Told to express emotion for a creative-writing class, high school senior Allen Lee penned an essay so disturbing to his teacher, school administrators and police that he was charged with disorderly conduct, officials said Wednesday.

Lee, 18, a straight-A student at Cary-Grove High School, was arrested Tuesday near his home and charged with the misdemeanor for an essay police described as violently disturbing but not directed toward any specific person or location.

Neither police nor the school would release a copy of the essay written Monday. School officials declined to say whether Lee had any previous disciplinary problems, but said he was an excellent student. Authorities said Lee had never been in trouble with the police.

The charge against Lee comes as schools in the Chicago area and across the country wrestle with how to react in the wake of the massacre at Virginia Tech.

Bomb threats at high schools in Schaumburg and Country Club Hills caused evacuations. And extra police were on duty at a Palos Hills high school this week because of a threatening note found in the bathroom of a restaurant a half-mile away.

Cary Police Chief Ron Delelio said the charge against Lee was appropriate even though the essay was not published or posted for public viewing.

Disorderly conduct, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine, is often filed for such pranks as pulling a fire alarm or dialing 911 unnecessarily, he said. But it can also apply when someone's writings disturb an individual, Delelio said.

"The teacher was alarmed and disturbed by the content," he said.

The teen's father said he understood concerns about violence but not why a creative-writing exercise resulted in charges against his son.

"I understand what happened recently at Virginia Tech," said Albert Lee. But he added, "I don't see how somebody can get charged by writing in their homework. The teacher asked them to express themselves, and he followed instructions."

Some legal experts said the charge is troubling because it was over an essay that even police admit contained no direct threats against anyone at the school. A civil rights advocate said the teacher's reaction to an essay shouldn't make it a crime.

"One of the elements is that some sort of disorder or disruption is created," said Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. "When something is done in private -- when a paper is handed in to a teacher -- there isn't a disruption."

Yohnka also said that it was inevitable that schools would focus on potentially threatening writings in the aftermath of what happened at Virginia Tech, where a gunman killed 32 students and teachers, then fatally shot himself.

"After so much attention was paid last week to what was written by the shooter at Virginia Tech, I think there is no question people will be paying more attention to things like this," he said.

The goals this month for Lee's Creative English class were for students to communicate ideas and emotions through writing. But students were warned that if they wrote something that posed a threat to self or others, the school could take action, said Community High School District 155 Supt. Jill Hawk.

Essay discussed

Lee's English teacher, whom officials declined to identify, read the essay and reported it to a supervisor and the principal. After a lively discussion, district officials decided to report it to the police, Hawk said.

"Our staff is very familiar with adolescent behavior," she said. "We're very well-versed with types of creativity put into writing. We know the standards of adolescent behavior that are acceptable and that there is a range."

But Hawk added, "There can certainly be writing that conveys concern for us even though it does not name names, location or date."

Simmie Baer, an attorney with the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law, said the school's action was an example of zero-tolerance policies gone awry.

Children, she said, are not as sophisticated as adults and often show emotion through writing or pictures, which is what teachers should want because it is a safe outlet.

"They should be able to show their feelings or thoughts without fearing they will be arrested because of them," she said.
On Wednesday, some students at the school rallied behind Lee, organizing a petition drive to have him readmitted. They posted on walls quotes from the English teacher that encouraged students to express their emotions through writing.

"I'm not going to lie. I signed the petition," said senior James Gitzinger. "But I can understand where the administration is coming from. I think I would react the same way if I was a teacher."

Albert Lee came to the United States from China 30 years ago and has lived in Cary for 16 years. His son, Albert Lee said, posted $75 bail Tuesday and later met with a psychiatrist. The teen was not suspended or expelled but was forced to attend classes elsewhere, his father said.

"The teacher graded [the essay] and was disturbed," Albert Lee said. "She reported it to a department head, who reported it to the principal. The first contact I had was by the police, when they arrested him Tuesday."

Arrest outside school

Chief Delelio would only say that Lee was arrested outside of school, near his home on Ardmore Drive.

Albert Lee said his son, a wrestler at Cary-Grove, was "very upset" about the incident, adding that the boy would have no comment.

The essay may have been a joke on his son's part, but he can't say for sure because he hasn't read it, Albert Lee said.

"That's the only logical explanation," said the father, who would not say whether his son had ever had disciplinary problems at school.

Seung Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech killer, was from South Korea. Albert Lee would not say whether he thinks the fact that his son is Chinese-American had any bearing on the incident.

"I can't tell you what they were thinking," he said.

During a short interview at his family's two-story home in a Cary subdivision near the high school, Lee said he felt administrators did the right thing.

He added, however, that he does not think his son is a threat to anyone.

"I definitely think that there is some misunderstanding," he said. "That's my only interpretation of this."

Lee said he was confident his son will graduate as scheduled this year with his class.

"With Virginia Tech, everyone is more sensitive to these kinds of issues," Lee said. "I'm sure if he wrote something last year, nothing would alarm anybody. It's just the timing."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070426essay,1,1089899.story

Swanny note: Is it because he looked  - Asian?