Honey, If Farting Could Send You To Prison in Junior High School, Bubba Would Still Be in Junior High School
Okay, this is kind of a weird story from a weird state.
It appears that the school system in Meridian, Mississippi is sending kids to prison for some pretty normal behavior.
The Department of Justice has been investigating the school system in the city for allegedly having students arrested and placed in juvenile detention. School principals and teachers punish students for infractions such as passing gas, dressing in an unacceptable manner, general disrespect, and swearing.
And shock of all shock, it appears that there’s some pattern emerging here. ABC reports that “about 62 percent of Meridian’s population is African American, and the Justice Department alleges that mostly African American children and children with disabilities are impacted by the unconstitutional policies.”
Okay, you find me a kid who does not do some of those things in junior high school and I’ll show you a kid with rage issues as an adult. Good Lord, you are supposed to make social behavior mistakes in junior high school. That’s what junior high school is for. That’s why we put them on a campus way out of town by themselves. They’re weird at that age because they are supposed to be.
Thanks to Iris for the heads up.
Bet someone’s making money from the juvenile detention facility.
1@glf
I’ll bet you’re right. I’m thinking big fat dollar bills they have to push with a cart. And the places are snake pits it seems.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/14/private-prison-mississippi_n_1598293.html
2http://www.npr.org/2012/04/24/151276620/firm-leaves-miss-after-its-prison-is-called-cesspool
My school district recently built a new building for their police department that includes 8 jail cells. Their excuse for the need was that if their cop had to take a kid to jail, they needed to go to the Harris County Annex building a few blocks away and wait for a deputy to take the kid downtown. The wait was sometimes a long one. So now, the HCSO can pick the kid up at the Klein ISD police station.
I’ve recently been reading that schools just call the cops when a kid is acting out. They file criminal charges on the kid and/or the parents. So much for a talking to from the coach or assistant principal.
3In Pennsylvania, a couple of juvenile court judges got caught in a scam in which they were sentencing huge numbers of juveniles (many for minor infractions like graffiti, and most of whom were poor and had no lawyers) to incarceration in private facilities whose owners paid the judges an under-the-table fee. Needless to say, the judges were collecting huge sums.
4When a red-neck father tells his kid, “Pull my finger,” is he contributing to the delinquency of a minor?
5Follow the money. Somebody is making bank on this. It’s always about the money.
6I raised three sons. As young teens they really needed catalytic converters to keep from suffocating the neighborhood. I think adults today should encourage the study of biofuels to solve global warming, not punish experimentation.
7Did they set the gassy emissions on fire? If so, you might have a case for improper use of flammable materials. I wanna see that trial, though.
And, yes, my kids did that among numerous other socially unacceptable behaviors having to do with bodily functions. And, no. You really don’t want to know. I promise.
8“You find me a kid who does not do some of those things in junior high school and I’ll show you…”
…A future member of the Meridian Board of Education.
9…Mitt Romney.
…my Mom.
…a kid who never went to junior high.
…Marsha, Marsha, MARSHA!
I am so thankful, I grew up, and went to school in a totally different time……….. and place.
I’m just speculating…… these are facilities which are run by private companies, like most of our prisons are…….and they are paid by the State of Mississippi a certain amount of money….. per “inmate”.
Mississippi Motto: “Don’t Educate – Incarcerate”.
Damned (Sorry Momma) Sad.
10I am not for incarcerating for stupid things like farting.
But the level of violence in schools is rising.
I had to leave my school nurse position when I was 45 and have been on disability since then due to an accident at school.
The student was a special needs student, violent and should not have been in a school setting.
Also read in the paper today, 36% of people from Mississippi are obese. Highest in the nation.
11Hey, I’m in my sixties and retired and I do those things, most days anyway.
12I thought of that “kids for cash” thing in Pennsylvania, where that judge took bribes from a privately run juvie. He sent kids as young as 10 to juvie for such heinous crimes as talking on a cell phone in school. I agree with trixicopper – follow the money.
13When I taught middle school, I had students who bragged about being able to fart or belch the ABCs. Wonder how much time that would get ya? After the chuckle, the story is bone deep sad.
14Thank you Bo Leeyeau. Don’t we all. I, too, am in my sixties and so I don’t always assume that passing gas is all that might happen. But I also raised some boys, and so my comment is: Oh, for God’s sake!!!
15Didn’t ted cruz have something to do with somethimg like that?
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