Tasers And Cell Phones

We had an incident in one of our schools today that illustrates the almost mystical power of cell phones over some people, tasers and their lack of respect for authority today. Of course, my hatred of cell phones prompts comment on this action and I so believe those toys are an impediment to civilized behavior.
Ok, here is what happened. A police officer used a stun gun (taser) on a 16 year old student at Grace King High School after the teen became upset that his phone had been confiscated earlier in the day by a teacher whose class was disturbed by the student's chatting. Yep! That kid used a cell phone in class, had it confiscated and turned over to school administrators and then tried to take it away from the police officer assigned to the school. After having the phone taken earlier in the school day, being suspended for the remainder of the school day and being told he would have to have mom and dad retrieve the cell phone the following school day, the junior cell nut decided to grab it on his own after school.
He returned to school just as it was time to end classes for the day, dashed into the school administration building and threatened the police officer, a female who weighs almost 50 kilos less than the teen. As the boy lunged at the deputy to hit her she shot him with a 50,000 volt (a milder shock than is normal use for such guns) shock. He hit the ground and dreamed of his cell phone no more.
How sad that a 16 year old boy is so addicted to a cell phone he must bring the banned object to school and use it in a class, that police officers have to be stationed in high schools to prevent violence, and that a young man had to be subjected to a taser shock to bring the situation to peace. In my view it's all a reflection of how kids are alienated from reality by cell phones and other electronic gadgets, that those thongs become more important to them than is respecting both oneself and school and police authority.
But doesn't society place such a high value on cell phones and other non human aids that perhaps this boy is not just a disturbed child with a confused value system. Too many time see adults clinging to their phones in nearly as irrational manner as that student did. I sometimes wonder if the average cell addict's motto might be something borrowed from American patriot Patrick Henry. Henry was about to be hanged for treason by British troops during the days of the American Revolutionary War and uttered, "Give me liberty or give me death". The average cell addict today might very well say a similar refrain, "Give me my cell phone or taser me." I hope the taser is the choice...
You think that teen school boy taser story is weird, try this one. A Chinese man, Liu Young, wanted by police on gun charges has given himself up after hiding in a cave constructed at the back of his house for eight years, the official Xinhua news agency said. The 35-year-old man from Fuzhou had tunneled the cave out of a hill behind the bedroom of his house and had put a wardrobe in front of the entrance as a disguise. The man left the cave during the day to read, wash and watch television in the house, but went back into it at night, it said. He told his wife he was hiding from debt collectors. (How stupid is that wife????)
But the reality is that Liu was accused eight years ago of attacking people with guns. Liu gave himself up to police on Tuesday after no longer being able to cope with the "psychological pressure." Some of his accomplices have already been sentenced to death. I think Liu better find a better hiding place soon.