So, have you heard the news? It seems that fans absolutely love the Death Note manga and anime. They read it, watch it and some have evened purchased the authentic Death Notebook themselves. But can a simple looking black book really cause a problem and threat to others? Apparently so.

A student in Richmond, Virginia was suspended when a teacher overheard the student talking about what he wrote inside a book called 'Death Note'. A notice was then sent home to parents talking about the notebook and where to get more information about it.

On December 21st 2007, In Nashville, Tennesse, two more students were suspended after a parent tipped school officials about a dangerous notebook being found with threats and detailed descriptions of death inside.

The students were all suspended because school officials thought this was a prank-gone-too-far because it had to do with death. The thing that is really frustrating fans and viewers is that it's nothing more than a harmless book and is not a hitlist. If the angry adults would do their research first and find information on the Death Note, they wouldn't take it so seriously. The website linked to the so called 'official website' of the death note is nothing more than a fan-site which allows others to make their own death note entries, so of course now everyone will think that what the students did is 10-time worse than they thought.

So what do you think? Are the school officials and parents over-reacting? Or did the students get what was coming to them?

Actually, we should understand how the parents and the officials feel and percieve this action.
A Deth Note is a notebook which any name written in it will then casue the death of it's owner. Considering the events of students gone into some kind of a rampage to kill, then we would understand the parents' for their children not to join that group and the police's wish to stop the repetition of such events.
Suspending the students is way too far, that is I agree with it, maybe confiscating the notebook and putting the students under surveillance would be enough. And we should also not forget that the students have their share ofwrong actions, since hey shouldn't brought such a notebook, when they clearly how sensitive the topic of death is currently now in schools.

I agree with modi up to a point..
It was extremely stupid of those students to bring a book with the name "Death Note" along with it's stigmata into an institution of learning. Especially with all the school shootings and students threatening to kill others, however I wonder if any of these adults are familiar with the anime itself. Not the written articles written by critics online, but has actually seen the show. The Death Note is Fictionally based, one word describes it "supernatural". When have school officials suspended students for bringing sexist, or sexually explicit materials into high schools, they haven't because they understand that phase. Only when the system is faced with something they do not know do they act so rashly, if they are going to suspend a student for bringing a note book that looks like death note to school then they should also start banning note books with guns and other violent images on them, if they honestly want to open that door. My point being, children see everything from violence to drugs on television and to automatically assume they are going to shoot someone because they possess a death note book is absurd. To start suspending students for a note book is for one a violation of the constitution, personal civil rights and two just a political statement that apparently our stationary is no exception to censorship.

Even though Death Note is a fictional supernatural anime, but still suspecious and noone can know when a psychological problwm occurs to a person, when one will become desperate and would anything that he finds just. Under that light the ideas of the character Light around the Death Note can be a start for possible behaviours, so it is dangerous, and besides Light had good points to justify his actions that's the difference beween Death Note and the other violence children see. If they see his logic as wrong then they may follow his lead at some point, and that is possible after all the shootings and killing that spread in schools.

On the subject, that's a very funny story. I understand with tragic events in the past that has happened, adults and school officials are very wary with jokes like a 'Death Note'. Simply, they should have confiscated the book and gave them some psych. therapy to understand the situation of a joke such as a 'Death Note'.

Valid point Modi, however in hypothesis if there was a said shooting with a student that possessed at "Death Note" and killed people then himself, the blame would be on the book itself instead of the actions of that person. There have even been cases of schools expelling students for mentioning the anime itself. For instance you have obviously watched the anime, even if you haven't humor-me. Would like to be expelled from your school for mentioning Death Note to one of your friends in the most innocent of ways, just conversing about the anime itself? Just for mentioning a television series I would get kicked out of school and be psycho analyzed to determine if I was threat to others. That strikes me as a bit excessive..
You have allot of opinions stated on television regardless of it being an anime or regular television that students can relate to. Where the problem comes from is not the series or who is saying it, it comes to the beliefs of people and what they are willing to differentiate between real and fantasy or socially acceptable or antisocial.

What you said is true, to be expelled for mentioning "Death Note" to someone is quite unrational and stupid. And certainly to this a way too exteme way to deal with it. and I really mentioned a better solution in my view if someone had a replica "Death Note: at school.
We can't control how people think, or how they react to certain things, thus we can only speculate whether this subject may cause a certain unaccepted behaviour or not, if it is then we try what to best to protect those who may be affected to it's negativeness. Maybe some people wouldn't be affected by it's negativeness, and then our protection will be a source of annoyance to them, but I think those should understand that they are not alone, if ther are not affected others are.

wow. and i bring my death note to school. i guess i'm luck teachers didn't find out i have one. didn't have anything written in it..i mean, did the death note really have that much of an effect on a person?