Althouse: DeLynn Woodside, the Sharpie harpy.

December 23, 2010

DeLynn Woodside, the Sharpie harpy.

"A 13-year-old boy was arrested Friday for using a permanent marker while in class at his Oklahoma City middle school, a violation of an obscure city ordinance. According to an Oklahoma City Police Department report, the boy was spotted 'in possession of a permanent marker' by Roosevelt Middle School teacher DeLynn Woodside. The 50-year-old educator told cop Miguel Campos that the student was 'writing on a piece of paper, which caused it to bleed over onto the desk.'"

46 comments:

TosaGuy said...: Is this teacher really that passive agressive and stupid, or does the school rules force her to be that way?; 12/23/10, 10:32 AM
Anonymous said...: When you put Democrat union goons in charge of our schools ... this is the inevitable result.

Assine power-hungry thugs dictating which utensils we will write with.; 12/23/10, 10:33 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: This is obviously the result of lack of education funding.; 12/23/10, 10:37 AM
TosaGuy said...: The funny part in the article is that this "teacher" put on her Facebook page that she is a fan of Sharpie markers (the article links to a screenshot of her FB page).

The article also referred to her as an "educator". I really don't get this rebranding of teachers as educators. Shouldn't such people be able to think critically and have sense enough to solve the problem at the lowest possible level?; 12/23/10, 10:39 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: The funny part in the article is that this "teacher" put on her Facebook page that she is a fan of Sharpie markers

From the looks of her picture she also looks like she's a fan of Dunkin Donuts and the Hardees All You Can Eat Buffet.; 12/23/10, 10:41 AM
Anonymous said...: We need more information. The teacher might be a "Sharpie harpy," or she might be protecting herself and school property from a little gang banger thug.

And trust me, some thirteen year olds represent serious physical threats.; 12/23/10, 10:41 AM
traditionalguy said...: The Education mafia has learned that their most powerful tool is Strict Draconian enforcement of small rules. The proudly tout "Zero Tolerance" as their mantra. This is another mandatory sentencing gone wild. The purpose is to punish the public for asking them to make decisions and take a little heat for them. The public is the scapegoat here, while everyone applauds the harsh punishment of Bad People. Private schools, and Catholic private schools include a basic respect for the humanity of the confused kids. That is why the 15,000 a year tuitions are the best money a parent ever spends. Kindness mixed with firmness actually works well compared to quasi criminal charges against for the most trivial of oversights.; 12/23/10, 10:42 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: From the link...

The marker ban--which apparently is aimed at curbing graffiti--stems from a city ordinance making it illegal to possess spray paint or a permanent marker on private property (without the owner’s permission).

I'm not a lawyer, but since when is a public school 'private property'?; 12/23/10, 10:42 AM
Hari said...: What kind of kid does math in ink rather than pencil? A kid who is bored out of his skull by the pathetic efforts of his "educator" and needs at least some type of minimal challenge.; 12/23/10, 10:44 AM
Pastafarian said...: Well, I can understand a school rule against possessing permanent markers.

But an arrest? That part of it is bizarre. Why not just confiscate it, and if it's against school rules, then punish him with detention or something?; 12/23/10, 10:52 AM
AllenS said...: I knew things were going wrong when Martha Stewart was sent to prison.; 12/23/10, 10:56 AM
Bender said...: Oh yes, here comes the "the rules are the rules" crowd that routinely supports and cheers for despotic and tyrannical abuses by power-mad teachers.

Not only should he have been arrested, but the teacher should have stopped the class and lectured him and harangued him for an hour before frog-marching him to juvie and expelling him.; 12/23/10, 10:59 AM
Drew said...: "A Massachusetts school district superintendent said a memo banning sixth graders from carrying pencils was written without district approval.

North Brookfield School District interim Superintendent Gordon Noseworthy said Wendy Scott, one of two sixth-grade teachers at North Brookfield Elementary School, did not get approval from administrators before sending the memo to all sixth-grade parents, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported Thursday.

The memo said students would no longer be allowed to bring writing implements to school. It said pencils would be provided for students in class and any students caught with pencils or pens after Nov. 15 would face disciplinary action for having materials 'to build weapons.'

Noseworthy said the memo does not represent district policy."

The next item outlawed at our public schools: brains.; 12/23/10, 10:59 AM
Automatic_Wing said...: The cop showed even worse judgement than the teacher, in my opinion. Frightening to think that this idiot is walking around Ok City with a badge and a gun.; 12/23/10, 10:59 AM
Unknown said...: Another kid who will vote for Conservatives, Libertarians, and other bitter clingers the rest of his life.; 12/23/10, 10:59 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I'm not a lawyer, but since when is a public school 'private property'?"

Do we have the text of the ordinance?; 12/23/10, 11:08 AM
MadisonMan said...: I had the same question as Ignorance is Bliss: Why is a public school considered private property? If the crime doesn't fit the statute, why is the statute being enforced?

On the face of it, this looks like foolishness on the part of the teacher. I wonder what the real story is.; 12/23/10, 11:09 AM
MadisonMan said...: The ordinance seems to have two provisions: 35-201

No person under the age of 18 years may possess an aerosol spray paint container or broad-tipped indelible marker on any public property unless accompanied by a parent, guardian, employer, teacher or other adult in any similar relationship and such possession is for a lawful purpose.

35-202:
No person may possess an aerosol spray paint container or broad-tipped indelible marker on any private property unless the owner, agent, manager, or other person having control of the property consented to the presence of the aerosol spray paint container or broad-tipped indelible marker.

IANAL -- how is the activity illegal unless doing worksheets is illegal.; 12/23/10, 11:14 AM
Lincolntf said...: Even in a bare-bones State like Oklahoma, the school gets 6,500 dollars per student, per nine months. At that price, the kids should be able to take their freaking desks home with them every year.; 12/23/10, 11:15 AM
Jason said...: Jury trial! Jury trial! Jury trial!!!

WV: "menta."

Oyyyyyy, dat's really menta!; 12/23/10, 11:22 AM
Calypso Facto said...: Thanks for the statute, MM.

So Miguel was using a marker which may or may not have been "broad tipped", "accompanied by...a teacher", "for a lawful purpose". And the crime is?

First they ban the Lingerie Football League, and now they arrest kids for markers. OKC is going to get a rep for being an un-fun place!; 12/23/10, 11:31 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "IANAL -- how is the activity illegal unless doing worksheets is illegal."

It doesn't matter. Pay attention to the "unless... and..." syntax.; 12/23/10, 11:34 AM
Jason said...: First they came for the 13 year old boys using markers to draw on sheets of paper, and I did not speak because... wait, WHAT?!?!!?!

WV: "nesses"

"Doctor, is this nesses.."

"It IS nesses! You don't tell me what's nesses! I tell YOU what's nesses!"; 12/23/10, 11:35 AM
Pastafarian said...: OK, now I'm really confused. He was accompanied by a teacher and using it for a lawful purpose (even though the ink bled out onto the desk accidentally, the purpose was to write something on paper).

I'm inclined to agree with Althouse. This teacher is a Sharpie harpy. It was fully within her discretion to either press this to the fullest extent of this stupid law, or to handle it more rationally.; 12/23/10, 11:42 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: The memo said students would no longer be allowed to bring writing implements to school. It said pencils would be provided for students in class and any students caught with pencils or pens after Nov. 15 would face disciplinary action for having materials 'to build weapons.'

Obviously we need more funding for education.; 12/23/10, 12:01 PM
Anonymous said...: If the facts are are reported, the teacher and the policeman should be removed from their positions and never given any job that gives them control or oversight over other people.; 12/23/10, 12:02 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: The more I think on this I have to say, if this story is in fact true, then the terrorists have won.; 12/23/10, 12:03 PM
Tex the Pontificator said...: How about the the irony that the redaction was probably done with a Sharpie?

This is a small manifestation of the problem that we have lost the ability to make reasonable distinctions. I was in a fight in 9th-grade gym class, but I got in no real trouble for it at school or at home, because everyone knew I did not go around trying to start fights. The other guy shoved me for no reason other than he thought he could get away with it. In the culture of 9th-grade boys' gym class, you can't let that pass. The adults then understood that. Why can't adults today understand such things?

It's not exactly what happened here, but it's related.; 12/23/10, 12:06 PM
traditionalguy said...: Pastafarian...The teacher's discretion makes a teacher responsible for his actions. Ergo: zero tolerance is washing his hands of all human judgement duties. Now we need the administrators and conferences for administrators discussing how the rules enforced upon their strict orders should work to prevent every danger known to man. That will take a lot of Administrators and meetings and conferences and more of the same old same old. The students Are the enemy here, and the Educational Bureaucracies hold them hostage.; 12/23/10, 12:07 PM
ken in tx said...: You guys have not been in a middle school classroom lately. Believe me you can bet this kid has been a royal pain ever since school started and his parents have either not responded or have taken a confrontational attitude toward teachers and the school. Most schools require five write-ups of this type before detention is ordered. I bet he has had over five detentions.

Retired non-union middle school teacher
(2nd career); 12/23/10, 12:08 PM
ken in tx said...: P.S. most teachers give several warnings before they write anything up because the paperwork is such a pain.; 12/23/10, 12:25 PM
LordSomber said...: "50-year-old educator"?

Well, we know she's not a teacher.; 12/23/10, 12:36 PM
Revenant said...: Does the "childish misbehavior" tag apply for the kid, or for the teacher and the cop?; 12/23/10, 12:40 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Most schools require five write-ups of this type before detention is ordered. I bet he has had over five detentions.

Then if he's that much of a problem child expulsion is in order, not being arrested and being put in juvenile detention for using a Sharpie.

Talk about being stuck on stupid.; 12/23/10, 12:53 PM
alan markus said...: Talk about "Sharpie Harpy" (good title for the post!) - looking at her, I wouldn't want to touch any Sharpie that was in her possession. Go to Google Images, search "Sharpie Porn", and you'll get what I mean. Maybe what set her off is that the kid wouldn't give it up for her (the Sharpie).; 12/23/10, 1:09 PM
Bender said...: I've taught middle school kids. And it would never occur to me to be a tyrant, Ken. But I guess when you are bigger and more protected than they are, you can play the bully all you want.; 12/23/10, 2:30 PM
Anonymous said...: I hate to say it, but we need to look at this a little bit more critically:

Scenereo number one: (as implied, but not directly stated, by the article): Kid using marker. Teacher see this and calls the police, and he is arrested.

Scenareo number two: Kid using marker. Teacher see this and says, "don't do that." Kid refuses to stop. Teacher says, "give me the marker." Kid refuses. Teacher attempts to take the marker from him, kid fights her and/or threatens violence, and she is not able to take the marker away from him without putting herself in jeopardy. Teacher calls the police.

I'm not sure that, even in scenareo 2, she would have handled it the best way possible, but it would look a little more reasonable, at least (and I'm not sure of what she could have done and still maintain some form of discipline and authority). I don't know that that happened, but the lack of detail in the story certainly makes me wonder if there isn't more.

- Lyssa; 12/23/10, 3:14 PM
JAL said...: The memo said students would no longer be allowed to bring writing implements to school.

This so cracks me up. Here in my part of the South the kids have to provide their own writing instruments, paper, notebooks, rulers, colored pencils, crayons ... the whole shebang. In elementray school.

Heck ... they put the lists for each grade in each school up in the local Target, K-Mart and Wal-Mart.

Each kid even have to bring in a box of kleenex (<--tm) to go into the class closet so there can be a box on the desk all year long.; 12/23/10, 3:17 PM
ken in tx said...: Bender, I was never a bully. I was more of a push-over. The parents were the bullies, and some of the kids. Like the 16 yr old 7th grader I had.; 12/23/10, 3:31 PM
ken in tx said...: Hoosier, some school districts do not allow expulsions except for drugs and weapons.; 12/23/10, 3:38 PM
ken in tx said...: Jal, that's the way it was for my school too. However, half-way through the year, everyone ran out. I bought pencils, pencil sharpeners, notebook paper, pens, notebooks, Kleenex, and hand sanitizer at my own expense for my classroom every year.; 12/23/10, 4:12 PM
Paul said...: The pen is mightier than the sword but stupidity triumphs over all.; 12/23/10, 9:32 PM
Rick Lee said...: Lyssa makes a good point. I looked up an article in an Oklahoma newspaper last night and it said that, in addition to the "bleed through" business, she saw the student actually writing on the desk with the marker. Calling the police still seems crazy, but it could be that there's a lot more to the story.; 12/24/10, 8:55 AM
Methadras said...: This clearly requires Dept. of Education inculcation immediately.; 12/24/10, 4:14 PM
David Joffe said...: To me this seems like a case of 'child abuse by proxy'. She is mis-using the authorities and ordinances to purposely inflict severe trauma on a child, while conveniently keeping her hands "clean" by having others do the dirty work and making it all appear "above board". Surely this kind of abuse should be a category of crime on its own, and DeLynn Woodside investigated. What if she abuses again?; 12/26/10, 7:42 AM
There's A Hole in the Bucket said...: It is TIME to do away with public schools! If one cannot afford to pay for the education/indoctrination that is pushed off onto their children, then home educate them...this will really throw a monkey wrench into the 'elites' plans for world domination!; 12/31/12, 5:03 PM