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Senior Pranks - Now a terrorist act?

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    Mom2KatMom2Kat Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I graduated 10 years ago now (had my reunion last weekend in fact) and we avoided alot of trouble by having the janitors in on the pranks. That and it is tradition for the graduating class to spraypaint the road in front of the school a few weeks before school is out for exams.

    For ours we put 4 sheep in the totaly enclosed grassy courtyard, Filled the Vice Principles office 3 feet deep with popcorn, turned the french room completley upside down, and put the miata of the Physic teacher who had been at the school forever on blocks in th emiddle of the lawn in the front, then hid his tires under the stage.

    One class stole lawn ornaments from each teacher and then hung lables with the teachers names on the ornaments. They then put them on display in the same courtyard. There were some ugly gnomes in that menagerie.

    Mom2Kat on
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    DeusfauxDeusfaux Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    if they're not gonna let them graduate I say start a movement in the student body to boycott the school run graduation and have their own ceremony.

    I dont even know these guys and I'd do it on their behalf.

    Deusfaux on
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    Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited May 2007
    Deusfaux wrote: »
    if they're not gonna let them graduate I say start a movement in the student body to boycott the school run graduation and have their own ceremony.

    I dont even know these guys and I'd do it on their behalf.

    They're graduating, they just don't get to participate in the ceremony. Considering they instigated a fucking bomb threat, I'd say that's appropriate.

    Bionic Monkey on
    sig_megas_armed.jpg
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    ViolentChemistryViolentChemistry __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    Deusfaux wrote: »
    if they're not gonna let them graduate I say start a movement in the student body to boycott the school run graduation and have their own ceremony.

    I dont even know these guys and I'd do it on their behalf.

    They're graduating, they just don't get to participate in the ceremony. Considering they instigated a fucking bomb threat, I'd say that's appropriate.

    I thought they put a buzzer in a locker. I must have missed this part.

    ViolentChemistry on
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    Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited May 2007
    Deusfaux wrote: »
    if they're not gonna let them graduate I say start a movement in the student body to boycott the school run graduation and have their own ceremony.

    I dont even know these guys and I'd do it on their behalf.

    They're graduating, they just don't get to participate in the ceremony. Considering they instigated a fucking bomb threat, I'd say that's appropriate.

    I thought they put a buzzer in a locker. I must have missed this part.

    And exactly what reaction were they hoping to get by putting a buzzer in a locker?

    They clearly wanted people to think it was a bomb. I'd say intent plays a very large part in this, even if no actual harm was done.

    Bionic Monkey on
    sig_megas_armed.jpg
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    DeusfauxDeusfaux Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    what is a buzzer in this case?

    give me a picture?

    Deusfaux on
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    ViolentChemistryViolentChemistry __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    Deusfaux wrote: »
    if they're not gonna let them graduate I say start a movement in the student body to boycott the school run graduation and have their own ceremony.

    I dont even know these guys and I'd do it on their behalf.

    They're graduating, they just don't get to participate in the ceremony. Considering they instigated a fucking bomb threat, I'd say that's appropriate.

    I thought they put a buzzer in a locker. I must have missed this part.

    And exactly what reaction were they hoping to get by putting a buzzer in a locker?

    They clearly wanted people to think it was a bomb. I'd say intent plays a very large part in this, even if no actual harm was done.

    "Goddamn, that noise is fucking annoying!"
    They clearly wanted people to think it was a bomb.

    Oh right I forgot, that's what goes through my mind when my alarm clock goes off. "OH SHIT! SOME ONE SET UP MY ROOM THE BOMB!"

    ViolentChemistry on
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    FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    These sorts of things genuinely confuse me... Its obviously a disproportionate response... but...

    I do kinda feel for the schools here. Especially with the hysteria that has been whipped up over terrorism. They would have a lot of pretty anxious parents to deal with.

    I mean, prank or no - they have to take this kind of shit seriously. Can you imagine the reaction if someone actually did put a bomb in a locker, and they didnt do anything because "they knew the kid and thought it was a prank"? It kind of puts you squarly in the realm of "we have to take each incident seriously"

    I dont know about charging kids under terror related laws though. They have to try and prevent other people doing the same kind of thing though. Kids probably dont realise the real-world angst something like this causes.

    Fallingman on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    ZsetrekZsetrek Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Some dudes from our school blew up a pipe-bomb in the playground when I was in high-school. No-one was hurt, but the metal bin they hid it in was shredded, and the pavers underneath it were shattered.

    Zsetrek on
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    FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    *oops - Dupe*

    Fallingman on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    ViolentChemistryViolentChemistry __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    Fallingman wrote: »
    These sorts of things genuinely confuse me... Its obviously a disproportionate response... but...

    I do kinda feel for the schools here. Especially with the hysteria that has been whipped up over terrorism. They would have a lot of pretty anxious parents to deal with.

    I mean, prank or no - they have to take this kind of shit seriously. Can you imagine the reaction if someone actually did put a bomb in a locker, and they didnt do anything because "they knew the kid and thought it was a prank"? It kind of puts you squarly in the realm of "we have to take each incident seriously"

    I dont know about charging kids under terror related laws though. They have to try and prevent other people doing the same kind of thing though. Kids probably dont realise the real-world angst something like this causes.

    The reason they wouldn't do anything is because they wouldn't know the kid had planted a bomb, not because they watched him do it but thought it was a prank. That's a terrible counter-example. If these kids had planted a bomb and not a buzzer, there would have been an explosion instead of loud, irritating buzzing.

    ViolentChemistry on
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    FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    What I'm saying, is that if a student raises suspicion by puting an unidentified device into a locker - you cant blame them for taking it seriously - only to find out later that it was harmless. I was addressing the issue that people were saying that schools are just being "stupid".

    What I dont agree with is prosecuting these kids after the fact. But I do realise that they want to make others think twice before doing something similar.

    I did understand that a buzzer wont explode... But thanks for clearing that up for me anyway. Now I can stop diving for cover every time my frond doorbell rings. ;-)

    Fallingman on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    silence1186silence1186 Character shields down! As a wingmanRegistered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Maybe we should return to the days of if you screwed up, a nun beat you mercilessly, but that was it. No felony charges, no bomb-sniffing dogs, no cavity searches for drugs, no ruining the rest of your life. Just a little old lady who makes you BLEED.

    silence1186 on
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    ViolentChemistryViolentChemistry __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    Maybe we should return to the days of if you screwed up, a nun beat you mercilessly, but that was it. No felony charges, no bomb-sniffing dogs, no cavity searches for drugs, no ruining the rest of your life. Just a little old lady who makes you BLEED.

    Kinky. Not really my thing though. And, y'know, not really sure that teaching kids to use violence to compel obedience is all that great an idea either.

    ViolentChemistry on
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    FeralFeral MEMETICHARIZARD interior crocodile alligator ⇔ ǝɹʇɐǝɥʇ ǝᴉʌoɯ ʇǝloɹʌǝɥɔ ɐ ǝʌᴉɹp ᴉRegistered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Fallingman wrote: »
    What I'm saying, is that if a student raises suspicion by puting an unidentified device into a locker

    My school circumvented this issue entirely by removing the lockers.

    Feral on
    every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.

    the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
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    Gorilla SaladGorilla Salad Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    So, my school got a fake bomb threat today. I guess it was spray-painted on the window. If it was a prank, it was a fucking stupid prank.

    Gorilla Salad on
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    GooeyGooey (\/)┌¶─¶┐(\/) pinch pinchRegistered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Since there are a few personal anecdotes in this thread about senior pranks I figure I might as well share the one my friends and I pulled off.

    My last 3 years of highschool I went to a small private school in Mississippi (Family moved there.) I graduated with a little over 100 people, we had grades 7-12 at our school. The Junior High (7-9) and Senior High (10-12) sat next to each other, the same road ran infront of them. A buddy of mine worked after school at some stud pens (horse ranch) not too far from our school. He convinced his employer to let him not clean the pens for a few days right at the end of the schoolyear. Late one night, right before finals, my friends and I headed off to the stud pens. We laid a tarp down in the bed of my truck, then proceeded to fill the back of it completely with horse crap. We headed over to the highschool, and pulled infront of the Senior High. Another friend got his truck and tied onto the part of the tarp in the bed of my truck (with crap ontop of it) closest to the cab. When he slowly pulled away, the tarp pulled back and plopped all the dung neatly into a huge mound right infront of the senior high in the middle of the street. Not only did everyone going into the senior high have to walk by an incredibly smelly mound of crap the next morning, all the soccer moms dropping thier kids off at the junior high had to drive around it.

    Gooey on
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    ShogunShogun Hair long; money long; me and broke wizards we don't get along Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Our senior prank was 4 absolute fucking shitheads finding a duck, torturing and abusing it to near death, breaking a window at the school and throwing the duck inside to leave it there until the next day. The room they threw the duck into was completely trashed and covered with feathers and duck shit. And I would like to clarify on what they did with the duck, because they left the brick they beat the animal with at the fucking school. The duck had a shattered beak, broken wing, lacerations on its thighs, and I'm not sure if you'd call it a broken leg or ankle I'm not really familiar with the anatomy of a duck.

    Oh, and their punishment?

    Clean the goddamn lunchroom for a week. The worst part is that it wasn't even a prank it was just horrendous. Interesting sidenote however; the year after I graduated the entire upper administration of William Blount High School was simultaneously 'let go.'

    Shogun on
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    YarYar Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    All of you who are insinuating that it is ridiculous to associate this with a bomb - exactly what do you think this prank was intended to accomplish?

    Yar on
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    Me Too!Me Too! __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    Yar wrote: »
    All of you who are insinuating that it is ridiculous to associate this with a bomb - exactly what do you think this prank was intended to accomplish?

    Be annoying, irritate the people who heard it, disrupt class.

    Me Too! on
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    DeusfauxDeusfaux Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Deusfaux wrote: »
    what is a buzzer in this case?

    give me a picture?

    Deusfaux on
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    HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited May 2007
    It's probably something standard you can buy in the local Radioshack, like this:

    buzzer_lg.jpg

    Hakkekage on
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    DeusfauxDeusfaux Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    so like.... an audible buzzer? like in an alarm clock?

    not a thing you shake someone's hand with and it gives them a small shock?

    Deusfaux on
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    HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Well usually if something is going to give a shocking sensation like that sort of buzzer, it will vibrate a fair bit and make a buzzing sound.

    I always fall for those. Especially the ones in gum packs...:!:

    I have a new idea for a lame Senior prank....:winky:

    Hakkekage on
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    ViolentChemistryViolentChemistry __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    Deusfaux wrote: »
    a thing you shake someone's hand with and it gives them a small shock?

    Joy-buzzer.

    ViolentChemistry on
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    Shakey1245Shakey1245 Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Yar wrote: »
    All of you who are insinuating that it is ridiculous to associate this with a bomb - exactly what do you think this prank was intended to accomplish?

    It was my understanding from reading the news article linked in the first post that the idea was to create a loud and irritating noise and then make it difficult to stop by pad locking the locker.

    Theoretically if I was to make a bomb and my intention was to create as much carnage and mayhem in the name of terror or what have you the last thing I'd want it to do is for it to make a prolonged and loud noise so that everyone knows that it's there first. Sort of defeats the point.

    Shakey1245 on
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    ViolentChemistryViolentChemistry __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    Shakey1245 wrote: »
    Yar wrote: »
    All of you who are insinuating that it is ridiculous to associate this with a bomb - exactly what do you think this prank was intended to accomplish?

    It was my understanding from reading the news article linked in the first post that the idea was to create a loud and irritating noise and then make it difficult to stop by pad locking the locker.

    Bombs are irritating!

    ViolentChemistry on
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    Gabriel_PittGabriel_Pitt (effective against Russian warships) Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Shakey1245 wrote: »
    Yar wrote: »
    All of you who are insinuating that it is ridiculous to associate this with a bomb - exactly what do you think this prank was intended to accomplish?

    It was my understanding from reading the news article linked in the first post that the idea was to create a loud and irritating noise and then make it difficult to stop by pad locking the locker.

    Theoretically if I was to make a bomb and my intention was to create as much carnage and mayhem in the name of terror or what have you the last thing I'd want it to do is for it to make a prolonged and loud noise so that everyone knows that it's there first. Sort of defeats the point.
    Hey, what's that loud noise coming from the locker?
    Hey, what's going on over there?
    Man, the VP sure is pissed he can't get into that locker.
    Hey guys, what's with the crowd?
    Boom!

    Gabriel_Pitt on
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    Shakey1245Shakey1245 Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Shakey1245 wrote: »
    Yar wrote: »
    All of you who are insinuating that it is ridiculous to associate this with a bomb - exactly what do you think this prank was intended to accomplish?

    It was my understanding from reading the news article linked in the first post that the idea was to create a loud and irritating noise and then make it difficult to stop by pad locking the locker.

    Bombs are irritating!
    50 people were annoyed today by a bomb in Iraq. 5 were hospitalised with severe headaches and one person suffered poping in thier ears. Local security officials were quoted as saying that the bomb was a "terrible inconvenience".

    Shakey1245 on
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    flamebroiledchickenflamebroiledchicken Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    One of the senior pranks at my first high school was to release thousands upon thousands of bouncy superballs into the hallways. The principal had a heart attack and had to go to the hospital.

    Our prank was for everyone to come to school on rollerblades or on a scooter or something, which was awesome for like an hour before they all got confiscated.

    flamebroiledchicken on
    y59kydgzuja4.png
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    Capt HowdyCapt Howdy Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    This shit makes home schooling look better and better.

    Why are schools worried about terrorists? So far it's been the kids who feel they have been "punished" in one way or the other that have been the real threat.

    None of those crazy fucks that shot the schools up were talibani terrorists; they were pissed off students.

    Capt Howdy on
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    AnakinOUAnakinOU Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    So kids are whining because they're being punished? And they're whining because they heard a rumor that supposedly someone else who also broke a rule isn't punished in the same way?

    Wah wah wah. Big fucking deal. You acted like a jackass, doing something really fucking stupid. You pay the price, whatever the price may be.

    Seriously. What do you think would happen if you were at work, and you put a loud buzzing object in a closet/conference room, and padlocked the door? You'd get your ass fired, and you'd find your ass before a judge in no time. Why should school be any different?

    AnakinOU on
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    FeralFeral MEMETICHARIZARD interior crocodile alligator ⇔ ǝɹʇɐǝɥʇ ǝᴉʌoɯ ʇǝloɹʌǝɥɔ ɐ ǝʌᴉɹp ᴉRegistered User regular
    edited May 2007
    AnakinOU wrote: »
    So kids are whining because they're being punished? And they're whining because they heard a rumor that supposedly someone else who also broke a rule isn't punished in the same way?

    Wah wah wah. Big fucking deal. You acted like a jackass, doing something really fucking stupid. You pay the price, whatever the price may be.

    Seriously. What do you think would happen if you were at work, and you put a loud buzzing object in a closet/conference room, and padlocked the door? You'd get your ass fired, and you'd find your ass before a judge in no time. Why should school be any different?

    Because kids aren't adults, and prankers aren't terrorists.

    Feral on
    every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.

    the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
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    ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    AnakinOU wrote: »
    So kids are whining because they're being punished? And they're whining because they heard a rumor that supposedly someone else who also broke a rule isn't punished in the same way?

    Wah wah wah. Big fucking deal. You acted like a jackass, doing something really fucking stupid. You pay the price, whatever the price may be.

    Seriously. What do you think would happen if you were at work, and you put a loud buzzing object in a closet/conference room, and padlocked the door? You'd get your ass fired, and you'd find your ass before a judge in no time. Why should school be any different?
    You aren't legally compelled to attend your job. You're an adult, not a child. An office and a school have two totally different atmospheres, and different expectations of behavior.

    Really, that's just a shitty analogy all around.

    Thanatos on
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    AnakinOUAnakinOU Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Feral wrote: »
    AnakinOU wrote: »
    Seriously. What do you think would happen if you were at work, and you put a loud buzzing object in a closet/conference room, and padlocked the door? You'd get your ass fired, and you'd find your ass before a judge in no time. Why should school be any different?

    Because kids aren't adults, and prankers aren't terrorists.

    So where do you want to draw the line? Remember, these are high school seniors. Kids old enough to (in some cases) drive, vote, go to war, and hold down jobs...yet they expect special treatment and leniency when it comes to acting in a mature manner and accepting responsibility for their actions within the confines of their school?

    AnakinOU on
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    AnakinOUAnakinOU Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Thanatos wrote: »
    AnakinOU wrote: »
    So kids are whining because they're being punished? And they're whining because they heard a rumor that supposedly someone else who also broke a rule isn't punished in the same way?

    Wah wah wah. Big fucking deal. You acted like a jackass, doing something really fucking stupid. You pay the price, whatever the price may be.

    Seriously. What do you think would happen if you were at work, and you put a loud buzzing object in a closet/conference room, and padlocked the door? You'd get your ass fired, and you'd find your ass before a judge in no time. Why should school be any different?
    You aren't legally compelled to attend your job. You're an adult, not a child. An office and a school have two totally different atmospheres, and different expectations of behavior.

    Really, that's just a shitty analogy all around.

    What is fundamentally different about the school and work environments that makes the kids not responsible for their actions? Surely not the "atmosphere"...as I'd expect a teacher pulling that kind of "prank" to be summarily dismissed from his position. Is it the age? These high school seniors are old enough to drive, drink (in some countries), and enlist in the armed forces. Is it just because there are laws requiring children's education, they should be given free rein to act as total assholes? The only other situation I can think of where you are legally required to be anywhere is jail, and there are definitely standards of behavior with punishment for breaking the rules there as well.

    AnakinOU on
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    YarYar Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I realize that this wasn't really a bomb, and that real bombs don't buzz and then blow up. But, you know, fake bombs that are meant to fool idiots into thinking they are real bombs might do that.

    It's like you're trying to convince me that phoning in a bomb threat shouldn't be considered a crime unless the threat is credible and reflects accurate knowledge of bombery.

    I don't really know, but it sounds as if they were trying to pretend like a bomb was in there.

    Yar on
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    ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    AnakinOU wrote: »
    Thanatos wrote: »
    AnakinOU wrote: »
    So kids are whining because they're being punished? And they're whining because they heard a rumor that supposedly someone else who also broke a rule isn't punished in the same way?

    Wah wah wah. Big fucking deal. You acted like a jackass, doing something really fucking stupid. You pay the price, whatever the price may be.

    Seriously. What do you think would happen if you were at work, and you put a loud buzzing object in a closet/conference room, and padlocked the door? You'd get your ass fired, and you'd find your ass before a judge in no time. Why should school be any different?
    You aren't legally compelled to attend your job. You're an adult, not a child. An office and a school have two totally different atmospheres, and different expectations of behavior.

    Really, that's just a shitty analogy all around.
    What is fundamentally different about the school and work environments that makes the kids not responsible for their actions?
    The fact that they are kids, and legally compelled to be at school.
    Surely not the "atmosphere"...as I'd expect a teacher pulling that kind of "prank" to be summarily dismissed from his position.
    The teachers aren't legally compelled to be there, either. And teachers get away with a lot more stuff than a professional working at an office would.
    Is it the age? These high school seniors are old enough to drive, drink (in some countries), and enlist in the armed forces. Is it just because there are laws requiring children's education, they should be given free rein to act as total assholes?
    No one is arguing that they should be given free reign, merely that there should be some sort of mitigation.
    The only other situation I can think of where you are legally required to be anywhere is jail, and there are definitely standards of behavior with punishment for breaking the rules there as well.
    :roll:

    You aren't legally required to go to jail merely for being born. You are legally required to go to school merely for being born.

    Thanatos on
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    Capt HowdyCapt Howdy Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Yar wrote: »
    I realize that this wasn't really a bomb, and that real bombs don't buzz and then blow up. But, you know, fake bombs that are meant to fool idiots into thinking they are real bombs might do that.

    It's like you're trying to convince me that phoning in a bomb threat shouldn't be considered a crime unless the threat is credible and reflects accurate knowledge of bombery.

    I don't really know, but it sounds as if they were trying to pretend like a bomb was in there.

    I'm reading it as they really wanted to annoy the piss out of everyone with a loud irratating noise. I do it to my wife with my PASS device, when the mood strikes, that is.

    Capt Howdy on
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    PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Did they violate school policy? Did what they do technically fall under one of the terrorism laws? If the answer to both questions is yes, then I fail to see the problem.

    One thing we should always teach children is accountability, you do something you are accountable for it. Break the rules and you get the punishment for doing so, seems fair enough to me. Want to avoid punishment? DON'T BREAK THE RULES!

    Preacher on
    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

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