Student Suspended For Poem That 'Understands' Sandy Hook Killings

Did the school overreact?

"I'm just sayin" is apparently no excuse for the administrators at a San Francisco charter school, reports Business Insider.

17-year-old student Courtni Webb of Life Learning Academy wrote in her personal notebook that she "understands" the killings that took place in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, and that she "knows why he [Adam Lanza] pulled the trigger."

"Why are we oppressed by a dysfunctional community of haters and blamers?" she asked in a controversial poem, which prompted her teacher, who discovered it, to hand it over to the principal, who then suspended Webb until further notice. It's a move Webb and her mother say goes too far, and stifles free speech.

"I feel like I've really been made to look like a monster by my school and I don't appreciate that," Webb said. "I didn't say that I agree with it, I said I simply understand it."

But the school is so far standing its ground, stating in a letter to Webb's mother that her daughter's words violated the school's zero-tolerance policy:

"Life Learning Academy takes a zero-tolerance approach to violence or the threat of violence...Violation can result in dismissal from school."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsvkRwgWl9E

Via Business Insider.

Did Webb's school overreact in suspending her?

[CATTLEPROD]

I think by suspending a kid who may have had those thoughts in his head for writing them down, maybe in a cry for help, will just tell the next one dont say anything, until they all have to listen to you.

[Sonny]

Maybe it was "just a poem" --and not some "cry for help"...Just a poem....

[CATTLEPROD]

@Sonny I doubt it. The thoughts were there, and he wrote them down. I dont know what is up with the kids today. I have been saying for years it is the medication from birth most american males get to settle them down, since dad usually aint around in those situations. I think its time to dust off my ADHD and ritalin rant.

[DARSB]

@CATTLEPROD The poet in this case is a girl.

[CATTLEPROD]

@DARSB I know, I was thinking about any understanding as to why he did it. Alot of girls are on that stuff these days too I've heard.

[Sonny]

@CATTLEPROD I think we might be talking about 2 different things. I am responding to the situation of the young lady (in this particular story) and her plight...That was what the article was about...Who are you talking about?

[CommonSense]

Understanding violence is NOT threatening violence. DUH!
Students don't have a choice about going to school. They should be treated better than this.
Zero tolerance is BS! Students get suspended over taking an asthma inhaler into school. I say we allow students to unionize and then if the union calls a strike that's an exception to compulsory education laws.

[CommonSense]

There is a fear mentality in America today and that fear mentality is chipping away at our liberties. Before you know it we will wake up in a totalitarian state. That teacher who overreacted is helping to contribute to this mentality. She ought to ashamed of herself. She is unamerican.

[bsking]

No this kid is whacked out too. "she understands" nothing about adam la.dza.

[kathyparsell]

I generally ignore your statements because they are too out there to be given credence, however, today I am going to recommend that you keep silent due to total ignorance of what you are speaking of. This girl has said something we need to hear, something we need to understand, a segment of the population we (you and I) don't understand but need desperately to understand. Who are you, what Understanding our of youth psyche do you have? You certainly haven't lay haven't demonstrated any to me, while I give you the respect given an older population, I will not silently let you take on a generation that by your dogmatism you don't deserve to ingage.

[Republican5001]

@kathyparsell disagree. This girl has said nothing I need to hear or understand. She is a kid. Not a peer. Not a friend. The only rights she has is what her mother tells her. School acted accordingly as did the school in Newtown, CT. How could anyone say or imply they understand or even try to justify what the Lanza moron did or did not do?

Glad the school took the appropriate steps to protect the other students.

[bsking]

@kathyparsell awww did you get offended

[bsking]

@Republican5001 yeah anybody who thinks that kid is some kind of genius is a moron.

[DARSB]

Zero tolerance policies require zero intelligence to apply.

[jessejaymes]

First she is a teenager. Teenagers see a different world today than we older people. We know about gangs, they live among gangsters. We know about violence, they live within the rap culture of violence. I think this is a totally ridiculous response and will result in us forcing kids to resist talking to adults about what is on their mind. We want to talk about guns and mental health but we don't want to hear what is on their minds? this is a seriously flawed response by the school.

[kathyparsell]

I know nothing about gangs or violence, what I do know is about drugs and how the drugs take your future and your dreams of plans of leaving hobunkville away. I will be the first to admit that talking to young adults is hard, what it takes is admitting your own mistakes and how in retrospect those choices damaged and destroyed the future you envisioned for yourself. Honesty at least start a conversation!

[Antiecm]

In my opinion, her parents need to go to the school and firmly plant his boot in someones butt as he puts knots all over their head. Until they understand....

[Denizen_Kate]

Violence as a response. Great, that'll help. You should be a school superintendent.

[Antiecm]

@Denizen_Kate As luck would have it, I retired a school Superintendent. But we handled things differently back then. It would amaze you what the rules on the wall, and strict discipline. Let me dumb that down i case you do not understand. That would be the Ten Commandments on the wall, and ass beatings for any that acted up.

[Roco]

@Antiecm We didn't have the Ten Commandments. But the ass beating was right out there everyday and in every room. No escape. And it worked.

[Millbank12]

A total over reaction by the school, that young girl seems very grounded, she was suspended because her teacher came across the poem by accident, it's not as if she was going around the school reading it out, freedom of speech, land of the free!! What a joke, Adam Lanza was obviously very mentally disturbed why was his condition not picked up on?

[Denizen_Kate]

Perhaps because he, like this girl, was firmly discouraged from expressing thoughts and feelings.

[nobodyspecial]

The school's reaction is a clear violation of the right to free speech.

[Politicskid]

No, this isn't a public school though; so it's perfectly within the schools rights.

[Keyjo]

Without reading the entire poem it's hard to say. However, based on what we're given here, it apprats to me that the school overreacted.

[Russell797]

"Why are we oppressed by a dysfunctional community of haters and blamers?"

A penny for your thoughts....or suspension from school. The thoughtful girl was trying to figure out the rational the killer may have developed prior to committing the shootings. She arrived at a possible answer, wrote it in a poem in an act of creativity, and for her personal thoughts she gets suspended. Unbelievable. Yet, Joe Shmoe can go out tonight packing heat and is applauded for doing so. What a country!

[paperdragons81]

I totally agree, this school is a joke, she could go to college to learn profile and aid the prevention of these mass shootings. By first seeking to understand, instead of trying judge, she is part of the solution.

[armenia4ever]

Freedom Of Speech... unless you discuss certain issues these days.

[MadAmerican]

I hear all you liberals and this is what got those kids killed. You don't want to rock the boat so you set back in your own little world and look the other way. Those children and teachers were slaughtered! This person is just as deranged and you cannot ignore that. No one can seriously back up or support those murders. Freedom of speech is OK but it's a red flag and the school did the right thing by removing the threat. I bet if they didn't suspend her and she came in next week and killed a bunch of people all you liberals would blame the NRA instead of yourselves. What a bunch of sick morons who support this.

[woodtick57]

Is that your professional psychiatric opinion of her mental condition?

[MadAmerican]

@woodtick57 No- I am saying in today's society you cannot take chances and we have to hold everyone accountable. Rules are rules and zero tolerance means just that. Do you realize how many murderers and rapist get out of prison and never serve the full term? We have become too caring for those who commit crimes. Everyone forgets the victims. That's another reason gun laws are useless is because we do not punish the gang bangers and criminals to the full extent of the law. The American judicial system is a joke. Do you know that in most states a person killing deer out of season (poaching) can get a stiffer punishment than someone who get's convicted for vehicular homicide? It's true! So we have to make our young people understand that it's not Ok to break the rules. That's all I am saying and this person needs some help if this is her way of thinking.

[CommonSense]

What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Nothing in that poem threatened anything. All it did was say she understood why he felt that way. If a psychologist on national television said he "understood" would you deem him a threat too or would you want to hear what he has to say? Being able to understand why people would act out violently doesn't suggest a person is violent themselves, it suggests that that person has empathy. This student was suspended for having empathy. This is how low our nation has sunk.
"Those who trade liberty for security deserve neither and will lose both."-Benjamin Franklin
It's not just a profound quote. It's true. When authorities can just decide you are threat based on nothing but what their paranoid imaginations think might be lurking in your mind then how can you know they won't misconstrue your opinions when you express them and decide that you are a threat?
Or do you think people should just not express their opinions for fear that they may be mistaken as a threat? Do you really want to live your life like that?
And do you seriously believe that would work anyways? In Stalin's Russia you could be on your 'best behavior' all the time, but for many people it didn't matter. He would still find some reason to suspect you and you would be sent to the gulag or worse.
And this a school, students are required by law to attend school. Therefore we should be even more cautious in respecting their rights. The kind of thinking that produced zero tolerance policies is the same kind of thinking that will turn this country into a police state.

[Roco]

I think this overreaction is part of some of the issues in today's society. Let's just react first. Again, I'm asking if there was any prior action to justify her being expelled? How many times, as a young child, did many of you say you wanted to "bust up" someone or you would beat someone to a pulp? Wouldn't you call this venting? Or would you rather someone hold it in and fester until they take deadly action on it? Yes, there are plenty of instances that warrant zero-tolerance, but, this in not one of them.

[jamie91]

@MadAmerican what rule, exactly, did her poem break?

[woodtick57]

Zero tolerance policies are for those that have zero intelligence. it takes rational thought and effort to discern one case from another, and that is the job of our school administrators.

[Denizen_Kate]

Zero tolerance requires no thinking on the part of teachers and administrators, which is the way they like it. It means they needn't bother reading what this student wrote, or listen to her explanation, and come to an intelligent decision. Just kneejerk and suspend her. If we are ever to gain an understanding of young men like Lanza and find ways to help them before it reaches that pitch, shouldn't we encourage teens to express what they think and feel? Shouldn't we listen to them? Can't hurt, might help. This was a brainless reaction.

[VVP]

So wait, in order to avoid fostering words and thoughts that might condone such actions.... the school took steps to foster an environment that would in fact be a direct cause for such actions.

How we have managed to not obliterate the planet or eradicate the species is beyond me sometimes.

[mimi57]

The girl may need some help, because for the life of me, I can not wrap my mind around how anyone could understand what happened at Sandy Hook School, No way, no how...

[MBernard]

Loll you're funny. Here I was thinking, understanding what happened was a pre-requisite to solving it and preventing it from ever happening again. We need to understand everything or we'll never solve anything.

[mimi57]

@MBernard I can't , sorry...

[hwyangel]

I agree. But after reading the whole poem and learned that her school is for kids with needs that cannot be met by traditional schools.

Here is the whole poem:

They wanna hold me back
I run but they attack
My innocence I want back
I use to smile
They took my kindness for weakness
The silence the world will never get
I understand the killings in Connecticut
I know why he pulled the trigger
The government is a shame
Society never wants to take the blame Society puts these thoughts in our head Misery loves company
If I cant be loved no one can
If I cant be happy no one will I understand the killings in Connecticut
If everyone starts out the same, why don't we all have the same opportunities?
Why are we oppressed by a dysfunctional community of haters and blamer's?
When you don't feel loved you hate the world When you hate the world there's no exceptions
Why should they have innocence when ours is gone????

Sounds like someone that needs Jesus.

[mimi57]

@MBernard I just don't think we will ever understand the minds of people like these. They've done brain studies and EEG's , they show an abnormality in the frontal lobes of the brain...but, I don't think they know anything more than that. There will be more, there are so many in the wings, ticking time bombs. Our mental health system is broken. That said, I truly doubt the best psychiatrists in the world will ever be able to fully understand the mind of a
psychopath... That's my opinion. Sad.

[MBernard]

@mimi57 yeah I still can't understand why we go to war and killing each other. Why we can't live peaceably as one.

[crusader]

I would like to read the letter. According to teh zero tolerance policy she would have had to make the threat of violence. The excerpt we read did not show that she committed or threatened to commit violence. I think her poem is wrong to make sense of the senseless but its her own thoughts and feelings which is not an expellable offense. At most I think she should have been referred for counseling as she "understanding" the shooter exhibits psychological problems.

[Your_Name_Here]

Courtni has the kind of insight we find lacking in society these days. I made a similar comment years ago regarding Tim McVeigh. I understand his logic but that in no way indicates my support/ disdain nor does Courtni's statement indicate her support/ disdain for what happened. People who can understand why this happened can be a much needed resource in preventing the same from happening again.

[Millbank12]

@crusader, by your logic professionals who understand serial killers, rapists etc have psychological problems.

[crusader]

Professionals understand the disorders she claimed to understand the reason and seemed to sympathise with him. Knowing the mind and motives of a serial killer is much different than sympathising with them.

[Russell797]

@crusader What is wrong with sympathizing with the mentally deranged? They are sick people who need help. The hatred the girl speaks of is evident in the response of society to the shootings and the vitriol aimed at the perpetrator. He was just another neglected individual with a problem the day before he went off.

[crusader]

@Russell797 Granted he needed help but I was referring to sympathising with as agreeing with his actions, not understanding that he had problems. I however, unlike the young girl, think the blame rest mostly on the shooter, unless he was known to not know the difference between right and wrong. He made the conscious decision to do as he did. Neither his mother or society made those desicions for him.

[Russell797]

@crusader Of course the blame rests on the shooter, he did it after all, but at the same time he was obviously in a very tumultuous state of mind in order to be able to perpetrate the act. As for the intent of the girl, she said she does not agree with the young man's actions, she was just trying to understand why he was driven to do what he did. Sometimes people read into other minds what was not there, perception is not necessarily reality. She did nothing wrong in my opinion.