Grant pointed this out to me. From the story:
Winchester police say William Poole, 18, was taken into custody Tuesday morning. Investigators say they discovered materials at Poole’s home that outline possible acts of violence aimed at students, teachers, and police.
Poole told LEX 18 that the whole incident is a big misunderstanding. He claims that what his grandparents found in his journal and turned into police was a short story he wrote for English class.
This reminds me of when I read (parts of) George Orwell’s 1984 in my freshman English class with Mrs. Modelski. I can’t help but think that this kid’s grandparents may have jumped the gun when they turned him in. I wonder if they talked to him about the contents of his journal, or if anyone has asked his English teacher to see if this is the kind of work he’s turning in for class.
I often times wonder where the lines should be drawn between art and garbage, between expression and inciting a riot, and between freedom and censorship. While this kid is still in high school, and I would have definitely reported his story to a counselor, what makes him different from the plenty of authors who have written similar horrific stories and received praise for their creativity?
As an aside, what about this kid? A lawsuit lays blame for the killing of three officers on the popular Grand Theft Auto video game series because it "trained the now-18-year-old Devin Thompson to kill cops." What a ridiculous idea! First off, where is the lawsuit against the parents for allowing Devin to play GTA in the first place when he was obviously too stupid to separate fantasy from reality? I have played the latest three volumes in the series, and, like the article’s author, I have not gone out and shot a police officer. Neither have I thought it would be a good idea to carjack someone, nor would it be a good idea to create a stockpile of automatic weapons and grenades. So ends my rant on more people being stupid.
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