Posted on 06/23/2018 12:17:01 PM PDT by Simon Green
A 13-year-old hauled into the principal's office for not serving his detention may end up with the biggest detention of all: a felony conviction. That's because the kid recorded the conversation on his phone.
The incident took place last February at Manteno Middle School, which is about an hour outside of Chicago. Young Paul Boron was arguing with Principal David Conrad and Assistant Principal Nathan Short.
About ten minutes into the meeting, which was held with the door open, Boron told the men he was recording it. At that point, the principal told Boron he was committing a felony and ended the conversation. But then, according to the Illinois Policy Center:
Two months later, in April, Boron was charged with one count of eavesdropping – a class 4 felony in Illinois.
"If I do go to court and get wrongfully convicted, my whole life is ruined," said Boron, who lives with his mother and four siblings..."I think they're going too far."
.... Members of the Manteno Community Unit School District No. 5 board, Conrad and Short have not responded to requests for comment on the incident.
Unfortunately for Boron, there is a law against recording people without their consent in Illinois. There's even a rule against it in the student handbook. But the handbook also says that it is fine for the school to have video cameras monitoring the public areas of the building. In other words, it's fine to keep the kids under constant surveillance, just not the administrators.
Illinois law is tough on citizens who "eavesdrop." For example, the Policy Center reports, "Michael Allison was charged with a felony for recording his own court hearing after the court did not provide a court reporter"—a case crazy enough to bring Orwell storming back from the grave.
At one point, the state's law saying all parties who are being recorded must consent was struck down. But a new eavesdropping law popped right back up with a carve-out for citizens recording police encounters.
All of which means Boron's middle school misbehavior could end up on his permanent record. Sometimes the law is neglectful of liberty, and no friend to tech savy 13-year-olds. It would be a terrible tragedy if Boron was forced into the criminal justice system for such a silly infraction.
Of course it is.
I really liked that posting!
Even back in the ‘50s, school Principals and VPs thought they were dictators with no restraints.
In that case, wouldn't it be funny if the kid alleged that he feared the principal was a pedo with designs on him? (You know, seriousness of the charge, etc.)
In any case, Damn Illinois, the state of my birth!
Nothing meant toward you personally, bgill, your posting just triggered a gripe I’ve had about parents complaining about their kids being disciplined.
When I was in public school, 48’-’60, I was paddled in elem., Jr. and Sr. high school. I was suspended in both Jr. and Sr. HS once each for doing something wrong (3 days each time). I deserved it all.
My parents were never called, as it was then understood by everyone that rules were to be followed.
In my 1940s neighborhood of a half dozen streets and blocks with many kids, most people knew who all the kids were. If they observed misbehavior, they would either deal with it directly or call the parents... who would take care of the problem.
It’s sad to see how overly protective parents have become, because such behavior, along with liberal-leaning schools, has created the dependent, snowflake generation of kids.
We used to walk to and from school, alone or with other kids, in all weather. Elem. was only two blocks; Jr. was a mile; then a city bus line ran the three miles to my Sr.
I live a mile from a public school complex that includes all three schools (El, Jr, Sr) and when running errands during certain times I encounter moms in SUVs on the phones in a line about a half-mile long at each school. Very few students walk to and from school unless they just live within a couple of blocks...even in great weather.
Our society has created a generation or so of petunias who expect to be catered to because that’s the way they were raised by over-protective parents.
Apologies for the long rant. Just a sore point for me.
If that’s the kid, he looks like a smartass and a future transgender.
IIRC, Linda Tripp was prosecuted by the State of Maryland for the same reason when she recorded conversations with Monica Lewinsky.
Totally agree. A bunch of petunias.
I was a latch key kid. In second and third grade, I walked by myself to and from school down a very busy city multi-lane street. When I was old enough to ride a bike, my friends and I were all over town. Fast forward to my kids walking to grandma’s house down our little nothing road in a country subdivision with very few people and it’s the worst thing in the world.
The climate change folks should be all over those soccer mom SUVs lined up polluting the planet.
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