Bloody Vampire Pic Sparks Panic At School

Julius Civitatus

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Mon Nov-03-08 01:15 PM
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Bloody Vampire Pic Sparks Panic At School

Edited on Mon Nov-03-08 01:17 PM by Julius Civitatus

Source: CBS News

(AP) When Pooler fifth-grader Jordan Hood drew a bloody vampire in art class, it scared a teacher so much she reported him to the principal and campus police.

Homeroom teacher Melissa Pevey said drops of blood dripping down the vampire's face looked a lot like gang-related teardrop tattoos. And she said the words "I Kill For Blood," written in red next to the vampire's face, could be tied to the Los Angeles street gang, The Bloods.

"The school system resolved the Tuesday incident by requiring Jordan to undergo psychological testing the next morning and then returning to class in the afternoon.

The boy's mother, LaKisha Hood, told the Savannah Morning News she was shocked the picture exploded into a gang investigation.

"They told me the droplets could actually be a gang symbol for the number of people he killed," she said.

School system spokesman Bucky Burnsed said teachers are told to watch for anything that could harm students and some have received gang identification training.

Jordan's mother, however, is dismayed over the school's reaction.

"He didn't know anything about gang symbols until the teacher accused him. We moved to Pooler thinking he'd be in a more diverse school with better opportunities," she told the newspaper.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/31/national/main4560516.shtml

For the record, Jordan Hood is African American. If he had been white, I am positively sure this wouldn´t have reached this ridiculously out of control reaction. And notice how quickly they escalated the panic to imply the kid was a gang member. This was an innocent drawing by a kid, as part of a school assignment for Halloween.

More details here:
http://savannahnow.com/node/605769

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2008/10/31/another-idiot-teacher-alert-vampire-drawing-gets-kid-called-gang

But Why Does The AP Report Ignore Key Part of Story?

Remember when you were a young school kid and you drew a vampire during the week of Halloween? Remember how the blood was always dripping down from his menacing, pearly white teeth? Remember how it was all in good Halloween fun? Well, you can just forget THAT mister, at least if you are a 5th-Grader in the Savannah-Chatham school system in Georgia. In Georgia, if you draw a vampire you get called a gang member -- even when you were assigned to make the drawing -- and then you get sent to "psychological evaluation" as if you are some mentally disturbed monster. Then they kick you out of school... for a Halloween drawing. Really.

The Savannah Morning News gives us the gruesome story of another touchy-feelie teacher gone stupid and another poor little kid lost in "zero-tolerance" hell this Halloween week.

When Jordan Hood was assigned the task of drawing a "scary Halloween mask," he innocently drew a scary vampire. His art teacher even helped him out with a few of the details. But then came home-room teacher Melissa Pevey (amusingly, even her name sounds pent up) who decided that, far from Halloween fun, little 5th-grader Jordan was obviously a violence prone, mentally disturbed, gang member. So in a harrowing Halloween experience that had no fun in it at all, Pevey had him paraded down to the principal's office where he was confronted by the police and assigned "psychological evaluation" as a punishment for his artistry.

Needless to say, Jordan's Mother was not amused.

Jordan's mother, LaKisha Hood, was shocked to find that her son's art lesson had evolved into a gang investigation.

"They told me the droplets could actually be a gang symbol for the number of people he killed," she said.

OK, let's not underestimate the infiltration of gangs into our kid's lives. But, come on. When are these people going to use a little common sense? A nail file or set of clippers are NOT "deadly weapons." A kid having an aspirin is not the same as having "illegal drugs." A drawing of a gun is NOT evidence of a "mass murderer." And a crude drawing of a Halloween vampire is NOT proof of "gang activity!"

Now, this story is bad enough without the Associated Press misreporting it and making it almost sound plausible that this overwrought teacher was right to be worried.
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