Alex Stone arrested after U.S. teen wrote about shooting pet dinosaur
Alex Stone's school year is off to a rough start. The South Carolina teen was arrested on his second day of school on Aug. 16 after writing in an assignment about shooting his neighbour's pet dinosaur with a gun he bought to "take care of business."
The 16-year-old was charged with disorderly conduct and suspended for several days in the wake of a confrontation with school authorities.
Stone told a local television news station in Summerville that students had been instructed to write a few sentences about themselves as though it were a Facebook status update. Stone said he wrote a fictional story about killing his neighbour's pet dinosaur and that he doesn't think he did anything wrong.
His teacher obviously did, because the school's authorities were notified and police were called. Stone's school bag and locker were searched and police say the student was "irate" when school officials were asking him about the assignment. He was placed in handcuffs and was later charged because of his behaviour, not because of what he wrote, according to police.
Stone's lawyer calls the arrest "absurd," in a statement on his website, and said he looks forward to defending his client in court. "This is a perfect example of 'political correctness' that has exceeded the boundaries of common sense," David Aylor said.
"The arrest and suspension of my client is completely absurd and further erodes the confidence parents and taxpayers have in our teachers and administrators who are tasked with educating our children and preparing them for higher education or entering the work force," said Aylor.
The student told WCSC television that he doesn't want to return to the school.
Mother says school didn't call her
"I regret it because they put it on my record, but I don't see the harm in it," Stone told the TV station. "I think there might have been a better way of putting it, but I think me writing like that, it shouldn't matter unless I put it out towards a person."
His mother, Karen Gray, is also angry that police were called and she wasn't. The whole episode unfolded without the school contacting her, she said.
"If the school would have called me and told me about the paper, and asked me to come down and discussed everything and, at least, get his point of view on the way he meant it. I never heard from the school, never. They never called me," said Gray.
"I could understand if they made him rewrite it because he did have 'gun' in it. But a pet dinosaur?" said Gray."I mean first of all, we don't have dinosaurs anymore. Second of all, he's not even old enough to buy a gun.
"What happened to freedom of speech?" she added.
