Pondering what went on in Ponder

Commentary

By James H. Smith
Record-Journal, Meriden, Conn.

12.03.99

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Where do they throw people in jail for what they write? The former Soviet Union. China. Cuba. Texas.

Texas, in the land of the free where we are supposed to be able to write what we want.

In Texas they are now throwing children in jail. The governor of Texas, who is running for President of the United States, so far sees nothing wrong with a 13-year-old spending five days in jail for doing what he was assigned to do.

Seventh-grader Christopher Beamon's essay was so good, his teacher had him read it aloud to the class. The teacher's assignment was to write about being home alone and hearing noises. It seems to be in dispute whether Christopher earned a 100 for his essay or for reading it aloud.

He wrote that he "acssendently" shot his teacher and that when he heard noises he "thought it was a crook so I busted out with a 12 gauge and ... this bloody body droped down in front of us and scared us half to death." His teacher talked to school administrators, who called the cops, who arrested the boy and put him in jail. Prosecutors, after five days, decided not to prosecute the boy. Juvenile Court Judge Darlene Whitten advised parents to tell their children "not to ever say anything in jest that implies shooting up a school."

Gov. George Bush said, "We've instructed our school officials to take any threat to any child seriously."

Great, George! How about saying: "What? We are putting kids in jail for doing their English assignments! Have we all gone crazy! What kind of society are we? Teachers and principals can't figure out if a student who writes an assignment and even agrees to read it to his whole class is a threat or not? A 13-year-old boy has to spend five days in jail! What is wrong with us?" But George hasn't said that.

In Ponder, Texas, a little north of Dallas, they are reviewing curriculum and wondering whether they should assign scary writing assignments. What we all should be considering is what is wrong with a society that jails people, even children, for writing an essay.

James H. Smith can be e-mailed at jsmith@record-journal.com.

James H. Smith is executive editor of the Record-Journal in Meriden, Conn., where this commentary was originally published.

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