Student arrested for essay’s imaginary violence – CNN.com

Student arrested for essay’s imaginary violence

Story Highlights

• High school senior wrote about shooting, stabbing, drugs, sex
• Class was told to write whatever came to mind, without censoring their thoughts
• Allen Lee says his essay exaggerated for creative effect and was “just junk”

• Lee, a straight-A student, charged with disorderly conduct; could get 30 daysCARY, Illinois
(AP) — A high school senior was arrested after writing that “it would
be funny” to dream about opening fire in a building and having sex with
the dead victims, authorities said.

Another passage in the essay
advised his teacher at Cary-Grove High School: “don’t be surprised on
inspiring the first CG shooting,” according to a criminal complaint
filed this week.

Allen Lee, 18, faces two disorderly conduct
charges over the creative-writing assignment, which he was given on
Monday in English class at the northern Illinois school.

Students
were told to “write whatever comes to your mind. Do not judge or censor
what you are writing,” according to a copy of the assignment.

According
to the complaint, Lee’s essay reads in part, “Blood, sex and booze.
Drugs, drugs, drugs are fun. Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab,
s…t…a…b…puke. So I had this dream last night where I went into
a building, pulled out two P90s and started shooting everyone, then had
sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I
did.”

Officials described the essay as disturbing and inappropriate.

Lee said he was just following the directions.

“In
creative writing, you’re told to exaggerate,” Lee said. “It was
supposed to be just junk. … There definitely is violent content, but
they’re taking it out of context and making it something it isn’t.”

Lee was moved to an off-campus learning program, and the district was evaluating a punishment, schools spokesman Jeff Puma said.

“It wasn’t just violent or foul language,” Puma said. “It went beyond that.”

The
teenager’s father, Albert Lee, has defended his son as a straight-A
student who was just following instructions and contends the school
overreacted. But he has also said he understands that the situation
arose in the week after a Virginia Tech student gunned down 32 people
before committing suicide.

Defense attorney Dane Loizzo said Allen Lee has never been disciplined in school and signed Marine enlistment papers last week.

A conviction could bring up to 30 days in jail and a maximum $1,500 fine.

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