Well, one thing that you would want to know is, what is the school policy when a threat is perceived. Are they on a zero-tolerance policy? (If you are a school teacher, wouldn't you kinda hope so???)

The fact that a song has been around forever doesn't mean there wasn't more than a joke intended.

The Three Stooges' Moe, for example, says in one scene "Somebody oughtta knock your block off." (or something similar.) There's a brief pause and then he grins and continues, "I think I will!" And then he delievers a hit, and we all laugh becuase it's slapstick.

But if I were having a homicidal PMS psychotic episode, I could say that smae line with a big grin and then do it for real, to a child for example. Or a big strong man with anger problems could say it to his tiny child bride.... the lines get a little blurrier don't they?

I'm not saying the school is right-- I'm saying that our society is fraught with confusions at the moment, and I don't think most people quite realize that itr have any idea how it got that way.

At bottom I think the question is, can we make policies that assume the hearer of a remark can read the mind of the person speaking, and accurately? I don't think so-- to be policies at all, policies have to be a bit more black and white.

~Susan