In some states (Georgia, North Carolina, Texas), kids are being paid as much a $100 by high school faculty to “tell on” their fellow students. Nice. But we remember when kids would do it for nothing. The shooting last month in a Red Lake, Minnesota, school has incited the sort of activity we haven’t seen since the McCarthy hearings and the extermination of Jews before that and the Salem witch trials before that and the Spanish Inquisition before that and. . . . OK, so ratting out your friends is not that uncommon. Students’ greasy little palms are being further greased for information on who’s got drugs or firearms or is dealing or stealing. Also, there’s still no chewing gum allowed or talking to your neighbor or passing notes without sharing it with the rest of the class. Smoking, however, is permitted in designated areas. (Yahoo News)

At the 650-student school, money from candy and soda sales will be used to pay $10 for valid information about campus thefts, $25 or $50 for tips on drugs, and $100 for leads on gun possession or other felonies. A similar program at Cherryville High School in rural Gaston County, N.C., “has really worked well,” principal Stephen Huffstetler says. He implemented the program two years ago. “This year, we’ve given out $1,100,” he says. “For $100, they’ll turn their mothers in.”