Maryland teacher suspended and arrested for writing a fiction novel (updated)

[Exterous]

You know how every time there's a mass shooting, people point out all of the warning signs that were missed, all of the ways the shooting could have been prevented? Now put yourself in the position of a school administrator who has a teacher writing a book about a school shooting. They can't win here.

I don't know why the sheriff is involved though.

:thumbsup:

There was a male teacher in one of the neighboring High Schools that killed a student, cut off his penis, and ate it. Can you imagine if he'd written a fictional book where someone did something like this and it was discovered the school knew about the book/writing before hiring him?

D:

 

[shortylickens]

News articles from real life are far more disturbing. But god forbid someone should write a little fiction.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

See, here's the problem:

When there's a school shooting, the anti-gun people go crazy and demand an end to guns.

Then the pro-gun people scream back that guns don't shoot people, people shoot people and there needs to be tighter controls on people that are potentially mentally ill or possibly violent.

Then stuff like this happens where something is done proactively and everyone is still screaming about oppression. And if he wasn't taken care of now and he wound up hurting some kids the same people that are now screaming about oppression would be screaming about why he was allowed to be a teacher when so many warning signs were there.

A teacher who writes stories about school shootings has a screw loose. Maybe he isn't dangerous and maybe he isn't violent, but he definitely is not completely sane and reasonable. There are some neurons misfiring in his brain somewhere if a teacher writes a story about the largest school shooting in history and doesn't stop to think "hey, maybe this isn't a good idea...".

 

[MarkXIX]

There was a male teacher in one of the neighboring High Schools that killed a student, cut off his penis, and ate it. Can you imagine if he'd written a fictional book where someone did something like this and it was discovered the school knew about the book/writing before hiring him?


Brian

Yeah, I can imagine it and our founders did too. They called it a "justice system" and the built it on laws and basic human rights. Oh yeah, the first of which pretty much covers this as his first basic right.

In this case though, the guy DIDN'T SHOOT UP A SCHOOL 900 YEARS IN THE FUTURE because a) it's fucking impossible and b) he didn't fucking do it!

So, here's how this SHOULD play out in a society where people aren't fucking morons. They SHOULD ask the guy to come in and they SHOULD ask him about it. They SHOULD discuss organizational policies on the topic and they SHOULD ask him his underlying reason for writing the book. IF he agrees to the inquiry and IF he still wants the job, he SHOULD be okay with being subjected to additional scrutiny by proper authorities. IF he is deemed not to pose a threat, he SHOULD be allowed to work as a free thinking person IF the employer is comfortable with the results.

Instead, he's AUTOMATICALLY deemed a serious threat because he wrote something that by virtually every measure is a piece of fiction. See the difference?

 

[KeithTalent]

D:

Penis is a delicacy in some cultures.

KT

 

[John Connor]

This country and their damn PC bullshit is getting ridiculous. It's like the SS pulling you out of class and pulling gestapo crap. The 1st amendment clearly protects this guy based on what I'm reading. Have these idiots never seen a horror film or read a thriller? This is as bad as the fucking government shutting down poor Jimmy's lemonade stand. Lets just regulate and control everything including books. In fact lets just start burning books like the Nazis did. If it doesn't fit our narrative then we shall oust it. It's really the true meaning of socialism. I believe Stalin once said America will turn Socialist. Or was it communist? Either way this country is going to hell in a damn hand basket.

Another example is the grabasstic commoncore and the lunch menu. Kids don't want to eat that shit! They want pizza and French fries!

 

[Pheran]

A teacher who writes stories about school shootings has a screw loose. Maybe he isn't dangerous and maybe he isn't violent, but he definitely is not completely sane and reasonable. There are some neurons misfiring in his brain somewhere if a teacher writes a story about the largest school shooting in history and doesn't stop to think "hey, maybe this isn't a good idea...".

Bullshit. Has it ever occurred to you that a teacher might choose to set his fiction in an environment that he is intimately familiar with, i.e. a school? Do you know why so many Stephen King horror novels are set in Maine? Because he lives there!

Somebody please arrest Tom Clancy for writing about terrorists crashing planes into government buildings, 9/11 must be his fault.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Bullshit. Has it ever occurred to you that a teacher might choose to set his fiction in an environment that he is intimately familiar with, i.e. a school? Do you know why so many Stephen King horror novels are set in Maine? Because he lives there!

Somebody please arrest Tom Clancy for writing about terrorists crashing planes into government buildings, 9/11 must be his fault.

Has it ever occurred to you that people who write about shooting up schools could be dangerously violent psychopaths? You know who else wrote fiction about shooting up a school? A couple of kids named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Their stories were just fiction until they went out and made them reality. And if you don't understand why a story about the biggest school shooting ever raised a few red flags you're too stupid to even bother trying to explain this to.

 

[Pheran]

Has it ever occurred to you that people who write about shooting up schools could be dangerously violent psychopaths? You know who else wrote fiction about shooting up a school? A couple of kids named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Their stories were just fiction until they went out and made them reality. And if you don't understand why a story about the biggest school shooting ever raised a few red flags you're too stupid to even bother trying to explain this to.

In the US you don't get to arrest people based on sheer speculation with zero evidence (as far as we know) of any actual wrongdoing. I'm stunned that people are defending this.

 

[Exterous]

So, here's how this SHOULD play out in a society where people aren't fucking morons. They SHOULD ask the guy to come in and they SHOULD ask him about it. They SHOULD discuss organizational policies on the topic and they SHOULD ask him his underlying reason for writing the book. IF he agrees to the inquiry and IF he still wants the job, he SHOULD be okay with being subjected to additional scrutiny by proper authorities. IF he is deemed not to pose a threat, he SHOULD be allowed to work as a free thinking person IF the employer is comfortable with the results.

Instead, he's AUTOMATICALLY deemed a serious threat because he wrote something that by virtually every measure is a piece of fiction. See the difference?

From the point of getting arrested I agree but from the school's point of view they have no protection from lawsuits unless they show they did everything possible to prevent the shooting. If you are principled enough to risk your job and tens\hundreds of millions of dollars by doing what you think is sensible thing than more power to you. Unfortunately lawsuits don't care what is sensible and neither do the crowds that demand (and often get) people be fired for not doing everything possible to protect the children

Penis is a delicacy in some cultures.

KT

Thats whats really in Poutine isn't it?

 

[ImpulsE69]

See, here's the problem:

When there's a school shooting, the anti-gun people go crazy and demand an end to guns.

Then the pro-gun people scream back that guns don't shoot people, people shoot people and there needs to be tighter controls on people that are potentially mentally ill or possibly violent.

Then stuff like this happens where something is done proactively and everyone is still screaming about oppression. And if he wasn't taken care of now and he wound up hurting some kids the same people that are now screaming about oppression would be screaming about why he was allowed to be a teacher when so many warning signs were there.

A teacher who writes stories about school shootings has a screw loose. Maybe he isn't dangerous and maybe he isn't violent, but he definitely is not completely sane and reasonable. There are some neurons misfiring in his brain somewhere if a teacher writes a story about the largest school shooting in history and doesn't stop to think "hey, maybe this isn't a good idea...".

I disagree. You write what you know. It's kind of a catch 22. Think of Stephen King. Many of his stories revolve around a writer that ends up doing bad things. Does this mean he shouldn't be a writer?

Common sense comes into play here. If you start harassing/firing/arresting every bozo with a bad thought in their head the entire human race would be jobless or locked up. Thinking bad things doesn't make you bad. Having a screw loose and actually DOING those things does. Sure you probably aren't going to catch every bad thing that will happen, but going around and doing all that to someone just "because" is pure laziness.

Secondly, lawsuits should just go away. They are the #2 reason for everything wrong with the world. As with pretty much everything else, it's not about right or wrong, it's about profits which doesn't make for good or sensible decisions.

 

[Exterous]

A teacher who writes stories about school shootings has a screw loose. Maybe he isn't dangerous and maybe he isn't violent, but he definitely is not completely sane and reasonable.

Please tell me more about your degree in psychology and how you reached a 100% conclusion based on a single news article and without talking to him

 

[Pheran]

OK, finally found an article with an update:

Mental health issues, not books, led to teacher's suspension

There's not much new info here except this:

Concerns about McLaw were raised after he sent a four-page letter to officials in Dorchester County. Those concerns brought together authorities from multiple jurisdictions, including health authorities.

Without seeing the contents of this letter, I can't form an opinion of whether the reaction was justified, but at least this might be less ridiculous than it appeared from the initial news articles.

 

[HumblePie]

Nice update. And possibly an uproar over nothing.

 

[MarkXIX]

OK, finally found an article with an update:

Mental health issues, not books, led to teacher's suspension

There's not much new info here except this:



Without seeing the contents of this letter, I can't form an opinion of whether the reaction was justified, but at least this might be less ridiculous than it appeared from the initial news articles.

See, this starts to migrate toward some of that common sense we so dearly lack these days. While I would like more facts, he's got some privacy protection in the form of HIPPA. So, until such time that he chooses to tell the media what actually happened, guess what, he's innocent until proven guilty.

PS - Fuck the news media for sensationalizing something AGAIN in lieu of facts.

PPS - People who deemed him guilty of some crime for shitty media should reconsider their lives as well.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Ah....context.

Indeed, possibly an uproar over nothing. But damn, perhaps if the initial news reports hadn't totally sensationalized the shit outta the books in the first place...

 

[Fanatical Meat]

The book was written well before he was a teacher and was found out later.

Not saying its correct but the school will state it should have been disclosed before being hired. Again they tend to be real vague

 

[Mark R]

Amazon appear to have withdrawn the book from sale.

Any idea where I can find a copy? Mainly out of curiosity, reviews suggest that it is so appallingly written, with completely misused grammar, punctuation and arcane words that if a school child turned it in they would likely get an F.

 

[Markbnj]

Any idea where I can find a copy?

Reported to the local authorities. Psycho.

 

[uclaLabrat]

How about that national terrorist Tom Clancy writing about radical groups smuggling a nuclear weapon into the country and nuking the east coast?

Denver. They nuked Denver.

 

[arkcom]

Even the original story doesn't say he was arrested.

 

[tynopik]

Amazon appear to have withdrawn the book from sale.

Any idea where I can find a copy?

you could try here:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0075CP2SG/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUL3ZRY/

 

[who?]

Parts of this conversation remind me of the psychiatrist character in "Basic Instinct".