The Pulling Report

As a gamer, I've heard about The Pulling Report for several years. For those who don't know, the Pulling Report was drafted by Michael Stackpole to refute the efforts of Patricia Pulling and her Bothered by Dungeons & Dragons (BADD) organization. 

For the first time, I actually sat down and read the full text of the report, thanks to a link that Michael provided in a recent blog posting of his. It's a fascinating and horrifying read, to be honest. I believe that this should be required reading for anyone who's a gamer or into sci-fi and fantasy. Whatever good intentions Pat Pulling started out with clearly devolved into what almost appears to be a complete break with reality. 

In reading the document and some of Mrs Pulling's misguided attempts to 'educate' authorities about the danger signs of troubled youths, it occurred to me that I might've been a victim of her well-intentioned but hideously misinformed tactics. When I was in eighth grade, I was a generally quiet, shy kid who did well on tests and in-class assignments that didn't require me to talk. I was also a big reader who had been reading at college levels since about fifth grade. I always had at least one book on my person and it was frequently science fiction, fantasy, or horror. 

One day, I was called out of class and told that I was going to be spending my study periods twice a week meeting with a group of kids and teachers. I was never explicitly told why this was to be, or what the meetings were supposed to be about. As the meetings went on, however, I came to realize that these were kids who were considered 'troubled' in some way; abused or neglected at home, fighters, druggies… In short, everything I wasn't. 

I was flabbergasted at being thrust into these meetings. I didn't understand why I was there. I had a good home life. My parents were loving and supportive. I fought with my brother occasionally, but what sibling doesn't? My tactic for dealing with these sessions was to simply remain quiet unless I was forced to speak, and even then I was honest about having nothing to share. 

Reading the Pulling Report, I realized that someone must have shared the 'trouble signs' that Mrs Pulling put forth in her materials and I was tagged as a potentially endangered kid. The heavy-handed effort to protect me from an imaginary threat resulted in an already reserved kid withdrawing further into herself and caused no small amount of fear and humiliation for me. 

I understand that people want to protect their kids, but common sense has to kick in at some point.