Illuminaria is appalled, and with good reason:
ROME, Georgia (AP) -- A high school is looking for a few good snitches. Using revenue from its candy and soda sales, Model High School plans to pay up to $100 for information about thefts and drug or gun possession on campus."It's not that we feel there are any problems here," said Principal Glenn White. "It's a proactive move for getting information that will help deter any sort of illegal activity." Under the new policy, a student would receive $10 for information about a theft on campus, $25 or $50 for information about drug possession, and $100 for information about gun possession or other serious felonies.
So let me get this straight. The school currently doesn't have a problem with guns, drugs, violence, etc. And yet the best way it can think of to spend the money from the soda machine is to encourage students to rat out other students who might have strayed? Illuminaria brings up two very real problems with this scenario:
Have you ever heard of a more awful idea? Police informants undertake a terrible risk of backlash. Is there any reason to think that there would not be any similar risk in setting up an informant program at a school? What happens when some kid gets put in the hospital for informing on some character? It’s not like the kid who gets informed on is necessarily going to jail, they’d still be able to easily retaliate.In addition, there would most likely be a spate of false allegations that would take up the valuable time and effort of both administrators and students. What does the informant have to lose by making false allegations for revenge or profit?
There's yet another wrinkle to consider. When I was in high school, I would have considered myself honor-bound to report a serious crime. Drug possession I would have (and did) let slide, but I would have told a teacher if someone had had a gun. I would have drawn the line at a situation in which people could hurt someone other than themselves; I would have considered tattle-telling to be on one side of the line, but civic duty to be on the other, and I would have ratted out the kid with the gun out of a sense of responsibility and morality, not a sense of greed.
Adding money to the equation here is sending the message that monetary desire should drive these sorts of decisions, when it absolutely should not, and it also leaves the impression that kids who tell are doing so just to make some extra cash. I would have been furious back in the day had anyone suggested that I made the tough decision to tell on another student for money, and students should be just as furious about the suggestion now.
Update: Linked to Wizbang's 10 Spot trackbacks.
Posted by kswygert at April 14, 2005 05:37 PM