Tracy Stephenson: Thwarting authority

Regarding the Oct. 28 “Feds launch inquiry into S.C. student’s arrest”: The core of the problem in the arrest of a student is not the actions of a sheriff’s deputy, but the actions of a teenage girl. She willfully disobeyed her teacher when asked to give up her cellphone and refused to move when asked by a school administrator and a law enforcement official.

Fellow students used cellphones during class time to videotape and disseminate the deputy’s actions without providing pertinent background information.

What is and probably will be the outcome of the girl’s unreasonable disobedience to authorities and a lack of adequate information? South Carolinians paid for police involvement in a school matter; federal taxpayers will pay for an inquiry; a deputy, in a long-term relationship with an African-American woman, has been accused by the S.C. NAACP president as being racist and could lose his job; the videos have stirred outrage among people who are not remotely involved; the teenage girl is now considered a victim; and students learn they can get away with disobeying authorities who are only trying to do their jobs.

I’m glad I’m not a teacher, school administrator or law enforcement officer in this day and age.

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Tracy Stephenson: Thwarting authority."