If you've ever attended public school, summer camp, a birthday party or just dinner with your annoying siblings, chances are you've been involved with a food fight of some sort. Countless movies depict playful scenarios in which kids rebel, using mashed potatoes as artillery and cafeteria trays as shields. Who knew participating in this classic unruly act could get you arrested?
Following a particularly out-of-control food fight at a Chicago middle school on Thursday, 25 of the students involved were cuffed, arrested and locked up. The kids, aged 11 to 15, were charged with reckless conduct and have all been ordered to appear in court.
Parents of the students are up in arms over the charges, claiming the punishment is completely unnecessary and uncalled for.
- “My children have to appear in court,” Erica Russell, the mother of two eighth-grade girls who spent eight hours in jail, said Tuesday. “They were handcuffed, slammed in a wagon, had their mug shots taken and treated like real criminals.”
The students were released to their parents that evening and were each suspended for two days, though they may be serving more than that after their court date, most likely community service or probation.
- “They’re all scared,” Ms. Russell said of the children. “You never know how children will be impacted by that. I was all for some other kind of punishment, but not jail. Who hasn’t had a food fight?”
President and co-founder of Prespectives Charter Schools, Diana Shulla-Cose, defended herself to parents who claimed the arrests were unwarranted and random, as not all students involved were arrested. Shulla-Cose ordered an on-campus police offer to call for backup after the fight escalated and administrators were unable to gain control of the students. She described the food fight as "unfortunate" and added, "we don't take this lightly."
What do you think? Is arresting students over a food fight totally crazy or do the students deserve to be reprimanded for acting like babies?
via NY Times
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