And that's the way it should be! 
Posted on 05/08/2005 7:04:09 AM PDT by Nachum
I know the real reason that the kids were arrested...
They were erecting a structure without the proper city and county permits, and without the proper inspections by city, county, state, and federal inspectors, like OSHA. They didn't have an environmental impact study done either.
Governments can't allow this sort of action to take place. The kids are obviously anarchists, who refused to wait for the process to complete (and never paid any of the fees, taxes, and bribes that are normally paid).
Of course, had they gone through all the paperwork, had the study done, and paid all the money, it would have been half past summer before they could have gotten started on their "snow fort!"
Mark
My memories of high school were of regularly using the grounds of the high school for activities when school was over. This included summers and weekends. We played every sport imaginable, soccer, football, la cross, or ran on the high school's out door track. Me and my friends also went to other local school yards to play as well. We would draw a square batter's box on the wall of one grade school and play fast pitch baseball using the wall as a back stop for our tennis balls. I can't remember ever being kicked off by the police. The only time the police came by is when we played softball in the street. We of course resumed play when the police drove away.
This of course, does not include the various indoor soccer matches played in the Gyms of local grade schools on Sunday mornings when they left the doors unlocked.
Things sure have changed.
You are right. These kids had no business building a snow fort such as this. They should have been in a gang stealing some cars like normal kids or at very least smoking dope while they vegged in front of a TV tuned into something culturally stimulating like MTV.
You state that the rules and laws of society should be obeyed. Indeed they should. I am not, however, aware of any overt laws prohibiting playing in the snow on public property. I don't approve of smart aleck kids but there seems to be more to this than that. I would guess it has more to do with a cop with a Barny Fife complex. It's a good thing that they didn't give him his bullet that day or we might be reading about a one sided shootout at a heavily fortified (snow) compound.
Those kids were at their own school, engaged in good clean fun, not hurting anybody. I think what you see on Free Republic, at least in this case, is a disgust for the abuse of authority.
Works for me
And the kids were trying to vandalize anything, as far as the story goes, they were simply playing in the snow.
Unbelievable!
You got that right. Wonder what Robert Frost would write about in our times. No exalting kids swinging in birches and bending their limbs down. Somebody would have a fit.
Glad you have some good memories on the school grounds. My school was too far so we never stuck around after school. But I lived on a quiet street, and we played kick the can, softball, simon says, and some hide and seek game. No cops ever chased us off. I don't remember a police car or fire truck ever coming to that street in the 9 years I lived there.
And fourth of July was really something then. We had caps and cap guns. Haven't seen any in years. My sister and I both had them. Few powder burns now and then. No big deal.
They probably patrol that street once in awhile now. It's been fifty years. I have a b&w photo I took as a kid of the street (mostly small bungalow type and a few two story homes) with all the old cars (late 40's). I've gone back to do a now in full color with my digital. It's amazing that the houses have changed so little, very few additions, just some newer siding here and there, new garages, swimming pool in one yard, all properties in good condition. Most of them are even the same color they were 50 years ago.
When a for sale sign goes up on that street, it doesn't last a week usually. People know a good thing when they see it.
Public schools have playing fields.
Playing fields are built for play and the public paid for those fields.
In our town, the local high school playing field is at the bottom of a slope and the high school buildings are at the top of the slope.
Whenever there is a decent snowfall on a non-school day, hundreds of residents from kids, to parents to grandparents go to the high school playing field to sled down the slope and engage in other snow play.
It has been that way for as long as the old-timers can remember.
If you live in a town where such play is prohibitted in school playing fields, I'm sorry for you.
And that's the way it should be!
It sounds like their real crime was being smart asses to the cops.
As you can observe on any episode of Cops, the world is full of people stupider than cops, so it isn't that cops are the stupidest people on Earth. The problem, as with every case of self-esteem driven pseudoprofessionalism, is that cops are TOLD they know what they are doing. Being of limited intelligence, they believe it with every fibre of their being. Hence the cases of people being turned down as too intelligent for police work.
Yes. I would. I would, for example, ruin his credit rating, post his picture all over the Internet as a good customer of underage prostitutes of both sexes in Asia, and have a woman make a few hangup calls to his wife. I would plant evidence of misdeeds for the press to find. I would do this over a long period of time, deniably, and always present a very nice face in person.
Cops never hesitate to lie. If they mess with me or members of my family, they can expect a full-on campaign of lies about them and their family. And I would get away with it because I have no ego invovlement or need take take credit.
Actually, The greatest danger of homeschooling is that your kids will not grow up NOT to be STUPID..
Federally controlled and financed schools have been activily dumbing down students for more than a generation..
That not being enough George Bush is importing ignorance from Mexico at an alarming rate.. further dumbing down America,.. 80 per cent of high school seniors today, cannot find Mexico or Canada on a map.. or globe.. What else do they DON'T know..
Making snow forts is taken a lot more seriously since 9/11
I mean, they built a snowfort by a school.
Thank goodness for Officer Smith. The world needs heroes.
Perfect.
***
During closing statements, both defense attorneys tried to convince the jury the arrests stemmed from the arresting officer, James Smith, getting angry at the "smart ass" teens.
Oh, come on. We all know this never happens.
another one for the Police State files.
oh, is this a crime? I've always wondered about that.
Of course abuse of authority is clearly a crime, but for some reason it can never be proven.
"I guess they've got no murderers, rapists, thieves, or stop sign runners in Framingham, so they go after the snow fort makers."
LOL
Framingham's Finest
ROFL
That's exactly what I was thinking.
RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!
The moral of this story is: Don't smart-off to cops, be polite!
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