Autistic Boy Charged with Making Terroristic Threats in Stick Figure Drawing

[HK4U]

Shane Finn | Autistic Boy Charged with Making Terroristic Threats in Drawing

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Shane Finn's mother said her 14-year-old son was in a special needs class when he drew a picture of two stick figures and one had a gun.

Shane Finn's mother said her 14-year-old son was in a special needs class when he drew a picture of two stick figures and one had a gun.

Shane Finn's mother said her 14-year-old son was in a special needs class when he drew a picture of two stick figures and one had a gun.


Autistic Boy Charged with Making Terroristic Threats in Stick Figure Drawing
Teen drew two stick figures, one with gun

Updated: Thursday, 13 May 2010, 1:41 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 12 May 2010, 10:41 PM EDT

* Denise Dillon

Denise
Dillon

Reported By: Denise Dillon | Edited By: Leigha Baugham

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - A Fulton County mother was outraged Wednesday that her autistic son was suspended and charged with a felony over a picture he drew. The 14 year old is a student at Ridgeview Charter School in Atlanta.

Shane Finn's mother said he was in a special needs class when he drew a picture of two stick figures, and one had a gun.

The eighth grade boy's picture depicted a stick figure with a gun that was labeled "me." The figure was shooting another figure that had his teacher's name above it.

The picture led to Finn being suspended, and he is now facing criminal charges.

"They've pressed felony charges for terroristic threats," said the teen's mother, Karen Finn. "It's that sweeping zero tolerance and I think it's ridiculous."

Finn said her son drew the picture on the page of a school assignment where his teacher would easily see it. Finn says her son doesn't really understand why he's in trouble. Finn said her son is autistic and has the mental capacity of a third grader.

"It really breaks my heart because he's a really nice kid and this is obviously from his disability. He really doesn't have a good way of expressing anger, frustration," Finn said.

Finn said she wasn't proud of the picture her son drew, but she said the punishment was much too severe.

"I think there needs to be some sort of common sense used with the school system. That a 14-year-old autistic boy who does not understand what he's done or what he's drawn, has an IQ of 75 should not be charged with a felony. It's outrageous," Finn said.

School authorities could not say much about the student because of privacy laws, but they did confirm that Shane will face a tribunal and is being charged with making terroristic threats.

[NDS]

Zero Tolerance = Zero Intelligence

[father-of-three]

Common sense is a scarce commodity these days, and ignorance can be found everywhere.

[TXiceman]

Zero Tolerance = Zero Intelligence

Yes, but with the problems the child has, it would warrant working with him to see how deep the problem was/

Ken

[CapGun]

Zero tolerance means that administrators do not actually have to make decisions putting their competence and ability to use intelligent discretion on the line. It means they can't be held accountable. "Hey, Just followed the rules!" Zero tolerance. ZERO TOLERANCE is just a CYA policy.

[colt4me]

Charging someone with Autism, someone with an intelligence of 75, someone who needs counseling rather than incarceration, shows just how faulty the CJ system can be! It shows that some narrow-minded people can commit travesties. If this kind of thinking had occurred when I was young, those of us who played cops and robbers might all be behind bars! Laws are prevalently black and white. Usually, laws don't have compassion. I wish the police had some compassion. I hope the judge has some compassion.

[ecocks]

Increasingly, government moves more and more purposefully in their quest to become irrelevant and absurd.

[blackpowder]

Hey they were yust followink orders!

[TXiceman]

Hey they were yust followink orders!

Ya min Furor...