14-year-old charged with terroristic threats

[Snooch]

So this kid of yours get his jollies out of killing hummingbirds and you have no problem with it? Perhaps YOU need a shrink as bad as he does.

 

[tualha]

This incident happened about six months ago at a school he attended last year. He is at a different school now and is fine - he is not a troublemaker at all. He was disgruntled last year as was just about every kid in his class. They pretty much had mutiny in the 8th grade due to a raging teacher, half the class being sent to the principal's office every day, and the whole situation was not handled effectively by the adults at the school - and the kids knew it. Anyway, of course that does not excuse bad behavior, but half the class revolted, and I understand why. The principal had parents calling every day, some thought or removing their kid, some were not going to bring their kid back next year if this teacher was still there. They almost fired this teacher during the year, but I guess they decided to make do till the end of the year, and pretty much did not leave her alone in the classroom the rest of the year. It did get a bit better then, but sill not good. However, her contract was not renewed - surprise, surprise.

Anyway, it was an already frustrating situation when my son had this incident with this kid - who I had heard about for two years already as a perpetual tattletale. The teachers and the principal knew it too. In fact, when the principal called up to tell me he had to call the police, he did say to me, "The kid is a nooge, I could see your son saying something to him." Yet he still called the police, supposedly because of the this zero tolerance thing. Personally, I think they really ought to use their judgment a bit better.

Anyway, this was six months ago, my son has forgotten about it and moved on. I thought they might forget about charging him. This sat at the prosecutors office for months, and now for some reason he is finally being charged. We now have to relive all this nonsense over again and bring all these bad memories back. So I think you should be able to see my frustration. This kind of thing is hurting kids.

 

[tualha]

By the way, the school did suspend him for three days - but this was almost six months ago already during last year. Again, he is at high school now, so I don't really get why he is being charged at this point - really stupid, if you ask me.

 

[Ohiogal]

This incident happened about six months ago at a school he attended last year. He is at a different school now and is fine - he is not a troublemaker at all. He was disgruntled last year as was just about every kid in his class. They pretty much had mutiny in the 8th grade due to a raging teacher, half the class being sent to the principal's office every day, and the whole situation was not handled effectively by the adults at the school - and the kids knew it. Anyway, of course that does not excuse bad behavior, but half the class revolted, and I understand why. The principal had parents calling every day, some thought or removing their kid, some were not going to bring their kid back next year if this teacher was still there. They almost fired this teacher during the year, but I guess they decided to make do till the end of the year, and pretty much did not leave her alone in the classroom the rest of the year. It did get a bit better then, but sill not good. However, her contract was not renewed - surprise, surprise.

That is NO EXCUSE for your son's behavior.

Anyway, it was an already frustrating situation when my son had this incident with this kid - who I had heard about for two years already as a perpetual tattletale.

And that is no excuse for your son's behavior.

The teachers and the principal knew it too.

Assumption.

In fact, when the principal called up to tell me he had to call the police, he did say to me, "The kid is a nooge, I could see your son saying something to him."

Really? That could be because your son is juvenile delinquent.

Yet he still called the police, supposedly because of the this zero tolerance thing. Personally, I think they really ought to use their judgment a bit better.

Personally I think your son ought to act a bit better and not resort to terroristic threats when he doesn't get his own way.
Personally, I think you ought to face facts and realize that your son will be prone to even more problems in the future because you seem to be in denial and not facing reality.

Anyway, this was six months ago, my son has forgotten about it and moved on. I thought they might forget about charging him. This sat at the prosecutors office for months, and now for some reason he is finally being charged. We now have to relive all this nonsense over again and bring all these bad memories back. So I think you should be able to see my frustration. This kind of thing is hurting kids.

Blame your SON. HE is the one who committed the act. HE IS THE ONE who threatened another kid's life. HE is the one who threatened to hurt a kid.

 

[CourtClerk]

Okay, he is now finally being charged 5-1/2 months later. According to the notice I am supposed to get an attorney for him. In speaking to an attorney about this matter, he asked me what I would like the outcome of this case to be. I said I thought the whole thing was ridiculous and should probably be dismissed. He then said I should just defend him myself if I thought the case was ridiculous. Why spend money on an attorney if I think it is ridiculous, he said. I would love to just defend him myself, but can I? I can't believe this attorney told me this, but he says he has seen many parents do it. Has anyone ever heard of this? The court tells me I have to get one.

I can believe the attorney told you this. There are some attorneys in this world (especially those who work with juveniles) that truly want to see their clients get help for whatever issues they see their potential clients have... not just earn a check. YOUR attitude with this whole situation is disgusting to me, and I'm just reading it online... I can imagine what his reaction was to seeing you in real life.

You think this whole thing is ridiculous???? Your child is a disturbed little boy. I don't care how disgruntled my son's have gotten about life, people in school, me... whatever, NEVER have they threatened to shoot anyone, or put up a bomb threat. All of these issues and it's a teacher's fault, or another kid's fault??? I wouldn't represent you or your kid either...

I change my original statement, not only does your son need help... YOU need some help yourself. Your child's behavior is indicative of someone who is going to spend a lot of time in trouble.

 

[tualha]

This forum seems to have a lot of people on it who are harboring sour grapes from something.

Carl - you are one bright spark. Thank you for your honest, levelheaded comments.

 

[CourtClerk]

This forum seems to have a lot of people on it who are harboring sour grapes from something.

Carl - you are one bright spark. Thank you for your honest, levelheaded comments.

But none of us have children who are in trouble with the law....

perhaps you can learn something.

 

[tuffbrk]

The problem is not the intent of the speaker, but the belief of the receiver.

OP - pay attention to the quote above! The perception of the other boy is what will be given credence. Your son was frustrated, yes, but he didn't say bug off - he threatened bodily harm. BIG difference.

Not legal advice but - Perception is HUGE. For example, I have a 14 yo - he is pint sized. He has classmates that are taller than me and a few of them really s/b in High School but due to poor grades are still in the Middle School. Some of these kids are scary to me - and I'm an adult.

I'm just trying to have you look at the situation from a different perspective. Your son won't learn from this experience if you dismiss the "tattler" as if they brought the threat upon themselves. Some things to consider -Were any hand motions involved? Did your son move towards the child when speaking? Was he toe to toe with him? You need to consider more than "just" his words as the physical stature of your son may have magnified the effect of the statement upon the "tattler." So what he may not have meant, and what you think is silly, may, in fact, be giving the other child nightmares.

 

[Bear44857]

I am not a lawyer! I wanna state this right off the bat.

I am here too seeking advice on my own son's case.

The one thing that really bothers me about your postings is the fact that you do not seem to realize the seriousness of your son's stating this in the times of hello!, Columbine shootings.

If one my kids were threatened by another student and the school had done NOTHING about it or reported it, I would have been raising all kinds of heck. I believe the school has done right in this situation.

I also believe as a parent you should be more concerned about why your son would make a statement like that. And getting him counseling.

I realize that we as parents want to believe our children are innocent. I also realize we want to protect them. But are we truly protecting them by trying to get them out of everything they do?

When I posted my son's case here. I truly wasn't posting cause I wanted to get him out the trouble he is in. He needs to be where he is now. I was only posting to relieve myself of some of the guilt I feel because I didn't have enough money to pay for a lawyer. I felt that maybe I let him down in his own case by not having a good lawyer for him.

Ohiogal thank you again for relieving that guilt for me.

I do not know if my own son is guilty or not. All I can do is go on what he says and what others believe.

However, even if he wasn't guilty, he was still guilty of alot of behavior problems that are now thankfully being dealt with.

I cannot believe that you can't see past this *tattler* and see that your son is basically telling the whole world with this statement that he needs help.

Look past your own beliefs. Look past your motherly instincts to protect your child. And see the situation for what it is. For your son's sake as well as your own.

 

[Ozark_Sophist]

I took the attorney's response to you as a reflection on your inability to see the seriousness and lifelong impact such a charge could have on your child. If a reputable attorney sees the client (or client's mother) is not taking the case seriously, why should s/he become involved (it is not always about the money)?

 

[tualha]

I have spoken to about eight attorneys today, by the way, and not a single one of them thinks this is a justified type of charge, but instead a reflection of how crazy our society has gotten today. Years ago (several of them stated) nobody would have batted an eye at kids saying things like that to one another, but today becuase of Columbine and Virginia Tech, the adults have gone koo-koo and are overdoing everything.

It was very nice to speak to lawyers of sound mind and good judgment. It gives me hope. I am going to made a decision on one of them real soon.

 

[CdwJava]

but today becuase of Columbine and Virginia Tech, the adults have gone koo-koo and are overdoing everything.

And had your son followed through on his threat and no one did anything about it, then the school and the police would be sued into oblivion.

Acting with caution and reluctance got the school and law enforcement at Columbine HUGE civil suits ... both are now going to treat these seriously until proven otherwise. There have been many instances since Columbine where the school and the police UNDER reacted to a similar threat, and it later resulted in tragedy. Hence, the tendency to act aggressively now. If for no other reason than mitigating liability, schools and police are going to investigate these threats.

- Carl

 

[Silverplum]

And had your son followed through on his threat and no one did anything about it, then the school and the police would be sued into oblivion.

Acting with caution and reluctance got the school and law enforcement at Columbine HUGE civil suits ... both are now going to treat these seriously until proven otherwise. There have been many instances since Columbine where the school and the police UNDER reacted to a similar threat, and it later resulted in tragedy. Hence, the tendency to act aggressively now. If for no other reason than mitigating liability, schools and police are going to investigate these threats.

- Carl

Carl's totally right. And YOU, Mom, would be SCREECHING FOR HEADS if something happened at school to your son.

Frankly, I'm appalled at your cavalier attitude toward other people's children. But that's just me.

 

[tualha]

Carl, I think you're right - schools are overreacting to mitigate their own liability. But I think this will damage our youth more than it will prevent future violence. Criminilization of children, I think it is called.

 

[CdwJava]

Carl, I think you're right - schools are overreacting to mitigate their own liability. But I think this will damage our youth more than it will prevent future violence. Criminilization of children, I think it is called.

The question is, ARE they really over-reacting? Juries in a half dozen similar cases where there were otherwise innocuous threats that resulted in tragedy have used the "advantage" of hindsight to find that schools and law enforcement were negligent when they failed to take some action.

None of the parties involved can read minds. They don't know if a child who threatens another child really means it, or if they are just a hot-head making a stupid comment. Far too many of these school shootings were preceded by just this kind of otherwise innocuous comment by a student with no real history of discipline problems. Only when they actually started investigating AFTER the fact did they find the tell-tale signs. It is these indicators (signs) that police and the schools search for, now.

We will err on the side of caution most every time. It is sad that things have gotten to this point, but how many dead school children are enough?

- Carl