Schoolyard bullying a felony in Missouri

Elementary schoolchildren in Missouri could get into as much trouble as ‘Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard’ did if they get into fights on the playground. A new statute may potentially turn such brawls into felonies punishable by up to four years in jail.

When Missouri students head back to the classroom in the new year, bullying and brawling could... ...land kids in juvenile detention centers

on January 1, third-degree assault and cases of harassment where the victim suffers “emotional distress” will become class E felonies. Schools will be required to report harassment, along with certain other offenses, to local law enforcement

Student(s) who are caught fighting in school, bus or on school grounds may now be charged with a felony (no matter the age or grade level)

Ferguson-Florissant Superintendent Joseph Davis warned that a simple schoolyard spat could have lifelong consequences for students in a video announcement

just a fist fight anymore could definitely mean a felony," Sikeston Department of Public Safety Sergeant Jon Broom told KFVS

Critics have decried the potential impact on students, arguing that Missouri is criminalizing children’s behavior and enlarging the so-called “school-to-prison pipeline,”

The new law does not make exceptions based on age.

Source


What the hell country are we living in?
Children in Missouri as young as elementary school age (5 or 6) are now liable to be convicted as felons for so much as engaging in activity which might be considered "harassment" where another student suffers "emotional distress". So now if 5 year old little Jimmy says "Hey, Sally 4-eyes!" and Sally gets upset, little Jimmy is now a felon. A *ING FELON! Not for violently stabbing someone or attempting a shooting rampage... But because another kid might have been a little upset.
This is sick, wrong, disgusting... How are United States school systems allowed to turn children as young as 5 years old into felons and force them to spend up to 4 years in detention centers? It can no longer be said that the United States of America is a free country. This isn't freedom, this is oppression.

a reply to: trollz

Please Trump do something about this sh't when you take over from the bonehead running the Country into the ground.

That's nuts, insane. These people aren't normal they're messed up.

a reply to: trollz

Teachers and administrators are going to love this. They are some of the most immature and petty people out there and will simply relish in calling the cops on students to have them prosecuted for this.

If i were a parent in that state i dont think i would send my child to school there. Id find a way to homeschool and then move as soon as possible rather than have them exposed to this ludicrous risk.

ETA just noticed that "Stronger Together" slogan at the end of the vid. Now it makes sense.

a reply to: trollz

Great now we can build mini prisons with 7 year old bubba's and kids can have a rep sheet before they leave kindergarten.

a reply to: trollz

That is too far with that law, but assault should be treated as assault. You cant let some kids just go around assaulting others.

Yes, bullying is bad, and should be punished. But a felony rap? On a kid? Who the **** are these people, and who the Hell convinced them that this is even remotely a good idea?

Prison? How hairbrainingly stupid this is challenges, obviously, my vocabulary to express properly.

Prison doesn't punish, it makes a good, if mistaken kid bad, and will make a bad kid worse. That kid will wind up in the State pen almost assuredly, or a good many of 'em will.

Stupid. Asinine.

originally posted by: Urantia1111
a reply to: trollz

Teachers and administrators are going to love this. They are some of the most immature and petty people out there and will simply relish in calling the cops on students to have them prosecuted for this.

I agree 100% from my own experiences in school. I actually had a teacher who would sit next to me and try to antagonize me into saying anything she could use to report me and get me in trouble for, to the point of asking me if I'd like to blow up the school, or showing me pictures of her children and asking me if I'd ever hurt them. I've pointed out before that just as *some* people become police officers because they get a sense of excitement out of having control over others, so too do some school administrators and teachers become such because they enjoy being able to control people, even when those people are children. It's simply a fact that there will be a lot of these types who will jump at every opportunity to turn kids into felons and have them hauled off to juvenile detention... I guarantee it.

Two f#cking words...

"HOME SCHOOL"


The state in many countries not just the US is failing badly regarding education this is just one more nail in the coffin, the issue in the UK is that schools totally let down victims of bullying and I do not mean petty crap but the person that is border line tortured and the class delinquent is free to go about their campaign of rampage unchecked due to not being able to suspend due to their human rights.

The US seems hell bent on getting as many convictions as it can against its population I guess as a long term goal of filling up private prisons???...

Common f#cking sense has taken a hike it would seem, teachers have had all powers taken so now it is up to the cops to "Police" the class room, I guess they need to get "junior" sized handcuffs made??..

RA

a reply to: trollz

I cannot believe that adults - educated adults - wrote and passed this law. Have I slipped into another dimension? Absolutely horrific - I wanna go home.

originally posted by: MiddleInitial
a reply to: trollz
I wanna go home.

So do the kids but a prison cell will soon mean that is impossible..


RA

a reply to: slider1982

They pretty much want to send the message loud and clear that the only strong-arm tactics used will be those of the state.

a reply to: slider1982


Or when they are 18"

-Can't get a job man"

+"why not"

-"Man! I had felony''s on my rep sheet since kindergarten man! I have seen Sh*t!"

If the people of Missouri don't do something about this at the local level then they deserve it.

That's way out of line, ok people shouldn't bully one another especially in school,, that said it's part of growing up and not everyone is going to get along but no need for jail time or exclusion etc.

I talk about how our laws are racist. This....this $*%# right here is an example. Another source

www.stltoday.com... .html

The changes stem from legislation passed in 2014 that also increases maximum fines for felonies and misdemeanors and creates a fourth degree of assault. The changes do not mention schools, and it’s unclear how schools and law enforcement will interpret them. Many school administrators were learning about the changes this week.

Starting Jan. 1, third-degree assault and some cases of harassment will become class E felonies. Harassment will be a felony, rather than a misdemeanor, if the victim suffers “emotional distress” from an act committed with that purpose. The state considers harassment to be a form of school bullying, and harassment is among the offenses school districts are technically required to report to local law enforcement.

Also under the new law, a person who “knowingly causes physical injury to another person” will have committed the felony of third-degree assault.

At least two area school districts, Hazelwood and Ferguson-Florissant, have already interpreted that definition to mean that any student, no matter their age, who gets in a fight can be charged with a felony.

In the end, this law is meant to further marginalize the most marginalized among us. Something I have observed for years: dispute resolution among 7th graders tends to be fist related. Its just the way boys of that age tend to respond to each other. This law will now forever exclude them from voting, most decent employment, and from gun ownership.

The only hurdle that needs to be cleared is "advese impact". In 2 years, a simple glance at demographics for who gets convicted of this stupidity should tell the story of whats really going on here. Its a law meant to target a demographic.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

This law will disproportionately affect some demographics that are more inclined to schoolyard violence for whatever cultural/environmental reasons, but it is a stretch to say that this is its intended purpose.


I do see this as a way to try and pacify future generations while also normalizing over the top tyrannical authoritarianism. This needs to go for so many reasons.

Bullying is a huge problem. And it does interfer with education, something that the USA failing education system needs to take into acount before sinking any lower......

But this is far to harsh. Felony charges and criminal records is the wrong way to go about it.

Normaly a bully is a symptom of a deeper problem. It should in my opinion be dealt with in school.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

I would say it is more bigoted, than racist, but that'd be picking at semantics. You're right. This is aimed directly at certain portions of the population. Nothing more, nothing less.

The demographic is/are those who can't fight the system for lack of money and influence. Wrong side of the track, if you prefer.

originally posted by: pirhanna
a reply to: trollz

That is too far with that law, but assault should be treated as assault. You cant let some kids just go around assaulting others.

I agree, if it's assault, it should be a big felony, one that carries into the little brats adulthood too. Bullying is out of control these days, things need to change.

a reply to: trollz

And it's even worse than you imagine. My I live in southwest Missouri and my kids are grown now, thank god (20, 21, 23, and 27) but back when the younger ones were in elementary and the eldest in middle school, they went to one school where a "fight" was defined--the actual definition in the school handbook!-- as "one student touching another." So if a kid happened to be on a teacher's # list, the teacher could theoretically report him/her for something like poking his/her buddy in the ribs to get the other kid's attention, laying a hand on their shoulder, etc etc. It was completely insane.

Also, according to the rules in my district (I'm not sure if this is/was a statewide law, or specific to our school district but was the rules in the school handbook), if a child was enrolled in school, school officials could discipline them for doing ANYTHING that would be against school rules any time, any where, including in their own yards or homes and outside of school hours. If someone from the school saw "such behavior," even if they were doing it in their own living room at 10 pm, they could get ISS, OSS, etc. the next school day. Crazy crap.

This is no exaggeration, and I have seen it happen. For example, a neighbor kid was once suspended for a week because he called the principal an ass. That would be all well and good and completely fair except--it was on the weekend, and they were both walking down the public sidewalk blocks away from the school. (This same school district tried to charge a 5-yr-old with 3rd degree assault, a misdemeanor, for jerking a book out of a teacher's hands.)

So it's not enough that the state of Missouri has jurisdiction over any child enrolled in public or private school in all places and at all hours, now they can charge kindergarteners with a felony for going "neener neener neener" if someone suffers "emotional distress?" Obscene.