BradSpangler.com

That’s the only title I could think of that seemed appropriate for this post. You see, I’m reminded of that silly TV show “When Animals Attack!” that got so heavily promoted a few years back that many people got sick of it before they ever watched one episode. The same sense of unreasoning viciousness that show ascribed to animals is the only thing I can compare the following news to, hence “When bureaucrats attack!”

From the Chicago Sun Times: Boy charged with felony for carrying sugar

A 12-year-old Aurora boy who said he brought powdered sugar to school for a science project this week has been charged with a felony for possessing a look-alike drug, Aurora police have confirmed.

The school district actually tried to justify this nonsense in a written statement:

“The dangers of illegal drugs and controlled substances are clear… Look-alike drugs and substances can cause that same level of danger because staff and students are not equipped to differentiate between the two.”

Great. Felony charges for compliance with a duty to bring project materials to class. This isn’t some surreal joke. The kid could face serious penalties over this.

Penalties for juveniles are decided on a case-by-case basis, but if convicted, the sixth-grader could likely face up to five years’ probation, said Jeffery Jefko, deputy director of Kane County juvenile court services.

Juveniles who have prior criminal records could also be placed in a residential treatment program if convicted, he said.

Bill St. Clair has provided contact information for the Superintendent of that school district, one Dr. Michael Radakovich: mradakovich@d131.org

Hat tip to Matthew Bryan. My response to Dr. Radakovich follows:

Subject: Chicago Sun Times article
Date: Monday 13 February 2006 01:56 am
From: Brad Spangler
To: mradakovich@d131.org

Dr. Radakovich,

I was rather unsettled to learn via The Chicago Sun Times that a boy, age 12, in your district has been charged with a felony for taking a bag of powdered sugar to school for a science project.

As an educated man, you’re undoubtedly aware that structural issues can sometimes create a dysfunctional organizational culture. Perhaps you heard the term “group think” while studying Orwell in a literature class or heard the term “bureaucratic mindset” in a sociology or political science course.

Please — think back to that moment, or its closest approximation, before carefully considering the possibility that you, yourself, may have lost all sense of civilized perspective in applying whatever excessively literalist interpretation of policy that resulted in this ghastly episode.

There is simply no reasonable justification for such a thing, regardless of what attempts might be made to rationalize it.

–
Brad Spangler

This entry was posted on Monday, February 13th, 2006 at 3:29 am and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.