School goes into lockdown over "Fresh Prince" theme

[the G-man]

Receptionist Mistakes Fresh Prince Theme Song for Threat; School Goes Into Lockdown:

• The teen's voicemail greeting triggered a lockdown at his Pennsylvania school after a receptionist misheard his rendition of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" theme song.
  
  While trying to confirm an appointment with 19-year-old Travis Clawson the receptionist thought the message said "shooting people outside of the school." The line is actually "shooting some b-ball," a reference to basketball.
  
  The receptionist called 911 and Economy police arrested Clawson a short time later at Ambridge Area High School, but released him once he explained the message.
  
  Acting police Chief James Mann says police acted "appropriately" out of concern for students' welfare.

Thank goodness, the kid didn't have "Be Cruel to Your School" as his ringtone. He'd probably be in state prison by now.

 

[TemporalFlux]

So sad. That receptionist has never watched Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. A judge should sentence her to two weeks of TV Land.

 

[Aldo]

So sad. That receptionist has never watched Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. A judge should sentence her to two weeks of TV Land.

Uncle Phil should be the Judge.

 

[Sephiroth]

Uncle Phil was a scary sumbitch, wouldn't surprise me if he kept a noose in his chambers

 

[Mr Light]

Will Smith, truly, the most terrifying of all rappers.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I'm of two minds here. On one hand, leaving aside the fact that she didn't know what the Fresh Prince theme was, is a ringtone really significant enough to warrant a lockdown? Even the most violent lyrics in the world don't really indicate an imminent threat. On the other hand, there are going to be errors and it's pretty clear that we would prefer someone to overreact than underreact these days.

 

[Greg Cox]

What if he was a show tunes fan who had something from "West Side Story" or "Sweeney Todd" as his ringtone?

"I swear, Officer, he's planning to slice people up and bake them into pies!"

 

[the G-man]

...or Johnny Cash (or a few dozen other classic outlaw country artists)?

"he shot a man in Reno, officer, just to watch him die!"

 

[lennier1]

Good thing the kid isn't into heavy metal:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTCY-QJI8is[/yt]

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Uncle Phil was a scary sumbitch, wouldn't surprise me if he kept a noose in his chambers

And also a bat'leth.

 

[ATimson]

On the other hand, there are going to be errors and it's pretty clear that we would prefer someone to overreact than underreact these days.

Who's "we"? Because I know I wouldn't.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

"We" are people in charge of setting policy for schools. Why would you prefer they ignore a problem rather than take precautions when it turns out to not be a problem? It seems that the costs of your error is higher than the costs of my error.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

"We" are people in charge of setting policy for schools. Why would you prefer they ignore a problem rather than take precautions when it turns out to not be a problem?

I think we'd like them to be able to identify problems a little more accurately.

 

[Takeru]

Acting police Chief James Mann says police acted "appropriately" out of concern for students' welfare.

No, they didn't, he shouldn't have been arrested in the first place just because of a song. Everyone involved overreacted, it's not even a violent song and even if it was it would't justify what happened.

 

[the G-man]

"We" are people in charge of setting policy for schools. Why would you prefer they ignore a problem rather than take precautions when it turns out to not be a problem? It seems that the costs of your error is higher than the costs of my error.

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"

 

[Alidar Jarok]

"We" are people in charge of setting policy for schools. Why would you prefer they ignore a problem rather than take precautions when it turns out to not be a problem?

I think we'd like them to be able to identify problems a little more accurately.

While I agree, that wasn't my point. When it comes to Type I errors and Type II errors, which side is it better to err on in this situation? It's why, while this woman is stupid, I'd rather someone stupid like this than a mother who saw their teenage child building an arsenal in the basement and did nothing.

"We" are people in charge of setting policy for schools. Why would you prefer they ignore a problem rather than take precautions when it turns out to not be a problem? It seems that the costs of your error is higher than the costs of my error.

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"

It was pointed out recently that the words "essential" and "temporary" are often left out, which quite changes the meaning (although I think it's really one of degree, whether or not Mr. Franklin agrees with me). You left them in, which I appreciate, so I'll just ask this question: Is locking the classroom doors until a problem is resolved (what happened here) giving up an "essential liberty" in exchange for a little temporary safety?

 

[RoJoHen]

I think the bigger issue here is why the student had his cellphone out in the first place.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Fox News (yeah I know) had a story of a second grader getting in trouble for chewing his pop tart into a gun shape.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Good thing the kid isn't into heavy metal:

One guy I used to know would play that publicly shortly after 9/11, not realizing why it was insensitive or innapropriate.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Anybody know if the police listened to the voicemail greeting, too, before running off to arrest the poor kid, or did they just take the receptionist at her* word?

* - I'm assuming the receptionist is female.