Now this is just WRONG...

[Aurora Black]

Teen spikes rival actresses’ drink with bleach

Student surrenders to police after committing act for lead role in H.S. play


HURST, Texas - A teenager accused of spiking a fellow theater student’s drink with bleach because she wanted the lead role in a school play surrendered to authorities.

Katherine A. Smith, 18, turned herself in Wednesday, more than a week after a warrant was issued for her arrest. She was charged with tampering with a consumer product, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and was released on $2,500 bail.

A message left Thursday at Smith’s home seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Smith is accused of putting bleach in Mountain Dew and then handing the drink to a 15-year-old in February, a day after the opening of L.D. Bell High School’s production of “Ha!” — a trio of one-act comedies. Test results confirmed that the drink contained components of bleach, according to police reports.

The 15-year-old noticed the odor and told an assistant principal, who contacted police. Police said Wednesday that the investigation took more than three months because of problems with testing the drink.

Smith was placed in an alternative school after she was questioned in the incident and did not participate in prom or graduation, said Hurst-Euless-Bedford district spokeswoman Judy Ramos.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[R. Richard]

Agreed, what Katherine A. Smith did was wrong. Katherine A. Smith might have killed a fellow student, or maybe worse left the fellow student a very severely physically crippled individual for the rest of her life. Katherine A. Smith needs to be punished, so that another student is not tempted to do something like what she tried. Katherine A. Smith also needs to be given psychological counseling to try to rehabilitate herself.

Now, let's talk about the real problem. Katherine A. Smith is 18 years old. Given the information in the story, she was going to graduate this year. It is reasonable to assume that Katherine A. Smith has been in a public school system(s) from K through grade 12. During her voyage through said public school system(s), apparently no one saw that they had a potential murderer on their hands. At best, the public school(s) that Katherine A. Smith attended are totally imcompetent. At worst, the public school(s) that Katherine A. Smith attended are guilty of conspiracy and possibly conspiracy to commit murder.

There is no mention in the story of anyone being in the slightest concerned about the school system(s) Katherine A. Smith attended.

At least in Hurst, TX, the inmates are running the asylum. Make that misrunning the asylum.

JMNTHO.

 

[Aurora Black]

Perhaps, but it's incredibly saddening that someone so young would do something so incredibly vicious as to poison someone for a fucking school play! Call me naive/stupid/ignorant or whatever, but I just can't fathom that kind of behavior and I've got a Psych degree. God!

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Perhaps, but it's incredibly saddening that someone so young would do something so incredibly vicious as to poison someone for a fucking school play! Call me naive/stupid/ignorant or whatever, but I just can't fathom that kind of behavior and I've got a Psych degree. God!

the cult of competition and the heirarchy bred in public schools could easily lead to behavior like this... value is no longer on who we are, but judged by what we achieve... it's a difficult place for a young girl who just wants to be seen to be in...

I don't condone it... but I do "get" it...

doesn't make it right.

 

[R. Richard]

Perhaps, but it's incredibly saddening that someone so young would do something so incredibly vicious as to poison someone for a fucking school play! Call me naive/stupid/ignorant or whatever, but I just can't fathom that kind of behavior and I've got a Psych degree. God!

Aurora, I have had even younger ass holes try to toss me for my lunch money when I was forced to attend public school. This last begged the question, did I have any lunch money [Answer: NO!] I managed to counsel said ass holes so that they never, ever again tried such criminal behavior. [And that last despite the fact that I was, myself, a minor child and had/have no Psych degree.] Not only did I successfully counsel said ass holes, but the whole school got the message, "Don't be messin' wit' no Whi' Boy!"

 

[Aurora Black]

the cult of competition and the heirarchy bred in public schools could easily lead to behavior like this... value is no longer on who we are, but judged by what we achieve... it's a difficult place for a young girl who just wants to be seen to be in...

I don't condone it... but I do "get" it...

doesn't make it right.

No, not at all. High school definitely wasn't a picnic for me (or many others), but damn.

 

[Guest]

It's called situational ethics--the end justifies the means.

Tanya Harding...Nancy Kerrigan

Swiftboating, enters the language as a verb.

If a former POW triumphs in an election, start a whispering campaign that his time in a POW camp may have unbalanced him.

It is okay to download tunes for free, because
a> I wouldn't have bought it anyway
b> The musician is already rich
c> CD's are overpriced
d> The publishing company keeps all the money
e> My friends will hear me listening to it and buy the CD.
f> Music today stinks

Resumes become creative writing.

Murder becomes the logical extension of this behavor. And not for the first time. Wasn't it a Texas mother who plotted her daughter's cheerleading competitors murder?

 

[Ken Nitsua]

Remember, this IS Texas...

Perhaps, but it's incredibly saddening that someone so young would do something so incredibly vicious as to poison someone for a fucking school play! Call me naive/stupid/ignorant or whatever, but I just can't fathom that kind of behavior and I've got a Psych degree. God!

Remember the infamous case of the Cheerleading Mom, Wanda Webb Holloway, who put out a contract on the mother of her daughter's main competition? Same mentality. That was in Channelview, TX, near Houston.

Hurst, incidentally, is not some small-town backwater but one of many comfortable suburban communities in the Mid-Cities area between Dallas and Fort Worth. Desperate Housewives territory...

Ken (TX resident)

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Remember the infamous case of the Cheerleading Mom, Wanda Webb Holloway, who put out a contract on the mother of her daughter's main competition? Same mentality. That was in Channelview, TX, near Houston.

Hurst, incidentally, is not some small-town backwater but one of many comfortable suburban communities in the Mid-Cities area between Dallas and Fort Worth. Desperate Housewives territory...

Ken (TX resident)

Ok I'm ashamed toadmit I watched the movie... Holly Hunter played the mom..

 

[wazhazhe]

It is reasonable to assume that Katherine A. Smith has been in a public school system(s) from K through grade 12. During her voyage through said public school system(s), apparently no one saw that they had a potential murderer on their hands. At best, the public school(s) that Katherine A. Smith attended are totally imcompetent. At worst, the public school(s) that Katherine A. Smith attended are guilty of conspiracy and possibly conspiracy to commit murder.

There is no mention in the story of anyone being in the slightest concerned about the school system(s) Katherine A. Smith attended.

At least in Hurst, TX, the inmates are running the asylum. Make that misrunning the asylum.

JMNTHO.

I really don't see how the school is to blame. Just what kind of systems would she have exhibited that would have been noticed by a teacher at a public or private school? It's not that unusual for someone to act out of character when under extreme stress. If we're going to blame someone, how about her parents; what happened to taking personal responsibility? I really do feel sorry for this girl, but she's messed up her life. There is nothing to be gained by assigning blame at this point. Based on what is known now there is no way to tell if anyone is to blame.

 

[Aurora Black]

Remember the infamous case of the Cheerleading Mom, Wanda Webb Holloway, who put out a contract on the mother of her daughter's main competition? Same mentality. That was in Channelview, TX, near Houston.

Hurst, incidentally, is not some small-town backwater but one of many comfortable suburban communities in the Mid-Cities area between Dallas and Fort Worth. Desperate Housewives territory...

Ken (TX resident)

I missed out on this, I'm afraid. I'm no longer living in the US, so I'm way out of the loop.

 

[wazhazhe]

the cult of competition and the heirarchy bred in public schools could easily lead to behavior like this... value is no longer on who we are, but judged by what we achieve... it's a difficult place for a young girl who just wants to be seen to be in...

I don't condone it... but I do "get" it...

doesn't make it right.

I would agree completely with this had private schools had been included. I've been to both public and private schools - my experience was that the competition was higher in private schools.

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

To blame the system for not noticing this is highly presumptive. It assumes she had signs that this was, not just a possible thing, but a probable occurance. To say "there are always signs" or "they should have known" is just aggressive ignorance of the facts.

Truth is, we don't know if she'd been exhibiting any outward signs of such a dangerous thing. We don't know if she thought it would make the other kid sick or would be lethal. We're making too many assumptions at this point.

And I went to public school, and I think it does a fine job. The few that have a bad time give it a horrible name.

 

[R. Richard]

To blame the system for not noticing this is highly presumptive. It assumes she had signs that this was, not just a possible thing, but a probable occurance. To say "there are always signs" or "they should have known" is just aggressive ignorance of the facts.

Truth is, we don't know if she'd been exhibiting any outward signs of such a dangerous thing. We don't know if she thought it would make the other kid sick or would be lethal. We're making too many assumptions at this point.

And I went to public school, and I think it does a fine job. The few that have a bad time give it a horrible name.

The girl went to public school. She wrote themes in English class. The person(s) who ran the English classs gave her one of 13 grades, supposedly based upon what she wrote. The giving of one of 13 grades assumes a very deep understanding of the individual who wrote the themes. Either the person(s) who graded her themes was/were incompetent frauds or they were accomplices.

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

The girl went to public school. She wrote themes in English class. The person(s) who ran the English classs gave her one of 13 grades, supposedly based upon what she wrote. The giving of one of 13 grades assumes a very deep understanding of the individual who wrote the themes. Either the person(s) who graded her themes was/were incompetent frauds or they were accomplices.

They gave her grades on her English papers (I assume that's what "themes" are), and this means they deeply understand her?

I don't get it, what's the punchline?

 

[BlackShanglan]

The girl went to public school. She wrote themes in English class. The person(s) who ran the English classs gave her one of 13 grades, supposedly based upon what she wrote. The giving of one of 13 grades assumes a very deep understanding of the individual who wrote the themes. Either the person(s) who graded her themes was/were incompetent frauds or they were accomplices.

Or possibly, the person grading the papers was judging her ability to write in a grammatical and organized fashion and not her mental health?

It's not clear to me how a person lacking any training in psychology might reasonably be expected to ascertain the precise mental state of a person whom that individual sees, in all likelihood, one hour per day, five days per week, in the company of thirty other people, and in the midst of several other hours each with their own thirty people to attend to. The finest minds in clinical psychology cannot always predict the behavior of individuals even when they have had lengthy and intense individual studies, contact, and consultation, and when they already know that there has been a substantial problem. It's not clear to me how a high school teacher could possibly be expected to accomplish what they cannot when given much less time and much fewer resources.

Shanglan

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Or possibly, the person grading the papers was judging her ability to write in a grammatical and organized fashion and not her mental health?

It's not clear to me how a person lacking any training in psychology might reasonably be expected to ascertain the precise mental state of a person whom that individual sees, in all likelihood, one hour per day, five days per week, in the company of thirty other people, and in the midst of several other hours each with their own thirty people to attend to. The finest minds in clinical psychology cannot always predict the behavior of individuals even when they have had lengthy and intense individual studies, contact, and consultation, and when they already know that there has been a substantial problem. It's not clear to me how a high school teacher could possibly be expected to accomplish what they cannot when given much less time and much fewer resources.

Shanglan

...and all of this on top of the chance that she may not have written anything particularly dangerous or singularly telling. It is not the case, and clinical psychology will back me on this, that everyone who ever had a disorder (or even most) exhibit clear, predictable, and strongly contrasting signs of it via the things they write.

 

[R. Richard]

Or possibly, the person grading the papers was judging her ability to write in a grammatical and organized fashion and not her mental health?

It's not clear to me how a person lacking any training in psychology might reasonably be expected to ascertain the precise mental state of a person whom that individual sees, in all likelihood, one hour per day, five days per week, in the company of thirty other people, and in the midst of several other hours each with their own thirty people to attend to. The finest minds in clinical psychology cannot always predict the behavior of individuals even when they have had lengthy and intense individual studies, contact, and consultation, and when they already know that there has been a substantial problem. It's not clear to me how a high school teacher could possibly be expected to accomplish what they cannot when given much less time and much fewer resources.

Shanglan

If I may politely disagree. I went to English class. My themes were gramatically correct [usually a few errors, but less than average] and quite well organized. I always received an F for my efforts. The teachers were not grading on grammar or organization, nor do I have any idea on waht basis they were grading.

The finest minds in clinical psychology may not always predict the behavior of individuals even when they have had lengthy and intense individual studies, contact, and consultation, and when they already know that there has been a substantial problem. However, I was able to achieve a state [in less than a minute of effort] where it was practical for untrained individuals to correctly predict the future behavior of the ass holes who tried to toss me for my lunch money. Not only that,, I was able to radically affect the thoughts of those who might want, in the future, to toss me for my lunch money. The secret to my effectiveness was that I cared less than nothing for the ass holes, a clinical psychologist cares.

JMNTHO.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

It's not clear to me how a person lacking any training in psychology might reasonably be expected to ascertain the precise mental state of a person whom that individual sees, in all likelihood, one hour per day, five days per week, in the company of thirty other people, and in the midst of several other hours each with their own thirty people to attend to.

Oh, yes... exactly.

The system itself is flawed, and makes it easy for people to slip right through... whether it's this or the Texas cheerleader or Columbine...

believe me, I'm sure there WERE signs... in the case of this girl, I would bet you the signs were simply ego syntonic... so people praised her for her pathology rather than helping her...

it's like workaholics... our society LOVES those... they also love competitive overachievers... go figure...

 

[Aurora Black]

Oh, yes... exactly.

The system itself is flawed, and makes it easy for people to slip right through... whether it's this or the Texas cheerleader or Columbine...

It was only a matter of time before Columbine was mentioned in connection to this. (Just an observation)

 

[zeb1094]

Oh, yes... exactly.

The system itself is flawed, and makes it easy for people to slip right through... whether it's this or the Texas cheerleader or Columbine...

believe me, I'm sure there WERE signs... in the case of this girl, I would bet you the signs were simply ego syntonic... so people praised her for her pathology rather than helping her...

it's like workaholics... our society LOVES those... they also love competitive overachievers... go figure...

The system doesn't let them skip through, it pushes them through, as fast as it can. "No Child Left Behind" has been a bain on our children since it's inception. The current form of the "Public School System" is fubar. When you have the Teachers Union running the System there is no system. It like giving the keys to the residents of the nut ward.

 

[rgraham666]

I don't see the school system as being at fault for this.

Shouldn't her parents have started to instill the beginnings of ethics long before she got to school? Shouldn't other role models have helped in this?

In a society which has a very strong undercurrent of 'do what you must to succeed. Only losers fail.' running through it, should we be surprised if some people do such things?

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I don't see the school system as being at fault for this.

Shouldn't her parents have started to instill the beginnings of ethics long before she got to school? Shouldn't other role models have helped in this?

In a society which has a very strong undercurrent of 'do what you must to succeed. Only losers fail.' running through it, should we be surprised if some people do such things?

consider a parent's influence on a child that age... peer groups become primary... and she was spending most of her waking time at school, when you break it down... the influence is enormous, and while a parent can and should keep trying, it's a losing battle a lot of the time, even if the parents are good parents.

I don't "blame" the school... or even the parents... the girl needs to take full responsibility for what she did...

but I can see how it could happen...

 

[R. Richard]

I see the school system as being partly responsible for the problem. The school system tries to "teach" by the use of rote memorization. It is more important to the school system that certain school system requirements be met than that the student actually learn something. As long as the child memorizes the assigned stuff, the school system is happy. [I used to learn more by borrowing books from the public library very late at night. Not only was there the opportunity to learn, the librarians started to leave suggested reading lists for me. Good people!]

The parents are also responsible for a great deal of the blame. If the school system actually tries to discipline a child, the parent almost always prevent any sort of meaningful punishment until something like attempted murder happens.

The peer group has also a certain blame here. However, they are the spew and vomit of a failed and badly broken system. I can't speak for the "white bread" school mentioned in the news article, but where I went to school there were any number of students who were broken beyond repair. The solution was simple, but the school, the parents and the scumbags would not permit anyone to solve the problem. Well, they did permit solution of the problem, but only after Whacko Willy killed someone after WW reached the age of 18. [Or, if WW tried pushing on those who could fight back.]

The only solution is for the parents to step up and insist that their children actually learn something in school, in return for the time said children are forced to spend in school. The only way to insure that a child actually learns something is a test of the knowledge supposedly learned. However, parents will not permit their child to be tested, lest the child fail. Of course, the lack of testing insures that at least most children will fail.

 

[English Lady]

Can I just say I think the girl is to blame.

She did it, her parents/teachers/friends didn't tell her to do it (as far as we know) and I'm guessing that the parents and teahers have done their best by the kid.

Sometimes we have ideas, we're think they're good ideas or we get so biter, so twisted that we think they are good ideas when they're not.

She can only blame herself, learn from it and move on. I don't think it benefits anyone to try and make up excuses for by trying to place the blame elsewhere.