Tweets for 2007-05-24

• Can’t figure out how Twitter tools decides which days to post, and which days not to post dailies #

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Another argument for digital libraries: less violent

GALVESTON — A Scott Elementary School librarian has been charged with hitting a child with a stack of shelf markers.

Lise Van Borssum, 64, is charged with assault by contact after she was accused of striking a child on the leg with a stack of six or seven of the markers, which are similar to bookmarks. The incident is alleged to have happened April 25.

[link]

I’m still trying to figure out exactly how this happened. How does a librarian hit a child on the leg? My guess is that if his/her leg was within reach of a librarians hand, the kid was climbing on the shelves at more-or-less eye level at the time. If so, I’d say the librarian was sorely provoked. Not that I’m excusing the librarian.

I also want to know, though, in what universe slapping someone with a few sheets of plasticized paper is “assault.” No adult should ever touch a child in anger, but I think we need some new legal terminology here. I vote we establish a new class of crimes. The threshold for asoult should be potential for physical harm, which six or seven shelf markers clearly don’t possess. Let’s call everything else “roughing.” Roughing by non-custodial adults that happens in a school will be “roughing the learner” and will inlcude things like inappropriate use of a shelf mark; eraser, chalk, and globe throwing; and grabbing by the shirt collar or necktie.

[thanks, Victor!]