Scum-watch: A great victory for liars.
Easy. Claim that the rules have been changed because of your highlighting of the problem:
TEACHERS were given the power to confiscate killer drug meow meow yesterday - in a victory for The Sun.
After dithering for days, Mr Coaker wrote to every head in England, saying: "Schools do have the power to confiscate inappropriate items, including a substance they believe to be mephedrone (or any other drug whatever its legal status). They do not have to return such confiscated substances."
As is abundantly clear, this is Coaker just reiterating what the current rules are. Here's part of his letter to schools unedited:
Some questions have been raised as to whether teachers can confiscate such substances, given that they are not prohibited substances. As current guidance makes clear, schools do have the power to confiscate inappropriate items, including a substance they believe to be mephedrone (or any other drug whatever its legal status) in line with the schools behaviour policy. They do not have to return such confiscated substances. As School discipline and pupil behaviour policies: Guidance for schools makes clear, schools may choose not to return an item to the pupil, including
- Items of value which the pupil should not have brought to school or has misused in some way might – if the school judges this appropriate and reasonable – be stored safely at the school until a responsible family adult can come and retrieve them.
- Items which the pupil should not have had in their possession – particularly of an unlawful or hazardous nature – may be given by the school to an external agency for disposal or further action as necessary. This should always be followed by a letter to the parents confirming that this has taken place and the reasons for such an action.
The Sun's claims that teachers had to give back 4-MMC to students as it isn't yet illegal have thus been utter nonsense from the very beginning, and their editing of Coaker's letter is cynical and misleading in the extreme.
Nonetheless, the paper's leader continues to claim that it's all thanks to them:
Never mind not handing back meow meow because it is technically legal.
Makes you wonder precisely what those who run our schools these days are taking.
Or rather, it makes you wonder what those who write the newspapers are taking these days. The idea that heads don't decide on what pupils wear, how they behave or whether they can use mobile phones isn't just beyond ignorant, it's an outright lie. It really is impossible not to absolutely hate the scaremongering liars who write for the Sun, and to be incredibly fearful of the power which they continue to wield, both over this government and the one likely to come.
Labels: 4-MMC, drug policies, drug prohibition, drugs, fucking liars, media hysteria, Mephedrone, moral panics, politics, Scum-watch, Sun-watch, war on drugs
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You've got to hand it to them, making stuff up then claiming it as a victory when it the opposite turns out to be true is a master stroke.
Posted by
Alex |
Saturday, March 20, 2010 9:00:00 PM
This just adds to my view that any 'newspaper' that can cite Basil Brush as an example of political bias really is beyond any form of sense and reason.
Posted by
Richard T |
Sunday, March 21, 2010 9:41:00 AM