I don’t normally repost Slashdot articles, but this is worthy of discussion.

A student at the Houston-area Clements High School was arrested, sent to an “Alternative Education Center” and banned from graduation after school officials found he created a video game map of his school. School district police arrested the teen and searched his home where they confiscated a hammer as a ‘potential weapon’…

Firstly, consider this example: Did the makers of Deus Ex get into trouble for creating a 3D map of Liberty Island where the Statue of Liberty had been destroyed by a terrorist attack? No. Depicting this fictional scenario is a form of artistic expression. And one could argue that an accurate map of an area is necessary to faithfully represent the subject of the work.

What has changed since Deus Ex was released in 2000? Well, that one’s obvious. But the real question is: why is the act of creating a 3D computer model of a school now perceived as a suspicious activity? I can only think of one possible line of argument used to justify the arrest. I’m not saying I agree with it, just trying to understand possible motivations for the arrest.

It has been assumed the map was created for a first person shooter game. In these games, players run around killing people with guns in some environment. By making a map of his school, the student is creating an environment where he can practise shooting up his classmates and is therefore a potential threat.

Say a group of school mates go for a game of paintball. Compared to a computer game, this would seem a more realistic representation of a massacre, given that it takes place in the physical world; and contains actual armed combat. Another example is a game of laser tag taking place on school grounds. Not seen as a threatening activity, well not in Australia at least.

Making a 3D map shouldn’t be treated any differently than other forms of visual representation. Students wandering around the school taking photos are not suspected terrorists. Unless of course, the photos are for texture samples. Students painting scenes of their school is probably a normal part of most art classes. I was at a local high school recently where several students were outside sketching parts of the school. No arrests. I didn’t give it a second thought.

I’d like to think that here in Australia we don’t have such a strong natural prejudice to suspect others by default. I worry this trait is being diluted as we struggle with our identity as a nation and are slowly assimilated by our allies. You know who I mean. That country that has knee-jerk reactions to every single terrible event. As best as I can figure, this is how the “logic” process works post-9/11:

A person does X which results in the death of innocents.
That person is a Y.
Therefore, all other Ys are secretly plotting to do X.

In this case Y=”student of asian appearance” and X=”go on a shooting rampage at school”. The initial event to prompt this prejudice was obviously the Virginia Tech shootings. It’s simply unfair and highly discriminatory to make such generalisations. But it happens because those making the accusation are so afraid of a repeat of X that it becomes easier to suspect every Y than to give each situation fair and thoughtful consideration.

That’s about as deep as I get on a Saturday… Now, time for some Katamari Damacy! Watch out peoples, I’m plotting a rampage through the streets where I roll up objects into a giant ball until it’s big enough to form a star! Arrest me! Quick!