To all of you who think this is just a "harmless senior school spirit prank" I make a challenge.
1. Post your address here and on a printed list that can be provided to the upcoming seniors.
2. Sign a release from prosecution against any of the potential "pranksters".
3. Invite all who wish to show their "senior spirit" to your home for a spray paint party each year.
4. Painting will be limited to the street in front of your house, your driveway, your automobiles and your home.
5. No throwing of lawn furniture will be allowed.
Who will be the first to sign up????? Come on folks, it's just an innocent prank !!!!!!!
Man, just think of how awesome the last school board meeting would have been if anyone had had the huevos to tell administrators and board members in a public meeting how they thought about the situation instead of hiding behind a screen name and avatar and mouthing off.
LOL, seriously???? I'm one of those people that don't give a rat's arse what they think up there and don't have a problem GOING TO THE BOE AND TELLING THEM HOW I FEEL. I don't HIDE behind a computer screen!
Captain Rhett Butler, on 29 March 2012 - 07:01 PM, said:
I disagree 100%. I feel great whenever a snitch gets an old fashioned beat-down. Snitches get stitches! I've told mine to NEVER talk to the po-po under any circumstances!
REALLY? This is why SO many rapes, murders, etc. go unsolved. I don't get it.
Captain Rhett Butler, on 29 March 2012 - 07:01 PM, said:
I disagree 100%. I feel great whenever a snitch gets an old fashioned beat-down. Snitches get stitches! I've told mine to NEVER talk to the po-po under any circumstances!
Wow, what a bad outlook you have! I totally disagree with you.
I keep reading in all of these threads that it was an unpunished tradition that just got out of hand.
To all of the people that are saying this: do you actually own a home on East Paulding Drive or in one of the subdivisions off of East Paulding? Do you really think that the homeowners that live in that area appreciate having to look at that "artwork" all the time, year after year? Do you really think that homeowners have never complained about it? Maybe it has gone unpunished for so long is because up until now, no one had actually been caught.
EXACTLY!!!!
If all you defenders of the "tradition" had to look at all that nonsense several times a day as you came and went from your home, I promise you that you wouldn't think it's so freaking funny.
I bet if it were YOUR subdivision sign that were defaced or your intersection that looks like a poorly done mural in Juarez, your attitude about this despicable "tradition" would be a LOT different. You think it's cute...because you don't have to look at it every day for a year, until the next bunch of punks tries to top the last bunch.
For once, I hope Paulding County stands their ground and punishes those little CRIMINALS to the fullest extent of the law. I have no sympathy for any of them or their families.
Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist".
The writing on the road only reminds me of how we use to draw hopscotch, four square, drawings, and what not on the road when we were younger. Till this day the kids in our subdivision come to the cul-de-sac and draw and it's a county road. So, why isn't anyone complaining about that? Because it fades, washes away? Well, the writing on the road in front of the school will fad away.
If you are so concerned about the road and what people have to look at then you probably complain about the oil stains on the road as well.
my husband said the same thing... for him to be so smart to be valedictorian, he was not to smart for not reporting it once it got out of hand.
He said he was only responsible for spraypainting the road along with a friend, and left when things got out of control. Regardless to what extent his involvement was, he was still party to a crime. He shouldn't be treated any differently than any of the other students who were involved.
You play, you get caught, you deal with the consequences and punishment.
Captain Rhett Butler, on 29 March 2012 - 07:01 PM, said:
I disagree 100%. I feel great whenever a snitch gets an old fashioned beat-down. Snitches get stitches! I've told mine to NEVER talk to the po-po under any circumstances!
So, you're saying you've taught your kids NOT to cooperate if they are ever questioned by the police. Isn't this the same as lying?????
I don't understand your logic.
What started as a simple, traditional, senior prank turned into major vandalism. It's a shame that good students may have fallen into the mob mentality that did this but it has already happened. It cannot be changed.
Now they should face the consequences of committing a felony. The public, government school and its administrators have the responsibility to file the charges and the students as well as the parents will need to accept the results. It is unfortunate but that is what goes on when other acts of criminal offenses go on.
Should we discriminate based on class rank or should all the students be punished the same? That is up to the higher authorities to decide.
I don't even know where to begin. Some of you act as though these kids painted racial slurs on a rival school or something. You talk as if you think they were trying to harm someone. Before I start, my comments and thoughts are in regards to those who participated in the painting of the road not the ones who threw benches and painted bad things about the principal or whomever.
First, it is not the kids who has set the precedence that the painting of the road is an acceptable "Senior Tradition". I am sure they wore black and did it at 2 am because the point is to pull it off without an audience.
I too wonder if the painting of the road fell into the acceptable or unacceptable category in the Principals speech each year. And if the Principal gave the speech to the SENIORS, I'm thinking it is not so much that they didn't listen in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and more that they weren't yet seniors themselves so they weren't at the SENIOR speech. I could be wrong. I also get the feeling that the boy in questions would not have done this had he been told it could result in a felony and being kicked out of school. I am thinking it might fall into the "if you get caught painting the road you could be suspended, not allowed to go to prom, etc..." category. Again, I could be wrong.
I happen to think it is wrong to tell a group of kids if they come forward with information that they will not get in trouble themselves and then go back on your word and arrest them. If they had participated in the vandalism (I don't consider the road painting to fall into this category at the time since the school and police allowed it in years past, obviously a new precedent has been set but at the time it had been and was considered acceptable and traditional) and wanted to confess that is one thing but to come forward and say I was there but left before or when things went further than I was comfortable with is something else entirely.
I don't believe that the boy being Valedictorian/class president has to with what kind of punishment he should receive but his part in what happened. How do we know he didn't do the other stuff someone asked? Well partly because he wasn't one of the students caught at the scene. I know he could have been there but not gotten caught but then what would be the point of coming forward afterwards? I mean if he is the immoral, criminal some of you are judging him to be then it wouldn't make sense for him to come forward after he got away.
I don't know this kid and for all I know he could be a spoiled, stuck up little brat but that wouldn't change the fact that the punishment in this case far exceeds the "crime". Fine him, suspend him, don't let him go to prom, etc.. but being charged with a felony and being kicked out of school for the rest of the year...that is too much.
And can we lay off bashing the parents? Seriously people, you can be the best parents in the world and kids are going to make mistakes, adult kids are going to make mistakes. It's part of growing up.
My thought - I don't blame the parents for hiring an attorney and I recommend that all of the parents of the kids involved do the same thing. The Zimmerman's son was charged with a felony and could potentially lose a very valuable scholarship. Guilty or innocent, that's worth fighting for....
Funny how that is always said by uneducated people.
Most of the well educated people I know also have a lot of common sense.
Very unlikely. The Chief is super smart, college educated. She can make a computer fly and break down a complex molecular structure in minutes. She also doesn't have the "street smarts" (her words) that God gave a duck. On the other hand, I never spent one minute in College school. I have all the street smarts in the world, especially after all my years in Publc Safety. I don't have a clue about how to do what she does, everyday. That is probably why we make such a good team.
brown*eyed*girl, on 30 March 2012 - 09:25 AM, said:
And can we lay off bashing the parents? Seriously people, you can be the best parents in the world and kids are going to make mistakes, adult kids are going to make mistakes. It's part of growing up.
I have to agree with this statement. Sometimes no matter how hard the parents try, kids do stupid things. I think they should be punished too, but charging them with a felony that will follow them for the rest of their lives seems extreme. Losing their valedictorian status and possibly their scholarships is in order.
The previous 8 or 10 Senior classes at EPHS got away with a felony under the guise of a prank. Somebody thought defacing roadways and signs was "cute", and it became a tradition. Really a high-class idea, eh? No wonder most of Metro Atlanta thinks the housing in Paulding has wheels under it. This is trailer-trash behavior.
I hope Dick Donovan throws the proverbial book at all of them. And I hope the BOE puts the EPHS staff on notice/probation that all this stops, NOW.
Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist".
Parent Bashing,please....kids today have no responsibilty for there actions,doesn't matter who you are how smart you are or how much money you have,right is right and wrong is wrong!What these kids did was unexceptable!He,and all the kids envolved should have thought about that BEFORE SPRAY PAINTING THE SCHOOL,AND EVERYTHING ELSE.NOT OKAY AT ALL...............
"Waa! Waa! Waa! I'm special!" - NOPE. You deserve the same punishment as the rest. If you are the valedictorian and smarter than everyone else, you have no excuse but to know better. I don't feel sorry for him.
I keep reading in all of these threads that it was an unpunished tradition that just got out of hand.
To all of the people that are saying this: do you actually own a home on East Paulding Drive or in one of the subdivisions off of East Paulding? Do you really think that the homeowners that live in that area appreciate having to look at that "artwork" all the time, year after year? Do you really think that homeowners have never complained about it? Maybe it has gone unpunished for so long is because up until now, no one had actually been caught.
I actually live in one of the subdivisions off Brooks-Rackley Road and have seen the "artwork" year after year after year. Spraypainting the road itself, when done at the intersection only, has never bothered me. Granted, the school administrators may have overlooked it for all of these years and it may have been acceptable to them. To my knowledge, no one has ever been caught for spraypainting the intersection only or arrested by the sheriff's office. If anyone had been caught or arrested for spraypainting the intersection, then they should be prepared to face the consequences whatever they might be.
I am not a perfect person, I don't expect my kids to be perfect. We all make mistakes and make some bad choices in life. Do I think these kids should be punished? Yes. Do I think that the punishment should potentially ruin their future? Nope..
That being said, my opinion is that none of these kids should be expelled..
This post has been edited by jboogie8: 30 March 2012 - 11:35 AM
How many people think these kids will go on to commit other crimes if they get off easy?
Punishment is supposedly about prevention and rehabilitation.
We know that the criminal justice system has failed at rehabilitation.
We also know that it doesn't often work for prevention.
We definitely should have gone the creativity route on this one, if it was a week in juvenile detention or community service for 6 months.
Parents are fighting and rightfully so for the futures of their children, I said all along that harsh punishment would force parents of these very young people to fight, that we had ways of assuring the kids were punished that no reasonable parent could justify fighting.
If they are a danger to society you take them out of society, these kids but for one mistake are likely to go forward and be an asset to our society and community.
The job of a school system is to send educated and productive people into society at the end of 12 years, there was a mistake made by laughing off a little prank for years. We now see that it was a mistake not just made by the school but by many in the community, that looked the other way. The burden of this mistake should not just fall on the shoulders of a handful of kids. Probably hundreds of kids participated in this activity over the years and went unpunished and was in reality the cause of another group doing it this year.
The goal is prevention not vengeance.
If you know what the ultimate goal is then you will make the right decisions.
Hopefully the school administration and the justice system will adopt the same goal in dealing with this matter.
I know that personally when it came to disciplining my own children it was always to keep in them in line and discourage them from doing wrong, it was never revenge for disobeying me, I always expected them to make mistakes and I did my duty to punish them. I always felt that my punishment was helping my child.
You have to ask are we helping the kids to do better in the future, not just this group but the rest of the kids at that school?
Just because these so called good kids have never been caught doing anything does not mean that they have not already gotten away with a lot and just not been caught .
Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
Daily Thought: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS
Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it Just pee on it and walk away.
s.l.u.t Stressed-out Ladies Unwinding Together
"People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life like loving everybody all the time and being nice.....dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long
As a parent Im shocked at everyone taking up for these kids,my neice is a senior there,and she is embarrrassed at what her class mates have done,they dont get that they even ruinded it for all there class mates,that wanted them to walk,graduate together.So thankful my neice has common sence NOT to be one of those students that decided to sneak out of there houses at 2 in the morning and spray paint county vecheles,the school,the road ect................What happened to rolling houses and egging cars,I guess that is just to old school for or seniors,,,,sad........................
As a parent Im shocked at everyone taking up for these kids,my neice is a senior there,and she is embarrrassed at what her class mates have done,they dont get that they even ruinded it for all there class mates,that wanted them to walk,graduate together.So thankful my neice has common sence NOT to be one of those students that decided to sneak out of there houses at 2 in the morning and spray paint county vecheles,the school,the road ect................What happened to rolling houses and egging cars,I guess that is just to old school for or seniors,,,,sad........................
Egging cars that does damage too!!
Have any of you spray painting the road bashers ever even noticed the road in front of the old Marietta high school?
This post has been edited by jmea: 30 March 2012 - 02:49 PM
Funny how that is always said by uneducated people.
Most of the well educated people I know also have a lot of common sense.
You couldn't be more wrong... Book smarts certainly does not equate to common sense. I have met many people who graduated from a Master's program that could barely function if you took their job out of a textbook scenario. If you threw a real life zinger (even the most simple complication) into the equation they were sitting there mystified. Again, you couldn't be more wrong if you think you can have book smarts and not have a lick of common sense.
This post has been edited by All I Hear is Blah Blah Blah: 30 March 2012 - 04:40 PM
First of all, NO ONE put these kids in the position that they are in!!! THEY PUT THEMSELVES IN THIS POSITION! Secondly, This young man has told his parents this is all he was involved in! Now having been his age and having my own kids, I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THEY DO NOT ALWAYS TELL YOU THE WHOLE TRUTH! I don't disagree that this punishment was possibly too harsh. What I disagree with is the idea that he deserves a lesser punishment. Anyway you slice it HE was wrong! There is no way of determining the depth of his involvement other than his word! What if every child involved said all they took part in is the painting of the street, We know that would be a lie! So therefore the school board is right in saying all of them get the same punishment! It doesn't matter if the amount is 40k or 4k or 400 dollars. Can you imagine what everyone would be saying on here if the Valedictorian got a lesser punishment than any other child involved without knowing for a fact what his total involvement was. If that happened then that would TRULY be something worth calling the news to come out and investigate!!!
Just thinkin, on 30 March 2012 - 05:27 AM, said:
He should receive less punishment because he did less deed. The fact that he's valedictorian and has a scholarship to loose is only evidence that this situation should have been handled with even more care and consideration. They have made no effort (or perhaps can't figure out besides the students' own statements) to figure out who did what. They just knee jerked reacted to the situation. Remember - this started out as $40k in damages when in reality it was about 15% of that. They took kids that have probably never been in the disciplinary system of the school and threw them in, probably knowing that they wouldn't know the ins and outs to figure out how to work the system. In my opinion, the individual punishmenst doesn't fit the individual actions.
Thank you - had the conversation with the appropriate county office personnel last Tuesday when I spoke with them regarding a seperate issue.
He should receive less punishment because he did less deed. The fact that he's valedictorian and has a scholarship to loose is only evidence that this situation should have been handled with even more care and consideration. They have made no effort (or perhaps can't figure out besides the students' own statements) to figure out who did what. They just knee jerked reacted to the situation. Remember - this started out as $40k in damages when in reality it was about 15% of that. They took kids that have probably never been in the disciplinary system of the school and threw them in, probably knowing that they wouldn't know the ins and outs to figure out how to work the system. In my opinion, the individual punishmenst doesn't fit the individual actions.
Well that's special now, isn't it. So if someone decides to commit a crime, even felony level then we should look at their grades and give them a pass? That is such a fantastic way to look at it, kid A commits a crime has a 4.+ GPA so we let him off, kid B has a 2.2, send them to jail...
BTW... the actual cost came to about 20%, if you want to sound credible when spouting figures, think harder and aim for accuracy. 18.75% in this case.
And even at $7500, still a felony.
I fantasize about my dogs having jobs. I pretend that both of them are window cleaners and their kennel is their first starter home. I think the bigger dog is trying to bump off the smaller dog so he can have the kennel to himself. I know I have a problem, but don't animals have to earn a living too?
Dogs may not be our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.
A dog is not "almost human" and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such.
The more I see of humans, the more I admire dogs.
He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
The dog is a gentleman, I hope to go to his heaven, not man's.
I just don't understand why some of you have to be so nasty and hateful.
They got caught, they got punished, is that not enough to gloat over?
It's a bad situation for these kids.....ALL of them.
And if my kid had worked his butt off for all these years to be rewarded with a scholarship to one of the best engineering schools, you better believe I would have a lawyer and do what I could to fix the situation.
NONE of them should suffer the rest of their lives with a felony conviction, regarless of who did what.
Two separate issues: the school tribunal and the criminal case. I don't think any should be charged with a felony but I do agree with how the school system is handling regardless if they are all honor students, black-white or purple.
And, if my kid worked that hard for a scholarship and was top in his class, you better believe I would have never agreed for him to be out at 2 in the morning spray painting even the intersection regardless of what the classes before this one had done. But, that is just me (and, before anyone does jump to conclusions, I had a senior last year and strictly forbade it because my kid had an academic scholarship).
lowrider, on 30 March 2012 - 07:19 PM, said:
I just don't understand why some of you have to be so nasty and hateful.
They got caught, they got punished, is that not enough to gloat over?
It's a bad situation for these kids.....ALL of them.
And if my kid had worked his butt off for all these years to be rewarded with a scholarship to one of the best engineering schools, you better believe I would have a lawyer and do what I could to fix the situation.
NONE of them should suffer the rest of their lives with a felony conviction, regarless of who did what.
I just don't understand why some of you have to be so nasty and hateful.
They got caught, they got punished, is that not enough to gloat over?
It's a bad situation for these kids.....ALL of them.
And if my kid had worked his butt off for all these years to be rewarded with a scholarship to one of the best engineering schools, you better believe I would have a lawyer and do what I could to fix the situation.
NONE of them should suffer the rest of their lives with a felony conviction, regarless of who did what.
And that's all I have to say about that.
No reason for him to suffer the rest of his life. Dang going overboard a little there. Now mom and Dad may have to do the same as a lot of other parents and pay for the little darling to go to school and maybe it will not be to the school he wants but there is nothing stopping him from going on to school except himself . Hey he could even get a job and work and put himself through school like a lot of others have to do. He just will not have an easy free ride because he does not know better than to break the law.... Welcome to the real world.
Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
Daily Thought: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS
Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it Just pee on it and walk away.
s.l.u.t Stressed-out Ladies Unwinding Together
"People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life like loving everybody all the time and being nice.....dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long
A Lawyer against the School Board, most like a waste of money.
My GD was being bullied. She spoke to several teachers about the situation. They did nothing. Then the girl came into the ladies room while my GD was in there alone and assaulted GD. Little did the girl know that even though GD is 4'10" and less then 90 LBS. GD would be the winner in the fight. GD was just defending herself; but, both girls got 5 days OSS. My son hired a Lawyer and guess what? It was total waste of money, as nothing happened and she still got the 5 days OSS.
There was some things about this that turned out positive. GD was in 10th grade at time and went on to Graduate with Honors. Four school employees resigned or were fired.
Every one of these kids should have a lawyer. A felony conviction can ruin your life.
I don't agree with what these kids did, but a "one size fits all" punishment is not right. I don't blame his parents a bit for fighting this. The last thing that we need is 25 kids with felony convictions that can never get a decent job or career.
Ya'll talk a good game, but step back and really look at what is going on here. And this is coming from one of the most conservative people on this message board.
"The protection of our rights can endure no longer than the performance of our responsibilities." John F. Kennedy, 1963
No reason for him to suffer the rest of his life. Dang going overboard a little there. Now mom and Dad may have to do the same as a lot of other parents and pay for the little darling to go to school and maybe it will not be to the school he wants but there is nothing stopping him from going on to school except himself . Hey he could even get a job and work and put himself through school like a lot of others have to do. He just will not have an easy free ride because he does not know better than to break the law.... Welcome to the real world.
My god...no wonder society is in the shape it is in. A group of kids caught permanently and maliciously defacing public property in the middle of the night and half the people on here seem to think we should just forget about it their little 'mistake'. That is not a mistake or lack of judgement, that is a deliberate and intentional act that goes to show the true character of those involved. No way you could get caught up in the moment and not realize what you are doing.
My god...no wonder society is in the shape it is in. A group of kids caught permanently and maliciously defacing public property in the middle of the night and half the people on here seem to think we should just forget about it their little 'mistake'. That is not a mistake or lack of judgement, that is a deliberate and intentional act that goes to show the true character of those involved. No way you could get caught up in the moment and not realize what you are doing.
Well said. I worry for some of these young adults. If they do something stupider later in life they are in for a rude awaking when Mommy & Daddy are not allowed by the legal system to bail them out again.
When I was their age (18) I was just as stupid. I ignored all traffic laws and got too many tickets. The state took my drivers license for 1 solid year before they would give me a review hearing 100 miles away at the state capital. There 1 year later they gave me 1 point to drive on for 2 years after a 2 hour review hearing.
That was over 40 years ago. The state did not give a rip when they took my license. They could care less that I had to walk 2 miles to work and my mom & dad had to drive me 10 miles back and forth to college. My mom and dads insurance company had no compassion when they cancelled the family car insurance. My dad was retired and got put on SR 22 because of me. The finance company gave me no slack on my car either. They impounded it because I did not then not have insurance on it. The day the state took my license they called the insurance company and lein holder. My dad paid my car off, had it towed home and sat it on blocks for a little over a year. That's the way SC did it back in the 70's. I grew up in a small community where all the law enforcement officers knew I did not have a license. If any one of them had caught me driving I would have went to jail and stayed in jail till they were good and ready to let me out.
Today people would be outraged the way my case was addressed. I too felt like life gave me an unfair blow. But today I realize the state actually taught me a valuable lesson. Where I got 4 or 5 traffic tickets in 2 years, I now get 1) about every 20 years because they taught me to abide by the laws.
Seems to me the definition of intitlement has changed in 40 years. Today many feel they are intitled to have all joys and benefits given to them that life has to offer. 40 years ago we were intitled to a good life as long as we followed the rules and made it on our own.
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kp527, on 29 March 2012 - 10:28 PM, said:
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