By Adrian Pascua
By Adrian Pascua
One kid’s essay is another school’s fear.
One student had been denied entry into the Marines because of his violent and disturbing essay.
The student, Allen Lee, was told that he was allowed to write freely about anything and that his writing was not to be judged or be censored. What he wasn’t told was that if his writing was found offensive that it would be turned over to police officials.
Due to this incident, he now has a criminal charge against him and Lee is no longer eligible to fight for his country in the Marine Corps. Lee, an outstanding student, holds a 4.2 GPA and has never been in trouble for any reason prior to recent events.
The paranoia that is centering this entire event is due to current events, namely, the Virginia Tech shooting.
Due to this event, Lee’s dream and entire future has been ruined because of his essay, which he would have never even written if he was not told to write freely. The United States Marines is a fighting unit, with a long history of violence.
The essay he was told to write has crippled his future. Not everyone who writes a violent essay is going to go on a rampage. If that were the case, then video games have caused more damage to our youth than any of their writing could ever do.
We should start arresting musicians because of the anti-government messages that some artists like to sing. Some of the lyrics in Lee’s essay came from some of their songs.
According to Lee, there were psychological tests included in the MEPS (Military Entry Processing Station) examinations, which Lee took. By passing the MEPS he passed the psychological test. The administration is currently not letting Lee attend his classes because of the fear he might kill his classmates. Since he was eligible to defend his country, he should be eligible enough to attend his classes.
In light of recent events everything that is happening now is doing more damage than good for our nation. This over protective attitude is overdoing it, which is expected from the American people.
If you want to stop shootings at schools and prevent another Virginia Tech, start at home. See what your kids are playing. See what books they read and then ask yourself if it’s alright to stop an honor student from joining the Marines. He has done everything asked of him and has no history of violence prior to what he has written.
Now, for doing what was asked of him, Lee is in the hot seat. As quickly as he went for honor student to marine, he has been labeled a threat to public safety and to the school.