Should Middle School Food Fights be a Punishable Offense?

Wednesday, 11/11/2009

Image ©photoXpress.com

According to all accounts, it started just as every food fight begins, someone tosses a cookie, another retaliates, someone else yells “food fight,” and chaos ensues. But far from juvenile fun, the recent food fight at Perspectives Charter School in Calumet, IL near Chicago resulted in the arrests of 25 students ages 11-15.

At first glance, this might seem like a joke – a creative ending to an elaborate prank, but it is not. The New York Times, who published an article about the incident yesterday wrote: “Diana Shulla-Cose, president and co-founder of Perspectives Charter Schools, said that an on-campus police officer had called for backup as the food fight escalated and that the resulting heavy police presence had led in turn to the large number of arrests.”

These students are now facing criminal charges for a misdemeanor reckless conduct. Should the charges not be thrown out, they will have a confidential criminal record until they turn 17 under Illinois state law.

Was this the right course of action? How should the school have dealt with the situation? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment below:

Posted by » walden
Tags »
Category » Education,In the News,