Yes. I really do mean “stupid.”
No. I don’t normally just blurt out “stupid kid.” Kids are kids and they do really strange things that don’t necessarily make them stupid, but even kids have to live in the real world of socially acceptable behavior.
In this case, the stupid kid really was stupid. I have no idea of his intelligence level or capabilities. I just know that his actions were INCREDIBLY stupid. So I should say that his actions were stupid – not him. Right?
Wrong.
This one was so stupid, it pretty much categorizes him for life.
…can’t help it, folks.
The Stupid Kid and the Threatening Essay
The latest viral story going around is about the 15 year old who turned in a threatening essay at school. Basically, it was a first person narrative from the point of view of a school shooter as he entered the school and began firing. From the descriptions (“huge glass fascade”), the 15 year old was describing his own school, East Greenwich High School.
The “essay” has been reprinted on the East Greenwich Patch – which I initially thought had been split into multiple posts. No. Apparently, the “essay” actually ended with “To be cont’d.”
I’m irate because it is NOT an essay. I don’t know if the media is misreporting this puny little descriptive narrative as an essay, or if the original assignment was supposed to be an essay, and the story has retained the title. Honestly, I don’t know where that miscommunication originated. …but that’s a side rant. That’s not even why the word “stupid” came flying out of my mouth.
Apparently, he turned it in at school.
STUPID!
Days later, he was disciplined. Then he posted it on Facebook!
STUPID again!
Then the community uproar began. The school HAD to respond…emailing parents about the situation, etc. Parents were furious that they weren’t notified right away. Folks are angry because not enough was done. No one yet knows if the student will be allowed back to the school.
People are afraid…rightfully so. Others are defending this “good kid.”
Again, I have no idea if he’s a good kid or not. I just know he’s stupid. His syntax needs a lot of help, but he’s got a decent start on a usable vocabulary for a 15 year old. BUT HE TURNED IT IN AT SCHOOL!
Stupid!
Then he posted it on Facebook!
STUPID!!!!
Heaven help! In this country we revel in the luxury of freedom of speech among other individual freedoms, BUT you cannot yell “Fire!” in a crowd unless there’s actually a fire threat.
Since some think this little narrative was a precursor for future/potential actions, would his “essay” be his cry of “Fire!” for help?
I don’t care!
If you need help, you ASK! You don’t turn in a paper like that at school!
Stupid!
The whole yelling “Fire!” in a theater or crowd analogy has been around for ages BECAUSE it easily shows how one’s freedom of speech IS free, until it endangers others or infringes on the rights of others.
For Heaven’s sake! He’s 15! He’s not a child. He’s been in school long enough to know what’s acceptable and what’s not.
People have the right to THINK what they want. They even have the right to speak and write out their thoughts, if they so choose. (Anyone who wants to keep those thoughts private knows to NEVER speak those thoughts or write them down.)
He obviously didn’t want it private. He turned it in to school AND then posted it on Facebook.
Even if a person feels the need to write out his thoughts and stories, he needs to keep a private journal. Respect yourself AND respect others. You don’t turn that stuff in at school!
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
Now, I still don’t know the exact intent of this “essay” – whether it was a prank, a warning, a really stupid teen joke, or a down right threat. The only obvious intention was to stir up “stuff.”
In that respect, the 15 year old may even consider himself smart and successful at stirring up stuff.
As a human being in an American society – turning in such a paper to school – THEN, after being disciplined – posting it on Facebook….
Sorry. That’s a ….
Stupid Kid.
FAILURE on SO many levels.