Student writes essay, arrested by police
By Jeff Long and Carolyn Starks
Tribune staff reporters
April 26, 2007
High school senior Allen Lee sat down with his creative writing class on Monday and penned an essay that so disturbed his teacher, school administrators and police that he was charged with disorderly conduct.
"I understand what happened recently at Virginia Tech," said the teen's father, Albert Lee, referring to last week's massacre of 32 students by gunman Seung-Hui Cho. "I understand the situation."
But he added: "I don't see how somebody can get charged by writing in their homework. The teacher asked them to express themselves, and he followed instructions."
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He IS Asian
And yeah, I thought the same thing when I saw the picture in the paper.
The Madness Continues
Why didn't the school officials simply contact Allen Lee's parents if they were concerned about the paper he wrote and try to make an assessment as to what his state of mind might be rather than have him arrested. I really don't understand why this matter needed to be reported to the police unless this student committed a crime or spelled out in significant detail his intention to commit a crime. Why the rush to make a mountain out of a molehill.