Was there some kind of lottery to decide which lucky cop gets to do the shooting?
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So, sort of like how the pepper-spray recruits in boot camp? Kids get pepper-sprayed because they’re going into a profession where they could encounter it?
No mention of “extra credit,” in the original, either.
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While this is certainly “Extra”, credit is credit and any good grade grubbing student knows that doing the “extra” credit is just a part of the slog.
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In my day extra credit was memorizing the 50 states and their capitols, boy those were the days.
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It appears to be or was a program to prepare students for the work force by getting training in various industries.
I know nothing about it other than what I just read. It appears it’s some sort of vocational or trade training to help kids get jobs once they graduate. It looks like there are all sorts of training programs to choose from.
I can’t tell if it’s mandatory or just more courses to choose from to get all the needed credits for graduation. Students can choose from a wide variety of courses. The criminal sciences was just one elective.
https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Ohio-s-Graduation-Requirements/Industry-Recognized-Credentials
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They should go find the kids today and ask if the extra credit was worth it.
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The CSI effect, no doubt
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It doesn’t seem to have been extra credit. It was part of the curriculum, and was optional.
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I mean, they are. They just signed up for something they can’t possibly grasp before their brains are fully developed.
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Obligs…
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Agreed. I experienced tear gas 2-3 times in the military (boot camp and combat simulations), but the only time I encountered it IRL it was deployed against children. I used to work in a bar/nightlife district in Kansas City called Westport ca. 2001. There was an absolute shithole of a comedy club called Stanford and Sons that would occasionally feature “urban” comedians and it would basically turn into a nightclub after the shows. One summer it got very popular with young black and brown kids to hang out in front of the club until late into the night. They were totally harmless in my experience, but since the cops were 100% bridge and tunnel cops (ok, there are no tunnels in KC, but you get the idea), the assumption was that that many minority kids must be up to no good. Their solution was to form a human chain at one end of the street and begin pepper spraying all of them en masse while marching forward and chanting whatever fascist CYA warning they made up. I was sitting in the bar with a giant picture window facing the street when I suddenly saw a swarm of 14-18 year old kids running terrified down the street. The moment I walked out of the door to see wtf was happening I knew they had gassed them. Even from a block away the air was filled with that painful stinging sensation.
Now, this is an area that is overrun every goddamn weekend by belligerent, drunken suburban assholes, 90% white, who act like absolute animals if a KU or Mizzou game is on. But somehow I never saw any of them face the police, even when they assaulted me or my fellow staff (which happened a lot) except for the occasional dui checkpoint. It was one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever witnessed in my life. And those fascist thugs just loved every fucking moment.
ETA: My apologies to the KCPD. Apparently, they are more than willing to deploy teargas against white adults. Just as long as they’re protesting against the horrifying treatment of BIPOC people, ‘natch.
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I have no idea what the point of this was. These kids have only seen these tactics being applied to protestors, therefore the point was to persuade them to never ever protest? Maybe “Criminal Science” is meant to demystify careers in Law Enforcement, so the point was “In this job, this is what you get to do with people who disagree with you!”
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“This is a controlled and safe experience for the students and is completely voluntary,” the note concludes.
Really? Do tell us about the IRB the instructor submitted the study design involving minors and pepper spray to…
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All I know is that girl around the middle of the group with the purple shorts was a champ. Held out longer than I would have. Was waiting for her to say something like “I have hotter sauce on my nachos” or something badass like that.
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@Tamsin - off topic, but your gif reminded me of this:
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Did you know that among some in Italian communities, “eggplant” is used as a racial slur against Blacks?
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The ones who wouldn’t have participated would be classified as "precinct troublemakers.
I admit to being morbidly curious about what it would feel like to be pepper sprayed or tased, just to be better prepared for protest situations, but not enough to go through the experience for “extra credit.” For fighting NAZIs, sure.
Kind of related - several years ago I worked at a restaurant and one of the guys thought it would be “funny” to blow pepper in the face of one of the gals he had a crush on. I guess he thought it would make her sneeze or something? No idea.
Anyway, he used CAYENNE pepper. Got a pile in his palm then blew it into her face. I thought she was going to claw her own eyes out. We had to physically restrain her while we waited for medical help to arrive.
All this to say, they’re lucky none of those kids ended up hurting themselves, gouging their faces and such.
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