Schoolboy expelled for doodling his own initials in his notebook

[Joe Republic]

Source

'Doodle' gets high school teen expelled

MCHENRY, Ill., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A 16-year-old boy who doodled an alleged gang symbol in his notebook has been expelled from high school in McHenry, Ill.

Derek Kelly was expelled for the remainder of the school year Tuesday night during a closed session of the McHenry Community High School District 156 board. The Hispanic teen attended the meeting with his parents, who said he was not a gang member.

The Chicago Tribune reported board officials said a doodle of a crown, a cross and a spider web with the initials "D.L.K." in the middle was a symbol of a street gang. The youth's full name is Derek Leon Kelly.

The Latin Kings and the Latin Disciples are rival street gangs. The teen, who has a troubled academic career, had been serving a 10-day suspension for the drawing.

"He needs to be in school. He didn't draw the picture on a wall," Jose Mercado, his stepfather said. "It was in his notebook."

[TheresNoMoney]

That's dumb.

[MODU]

Obviously, we don't have the full picture here, but who is to say that even though the kids initials are DLK, he wasn't actually drawing the gang symbol for DLK?  I'd like to see his doodle as well as the matching gang symbol for comparison.

[Joe Republic]

As his stepfather rightly pointed out, the doodle was in his notebook, and not on a wall or something.

[MODU]

As his stepfather rightly pointed out, the doodle was in his notebook, and not on a wall or something.

Oh, I know that.  I'm just curious about what was actually drawn.  Also, I don't know what the school policies are in regards to gang logo's.  It might be a strict policy that, even though it was in a notebook, if it was visible to other students, it might be against their rules.

[Democratic Hawk]

For such triviality . What a load of dumbass crap

Dave

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Before dazzleman or someone else like Richius inevitablely tries to blame this on liberals like they do on every other stupid thing that ever happens, I'd advise them to go look at the voting results in McHenry county.

Plus, this is really a result of the type of "tough on crime" policies conservatives advocate.

Now I could use this as a stupid strawman that I say discredits all conservatism, but I won't.

[John Dibble]

Plus, this is really a result of the type of "tough on crime" policies conservatives advocate.

Now I could use this as a stupid strawman that I say discredits all conservatism, but I won't.

[MaC]

that'll teach the punk not to doodle.

[Dr. Cynic]

These are the boobs who will teach our children... That's the democratic process.

[Jake]

The entire districts administration should be lynched.

[Speed of Sound]

How pathetic. We cant even write things on our own personal property anymore. Oh well, I guess thats the way it goes.

[Dr. Cynic]

Wow, Jake and I agree on something. I just don't believe in lynchings... I DO believe in lawsuits however...

[Gabu]

Even if it were the initials of the gang, how, exactly, would this have been grounds for expulsion...?

[angus]

Well, at least his mother didn't name him Francis Ulrich Charles Kelly.

[Joe Republic]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Here's probably the real issue for expulsion.  I'm reading between the lines here, but I imagine the faculty seized the opportunity to get rid of a troublemaker.

[phk]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Here's probably the real issue for expulsion.  I'm reading between the lines here, but I imagine the faculty seized the opportunity to get rid of a troublemaker.

Shouldn't the penalty for kids that aren't doing well in school, be to actually go to school?

[MODU]

Even if it were the initials of the gang, how, exactly, would this have been grounds for expulsion...?

That's why I said earlier that we do not know what the schools policy is.  Visible gang logos could very well be grounds for expulsion.

[PBrunsel]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Here's probably the real issue for expulsion.  I'm reading between the lines here, but I imagine the faculty seized the opportunity to get rid of a troublemaker.

Shouldn't the penalty for kids that aren't doing well in school, be to actually go to school?

That on the surface seems like a valid policy, but it is not. Troublemakers will alwys be troublemakers, unless they must meet a GPA assigned to them by the administration. If you were to tell a 16-year old troublemaker that he must have at least a 3.0 GPA, or he would be sent to Juvenile Hall, he may have more initiative to succeed.

[Jake]

Wow, Jake and I agree on something. I just don't believe in lynchings... I DO believe in lawsuits however...

Then we don't agree...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Plus, this is really a result of the type of "tough on crime" policies conservatives advocate.

Now I could use this as a stupid strawman that I say discredits all conservatism, but I won't.

Remember Richius's "Liberalism at work in..." threads where he basically would do such a thing? Plus dazzleman trying to blame every thing he hates on liberals, including loving Islam, which is hilarious when so many liberals here are accused of being anti-Islam bigots by right wingers.

[dazzleman]

I don't think anybody should rush to judgment without hearing the school district's side of things.

It is quite possible, even likely, that this kid was a chronic troublemaker who was impeding the education of other kids.  If they seized an opportunity to get rid of a kid like this, who can blame them?  So few other avenues of discipline are left to school districts who must cope with chronic troublemakers.

The only people it seems anybody has talked to is the parents.  They're probably the sort of parents who accept no responsibility for disciplining their child, and who excuse improper behavior by their son.  There are many of these types.

To those who say that chronic troublemakers belong in school, I completely disagree.  Those who don't want to learn, and prevent others from learning, should be gotten rid of.  Either that or put them in a special school with others of their type.  We've gone way too far in guaranteeing the 'rights' of troublemakers while effectively denying the rights of those who go to school seeking an education.

And the whole lawsuit mentality is a part of why education is in chaos in many places.  If this kid was a chronic troublemaker, then no lawsuit against this school district should be allowed to prevail.

I know all this is speculation -- I don't know this case.  But I don't know of too many schools that are anxious to expel students for no reason, least of all a reason like this.

[Alcon]

If this kid was as much trouble as implied, they could have found many other ways to expell him.

Besides, I have scribbled much, much worse things in notebooks than gang symbols during a lecture on "our diverse ecosystem" that went on about three days too long.

[dazzleman]

If this kid was as much trouble as implied, they could have found many other ways to expell him.

Besides, I have scribbled much, much worse things in notebooks than gang symbols during a lecture on "our diverse ecosystem" that went on about three days too long.

What difference does it make?  I simply think that people shouldn't rush to judgment against this school district simply on the word of this kid's parents.  Many parents today are of the 'no responsibility' and 'my child right or wrong' philosophy, and nothing that they say can be taken at face value.

[afleitch]

If this kid was as much trouble as implied, they could have found many other ways to expell him.

Besides, I have scribbled much, much worse things in notebooks than gang symbols during a lecture on "our diverse ecosystem" that went on about three days too long.

What difference does it make?  I simply think that people shouldn't rush to judgment against this school district simply on the word of this kid's parents.  Many parents today are of the 'no responsibility' and 'my child right or wrong' philosophy, and nothing that they say can be taken at face value.

I agree with dazzleman. It seems this kid had a background of problems that his parents, though we are not certain, did little to tackle. It is only now that they kick up a fuss. This story has to 'stew' for a few days before we can decided if it was a heavy handed action or not.