DOCUMENT: Bizarre, K-12

Boy, 13, Busted For Illegal Marker Possession

Oklahoma math teacher in citizen's arrest of student

permanent marker

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Child Marker Arrest

DECEMBER 22--A 13-year-old boy was arrested Friday for using a permanent marker while in class at his Oklahoma City middle school, a violation of an obscure city ordinance.

According to an Oklahoma City Police Department report, the boy was spotted “in possession of a permanent marker” by Roosevelt Middle School teacher DeLynn Woodside. The 50-year-old educator told cop Miguel Campos that the student was “writing on a piece of paper, which caused it to bleed over onto the desk.”

Woodside, pictured at right, reported that the child, whose name was redacted by police from the report, attempted to hide the marker when she asked him for it. Strangely, Woodside’s Facebook page reveals that her “likes and interests” include the official “Sharpie Permanent Markers” page on Facebook.

Campos reported that he allowed Woodside, a seventh grade math teacher, to “sign a citation” against the boy, who was then transported to the Community Intervention Center, a juvenile holding facility. A police sergeant subsequently “booked the marker into the property room.”

A police spokesman referred to the student’s bust as a “citizen’s arrest” effectuated by Woodside.

The marker ban--which apparently is aimed at curbing graffiti--stems from a city ordinance making it illegal to possess spray paint or a permanent marker on private property (without the owner’s permission). (2 pages)

Comments (558)

Submitted by miss on Fri, 2010-12-24 12:41. I am also a teacher at this school. I also agree that what happened should NOT have happened in that manner. I would have (as I have done many times before) just taken the marker and called the parents. But, we have NO IDEA what happened before the incident. The 7th graders at our school are a rough bunch. This teacher is not an idiot. She is not someone I hang around with or even call a friend, but she is a really, really good teacher. Her test scores are ALWAYS high and the kids learn a lot in her class. We spend a lot of money each week repainting the bathrooms and sanding (or whatever they do) the sides of the building from tagging. Our furniture is old and outdated so we try our best to make it look good and clean for our students. Maybe this was an overreaction, but you all have no idea what we go through in a typical day. Did you know that most of our classes have OVER 35 students in them? We teach 5 sections of our subjects so that's around 170 or so students we see in a day. Our school is 90% hispanic, 100% free lunch, and we have every kind of gang there is. I think our students are wonderful kids. They really are. But, right or wrong, home is not where they learn rules. We teachers are their mothers, fathers, counselors, security blankets. I am not saying it's the way it should be, but it's the way it is. So, maybe just lay off....just a little.
Interesting. A kid in a gang ridden school openly defies his teacher in front of her class. When the kid chooses of his own accord to escalate the issue, there appears a legion of morons running to his defense.
There is absolutely NO WAY that some of the comments on here are real! They belong on The Onion! How can anybody defend the actions of this "teacher"? Seriously? A CHILD was arrested for using a marker?!?!?!?!? WTF? All the energy put into those actions are a WASTE OF RESOURCE! Come on! I was honestly expecting to read something along the lines of "the 13 year old gangbanger, as a requirement of his gang initiation, chased the grumpy old teacher around the classroom until he cornered her and proceeded to apply permanent "makeup". The "teacher" suffered an allergic reaction. Her throat swelled, and she died. RIP" But instead I read that the only victim was a desk? Oh please! And the other old hags on here who are so way past retirement need to remember that regardless of your own personal experience with the student, he is being judged for the crime of having a marker, not because you were unable to handle him when he was in your class (you had your own opportunity to call the police back then -- to late now). But the most GLARING CONTRAST in this story is that we have a 13 year old CHILD (that is what he is, whether he's a demon child or not), and a grown woman who is in the profession of dealing with children. Just like you don't stone a 13 year old girl to death for refusing to wear the hijab, you don't get a kid arrested for having a marker and then expect to be taken seriously! This "teacher", the school, the district, all those defending these ridiculous actions are a HUGE JOKE!
The biggest issue with the comments here is that most people posting are so remarkably obtuse that they simply blabber on about the child being arrested for having a marker. Try to keep up this time. The marker was contraband, the fool was arrested when he refused to surrender it. If you have trouble getting your head around that I will be happy to try and restate it in simpler terms.
I have taught with Delynn for 13 years now. No teacher is more dedicated and spends more time helping their students than her. Her compassion for students is beyond your feeble attempts to denegrate her as some tyrant. You have labeled her as a "liberal," "progressive," "union cronie" and other things in many comment sections of many articles. You know nothing of her or her affiliations. You assume a lot with no proof. It is not may place to comment on those items. What you also don't know is the history of this student the is being extolled as the "pillar of virtue." As I have had him in class, I am qualified to comment. I cannot give his name (under penalty of law) but I can assure you that he is not quite the stellar student and pillar of society that some (without any knowledge) would hold him up to be. The policeman that is assigned to our school (by the City of Oklahoma City) is there for a reason... we have a gang problem. Our policeman acts in the most honorable manner with students and is there to enforce City and State statutes... not to enforce school rules. He does not get involved in "school business." Mrs. Woodside did not call the police, she called the office. She followed protocol. The policeman followed his protocols. The only person who refused to follow instruction was the student. You criticize based on a blurb and you don't have the full story. Shame on you that call yourselves "enlightened." You read but you do not question.
Sounds like the teachers at this school are having a very difficult time teaching teenagers. I am surprised the gang members are even going to school. If a student refuses to learn isn't it the school boards right to kick the student out of school? This might help with all the graffiti in the school. Get rid of the root of the problem or is the problem too big for the school board to handle. Maybe the best answer is to close the school down since the gang members are controlling the ability of the teachers being able to teach.
"Maybe the best answer" is to support the teacher and school when they do their jobs. I mean, as opposed to calling the school "fascist" and the teacher a fat disgusting NAZI pig and posting her phone number and home address on the internet. Just a suggestion.
I agree, we should support teachers. This school sounds like a place where students are not in the mind set to learn. The graffiti and the gangs are controlling the ability of the teachers to teach their classes. Teachers are needed everywhere. They are a rare breed. I am sure these wonderful teachers at this horrible school will have no problem finding other teaching jobs. Gangs have always been here and will always be here. Closing the school might be the answer to it all.
LOL! And bus the problem kids to some other school, that's the ticket. No.... schools have not always had gangs and there was as time in my lifetime that adults didn't call teachers fat pigs when they tried to do their job. The root of the problem seems not to be the kids or teachers.
Problem kids should get three strikes, then get kicked out of school. This would stop them from having an impact on great teachers being able to teach the kids that actually go to school to learn. Your probably right about closing the school. I can see the headlines now, "School Closed Due to A Gangmember's Refusal to Give up a Sharpie" probably wouldn't look good for the school board.
I agree, we should support teachers. This school sounds like a place where students are not in the mind set to learn. The graffiti and the gangs are controlling the ability of the teachers to teach their classes. Teachers are needed everywhere. They are a rare breed. I am sure these wonderful teachers at this horrible school will have no problem finding other teaching jobs. Gangs have always been here and will always be here. Closing the school might be the answer to it all.
Closing the school may well be easier.... for the sort of marginal adults that define the teacher by her appearance and defend a kid without knowing the facts.
I am no longer putting this teacher down because she is over weight. I don't have all the facts about her. She may have a thyroid problem or maybe she is emotionally drained and seeks comfort food after putting up with hispanic punks all day. I think that Redrover is right, this hispanic gangmember is a punk. He has to be, he refused to listen to the teacher's demands. When a teacher tells a student something they should always listen. If students don't listen it should be law that teachers can exercise their right and call the authorities. Students should be arrested and placed in juvenile detention centers for not obeying teachers. Only well behaved students should be allowed in school. Hispanic gangmember punks are only going to end up in jail or dead, so why waste a teacher's time trying to better them when they are young.
Excellent comment oldfart. The comments posted here are a testament to the profound stupidity our society had been reduced to. Why in god's name would a teacher call a kid's home when the odds are that one of these people might answer the phone?
What? No retort from the enlightened people out there? Nobody is going to point out how ignorant teachers are because I used the word "the" when I meant to spell "that" in a sentence. C'mon, give me your best.
Excellent comment.
Gangbusters: Summer work eliminates graffiti (Oklahoma City, OK): Students at Roosevelt Middle School in Oklahoma City got involved in graffiti removal work this past summer. With seven gangs reported to have been roaming school halls and painting lockers with obscene language and gang symbols, the principal felt the need to do something about the problems. Lockers were ripped out and replaced with themed sitting areas for students to socialize. School records show 100 fighting incidents and about 350 instances of gang activity last school year. Since the start of this semester, fights have decreased more than 75 percent, and teachers have seen less than two dozen problems involving gangs. Students caught getting involved with gang activity face suspensions ranging from 10 days to a full school year. The principal said as gang members start marking their territory, the issue is then one of who socializes in that area. "The quicker we can get the graffiti down, the quicker we have control of the area," she said. Roosevelt also adopted school uniforms this year to prevent gang members from showing their affiliations through clothing. Source: Daily Oklahoman Date: December 2, 2003. Since 2003 scores in this school have dropped and the school is ranked statewide 2 on a scale of 10. This teacher probably deserves combat pay.
This "woman", using the term loosely, should have been immediately suspended without pay. If she is so burned out teaching that she resorts to emotionally scarring other people's children to satisfy her craving for self-importance, then it's time for a new career. She is DAMN lucky she didn't do this to my child. My advice to her would be to get out of teaching now, before she does something maybe even she, with the heart of ice, may regret. To those defending her, I ask who is defending our children if not for the adults that are supposed to be responsible for them for the majority of their days? One poster noted that teachers are raped and hurt by their students at some schools. Well, I bet those teachers wish this sharpie-wielding bandit was the worst of their problems as well.
Please, when you post... gain facts before posting your emotions. You have no idea what happened, other than a 6 or 7 paragraph article. Your subscription to the "cult of child worship" is quite obvious. I don't want to bust your bubble, but... all children are not good by virtue of taking a breath of air after being born. In a gang infested neighborhood such as our school... many kids are taught to be bad by their parents.
AMEN! I completely agree! He should have been taken to the football stadium, buried halfway, and stoned to death -- just like they do with those horrible, "gang-girls" in Afghanistan (you know who they are because they're the young girls that refuse to wear the burka). This criminal should have had the sharpie forcefully inserted into his nose, and the offending hand that held the dangerous weapon amputated. His childish actions (child playing a marker) has disgraced and dishonored his family and the whole school system. Honor must be restored. Only blood will pay off the debt he has incurred by dishonoring the keeper of knowledge. SHARPIES = DEVIL
Do you play with your boogers?
"My advice to".......... BirdBrain, is to wait until you have all the facts before you condemn the teacher. From the remarks posted here by a fellow teacher, she has been in the business for a long time and is well respected.
I don't care how well respected she is or how long she's been teaching. If she thinks the punishment she meted out fits the crime, she has a severe problem with her judgment skills. She definitely needs a "time out" from her duties as a teacher!
She didn't mete out punishment. She reported the possession of the contraband to the police when the individual refused to surrender it of his own accord.
Oh, pardon me. She didn't mete out punishment... but she DID call the police which was just a TAD overboard if you ask me! The contraband was a pen for Pete's sake, not a gun. She needs help.
You forget...... it was the boy who made the decision to surrender it to a police officer rather than his teacher.
You know what's hilarious? This little "remedy" as they want to call it does solve the problem of graffiti, but doesn't even get close to solving the real root of the problem. Kids who grow up in lower than average income households and a lack of parenting. Through substantial welfare, an increase in after school programs and more child parent interaction less gangs would be started and society would run better. This remedy is essentially a figurative societal ibuprofen. It covers up some simple pains, but doesn't solve anything at all.
Your first assumption that "Through substantial welfare" is wrong. It is substantial welfare that is the problem. How do you parent when you rely on the state to provide everything... including 2 meals at the school? You don't work, your childrent learn not to work. So that argument is null and void. We have after school tutoring up the ying yang, but the parents say they don't have the time to pick them up. Great parenting, right? So, that argument is null and void as well.
You know what? I will answer these questions....and yeah, try to look them up on the school website because we have had a lot of changes and anyone who really works here would know. Principal is Leon Hill. He has been there for 2 years. Vice Principal is Dr Delia Marand. The other VP was Barry Roberts, but he recently resigned. Our new VP is Dana Renner, she used to be our Instructional Facilitator. Our ONE counselor is S. Barnes. The officer is Officer Campos. You may call the school starting on Monday to verify this information. We are currently out for winter break.
Well thank you for looking them up on the internet for me. You forgot to mention what course and grade you teach.
Did YOU look them up? Cuz I guarantee that this info is not on there. I have always been told to not have an intellectual fight with the unarmed....I totally forgot about this. So, have fun with this venture you are on...
What a pity "miss". You logged on here to tell the world that the teachers you work with abuse and bully the students at this school but that you on the other hand are a good teacher. Sure you are.
I'll bet you want to scoot now.
I bet I know who "miss" is. If I can't speak well of someone, I shall not speak.
No! You should have her arrested! Plant a sharpie in her bag. That should do the trick.
You really ought to go back to the porn tab and your box of tissues sparky.
I won't "scoot" as you say. I vouch for every name she posted and to its' accuracy. You can go to the OKC Public School website and find any phone number you want. It's really not that hard. Here is the district's site and direct link to the school phone. http://www.okcps.k12.ok.us/Region3/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3
Do you also support her claim that you and the rest of your colleagues at this school abuse and bully your students then? If I was mistaken in supporting you, please let me know.
I know, I did so myself. This piece of garbage that claims to be one of your coworkers, is truly beneath contempt.
whatever, dude.
LOL! So, what other sort of vague, ambiguous accusations would you like to publicly level, anonymously, against your coworkers.... hero?
Just for the record kids. I could care less if you postulate that I am this teacher or her husband or a big fat meany, or anything else for that matter. About once a day I will log on here and check this thread. I will continue to baffle and shock most of you by expressing the independent and amazing idea that supporting this teacher until the whole story has been published and she has either been punished or exonerated, is the right thing to do. If you have a problem with that, tough sh*t.
This teacher has performed a public service. She taught this POS a valuable lesson he evidently never learned at home. Perhaps the next time he's told to do something by his teacher, he'll remember the new friends he made at the center for stupid kids (juvenile detention), and obey.
The only POS are the parents that taught you that it's ok for an ADULT to call a CHILD a POS. You perfectly summed up the whole attitude and mentality of the staff in defense of this pathetic "teacher"
Oh please. What do you think you were before you became a POS adult?
I really hoped you were trying to be funny, but it's clear from your comments that you weren't. The fact that your unthinking adherence to arbitrary rules gives you proud in yourself makes you sound like a toddler who runs to their parent to proudly announce they made dookie on the big kid's potty. The fact that it also makes you scorn some kid for not being a sheep just makes you sound small and vindictive. The kid didn't have intent to commit a crime, he just made a mistake that was then gleefully punished by one of your pathetic authority-freak cohorts. She's supposed to be teaching the kids something useful; instead she's teaching them that arbitrary 'violations' of meaningless rules that the students might not even be aware of will result in incommensurate punishment... this doesn't make the students smarter or better citizens, it just instills in them the certainty that "authority" and the misuse of power go hand in hand. This undermines the situations where authority is actually important, resulting in the exact opposite of the world you so acidly tout - unless you're really just a petty and hateful wingnut, in which case you'll be happy that her actions are creating more people like you.
By the time I got to the "dooky" part, your comment became wearisome and I stopped reading it. As a rule of thumb, I support adults until all the facts are in. Thanks.
OKay, so i have written on here many times. I am also a teacher at this school....I have to say I can't believe you called a child a POS. This just proves what kind of person you are.
You are full of crap and ought to be ashamed of yourself for coming on here to pretend to be a teacher in this school to vilify someone you don't know over an issue you lack the facts for. Not only that, you went to the trouble to take a dump on the rest of the teachers you pretend to work with at this school. Are you on medication you loon?
What is the campus officer's name?