Chicago Sun-Times – April 27, 2007:
Police Thursday released portions of an essay used to charge a Cary-Grove High School student with disorderly conduct, leaving several experts puzzled at an arrest based on such schoolwork.
Asked to write about whatever he wanted in a creative writing class, would-be Marine and honors student Allen Lee, 18, described a violent dream in which he shot people and then “had sex with the dead bodies.”
But then he immediately dismissed the idea as a mere joke, writing, “not really, but it would be funny if I did.”
A second disorderly count accuses Lee of alarming first-year teacher Nora Capron by writing that “as a teacher, don’t be surprised on [sic] inspiring the first CG shooting,” an apparent reference to Cary-Grove High.
Here’s the essay:
Blood sex and Booze. Drugs Drugs Drugs are fun. Stab, Stab, Stab, S…t…a…b…, poke. “So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out two P90s and started shooting everyone…, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I did.” Umm, yeah, what to wright about…… I’m leaving to join the Marines and I really don’t give a (obscenity) about my academics, so why does the only class that’s complete Bull Shit, happen to be the only required class…enough said. The model citizen would stay around to vote in new board member to change the 4 years of English policy, but no one really stays around to vote for that kind of local crap, so whoever gets there name on the Ballet with a pretty face gets to do what the (obscenity) ever they want with local ordinance. A person is smart, but people are dumb selfish animals. We can’t make rules for ourselves so we vote others to do it for us, but we can’t even do that right, I meen seriously, Bush for President? And our other option was John Kerry who claimed to parktake in Vietnam Special Forces missions that haven’t been declassified….(obscenity) Bull Shit. So Power Flower Super Mario. Pudge, hook, rot, dismember “Fresh Meat.” Mostly new/young teachers are laid back, and cooperative with students as feedback and input into the curriculum and atmosphere. My current English teacher is a control freak intent on setting a gap between herself and her students like a 63 year old white male fortune 500 company CEO, and a illegal immigrant. If CG was a private catholic school, I could understand, but wtf is her problem. And baking brownies and rice crispies does not make up for it, way to try and justify yourself as a good teacher while underhandedly looking for complements on your cooking. No quarrel on you qualifications as a writer, but as a teacher, don’t be surprised on inspiring the first cg shooting.
I read another blog with comments from Lee himself and students that go to his school. A white kid wrote and presented an essay in which he stated individual students he would kill if/when he shot up the school. Nothing was done. Several kids who go to Lee’s school commented on this – including the kid who wrote that essay. This was a few weeks before VA Tech and Lee’s writing was after, but WAY less incriminating.
Before we judge Lee for his writing, we have to know what the precedent was for acceptable writing in the past. VA Tech does not CHANGE what people can write. If the white kid who NAMED STUDENTS HE WOULD KILL AT HIS OWN SCHOOL AND IN THEIR PRESENCE was not arrested (and that, friends and neighbors, is what I would call a threat), then the VA Tech incident shouldn’t have changed things for Lee.
Cho (the VA Tech shooter) had a history of strange behavior and mental illness. Nikki Giovanni stated that she had him thrown out of her poetry class because other students were uncomfortable with him. Two female classmates reported him for stalking, but decided not to press charges. There is a trail with him.
Lee has never been in trouble before and has an A average.
If you can’t or won’t see the difference, you’re a moron.
The last sentence says it all. You just don’t say something like that if at least part of you doesn’t mean it.
Nora’s not much of a teacher is she?