So It's Come To This: Seven High School Students Arrested For Throwing... Water Balloons

from the overreaction-is-our-only-reaction,-which-always-starts-off-a-chain-reaction dept

Wed, May 22nd 2013 9:12am — Tim Cushing

The weather's (mostly) hot. School's almost out. And what better way to celebrate summer being almost here than being arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for throwing water balloons.

Hail academia, forever teaching our youth that anything and everything will be punished to the fullest extent of the law, even childhood hijinks our parents would have approved of, if only they weren't so busy being arrested themselves.

Seven teenage students in North Carolina were arrested on Thursday and charged with a misdemeanor for throwing water balloons during a school prank. A parent was also arrested during the incident.

The seven boys, all between the ages of 16 and 17, threw balloons filled with tap water as an end-of-year prank at Enloe High School in Raleigh. The balloons were rumored to be filled with “other substances,” but Wake County Public School System spokeswoman Renee McCoy said “all indications” were that only water was used.

Six of the teens were charged with disorderly conduct. The seventh was charged with assault and battery for hitting a school security officer with a balloon.

You've got to respect the uniform -- even if that uniform is a 50/50 polyester/ugly blend. If other students, teachers and administration staff get hit, that's a ~~paddlin'~~ simple "disorderly conduct" (a.k.a., the cop's best friend). And if you can't respect the security guard's uniform, you had damn well better respect the boys in blue, or you'll get thrown to the ground for throwing water balloons.

Kevin Hines, the parent who was arrested, was just acting out of concern for a student's wellbeing. No good deed goes unpunished, not when we're sending cops after kids armed with water balloons.

Kevin Hines said saw Raleigh police officers acting aggressively towards a student they were arresting when he drove up to the school.

"Being lifted up by the neck and taken down hard," Hines said.

Hines said he tried to intervene was but was told he didn't know the whole story. Hines complied and said he wished to speak to the principal.

"You're just trying to cause trouble. Get out," Hines said an officer told him.

Hines said he then attempted to talk to a lieutenant but was approached by two officers and threatening with a TASER. Hines said he told the officers that wasn't necessary.

"They arrested me on grounds of trespassing," Hines said. "So, they put cuffs on me and carried me away."

Swell. An unarmed parent who's concerned that someone (NOT A COP) might get hurt is handcuffed, threatened with a taser and charged for "causing trouble," which apparently goes on the books as "second degree trespassing."

Another parent is "causing trouble" as well, although this might be the kind of trouble that sticks:

The mother of an Enloe High School student has filed a complaint with the Raleigh Police Department after an officer threw her son to the ground Thursday as police responded to a water balloon battle at the school.

Call me naive, but I never thought I'd ever read a sentence this incongruous in my life: "...as police responded to a water balloon battle..." Tase me. Tase me now, lord. At least it wasn't a water pistol fight. Martial law would have been declared and the National Guard called in.

Here's the school's official statement on the "event."

Renee McCoy, a representative of Wake County Public Schools, said they rely on the training of the Raleigh Police Department in these situations. "We leave those decisions up to Raleigh PD," McCoy said.

Punt.

Seven kids with misdemeanors on their records ("released on bail" -- I am not kidding) for throwing weaponized water. I'm not really sure what schools are teaching kids at this point -- that every minor infraction must be dealt with swiftly and brutally? That violating school policies is a criminal offence? Whatever they're trying to teach by jettisoning critical thinking and replacing it with zero tolerance cops on speed dial, it's not getting through. All students are going to learn is that school administration has farmed out its disciplinary responsibilities to a variety of humorless, uniformed thugs -- some private, some public -- and that there really is no crime too small.

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Filed Under: arrested, north carolina, pranks, students, wake county public schools, water balloons

174 Comments

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Akari Mizunashi (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 8:03am

These 6 students should be lucky they weren't using Super Soakers.

We'd be burying 6 students.

Police States of America, coming to your local neighborhood! Misleading News at 11!

/ugh
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rw (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 8:09am

More Terrorism by cops!
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Arsik Vek (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 8:30am

Clearly all those petitions to ban dihydrogen monoxide were right.
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dennis deems (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 8:56am

I don't know why you used scare quotes around "disorderly conduct". That's what it was.
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Zakida Paul (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:18am

Bloody hell
On hot days here in Northern Ireland we used to throw fellow students in a nearby river. Imagine the penalty for that.

Water balloons are utterly harmless and water balloon fights are merely a way to pass the time and cool down on a hot summer's day. I honestly don't see why anyone would have a problem with it.
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Zakida Paul (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:20am

Also, assault and battery for throwing a water balloon at someone? Really?

Epic face palm there.
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velox (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:21am

Zero Tolerance = Unthinking Intolerance
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MrPendent, 22 May 2013 @ 9:22am

Re: Face palm
Dear god don't facepalm! They might charge you with assault and battery on yourself!
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Zakida Paul (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:24am

Re: Re: Face palm
It is, as Timothy would say, concussion inducing face palm worthy.
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Mr. Smarta** (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:25am

That's it?
Seriously? That's all? They get arrested? Don't they even realize what's in the "tap water" these days? Especially in Jersey. The water is so filled with crap such as pharmaceutical drugs that can't be filtered out that so much as giving someone a glass of water could be construed as poisoning and attempted murder. And throwing such a dangerous and harmful chemical such as water at a security guard??? That's like throwing a nuclear bomb at an orphanage!!!! ARE THEY CRAZY???

And we won't even get into the material surrounding the water. The balloon itself... Just look at the argument. The balloon is made from chemicals (so a charge of chemical warfare is obviously in order now). Chemicals are made of elements. There are elements in atomic bombs, too. So basically, they're throwing nuclear bombs filled with poisonous, bio-hazardous liquid at people!! OMFG!!! What kind of terrorists do that??? HELL YES, ARREST THEM!! In fact, what is the legal system doing?? They shouldn't even get a trial or a sentence. They're so guilty they should have been shot on the very spot on which they stood. Several times. That way, another terrorist plot could be averted and the FBI could pat themselves on the back for stopping more nuclear, chemical, *and* biological attacks all at once!!

And the final horror? It was done around a school!! For crying out loud, they didn't even THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:26am

Erm, you made a spelling error there. Punt should be Cunt.

//Baddum-Tssh!
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Baldaur Regis (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:29am

Re: Bloody hell
On hot days here in Northern Ireland we used to throw fellow students in a nearby river. Imagine the penalty for that.
In the US, throwing meat balloons is a Class A misdemeanor. If the meat balloon is less than 147 cm (4' 10") in height, the offense is classified as dwarf tossing, a crime punishable by having to appear in a FOX TV reality show.
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arcan, 22 May 2013 @ 9:30am

Re:
i think he was imitating doctor evil. "disorderly conduct". you know with the whole hand thing?
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arcan, 22 May 2013 @ 9:31am

and yet quite a few people still consider cops to be heroes... it is sad.
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Zakida Paul (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:32am

Re: Re: Bloody hell
That made me chuckle, have a funny
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:33am

Re:
Careful, I hear those petitioners are getting arrested now too. http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/308374/19/April-Fools-prank-about-dihydrogen-monoxide-in-water-gets -Gator-Country-1019-deejays-suspended
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:34am

Questions
1) Do the school staff not know how to control children?
2) Why in the name of Cthulu were the cops involved?
$) Don't the cops know how to gain control of a situation without arresting everyone in sight?
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:35am

Nothing makes sense like quelling a menacing fight, in which the most dangerous weapon is a thin rubber casing filled with water being launched by prepubescent children, by bringing in several idiots with blue outfits, armed with tasers, guns, and power trips.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:37am

Hey, they may have been throwing ONLY water balloons now, but they could have easily started throwing IMAGINARY grenades like the 7 year old who got suspended from school for doing just that!

We must protect our kids from imaginary threats!
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:39am

Becoming a police officer is the easiest way for an unintelligent, unskilled person to acquire power and blatantly abuse it, often getting paid leave to do so.
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Jessie (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:40am

Barney
Well, in the words of the world famous child rearing expert and government employee Barney Fife:

"I say this calls for action and now. Nip it in the bud. First sign of youngsters going wrong, you've got to nip it in the bud."

Of course, these days, I don't know if we shouldn't replace "youngsters" with "governmental agents".

Also, remember, "don't just mollycoddle them."
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Andreas (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:42am

Hey, why don't you come to germany, your country is totally fucked up right there, and it's not bright for the future either. Common sense has died in the US
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kenichi tanaka (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:43am

I remember, when I was in elementary school, that someone I knew taught me how to hack up "loogies". Well, suffice it to say that I was about seven or eight at the time and I thought it was cool so I caught this girl as she was coming up the steps and caught her in the face.

Bare in mind that I was an adolescent and I thought ti was cool; but, she recognized me and I ended up getting kicked up out of school for three days, ended up with a weeks detention and I had to apologize to the young girl.

Boys will be boys.

However, in the aftermath of Columbine shooting, school districts have to take a "zero tolerence" policy when it comes to juvenile antics and I have no sympathy for what these 17 years olds did. They knew exactly what they were doing and this was no prank, despite what others may think. It takes calculated thought to plan something like this and I have to support the school administrators and the school district because this amounts to an assault.

While some of us may find it funny, it's not. Water balloons are something you do when you're at home, not on school property. These students knew what they were doing was wrong and now they'll have to live with the consequences. They're going to find out now because they're not only just starting to become adults living in the real world but they're going to learn a valuable lesson that everything you do has consequences.
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out_of_the_blue, 22 May 2013 @ 9:44am

"no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
14-year-olds can't see beyond "harmless" fun because they ALWAYS imagine themselves having the upper hand, never being the ones HIT and SOAKED.

But that IS assault and battery, kids. Your right to toss water ballons ends where someone else's person begins -- in fact, well clear of it: adults don't wish to run a risk merely because you're idiots. So don't throw water ballons --- at somone NOT agreeing to the "fun" -- unless you want a CRIMINAL record.

Someone else's, whether intellectual property or physical body, seems to be the key concept that the kids here at Techdirt just can't grasp.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:48am

May I now be excused from this world? Have I done sufficient penance?
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:49am

End of the year pranks is a high school tradition.

Just yesterday, 7 students were refused to receive their HS graduation certificates nor to be allowed to attend the graduation ceremony after releasing 10,000 crickets in school as a prank.

During my end of the year senior days, someone released a dog in the hall with a tin can tied to his tail and a few small pebbles in the can so it rattled wherever the dog went. No one arrested, no cops called, not even the dog pound. The dog was caught, the can untied from his tail, the dog was taken off school property and released.

All of this zero tolerance has gotten out of hand. Way out of hand. Those kids now have an arrest warrant and a first strike. The parent of a kid taken to jail? For what other than being on the scene and worried about the kids.

Our modern day police force is now turning into the Gestapo.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:50am

Can you actually trespass at a public school?

Also, some reports are saying there was a lot of hype about the balloons filled with "dangerous" substances (lol).

One hell of a well pulled off prank. One hell of a poorly managed incident by the police...
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:50am

Re:
No.
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saulgoode (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:51am

I blame it on video games.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:53am

authority doesn't respect you. why the hell would you respect it?
Eventually things will change, but not before the people get involved in the fight.
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PRMan, 22 May 2013 @ 9:54am

Re: Questions
"Don't the cops know how to gain control of a situation without arresting everyone in sight?"

Seriously. "The next person that throws a water balloon is going to juvie..."

That should handle it and nobody has to have a criminal record...unless they throw one more balloon.
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PRMan, 22 May 2013 @ 9:55am

Re:
Nice try. But we know you guys are planning to start WWIII any day now... ;)
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DerpTaste, 22 May 2013 @ 9:55am

Re:
..."everything you do has consequences." Yes. Like suspension or detention, maybe a call to the parents. Not involving the police over something as stupid as this.
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PRMan, 22 May 2013 @ 9:56am

Re:
"school districts have to take a "zero tolerence" policy"

No, they don't. Getting suspended for hawking a loogie in a girl's face. Seems fair. Getting arrested for throwing a water balloon... not so much.
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gorehound (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:57am

Cops are still PIGS !
The Establishment still needs to Fall !
The Moral Majority are Assholes !

Boy, The times have not changed much................almost sounds like Classical HS, Lynn, Mass Circa 1972
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PRMan, 22 May 2013 @ 9:57am

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
And as usual, you're the only one on here that doesn't understand the difference between what the law is and what the law should be.
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ScytheNoire, 22 May 2013 @ 10:01am

America has become so screwed up. Every day there is another story of police abusing the law, abusing the citizens they are sworn to protect. Who will police the police? They all think they are Judge Dredd. It's gotten out of control.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:05am

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
Did anyone tell you that your tongue tastes great? Eat it out!
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rambo919, 22 May 2013 @ 10:05am

Actually a part of me would love to have "assault and battery with weaponized water" on my permanent record, I could lie and say it happened when I was 5... yes ladies I am THAT dangerous...
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rapnel, 22 May 2013 @ 10:05am

Re:
O_o

Holy fuck. Please don't procreate.
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Rikuo (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:13am

Re:
"However, in the aftermath of Columbine shooting, school districts have to take a "zero tolerence" policy when it comes to juvenile antics "

Just like when two boys pointed fingers at each other and made gun noises? That's right, that's what really happened. Two boys pointed their fingers at each other, made noise, and were promptly suspended, thanks to zero tolerance. Do you support that too?
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Internet Zen Master (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:15am

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Seriously, a bunch of teens getting CRIMINAL FUCKING RECORDS for throwing Water Balloons.

Hopefully the Raleigh Police don't realize that water is actually H2O, or else those teenagers could find themselves on a one-way trip to Guantanamo Bay for being "enemy combatants".

I can see it now:

Detainee: ...So, what are you in for?

Teenager: Throwing water balloons at my High school security officer.

Detainee: What, did you fill the balloons with acid or something?

Teenager: Nope, just plain water.

Detainee: And you're locked up here why?

Teen: Because the chemical compound of water is H2O.

Detainee: ... You have got to be fucking kidding me.
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Mikael (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:16am

Re:
If you were to spit on someone today you could very well be charged with assault. If you spit at one person, but some of it got on someone else then that person could also file assault charges against you.

I'd say you got off easy.
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dennis deems (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:17am

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
I agreed with this post until you threw in the nonsense about intellectual pooperty. WTF does that have to do with anything?
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:18am

Re:
I had a super soaker / water balloon fight with my 8 year old nephew last weekend and nobody called the cops.

Aren't people supposed to say something if they see something? What if they were more than just water guns and balloons? You can never be too careful.
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Lord Binky, 22 May 2013 @ 10:19am

Ok, so if the school relies on the cops to handle their incidents, it's still the schools responsibility if they mishandle things. A kid getting injured on school grounds is still ultimately the school that is responsible, they don't get out of it any less if they choose the police to handle things or if they chose an armed security force.

Hopefully some of these parents start doing more than just file complaints that can be tucked away. I'd like to think the school will change it's tune quick when they realize they are actually on the line for this.

It's insulting how smug they are about kids being injured because they didn't like how the way they were behaving and then on top of that they seem like they are patting themselves on the back for a 'smart plan' to sidestep responsibility and any decision making.

If the school employees are too incompetent to handle kids with water balloons without police involvement, the school simply needs new employees or to do without those positions at all.
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zerostar83 (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:20am

Re:
In other news, Zakida Paul is arrested for assualt and battery after his epic face palm was observed by local police.
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lucidrenegade (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:20am

So what happens when you hit a cop holding a taser with a water balloon?
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:21am

Re:
Where's my "Moron" button?
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FarSide (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:23am

Re:
The reason is because it's a bullshit offense that cops can and do use as an excuse for doing whatever they want.

Don't answer a cop's question? DC.

Ask a cop an awkward question? DC.

Sneeze too close to a cop and forget to cover your mouth? DC.

Any hint of not respecting the authoritah... DC.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:23am

Re: Re:
I always see people responding to posts with, "please don't procreate." I'm curious how many people have been about to fuck and been like, "Shit! This one guy on a blog told me not to procreate we better stop."
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jd2112 (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:24am

seems fair
They were armed with weapons of mass hydration.
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Zakida Paul (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:25am

Re: Re:
The case is going to the European Court of Human Rights
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:29am

Stupidest adolescent navel-gazing comment thread here in a long long time. I don't think anyone commenting has actually been hit with a water balloon. Hint: they hurt. A LOT. Yes that's assault.
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Michael, 22 May 2013 @ 10:29am

Re: I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Teen: What are you in for?

Detainee: I violated Facebook's terms of service

Tax Payer: Why are the costs of law enforcement going up and our prisons over-crowded?

Former Military Officer: TERRORISM!! AHH!! TERRORISM!! RUN!
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Berenerd (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:30am

Oh thank god...
Its a good thing the sprinklers didn't go off other wise they might have been charged for using weapons of mass dampening.
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Designerfx (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:31am

Re: Re:
you absolutely can be too careful. It comes up the second you start responding to civil disobedience and/or non-violence with violence.
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TheLastCzarnian (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:32am

Re:
Also in the NPR News today, a person of interest being questioned by the FBI about the Boston bombing was shot and killed during interrogation.

As hard as it is for me to type, we are now in dire need of a return to the '60s, even if it requires hippies and bell-bottoms.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:33am

Re: Re:
i'm reporting both of you to the fbi for use of and discussion of use of weapons of mass dampening
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FarSide (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:36am

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
"Your right to toss water ballons ends where someone else's person begins"

I agree 100%. The problem is that not everything requires an arrest.

There are ways to stop behavior or punish people that don't involve slamming them to the ground unnecessarily and arresting them.

By this logic it's ok to arrest and charge someone who intentionally pushes past you in a rude manner and makes you stumble: He has no right to push someone, therefore crime, therefore arrest the asshole!

This sort of thinking does not allow for a functional society of people.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:38am

These balloons were full of dihydrogen monoxide, the people hit should probably get themselves checked asap.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:40am

Re:
I marked this as "funny". It's a joke, right?
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Hambone, 22 May 2013 @ 10:41am

Re:
So let me get this straight:

You did something way worse than this (being covered in saliva and snot is significantly worse than being covered in water; think 'rain'), and you received a simple, short suspension. You seem to have learned your lesson.

Yet NOW, you are agreeing that being hit with water is an ASSAULT?

You sir, are a big, gigantic hypocrite.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:44am

Re: That's it?
No wonder this generation is full of "killers". We make everyone out to be a (zomg) terrorist.
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DannyB (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:44am

Re: "no punishment too large" IS A FINE WITH OOTB
So are you saying that for any crime, no matter how small, there is no punishment too big?

Do you support capital punishment for pirates? What about for people guilty of playing their radio loudly enough to be considered a "public performance" without having a license for public performance?

Should enhanced interrogation techniques be used to find out of they know of any other students who may be planning to throw water balloons or play the radio too loudly?
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:45am

How the mighty have fallen.
This is the sort of story you'd expect to come from some third-world dictatorship. Is this what's become of our nation?
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DannyB (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:46am

Re:
This planet could be some other planet's hell.
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Franklin G Ryzzo (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:46am

Re:
/fryface.jpg

Not sure if trolling or just stupid...
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btr1701 (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:47am

Re:
> I don't know why you used scare quotes around
> "disorderly conduct". That's what it was.

Weird. I've never been able to find the section of the law that requires every citizen to be orderly at all times.
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Jesse (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:47am

Re:
The best part is that throwing water balloons is assault but water boarding is totally acceptable.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:49am

Re:
They're not 'scare quotes' they're 'this term is used as a catch-all so often it's basically meaningless' quotes.
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DannyB (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:49am

Re:
Don't think it couldn't happen. When the original Gestapo happened, I'm sure it took people by surprise.

History repeats. Human nature doesn't change.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:51am

Re:
Read an article that said that a student who didn't even handle a water balloon is in the hospital after being taken down by a police officer and having their head shoved against the ground at least twice.

That parent wasn't happy at all. I, like you, read lawsuit.
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DannyB (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:51am

Re: Re: I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Detainee: I downloaded a song that I already had bought on CD.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:52am

Re:
Indeed, brave new world we live in.

I remember as a high school senior, driving by the local movie theater while my friends super-soaked the crowd from the other side of the car that were waiting in line...

Glad I never got caught for this post-9/11, I'm sure I'd be detained as a terrorist.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:53am

Re:
you realize you probably had a greater chance of causing severe damage than the water balloons right. Saliva is just filled with bacteria and if it's not your saliva, you have a great chance of spreading some sort of sickness and/or disease. If she had a cut on her face? Possible infection. Got in her eye? Infection. Got it in her mouth? Infection, and according to some new school rules (from earlier today on techdirt i believe), you could bend that into sexual harassment. Water balloons are not *nearly* as dangerous as what you did.

Moreover, why should a punishment change simply because someone else committed some other crime. A punishment should fit the crime. How can that change because of something else? Why are we re-defining what fits the crime? It's the same crime. Who cares what someone else did. Why is that related? Same crime? No. Same person? No. Why is there an impact? That boggles my mind. Something terrible happens and some people lose the ability to be reasonable.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:54am

Re:
No, stop right there. What in the flying fuck does this have to do with the Columbine shooting? I'm serious, why are you bringing that up? There's absolutely nothing to link it to the actual subject at hand.
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DannyB (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:54am

Re:
> I don't think anyone commenting has actually been hit with a
> water balloon. Hint: they hurt. A LOT. Yes that's assault.

So is an arrest and criminal record warranted? Is violence by police warranted?

How about just a suspension?

Clue: getting snapped by a towel in the shower hurts too, but I don't know anyone who got arrested and injured in a police takedown over it.
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btr1701 (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:54am

Re:
> I caught this girl [with a loogie] as she was
> coming up the steps and caught her in the face.

> I have to support the school administrators and
> the school district because this [water balloon fight]
> amounts to an assault.

It's ironic that what you did to the girl was actually more of a criminal assault than a couple of kids engaging in horselplay with water balloons. And yet you only got suspended for it. These kids now have criminal arrest records.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:54am

Re:
?

Are you seriously freaking serious? What the christ are you made out of? 100% lithium, sodium, and potassium?

The *ONLY* way water balloons can hurt is if you leave them in the freezer for 2 hours before throwing.

Yes, I *HAVE* been hit with water balloons. An uncountable multitude of them over my 50 years on the planet. Not one of them has EVER hurt, even when I was hit in the face, ears, throat, and nads. Soaked? sure. Pain? gimmeafrackingbreak.
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n_mailer, 22 May 2013 @ 10:56am

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
"Your right to toss water balloons ends where someone else's person begins -- in fact, well clear of it"

This has nothing to do with the definition of assualt and battery.

"adults don't wish to run a risk"

There isn't any risk.
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DannyB (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:57am

Re: How the mighty have fallen.
Some people say it began when we took prayer out of schools.

Others say the downfall of America can be traced back to when the Mars company introduced the blue M&M.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:57am

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
I had to stop after the first line when you claimed a 14-year-old couldn't possibly imagine what it would be like to get "HIT and SOAKED" with a water balloon. Who do you think would know what it's like to get hit with a water ballon if not kids?
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btr1701 (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:57am

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
> So don't throw water ballons --- at somone
> NOT agreeing to the "fun" -- unless you want
> a CRIMINAL record.

My god, you're an utter twat.
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Coogan (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 10:57am

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
Somebody get me a water balloon.....
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Moulton, 22 May 2013 @ 10:58am

Re:
" I don't think anyone commenting has actually been hit with a water balloon. Hint: they hurt. A LOT."

I have many times and they don't. At all. Spitballs hurt worse and are more dangerous.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 10:59am

respect authority for the sake of authority...... circlejerk of the stupid submissive
Authoritarians disgust me.
People who willfully bow down to, and make excuses to be submissive to "authority" for authoritarians sake, disgust me too.
"disorderly conduct" my ass.
The school authorities conduct ?????
The security guards conduct ?????
The police officers conduct ?????

To serve the people
or
To serve the circlejerk of authority serving authority for authorities sake

/\.... pick one ...../\

Also implying kids having a water balloon fight is not proper conduct for kids.

Next up : Baby tazered for shitting in diaper. Charged with "Disorderly Conduct"
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btr1701 (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 11:00am

Re:
> I don't think anyone commenting has actually
> been hit with a water balloon.

I have. Many times. It's fun.

> Hint: they hurt. A LOT.

Man up, Sally.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:00am

Re: Re: I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
The former military officers are not the ones screaming terrorism all the time...
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:01am

Re: Re: Re: I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Hacker: I modified a thing that I own.
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Coogan (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 11:01am

Re: Re:
Clue: getting snapped by a towel in the shower hurts too, but I don't know anyone who got arrested and injured in a police takedown over it.

Give it some time.....
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Franklin G Ryzzo (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 11:03am

Re:
Wow... just wow!

If you are trolling, well played sir... if not may dog have mercy on your soul.

Zero tolerance policies are the hallmark of punting responsibility by the very people we are supposed to be relying on to have sound judgement and exercise discretion with the education and well being of our children. This trend in our schools is extremely disturbing and needs to be corrected. I am typically never a fan of additional legislation, but no amount of local or even national backlash is getting any of these schools to back down from these ridiculous policies. I thin there is a strong argument that can be made that this behavior could be construed as unconstitutional as a violation of the 8th amendment.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:04am

Remember citizen, you don't need weapons to defend yourself. The police will defend you, and they'd "never" do harm. Now do as you're told and shut the hell up.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:11am

Re: Re: Re:
I dunno, thinking about some of the people commenting is enough to stop me in my tracks. Er... so to speak.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:12am

Re: Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
ootb lived a sheltered life.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:16am

Re: Re:
Carefull who you tell that to. You might have to go to jail for as long as your nephew has lived for this!
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Connor Clawson, 22 May 2013 @ 11:18am

so kids cant be kids anymore.... yup. I'm pissed
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:21am

Re: That's it?
Its in the water, man! I always knew it was in the water...
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Tiernoc, 22 May 2013 @ 11:25am

Re:
Something Awesome I bet...
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:26am

this is the America of today. when the chance to change it was at hand, it wasn't taken. now we have 16 year old students that only had water filled balloons as weapons today, but will, no doubt, have something much more sinister tomorrow! that i am sure is the kind of statement that will accompany them in to court. have you ever heard of anything so damn ridiculous! i hope those that are turning the USA into a Fascist nation are proud of what they are doing! criminalising kids for pulling a harmless prank, which, i bet anything you like, those that are condemning it today, did in their youth!
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:27am

Re: Re: Re: Re: I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Defendant: I sang a song at work without buying a performance license.
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Kevin Headings, 22 May 2013 @ 11:28am

Littering also?
I guess they should all feel lucky that they didn't also get charged with littering ... from the small rubber left overs of the balloons...
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:29am

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
14-year-olds can't see beyond "harmless" fun because they ALWAYS imagine themselves having the upper hand, never being the ones HIT and SOAKED.

But that IS assault and battery, kids. Your right to toss water ballons ends where someone else's person begins -- in fact, well clear of it: adults don't wish to run a risk merely because you're idiots. So don't throw water ballons --- at somone NOT agreeing to the "fun" -- unless you want a CRIMINAL record.

Someone else's, whether intellectual property or physical body, seems to be the key concept that the kids here at Techdirt just can't grasp.

OOTB, I'm usually with you brother, but we diverge on this. Back in the day, my last week of high school a buddy of mine burst a water balloon over the head of the assistant principal who was trying to restore order after an epic water balloon battle broke out in the bus area. Her blue rinse was ruined and he got suspended for a day. That's it. The participants had to police up the popped balloons and the only real consequence was for engaging a non-combatant. Our community resource officer wisely took cover and was reportedly seen laughing at the soaked assistant principal. If I'd been charged for every water balloon, egg or roll of toilet paper I've ever thrown, I'd doubtlessly be doing life in prison right now.

You can't put shit back in the donkey. The kids never should have been charged and unless the prosecutor is a complete loser, this case is going nowhere.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:40am

Re:
And you are the problem, thanks for clarifing.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:42am

Re:
cops these days are just government approved bullies.

Where's that zero tolerance policy? Oh it's not "on the internet" so it's OK lol
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:44am

Re:
Stupidest adolescent navel-gazing comment thread here in a long long time. I don't think anyone commenting has actually been hit with a water balloon. Hint: they hurt. A LOT. Yes that's assault.

Still traumatized by high school, eh Nancyboy? You must have been a regular crime victim in school. Assaults (wedgies); kidnappings (stuffed in gym locker) robbery (lunch money). You may wish to consider that your opinion of what constitutes assault can all be traced back to the fact that you are a douchenozzle.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:49am

Re:
bow and lick others boots if you want to... I will not, my kids will not, and your part of the problem...

Heres a question, why dont you have a record now? you used a biological weapon and potentially put anothers life in jeopardy. You should be at the police station asking to be locked up.... Or is this another cause of you dont deserve it but everybody else does... which is it sunshine...
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Dirkmaster (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 11:54am

Re:
Hit by a water-ballon HURTS?????? A LOT?????

Are you f'ing insane? They weren't frozen, for dog's sake. My 18 month old granddaughter was hit by a water balloon this weekend. No tears, only giggles and "again!". So either she's tougher than Wolverine, or you have the pain threshold of an amoeba.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 11:56am

Re: Re:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=water+balloon+injury
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 12:07pm

Re: Re: Re:
gawd what a bunch of sissies!
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 12:14pm

Re:
Can you actually trespass at a public school?

Yeah. If you are an adult from the outside and don't have any legitimate reason to be there, the school administration has every right to deny you access to school grounds.

Of course, Kevin Hines, as a parent of a student, certainly had every right to be at the school.
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garyd, 22 May 2013 @ 12:39pm

omg
Man back in the 90's we dumped 25 gals of dish soapin the rival schools pool . Now aday we would be in prison geeze even kids cant have harmless fun anymore
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Lee, 22 May 2013 @ 12:40pm

B.S
The country is continuing to take small pieces from us at every turn. If we do not start doing something about this and soon we will have no more rights.
The whole police department and school should have charges brought against them and they should have to pay monetary penalties to the students and parents involved.
Have we forgotten that it is we the people, not me the government.
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steve, 22 May 2013 @ 12:42pm

lol
Lmao gary we dumped 100 pounds of jello mix in our highschool pool the night before a swim meet my senior year in 84
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vilain (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 12:52pm

Clearly school districts have to much money
because they keep doing stupid things (along with police departments) to kids and now their parents. If the DA chooses to pursue this, I hope that any civil suit that results will make the school district think before acting stupidly. And their new insurance company--cause it only takes one incident of 'being stupid' to get your insurance cancelled.

That's rent-a-cop better find a good lawyer.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 12:55pm

Exactly when did school administrators become THIS incompetent
I mean seriously, school admins that can't handle a water balloon fight without police assitance?

To the admins who decided they need to call the cops: just quit. You SUCK as school administrators and would better serve society in another capacity where zero critical thinking is involved (maybe collecting golf balls at a driving range, perhaps?).

What are you teaching our children? That adults are such PUSSIES that they need goofs with weapons in order to have some semblance of order? What do you do when your OWN children misbehave? Same thing, I presume?

I feel sorry for kids today - the school to prison pipeline is alive and well it seems.
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Alt0, 22 May 2013 @ 1:11pm

Re:
Really? Are you frikin' kidding me?
Its people like you and your attitude that have stripped modern children of their childhood.

Every action has its consequence....AHHHHHHH!
(Imagine a "Lewis Black" frustrated scream)

They were water balloons. WATER BALLOONS
How much "calculating" would it take to err... let me see, fill up a frikin' balloon with water and chuck it at someone? Like maybe none?

And, to call this an ASSAULT? For god's sake get a grip. I certainly hope you do not (or ever have) children, because to be raised by you would completely suck.

10 bucks says this is either a cop or married to one.
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DougV (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 1:20pm

What does it sound like?
What does it sound like when a water balloon and a block-headed school system collide?

DOUCHE!!!!
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New Mexico Mark, 22 May 2013 @ 1:37pm

Re: Re:
In defense of the Boston shooting:

1. Suspect demanded to meet at place of his choosing (apparently so he wouldn't be scanned for weapons)
2. Suspect was mixed martial arts trained
3. Suspect had previous history of violence, including putting a man in the hospital over a parking space dispute
4. Suspect lunged with a knife, wounding a LEO

Sorry, if I'm a gun-toting LEO and a suspect is stupid or dangerous enough to successfully attack me with a knife... even a scratch, I think it's perfectly appropriate to go all "Rambo, First Blood" on them. At that point I see it as "him or me", and I vote "me".

High school kids and water balloon pranks? Not so much. Any sensible officer would have done some quick sanity checks to make sure it really was water, maybe help identify the pranksters, make sure nobody had gotten hurt, then just offer to "be on hand" for school officials to do their job. If the students really were violent or dangerous, that would become evident pretty quickly.

It would probably be appropriate to "educate" the educators as to the difference between law and school policy, and what level of response is appropriate for each.
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Hdjx, 22 May 2013 @ 1:39pm

Response to: dennis deems on May 22nd, 2013 @ 8:56am
So a gang of assholes gets away with assault, battery, and kidnapping children by referencing a statute of "disorderly conduct"? How fucking psycho are you? Kill yourself before you hurt innocent people you ignorant fuck!
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Zem, 22 May 2013 @ 1:43pm

Thieves in the night
The police involved not only beleive they are doing the right thing but that "you" have instructed them to act this way.

This is just another example of what happens when you give up freedom for safety.

In the end you lose both.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 2:00pm

And to top it... will give them a lifetime of social shaming and disadvantage, via a "criminal record".

Authoritarians and the sheeple following them are complete assholes.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 2:17pm

Re: Re: Questions
Implying that throwing water balloons among your peers is now a criminal offense.

The cop was on a classic authoritarian power trip. "respect my authority"

The real crime here is that the "institutional authoritarian regimes" will not be punished or have a higher authority police them. convenient and a coincidence of authoritarians in general

Cops,principal and security guards should all be sued, fired, maybe even thrown in jail and be granted a criminal record.
It's what they would do to the kids if people didn't stand up in outrage.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 2:27pm

This trend of "If it looks like a bird it's a duck" is annoying.
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Miff (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 3:36pm

I'm glad they actually arrested these guys
Yep. It's nice how they didn't just go to the boys will be boys shit. These kids need to learn about the consequences of their actions sooner rather than later. If they were adults throwing water balloons at others they would have been arrested. Why let them get away with it just because they're two years younger?
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 4:12pm

Re: I'm glad they actually arrested these guys
Why let them get away with it just because they're two years younger?

Because boys will be boys, you fucking salad tosser.

I guess things weren't very rambunctious over at the chess club, huh? Obviously the memories of 'kick me' signs and wedgies has left an indelible mark and sped you into geezerdom.
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Pyramid, 22 May 2013 @ 4:26pm

Good going
That will surely teach those kids to have the proper respect for authority.
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James Smith, 22 May 2013 @ 4:31pm

Re: Police State
It isn't like anyone can seriously thin the USA is still a free country. It's a totalitarian police state and the police can do whatever they want to whomever they want.

Warrant less wire taps, no-knock entries, confiscation of cameras, arrest and indefinite detention with no charges or even probable cause, torture, rendition of prisoners, and stop and frisk at will. Are those the actions of a free country?
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Alana (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 5:17pm

TERRORISTS!
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That Crazy Freetard (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 5:46pm

Re: Exactly when did school administrators become THIS incompetent
Funny thing about education adminstration, is that people tend to fail upwards.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 6:25pm

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
Well, this explains a lot about why you are a moron with no social skills. Did no one play with you when you were a child?
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Silver Fang (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 6:26pm

Militarization
The police are being militarized in terms of equipment, clothing and weaponry and now even their attitude toward the citizens they are supposed to serve. They seem to view us the way US soldiers viewed the citizens of Baghdad when the US invaded Iraq ten years ago. How long before they are driving tanks through our neighborhoods?
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 7:12pm

Why stop with Misdemeanor charges? Misdemeanors don't mean much. Should've gone for Felony charges, that would have taught the students & parents the lesson they clearly need to be taught.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 7:16pm

Re: Militarization
Well, thanks to the DHS, they already have armored vehicles, so to answer your question: Soon.

http://www.infowars.com/video-hundreds-of-dhs-armored-trucks-on-the-move/
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sup, 22 May 2013 @ 7:45pm

Re:
I have been hit with water balloons plenty of times. They do not hurt.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 8:02pm

Re:
Turning into?
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Tex Arcana (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 8:14pm

Re:
When most cops are ex-military with massive PTSD, inferiority complexes, and improperly screened for psychiatric disorders, then roided up to the point where just looking at them crosseyed will net you a round of pepper spray; then it's not even remotely surprising these kinds of stories are coming out.

And we aren't even trying to stop it. Then again, the Corporatists in power want those cops doing exactly that: stomping the populace with their jackboots, grinding us underfoot and keeping us afraid.

Just like their counterparts in 1934 in Germany...
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Alex, 22 May 2013 @ 8:36pm

Oh, please
Look at the link - they were likely Black. These people turn everything violence no matter how innocent it may sound or start out as. Snowball fight - assault. Flash mob - White people have fun and dance in public areas or do jokes - with Blacks it is an opportunity for looting. Waterparks - heaven help you if Blacks are there because someone is going to the hospital. I have no sympathy for these clowns - no wonder everyone hates the very sight of them.
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Alex, 22 May 2013 @ 8:38pm

Re: Re:
Counterparts in 1934? You mean the ones determined to start a war?

"Hitler will have no war (does not want war), but we will force it on him, not this year, but soon." - Emil Ludwig Cohn in Les Annales, June, 1934
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Alex, 22 May 2013 @ 8:42pm

Why were they saying they were putting semen in the balloons, eh? Let's say that is true, would this story read the same way? YOU WEREN'T THERE so save your sanctimony.

Even if it was just water and it ruined the clothes you just spent your money on and you were heading to an interview?
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MikeC (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:12pm

Zero tolerance is the result of the 60's not cured by it
It's a result of the liberal everything is a crime/sue-able action environment started in the 60's and continuing today.

Schools are full of some not-so-bright people sometimes, but they see the writing on the wall. If they try to fix it themselves, they get sued, pay money, are easy targets. Instead it's "Zero Tolerance" and call the cops -- see we did all we could, didn't touch any one, didn't restrain anyone, didn't tolerate something we should have stopped. It's Zero Tolerance bullying, Zero tolerance touching, zero tolerance of anything that might make someone sad... it's 5 year olds with Behaviour Contracts because they won't play well with other, it's suspending a kid for biting his poptart into a gun shape, a 12 year old boy is a sex offender for trying get a girl he likes to talk to him, on and on and on. Parents do the same, saying my kid needs to be protected from everything, no traumatizing events like being called a name or having to deal with someone she doesn't like talking to her.... that is what it is coming too.

We get what we incentivize. We sue people, organizations, entities at the drop of a hat, even if they win it's costs thousands - millions of dollars. All because someone couldn't tolerate being called a name. We make children who can't deal with a confrontational situation, parents who overreact to everything. We incentivize stupidity and intolerance in the very name of the tolerance of diversity we preach. Now we are getting the society of call the cops for everything, I mean in school for that last 30 years, whenever there was a problem we had to get a teacher involved, not resolve it ourselves, we might get punished. Now those kids they run the schools and they still do that but a teacher is now a cop.

The end result -- all the protected, nurtured individuals cease development, by pure numbers, they squeeze out the stronger natural order breeds and the civilization as a whole get's weaker.
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The Usotsuki (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 9:25pm

Re:
I would bet that they aren't sworn to protect the citizenry, but the city government.
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horse with no name, 22 May 2013 @ 10:52pm

It funny to read all of this
As MikeC points out, you need to look at the source, but more than that, you need to look past the source.

The real issue at hand here is that society as a whole has lost respect for each other, and in doing so, has also lost the tolerance for youthful exuberance and learning to play with others. Teachers feel so disrespected, principals feel so powerless to stop anything, that the only way they deal with things is by involving a higher authority, the police.

Imagine the outrage if these kids got suspended. Lawsuits from the parents claiming the kids are being denied an education. You could be sure one of them was "not white" and would play the race card, and perhaps if there was a girl involved she would claim that the school security guard touched her inappropriately somewhere along the line. The schools don't want to resolve anything at their own level because the students and the parents don't respect them and attack them at every turn.

So what happens? When anything out of the ordinary happens, they call in the police. They don't deal with it, they call in the authorities. Getting a photocopy of tomorrows math test a day early is now theft, treated by the police. It's all out there.

Where does it come from? Generation Disrespect. We are slowly but surely sinking down to where the whole world is being ruled by people who will use the legal system, guns, and worse to get everything their way, no matter what.

Sort of like the anti-copyright anti-patent people, it's all about pulling the covers there way no matter what, even if they don't deserve it.
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Tobias Harms (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 12:55am

Re: Re: Police State
That opinion has not been approved by the Voice. Please report to your local reeducation center...
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Niall (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 3:07am

Re: Re: Re:
Slightly context-free quote? And true, war was 'forced' on Hitler in 1939 - *after* he'd started invading half of Europe and broken most of the Treaty of Versailles.
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Niall (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 3:16am

Re:
Then they complain that on the one hand kids aren't like kids of old and only spend time on their computers, then complain that the kids go and spend all their time on 'violent' video games
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Niall (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 3:17am

Re: Re:
Ok, that was more coherent when I first thought it out.
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Niall (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 5:17am

Re: Zero tolerance is the result of the 60's not cured by it
Oh, and Conservative "Respect my authoritah!" attitudes are so much better. Along with turning a blind eye on any bullying of anyone darker than a light sun-tan, of anyone who isn't a jock, of anyone who isn't hetero-male-overcompensating, of anyone 'different'. Because the world was so much a better place 30-60 years ago, and nothing's improved.

Yes people go too far with political correctness. But there is still so far to go. It's just getting the balance right.
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Niall (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 5:20am

Re: It funny to read all of this
You were actually being quite reasonable until that last unnecessary dig.

We could just as equally say "calling the cops and making harmless fun an arrestable offence is just the kind of overreach that content controllors and copywrong maximalists and patent trolls buy laws for".
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Mike Borucki, 23 May 2013 @ 8:25am

Update: CBS has been informed by an undisclosed source that said water balloon terrorists were discovered to have scribbled pro-Islamic messages on high school bathroom stall door in Crayola crayon, Cosmic Cobalt color, to be exact. DHS anti-terrorism officers in tanks apprehended terrorists, who are said to have been armed with weaponized water devices.
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Miff (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 8:27am

Re: Re: I'm glad they actually arrested these guys
Obviously you miss when you could strangle a guy in front of 30 witnesses and not even get told you did a bad thing.
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MikeC (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 10:08am

Re: Re: Zero tolerance is the result of the 60's not cured by it
I didn't say earlier was better, what I said we create incentives in society that are breeding the behavior we are complaining about.

We don't let children learn and develop responsibility and life skills, we don't let them make decisions so they learn what it's like to make a mistake or a bad decision. It takes work to teach those skills and keep them safe. But most of the world is "risk adverse" because they were taught from the beginning to let someone else be responsible. Don't let little Jimmy climb a tree, don't let little Sarah walk next door to the neighbors house.. "You'll put your eye out with that thing"!!! is the mantra of our children's world.

I don't think anyone should be discriminated against, but I also think if you don't learn how to handle discrimination yourself, you will be a failure. I believe that while discrimination is bad, bullying is bad, etc.. it happens so you better know how to deal with it. A bully will always be there, so will a racists, intolerant religious figure, etc. To legislate morality is to ingrain discrimination. Exactly the opposite of what we want.

If you are intolerant of a KKK member how does that make you any less racist than he/she is? Just because you feel your viewpoint is right? I am sure they do too...

Tolerance is a 2 way street and you have to learn how to handle intolerant people w/o calling the cops. Instead we have been teaching kids for the last 30-40 years that they can't handle something on their own, they have to get a higher authority involved. We remove judgement from their lives with "Zero Tolerance" policies. It's coming back to haunt us. I've been bullied, I wasn't great at sports, I've fought, I've lost, I've won. I learned how to not to be a spoiled brat like a lot of folks. I learned I don't always get my way, I don't always win. I like to think it's made me a balanced person who after 50 years can handle pretty much everything that comes my way.
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DP, 23 May 2013 @ 10:48am

Re:
As we say in the UK, this is total b*ll*cks.
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Dave, 23 May 2013 @ 10:55am

Re: "no crime too small" IS A CRIME.
Well - even more b*ll*cks from the mighty pen of OOTB. What's up, my man? Run out of trolling comments to do with copyright/pirating, eh, so thought you'd stick your elongated nose into an entirely different subject that you also have no first-hand knowledge of? Brain out of order after so much heavy intellectual comment? (In YOUR case, I use the term extremely loosely). Suggest you emigrate and inflict your bigoted opinions on another nation.
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truckn4cash, 23 May 2013 @ 11:26am

ummm where to start?
Ok I get that they broke school rules but did the school admin call the cops or did the security guard after he got wet? Ild rather see kids having a water balloon fight than the kind I remember on the last day of school growing up. I always skipped the last day or 2 because everyone who had grudges would fight & innocent bystanders tended to get hurt.

Also ummm did no one think to train the police that a taser uses electricity and that doesn't mix well with water? And since when has it been trespassing to pick ur kid up from school

I'm not saying the students were rt but I don't believe the police should have been called for h2o.
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nasch (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 12:01pm

Re: Re: Re:
Any sensible officer

If this were sensible I don't think any officers would have even been dispatched.

"I'm sorry, you said water balloons?"
"Right."
"Sir, this line is for emergencies only. Goodbye."
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Michael, 23 May 2013 @ 4:16pm

Re: Re: Re: I'm glad they actually arrested these guys
Actually, I'm pretty sure strangling is still acceptable - unless, of course, if you strangled them with a keyboard cable - then it is probably a CFAA violation.
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Robert, 23 May 2013 @ 5:57pm

Re: Re:
Actually, Franklin, you might be surprised to know that the beginnings of a push back on zero tolerance are already in motion. School districts in California, Texas, and Tennessee are seeing the light. Also, a bill was introduced in Maryland in March that is intended to push back. Moreover, here in Ohio, my sons school district seems to have quite a healthy head on their shoulders when it comes to such things. We could easily have had some problems on our hands were it not for the common sense thinking of the school administrators here. Granted, we need more, and we need it soon, but I believe this will be a self correcting problem. The way media works these days virtually assures that. Every idiotic suspension of a 6 year old for picking up their chicken finger in a threatening manner shames the education system as a whole. They are starting to take notice and back pedal.
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Niall (profile), 24 May 2013 @ 5:50am

Re: Re: Re: Zero tolerance is the result of the 60's not cured by it
Being intolerant of a KKK member is usually nothing to do with being racist, unless you are a black power activist. As a 'white', me despising the KKK is about detesting bigotry and intolerance. However, I wouldn't automatically say 'racist' if a black friend didn't like them either.

I agree with most of what you are saying - I think we're coming at it from different angles. However, appeal to some sort of authority for assistance is one thing, having to blindly obey authority is another. Whilst you Americans have an admirable 'can-do' attitude, sometimes it seems you are a bit knee-jerk for or against when it comes to authority (and in some people in both directions).

And yes, children should be free to be children as much as possible, and learn their own consequences.
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Crazyredhead, 24 May 2013 @ 6:13am

Yeah but
As a parent of 2 students at Enloe High School I can tell you it sounds simple and perhaps sounds like an overreaction. During the "battle" I was receiving text messages from my kids and their was a real feeling of panic in the school. Although WCPSS states it was just water, the word in the school halls was that some of the balloons were filled with bleach, Nair and urine. The idea of being hit with a balloon filled with bleach was pretty scary.

Enloe High School is a large school in a "disadvantaged" area of Raleigh and has a reputation of "problems" gangs, drugs etc. It is also a very highly respected magnet school that is pretty over crowded with mobile trailers added to the campus to make room for more kids.

So when you look at the situation as a whole. 2500+ kids in a building with several punks throwing waters balloons rumored to be filled with bleach, Nair and urine you are looking at a very volatile situation that could easily lead to something very serious.

So while I understand that is sounds outrageous to arrest the kids for water balloons what they were really arrested for was the chaos and disruption of the peace and safety of the high school campus. After all the real terror situations we have seen on the news over the last few years it is understandable why schools and police work together so closely to keep our kids safe.

I do not believe in zero tolerance policies as they leave no room for common sense but I also do not believe anyone should be allowed to yell fire in a crowded theater just to watch the fear and chaos take over. There needs to be a middle ground but I'll be damned if I know what it is.
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BearGriz72 (profile), 24 May 2013 @ 2:38pm

Re: "Weaponized Water"
Oh NO! Weaponized Dihydrogen Monoxide (A.K.A. Hydroxyl Acid), my god these children were using Weapons of MASS HYDRATION!

I invite everyone to learn about this dangerous omnipresent substance at:
Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide! -and-
Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division - Dihydrogen Monoxide info
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Anonymous Coward, 24 May 2013 @ 2:42pm

Re: Yeah but
So false rumors are actionable now against the victims of said rumors? The balloons were full of water. Whoever started the rumors that they were filled with something harmful caused the panic, not those participating in the water fight.

But you have a point, now that this major crime has been dealt with the "disadvantaged" "problem" school can go back to the usual drive bys, drug deals, and gang fights without further disruption to the school day.
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Not Applicable, 26 May 2013 @ 1:39pm

Re: Re:
Every thing is painful for kids today so maybe the gu who made the comment is a little younger than us.

Bless him aw diddums did the nasty boys throw water balloons at you and hurt you?
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PRipley, 26 May 2013 @ 9:49pm

Re:
It was not disorderly conduct, it was a water balloon fight, otherwise known as FUN.
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CRangdon, 30 May 2013 @ 7:27pm

Safety
SO with all the school shooting and kids being arrest for making bombs to blow up their school, are you really surprised at the reaction of the police. They have one chance to get it right and use their best judgement. They had no idea what was really in the ballons could be acid, bleach, or other hazardous chemicals. Which when thrown could have seriously injured someone. They had to make a quick descision to protect they children at the school. If you want to blame someone blame the parents an schoolf ro not teaching common sense to the students involve. they shoudl have realised that now is probablay not the right time for a prank like that.
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Tex Zero, 30 May 2013 @ 9:22pm

'merica. Fuck Yeah!
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An Actual Enloe Student, 11 Jun 2013 @ 11:38am

Some of those balloons were not filled with water.

I for one got vinegar all over my clothes.

And also a very large bruise on my arm (still fading, mind you) from a full bottle of something. (gatorade? juice? don't know, it was a red liquid).

Our principal DID make an announcement. Actually, several. He said that if they turned over there ammuntion that they would be punished in any way. He came on later to warn that that police were going to be involved if this did not stop.

Learn the whole story before going of on some rant on how it was overreacting, mkay?
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Mary Kay Burdelik, 23 Jul 2013 @ 6:05am

Waterballoons
Ok--what if, hypothetically, parents knew that the kids took water balloons driving in a car on a hot summer night and an accident occurred because a kid passenger threw a water balloon at another driver. Are the parents who knew the kids were taking water balloons on ride "bad?" I would welcome any thoughts:)
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zerostar83 (profile), 23 Jul 2013 @ 6:49am

Re: Waterballoons
I know my kid enough to know he has thrown stuff at the driver, and he's gotten in big trouble before for it. He knows it's a very serious rule.
Parents should know their children.
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Happy UKer, 10 Nov 2013 @ 1:28am

Absolutely crazy.. I live in the UK away from all this rubbish
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McCrea (profile), 13 May 2014 @ 6:16am

Re: Yeah but
Not sure whether it's being disadvantaged means you must have a criminal record, or that having a criminal record causes you to be disadvantaged.

Chickens and eggs come first.
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Carlyle, 24 Jan 2018 @ 1:11pm

Water Baloon
Too many parents don't parent their children any longer. No morals values. Too busy making the money
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Apr 2019 @ 8:46am

so this is clearly a blatantly biased article that just demonizes the police. i went to the school (albeit joining the year after this event happened, but my bus had pulled into the school that day to pick up some high schoolers) and there certainly were substances other than water. several kids got injured and many more might have been if the police did not intervene and the forensics done at the school was minimal at best.
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Chris, 16 Jul 2019 @ 2:06pm

Makes sense...
Lets discuss the facts.. a bunch of almost adults ages 16 and 17 were throwing water balloons on and at a school campus, which is private property and proceeded to then assault a security officer within the property by hitting him with water balloons without his consent or involvement.. and you guys are wondering why they were arrested and charged with misdemeanors... I'd say based on these facts alone, they got exactly what they deserved.

Would you guys prefer to teach these young adults that it's okay to disrespect other people's property and to assault the innocent and any other bystanders they feel like attacking, non the less the person being security, so better to teach them to ignore and assault authority figures? This is exactly why our youth is becoming unruly and why we have so many problems in schools.
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