>Arresting him doesn't have to mean he is convicted, or becomes
>a felon or suffer any sort of long term consequences for his
>actions.

^ too often an arrest results in a criminal charge being filed. the criminal charge results in the person being held in jail on a cash bond for pre-trial detention. the cash bond may be too high for the person or their family to pay. which puts pressure on the person to plead guilty to get out of jail b/c their trial date in the criminal case is several weeks/months away. the guilty plea results in an entry on their criminal history. of course, the sentence as a result of the guilty plea could impose conditions which the person can't or won't meet. which can involve a resentencing in the future - more jail or worse. and, of course, the criminal conviction here can result in an enhanced charge in future cases - where a misdemeanor charge is upgraded to a felony simply b/c of the prior conviction.

we should be more careful b4 we saddle a kid w/all of this ^ just b/c the kid acted out in school. even if the kid has threatened a teacher.