XPost: az.general, school.general, alt.politics.democrats.d   
   XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   From: hillsbilly@gmail.com   
      
   In bygone days, radio commentator Paul Harvey, reporting on this kind of   
   story, would have filed it under the “strange” heading on his broadcast.   
   Or perhaps it belongs under the heading "Believe it or not." An alleged   
   fifth-grade murder plot took place in the Legacy Traditional School in,   
   wait for it, Surprise, Arizona. As someone who has taught 5th graders,   
   count me among the unsurprised, the little dears.   
      
   Seriously, the problems I once only saw in high school students, I later   
   saw in 5th graders. I even lobbied the local bishop to lower the age of   
   the sacrament of Confirmation for young people. Waiting until high school   
   is too late in this day and age of diminishing childhood innocence.   
      
   According to the police report, four students, who probably had been   
   watching way too much "CSI" rather than buckling down and studying their   
   graphic novels, were accused of plotting to fatally stab a fellow fifth-   
   grade student in the school’s bathroom.   
      
   According to NBC News, the students thought they could then forge a   
   suicide note to make it appear the stab wound was self-inflicted. And in   
   keeping with the Sam Spade law of diversity and the French principle of   
   cherchez la femme, yes, there was a dame involved. Or perhaps we should   
   say a mademoiselle. Hell hath no... yes, the girl’s purported "boyfriend”   
   had been cheating on her. It is a crime that no 5th grader should have to   
   endure.   
      
   The school was given a heads-up on the plot back on Oct. 1, 2024, by a   
   parent whose honorable offspring reported overhearing the conversation. In   
   this case, the snitches didn’t end up in ditches. Two 10-year-olds and two   
   11-year-olds were arrested for threatening and disorderly conduct.   
      
   One girl thought the others were joking until she was asked to stand guard   
   when they planned to go into the bathroom to stab the victim in the   
   stomach. It was then she realized “they were serious,” according to the   
   police.   
      
   Police also reported that another student said he stayed in the   
   conversation because he didn't want the tough guys to think he was "weird   
   and not wanting to do it." Yes, how weird not wanting to be part of a   
   murder. Ah, the age of peer pressure. In fairness, the student said there   
   was doubt that the others would actually do it.   
      
   It is an old principle of morality that evil thoughts lead to evil deeds,   
   which is why thoughts can be sinful when consented to and dialogued with.   
   That is different than mere temptations. A thousand temptations don't add   
   up to one sin.   
      
   According to the police, one of the parents "would smile and laugh and   
   made excuses for the actions." How many times have you seen on a 5:00 news   
   crime story, “My son, he’s a good boy.”   
      
   Once upon a time, I was involved with a mentoring program in the Fort   
   Apache section of the South Bronx. The only unforgivable crime you could   
   commit in that neighborhood was defacing a graffiti artist’s rendering of   
   some kid or other who had been murdered. It was sacred art in that world   
   of the community gun, concealed behind a brick somewhere in the   
   neighborhood.   
      
   Related: Public Education is Collapsing: One Suburban Disaster   
      
   The main thing the kids had to learn back then was that actions and   
   impulses don’t stand alone. They are only a link in a chain. You need to   
   think through the logical consequences. Getting ahead in life means being   
   able to see what happens next. Equally important is learning that there   
   are times you have to let it go. Going up the escalation scale can prove   
   deadly in the end. Someone scuffing those fancy sneakers isn't a capital   
   offense.   
      
   Eventually, Fort Apache turned into Little House on the Prairie after   
   everyone either killed each other or left. When the shooting stopped and   
   rebuilding began, we had to move out, too. We could no longer afford the   
   rent.   
      
   https://pjmedia.com/gregbyrnes/2025/07/01/5th-grade-murder-plot-uncovered-   
   n4941340   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)