Process as punishment
A simple pencil-twirling incident landed Ethan Chaplin in hot water with his school, which threatened to suspend him after a classmate claimed he was spinning the writing utensil like a gun.
After media attention from PIX11 and around the world, school officials backed off — but child protection agencies did not.
Letters to Ethan’s father, Michael, show the school found his son did nothing wrong at all, and that there would be no disciplinary action. The superintendent was even confident the issue would be behind all of them.
And that’s exactly what happened, until Ethan’s father received startling communication from New Jersey’s Department of Child Protection and Permanency and Department of Children and Families.
“I received a letter from them saying they had found an incident of abuse or neglect regarding Ethan because I refused to take him for psychological evaluation,” Michael said.
In an effort to play along and clear his name, Michael agreed to take his son for an evaluation.
Ethan was seen by a social worker, and had his blood drawn and urine taken. In the end, no behavioral problem was found.
The state, it seems, is ignoring that set of testing, demanding further evaluation and threatening that if Michael doesn’t comply, they are will terminate his parental rights and free Ethan up for adoption.
“All I can do is keep fighting, keep telling the truth and (keep) presenting the evidence. That is all I can do and hopefully the state does the right thing,” Michael said.
He has even reached out to Governor Chris Christie’s office, who replied they would contact the Dept. of Children and Families to investigate.
“…I’m scared because they have a habit of running away with things unchecked and that’s exactly what’s going on,” Michael said.
PIX11 tried to get a comment from DCPP and NJ Department of Children and Families but received no answers.
The agency told PIX11 they can’t discuss the allegations or even acknowledge they have involvement with the family.
The anti-gun hysteria is so sickly pervasive it leads to insane incidents of suspending kids from school for finger-pointing, drawing superheroes, biting poptarts into forbidden shapes and now, having the state threaten to terminate parent rights over a pencil twirling incident that the school itself admits was no threat.
The State demands sheep and if you’re not sufficiently sheep-like, they will use even your children against you.
h/t serr8d and John Bradley
He that sends his children to public school gives hostages to fortune.
Not only that, the kids are being requested (soon to be “required”) to inform on parents and family friends that might exhibit thoughtcrime (racist, homophobic, genderist, warming skeptic, et alia). No mention on whether kids should inform on teachers who express opinions that contravene the Constitution.
http://wizbangblog.com/2014/05/20/michelle-obama-says-kids-should-monitor-parents-for-racism/
Children reporting their parents for thoughtcrime… truly we live in marvelous times, where ideas once considered “science fiction” are made reality with each passing day!
All the “best” elements of Huxley, Orwell, and Dick. Truly, these are amazing times!
State of New Jersey:
…………………………..Department of Children and Families
…………………………………………………………………………….. Child Protection and Permanency, CP&P (formerly the Division of Youth and Family Services, DYFS), is New Jersey’s child protection and child welfare agency within the Department of Children and Families. Its mission is to ensure the safety, permanency and well-being of children and to support families.
—————————————————————————————-
One can almost audibly hear the echo of a great cry from the distant past: “Outrage! Something has to be done about it! We must have a law!”
So. Fine. Now you’ve got your law, it has burrowed down into your heads and taken up residence. Happy?
A simple pencil-twirling incident landed Ethan Chaplin in hot water with his school, which threatened to suspend him after a classmate claimed he was spinning the writing utensil like a gun.
One wonders how one can spin a pencil “like a gun”?
The only guns one ever spins – and one should not, because it’s stupid and potentially dangerous and violates all kinds of gun safety rules – is a revolver, by the trigger guard.
I can’t see a way it’s even possible to spin a pencil “like” that.
(I am gratified to see that the school decided there was nothing in such an allegation, though less so that the very idea of “spinning a pencil like a gun” could get the administration involved in potential disciplinary action.)
I’ve seen people twirl pens and pencils like a drumstick before, but I fail to see how that could be considered remotely threatening. Except by the kind of people who can’t do it, and end up losing the girl to the musicians. (Even us drummers get lucky once in a while.)
It wasn’t threatening until another kid allegedy said something along the lines of “he’s makinig a gun! suspend him!”
And that’s just what they did.
If I was that guy I would seriously consider picking up and moving to a free (freer?) state.
Of course, New Jersey would probably consider that “flight” and pruf of child endangerment.
Maybe he was about to draw a gun.
Xenophon: Education of Cyrus [Kurou Paideias], I
The thought once occurred to us how many republics [demokratiai] have been overthrown by people who preferred to live under any form of government [politeuesthai] other than a republican [demokratia], and again, how many monarchies [monarchiai] and how many oligarchies [oligarchiai] in times past have been abolished by the people [hypo dêmon]. We reflected, moreover, how many of those individuals who have aspired to absolute power [tyrannein] have either been deposed once for all and that right quickly; or if they have continued in power, no matter for how short a time, they are objects of wonder as having proved to be wise and happy men. Then, too, we had observed, we thought, that even in private [idios] homes some people who had rather more than the usual number of servants and some also who had only a very few were nevertheless, though nominally masters [despotas], quite unable to assert their authority over even those few.
And in addition to this, we reflected that cowherds are the rulers [archontes] of their cattle, that grooms are the rulers of their horses, and that all who are called herdsmen might properly be regarded as the rulers of the animals over which they are placed in charge. Now we noticed, as we thought, that all these herds obeyed their keepers more readily than men obey their rulers. For the herds go wherever their keeper directs them and graze in those places to which he leads them and keep out of those from which he excludes them. They allow their keeper, moreover, to enjoy, just as he will, the profits that accrue from them. And then again, we have never known of a herd conspiring against its keeper, either to refuse obedience to him or to deny him the privilege of enjoying the profits that accrue. At the same time, herds are more intractable to strangers than to their rulers and those who derive profit from them. Men, however, conspire against none sooner than against those whom they see attempting to rule over them.
I know that no State here is perfect, but more and more I wonder about the circumstance that keeps people in places that crazy. Is your job so great? Are your connections that deep? This is America, land of water cooler talk passed of off television shows, are you positive you can’t do that in a State more likely to be sane?
I might suggest that Darleen change the title to “New Jersey threatens to seize son because it can, and nobody dares stop it.”
“New Jersey threatens to seize son because it can, and nobody dares stop it.”
That’s the real topic here: not the “gun twirling.” The fact that social services rarely backs off when it gets hold of something — and that its abuses are rarely punished — is what frightens.
It doesn’t seem to matter what the “offense” is: the bureaucratic juggernaut crushes everything in its path, regardless of evidence, protestations, and obviously honest mistakes.
This is called “adopting out” and it’s been part of the Child Services methodology for a long time. They actually have financial incentives, started under the Clinton Administration I believe, for adopting out children, so of course if there’s money involved, they’ll find any excuse to “rescue” kids and sell them off. It’s called the “Adoption and Safe Families Act.”
http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2000/5_May/mayds4.htm