage done to this student, led away in handcuffs before all her peers? Those scars might be invisible, but they aren't so easy to get rid of.

Photo credit: a.drian

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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