HOW WE SEE IT Don’t Overreact To Student’s Disgusting Note

Friday, March 12, 2010

An eighth-grader at Lingle Middle School in Rogers has been suspended for passing an inflammatory, racially offensive note to a fellow student last month. According to a police report, the note stated, “Join today! KKK,” as well as the phrase, “Requirements: Must hate blacks.” It also included a drawing of a stick figure hanging from a burning cross.

The boy who allegedly passed this note is white. The recipient of the note was 14-year-old Colby Isbell, who is black.

What’s the appropriate reaction to such a heinous display of racism? A suspension is a good start. Perhaps some counseling is in order. We hope the offender’s parents (who we understand are very upset with their boy) will have ...

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Opinion, Pages 5 on 03/12/2010

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Posted by: alpha_cat

March 12, 2010 at 10:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

expell him? suspend him? both are stupid, what more does a kid of this age want than to NOT have to go to school for a few days. Most likely both parents work and he'll be unsupervised while at home. I agree he should be punished, but suspending him is not the answer nor is expelling him. zero tolerance? that sounds much like taking the freedom to express an opinion, no matter how wrong that opinion is. I raised 4 kids in the Rogers school system. The ONLY answer in my opinion is to give the school BACK the authority to paddle that backside. They fear nothing because there is no consequences other than getting kicked out and that's probably what the kid WANTS.

Posted by: spacecats

March 12, 2010 at 4:13 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Wow! I'm just amazed that "reba76" thinks she has the RIGHT to pass judgement on the parents! I happen to know the parents of this child and they are wonderful. NO, this child is NOT left home alone/ unsupervised. You would also be amazed what these children learn in school. I promise you hun, just b/c you have raised 4 children, doesn't give you the right to judge others. That's a call left up to somebody in MUCH higher ranking than you :)

Posted by: ProudMotherOfTwo

March 18, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

to proudmotherof2. I did not in anyway passed ANY judgement on the parents. At 14 years old, the boy is old enough to hold a job, and is CERTAINLY old enough to be alone unattended. You entirely missed the point when you jumped on your pulpit to start preaching about answering to a higher power. My kids were raised and understood right from wrong and that there would be punishment for misbehaving. The school system HAS to be allowed to regain control of dicipline by corporal punishment when warrented, right now there are no consequences for any misdeed other than a suspension, unless these young people have to do some kind on penance for their misdeed, suspension is nothing more than an opportunity to sleep in and not have to go to school,I know of few parents that can miss work to stay with a kid that's suspended, I said NOTHING about the parents, I'm certain that they were appalled at their childs behavior. We were taught respect and discipline from the cradle. My kids would have known that the seat of that their pants would have been warmed by a paddle both at school and AT HOME had one of them pulled this stunt and before you jump on your pulpit again, I'm talking about a spanking, not a beating. If you don't believe that we have a problem with controlling and disicipline of the young people today, take a drive over to Benton County Jail and look at the inmate population count, probably more than half are under the age of 21. Do you REALLY believe they all went bad after they left home? There was a time in this country when an adult saw a child misbehave that adult diciplined that child without even a thought of the parents being mad,it was expected and accepted. Now respect is so absent that the childen now RUN the household, Go to any place in town and just watch how the children behave, you can tell which children know what happens when they act out and which ones are the boss of the home, The latter are he children telling their parents what to do and when it's time to leave.
Until the schools are again given the authority to do more than suspend a child, there’s going to be a lot more trouble down the road for ALL of us.

Posted by: spacecats

March 18, 2010 at 10:58 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Hitting someone (paddling) because you are bigger and have authority over that person NEVER solved anything. Trust me, my parents believe in paddling, it just made me sneakier.

Posted by: suek

March 19, 2010 at 8:56 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

So was the white kid trying to offend the black kid or was it playful or ignorant? I guess I missed the main news article.

Posted by: FishFillet

March 19, 2010 at 4:46 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

The note was taken from this child and given to the black boy by another student. Everyone keeps saying that this has all started from home and actually it started at school because they were being taught about "black rights" and watched a video in class that talked about the "KKK" and that is how the whole event got started. If the cards were turned the whole situation would have been throwed out and nothing would have happened. So i think that our school system is at fault in some way. I dont believe that the punishment met the crime in this action. I just believe that the school is trying to make an example of this child.

Posted by: ProudMotherOfTwo

March 30, 2010 at 5:57 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

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