Troubling tension as result of school incident

(KXRA image)

Does the recent incident at the Morris school make you feel uncomfortable about the place, in a basic way? Here's a building full of kids who can act in all sorts of foolish ways. Isn't that a given with kids?
Kids can be emotionally abused not only by their peers but by adults. It's an environment that can beat down a kid's self-esteem. It can breed fear and cynicism. Aren't these the factors leading to a whole lot of home-schooling? Home-schooling got established as a bastion for religious zealots. Hasn't it evolved to be more broad-based now? It has become ever more practical, as the boon of the worldwide web is realized.
Our culture can be slow in catching up with all the digital-inspired changes.
I sought an update this weekend on the school threat investigation. Where did I go first to seek any new tidbits? Where would you go? I am sure it would be the radio station website. The new owners of the Morris newspaper have essentially abandoned their website, and I frankly think that's a big deal. People really do want to use these media-affiliated sites.
As much as people groused about Fargo ownership of the Morris paper, you'd have to acknowledge that the website was worth the trouble to visit. That's a restrained compliment - it was probably better than that. And so what if some of the linked material came from other Forum properties? Sports from the West Central Tribune? That seems small potatoes now in terms of complaining about.
Forget about getting timely sports news from the paper's website now. The site hearkens back to the early days of the Internet, frankly, when a site was a rather fixed "billboard." These sites impressed because the whole concept was so new. Any website looked impressive then. It was a whole new frontier.
I smile as I observe what the Morris radio station is doing now: sports updates that are more than two or three sentences (or just the score). And not only that, I've seen some decent updates about Minnewaska sports even with photos. Weekend sports posted before the end of the weekend. Neat! All of this raises the radio station's stature while diminishing the newspaper.
I see no more reason to look at the paper now than before the transfer of ownership. Maybe less. Why hasn't the paper done anything to explore the controversy or dispute involving the water treatment plant? The city and the water treatment companies are in conflict. I'd be fascinated reading a nice investigative article. Jim Morrison would certainly have seen that this was pursued. But not now. The radio station has made a limited effort.
 
Hear the "Dragnet" theme. . .
So, we see on the radio station site Saturday that the Morris police chief has been working diligently to get to the bottom of the school incident. Should this make us feel comfortable? Here again I'll show that if I were an attorney, I'd be a defense attorney. I'd be scared, very scared really, about certain innocent kids being put on the spot. Going to school is compulsory. No one deserves suspicion outside of the one guilty party.
And, even when (or if) the guilty party gets identified, I think we should all hope the kid isn't "crucified." The family of that child should not be ruined, in effect.
Should we even take the risk of having kids? Don't we as a society want to cut some slack for kids? Look at the photo of the Morris police chief: Is this a guy you'd feel comfortable seeing on the other side of the table for an interrogation? He looks like a hot shot all right.
Police Chief Reggie Welle said the department has done about 30 interviews? Would you want your child to even take part in such a thing? As a price paid for simply going to school? When you as a parent don't even have a choice about this? Think of the kids who were hurt in the infamous Hancock school van accident. All for the sake of compulsory attendance at this big brick building called a "school?"
Welle said his department has gone through hours of surveillance video. Is the omnipresent video an intimidating presence at the school? Could it catch kids doing harmless but inappropriate things? Worst of all, the department has taken handwriting samples "from a number of students for analysis with a Stillwater firm." Nothing like out-of-town experts, I guess. I remember in high school here, I experienced a first day of school one year where we were taken on a wild goose chase on our orange bus north of town into the country. We learned later that the new routes were drawn up by "an expert from Hutchinson." CW: out of town people must be smarter.
Handwriting samples? What if you're innocent and asked to do such a thing? Might a lawyer advise a kid to simply not do it? To not say anything? Well, I guess I'm programmed like a defense attorney.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com