Chicago high school student Allen Lee, 18, was arrested and charged with "disorderly conduct" for writing an essay in creative writing class that his teacher found disturbing. He's also been barred from classes at Cary-Grove High School, where he's reportedly been a straight-A student. The Chicago Tribune reports that the teacher had "encouraged students to express their emotions through writing."
Cary Police Chief Ron Delelio said the charge was appropriate even though the essay was not published or posted for public viewing.
Disorderly conduct, which carries a penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine, is filed for pranks such as pulling a fire alarm or dialing 911. But it can also apply when someone's writings can disturb an individual, Delelio said.
"The teacher was alarmed and disturbed by the content," he said.
Let's hope the unnamed English teacher doesn't discover the public library, or the Chicago cops will be looking to arrest nearly every important author in the last century for disturbing the peace.
It's noteworthy that this action wasn't a knee-jerk response. It followed a round-table discussion by school district officials, who not only concluded that Lee's essay was so disturbing as to demand action, but evidently eschewed moderate responses like contacting his parents or referring him to the school counselor in favor of having him arrested and charged with a crime for his words.
THREAT LEVEL predicted this inane response to Virginia Tech early on. I fear this is only the beginning.
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Update: The Tribune has published Lee's paper, as reconstructed from memory. (Spoiler: School makes him stabby). The Northwest Herald reports that the assignment was a "free writing" exercise with the following guidelines.
- Write nonstop for a set period of time.
- Do not make corrections as you write.
- Keep writing, even if you have to write something like, "I don't know what to write."
- Write whatever comes into your mind.
- Do not judge or censor what you are writing.
- If your free writing is neat and coherent, you probably haven't loosened up enough.
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Updated again: In addition to busting student writers, the alert Cary-Grove High School offers an anonymous online tip form to report behavior to the CGHS "Safety Committee." The website reads, "We want to hear what you have to say. Please take a minute to fill out the anonymous form below."
But check this out this hidden form field in the source code:
<input name="env_report" type="hidden" id="env_report" value="REMOTE_ADDR">
The Safety Committee appreciates your anonymous tip, and looks forward to reviewing your IP address.
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Update: Rich, a high school teacher, writes:
If this example illustrates the new criteria for what I should report to the principal only a few students are ever going to make it through high school without an arrest.
Especially if they're male.
I could provide high school writings that make this stuff look like Dr. Seuss.