Education
Statehouse Workers Decry Nasty Students
May 9, 2010 
Spring is the traditional season for educational field trips to the State Capitol in Boise, but recent events have left Statehouse employees feeling less than hospitable toward education.
One GUARDIAN reader thought it a bit hypocritical that schools are pleading poverty during the legislative session with claims that all field trips will be cancelled while busloads of kids swarm the newly renovated Capitol.
But her biggest complaint is about inexcusable behavior. Seems that last Thursday there were a couple of out of town high school groups visiting during the noon hour, lolling about on the lawn eating lunch and being kids. No problem. However, here is what she told the GUARDIAN:
“A kid or kids (no one actually saw who did it) took mailing labels that they’d taken from the lobby of the Borah Post Office and stuck them on all the light posts, flag pole, anything metal that they would stick to. They had written on them two main messages. The first was, and I quote, “Lick my ….”. The second was “F… me up the …”
Maintenance staff spent the afternoon with putty knives peeling off the offending stickers from our newly renovated public structure.
THE GUARDIAN will offer a reward of $100 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who committed this senseless vandalism. We also ask any of our state employee readers to get busy with security video camera recordings, and tour scheduling so we can all know the names of the schools that bring such bad citizens to Boise and allow them to roam free without supervision.
If there is no video of the acts, it is a gaping hole that needs to be plugged immediately. Those nasty stickers could just have easily been something much more sinister.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
May 9, 2010, 10:59 pm
The short answer Guardian, is because they spend the vast majority of their time unsupervised, and have no consequences for their behavior.
“Parent/ Teacher meeting? Tonight?
I’m, sorry but I have this client in town and we are having dinner. Maybe next time. Iknow, I know, I have missed the last 4 of them but I have to entertain the client! Saturday for the soccer game? Gee, I wish I could, but I have a 10:00AM tee time with Fred and the guys out at Quail Hollow. By golly, it is your birthday tomorrow! It just slipped my mind. Here is a $50. I won’t have time to get you something so just go buy something you really want. OK? And if that teacher gives you any more guff, let me know and we will sue the socks off of them! NO, don’t EVER let a cop talk to you that way! I don’t care what you have done, they can’t dis-respect you like that!!” We are now paying for the last two generations of children that have grown up with no responsibilities, respect for authority, or their parents, or their teachers, or each other!
Until parents take a more active, authoritarian role in their childrens lives, and until we return to more discipline in the classroom and the community as a whole, it is only going to get worse. I was raised, as I assume most people my age were, that if I would have been caught doing something as stupid as you report, The guy who caught me would have beat the crap out of me. Then, when my dad got home, I would have gotten another one. Then my dad would have called the guy that beat me the first time, AND THANKED HIM!!! It is a different day, and not for the better!
May 10, 2010, 6:11 am
This is what you get when you treat education as a “third rail” – never to be touched or questioned and never held accountable.
May 10, 2010, 8:43 am
With the outcry over education cuts, these kinds of field trips should cease immediately. Obviously there’s room for more cuts if money can be spent entertaining bored students instead of educating them. Where were the chaperones? The schools involved should be held as accountable as the students -fine them! Sadly, the activities are a sign of the times. There’s no respect for anything or anyone. I hate to be cynical and overly moralizing, but BACK TO THE BASICS in education, manners, obeying laws, and all else. Teachers, teach, that’s your job.
May 10, 2010, 9:24 am
Three rants already and the most obvious solution not even touched upon.
The dang post office needs to keep those labels behind the counter. This has been going on for years. Those stickers are everywhere.
If I sold bongs, I would get arrested on paraphernalia charges. I say the same concept should apply to Home Labyrinth, Blowes, Mall Wart and the Post Office. Sales or giving away of any materials used in the crime of vandalism/graffiti should be treated just the same.
May 10, 2010, 12:57 pm
Jesus on a crutch. This quote kind a stands out: “(no one actually saw who did it)”. I really don’t see how one can launch a diatribe against high school students, teenagers, education, parenting, education funding, or teaching based upon what was written.
Perhaps we could discuss law enforcement on a bright clear day in one of the most public places in the state. Or how about discussing jumping to conclusions, or “innocent till proven guilty.”
Cyclops, you seem to have a lot of knowledge on the subject, is that how your kids or grandkids behave? Is that how you raised your kids? How are you guys getting along? Why are you so eager to toss the blame around? You ever get in trouble when you were a teenager?
Dave, one last question. When were the budgets set for this school year?
EDITOR NOTE–Sis take a deep breath. No one has been charged and budgets aren’t really part of the equation…reader admitttedly is exasperated with unruly students. Our concern is with the lack of security camera coverage if “no one saw who actually did it.” That is the building that Dirk fortified for fear of terrorist attack. No doubt about it, circumstantial evidence only. Kids were there and stickers showed up after the kids left.
May 10, 2010, 2:07 pm
Sis, I was not the best kid. And I took my share of beatings for my actions.(everyone of which was deserved) My kids wouldn’t dream of actions that were reported here. Not due to fear of a beating, but more simply they were not raised to do so. “Our family doesn’t act that way” was all that need be said. I am proud to say that I was very involved with their activities as they grew up. There were times when they were “terrified” that I would be meeting with their teacher that evening. Because they knew there would be consequences. I haven’t laid a hand on any of my children since a “swat” on the butt around the age of 2. Didn’t need to. Even today, my children are grown and still just a “titch” afraid of me. Not because of any physical threats, but more out of respect. (their words, not mine)
My point is that adults need to quit trying so hard to be their kids “buddies” and concentrate on being their PARENTS!!
May 10, 2010, 9:18 pm
Reminds me of a story. Can anyone guess why the cannon out front of the State House is plugged with concrete?
Seems the perfect darlings of yester-year fairly regularly packed the cannon with firecrackers to every sensible adult’s chagrin. Then one evening, some overeager kids decided to one-up everyone else and actually put a full charge of gunpower in the cannon and packed it with paper wadding. The resultant blast broke all the facing windows at the Federal Building across the street (now the downtown post office).
This was in the 1950’s.
The solution to any kid’s misbehaving, is to simply remove the temptation. This was as true in 1950, as it is today, and will be in 2060.
Now, if we could only figure out a way to make sure no future governor could blockade the streets in front of the State House and place M16-armed guards at the intersections — talk about uncivil behavior.
May 10, 2010, 10:53 pm
Really. Kids acting like kids ~ whatever is the world coming to. And on the Statehouse lawn, scandal of the highest order.
May 11, 2010, 7:04 am
boisecynic, sorry, but placing labels, paint, pens, pencils, markers or anything else that can be used for vandalism behind counters where we the public have to wait in line and “beg” for them is wrong. Why punish all of us for the actions of a few. Here’s a better idea; since schools teach so much on line nowadays give them a virtual tour of the statehouse via the internet and they won’t have to leave their school.
May 11, 2010, 9:31 am
Mr. Gunderson and Boise Cynic have identified the problem? Simply remove the temptation from the offenders and life will be fine. What about addressing the transgressors??? We cannot disregard the act, or the actors. There must be consequences for deviant behavior. What happened to the day when we identified the culprits and brought them back to the statehouse, gave them a putty knife and had a cop stand over them to make sure they cleaned the mess correctly??? Until we can return to that mindset, we are just going to watch it get worse.
May 11, 2010, 9:33 am
I apologize to Sis, it was Cynic I was after………..
May 12, 2010, 1:10 am
I remember when they plugged the cannon. Boise was very small then. I would bet my older brother knows who did that firing of the cannon. Must have been fun. Ah, the good old days.
May 12, 2010, 10:02 am
LOL, I have to laugh as when I was younger (not as long ago as some) I was a terror until I got caught and my dad etched his name in my but with his belt. Then I would do it again when the memory wore off. Kids blowing off or vandalizing with stickers is just another generation pushing the limits of what they can do. I say thank god it was only stickers and not some of the stuff we use to do when we cruised downtown. Or when we made Capital H.S. for sale with all the realty signs we put on the lawn late one night….
May 13, 2010, 10:48 am
Who said anything about not holding the perpetrators responsible?
My comment is aimed at those who, when they see a glass half-empty, think the world’s reserve of civility is on the decline. I, on the other hand, am not a person who, when he sees the same glass, thinks things are looking pretty good — I just see a glass half-empty, and I’ll spend the time to look backwards and see that the glass has probably always been half-empty.
The kids who blew out the windows of the Federal Bldg (half a Century ago) had to pay to have the windows replaced, and had to fill the cannon’s bore with concrete. Kids will always be kids, which is why parents have to always be parents.
If Civics were still a subject taught at school, we *might* not have as many acts of vandalism — but, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have as many elected officials do a lot of the un-civil things they do.
May 14, 2010, 8:03 am
Take a swipe at me? Cyclops, what the heck?
You go completely off topic and try to solve nuclear proliferation with good parenting skills. Let me tell you something, all the good parenting skills in the world is not enough to help some kids. But that’s off topic.
This particular case boils down to ONE SIMPLE PROBLEM. There is no good reason for the post office to have free graffiti stickers laying around up front. Hell, all you don’t-spend-a-taxpayer-dime on anything people should be on my side.
And for those clamoring for more surveillance, WHAT? A cop for every individual? Because that’s what we’d really need and it ain’t going to happen. Not until we get robocops who work for free with no union contracts.
If above is too long for you to read:
POST OFFICE: Be a good neighbor and quit giving away free graffiti stickers.
May 14, 2010, 8:09 am
Cyclops, here’s 3 flaws in your reasoning.
First, graffiti jerks are rarely caught.
Second, if one is caught and forced to do clean up, that still doesn’t stop others who think they’re smart enough to not get caught.
Third, catch and punish does nothing to dissuade future taggers because they are currently too young to have ever even heard of someone getting caught and punished for graffiti.
Ban spray paint and marker sales to minors. And require to post office to keep self adhesive labels behind the counter and not give them to minors. This is not rocket science. Cops and the media go hog wild over cannabis arrests, but graffiti,——it’s ho-hum, big deal, can’t see it from my house, doesn’t affect me, I live in a lily-white suburb.