FOREST HILLS, N.Y. (WPIX) - A 12-year-old student was arrested and quickly branded a delinquent after she apparently doodled her name on a classroom desk.

Alexa Gonzalez, a student at Junior High School 190 in Forest Hills, was led out of school Monday in handcuffs for simply writing "Lex was here. 2/1/10" accompanied with the classic smiley face. Gonzalez says she was trying to kill time while she waited for her Spanish teacher to pass out homework.

Using an erasable lime-green magic marker, she also wrote "I love my friends Abby and Faith" on the desk.

Gonzalez, who has a spotless attendance record, said she was shocked when she was handcuffed and taken into custody at the police precinct across the street from the school.

According to the 12-year-old's mother, her daughter was questioned and released several hours after she was initially detained.

Gonzalez appeared in family court Tuesday where she was assigned eight hours of community service, a book report and an essay on what she learned from her mistake.

Nearly a week after the incident, Department of Education officials are now acknowledging that Gonzalez' arrest should have never happened.

"The principal made a mistake and has lifted the suspension," a DOE spokesman told PIX News in a statement. "The child may return school. The principal is speaking to the parent today."

Sorry Mrs. Rodent, I hate to inform your crimes would have constituted high and aggravated vandalism, as you were using permanent ink, not the erasable version used in the above commission of crime. For your heinous act, the minimum sentence is caning.

{snip}

Nice to know that I would have gone to jail as a 12 year old...

Same here. For me, the Student Council and a teacher were waiting for me in the room one day.

I had already been disciplined for "writing on my shoe" in class, in 4th grade. I tried to tell the teacher that I was only using the pencil to scrape some gum off my shoe after recess, not writing on my shoe, but she sent me to the principal's office anyway. Then, the next year, my mom sent me to private school, where I got popped for writing on desks. And numerous other private-school offenses, come to think of it.

I once idly wrote part of the lyrics to "Quiche Lorraine" by the B-52s on a desk in college. Came back a couple of weeks later to find them continued. That was funny.

By any chance are you a writer?

These days, I don't know how a kid can hope to get through public school unscathed and with a clean record. My kid stands no chance.

I kidnapped the science department skeleton and held it for ransom (as an obvious joke). When I discovered that it was a real person and worth approximately $10,000, I returned it with an apology letter by dressing it up and leaving it chilling in a chair in a science teacher's driveway. My accomplice blabbed to some friends, and we were caught. I did not get punished.

These days, I don't know how a kid can hope to get through public school unscathed and with a clean record. My kid stands no chance.

In some fashion, yes, why? Seeing some common character traits between me and, say, Mark Twain?!

No, just enjoy reading, thx

So it's okay to destroy property since it's "just the school system"? I'll admit the handcuffs is a bit over the top, but it's not like the schools have tons of our money to replace the desks because someone felt the need to "express themselves"

It used to be the fear of our parents finding out was enough to be a reasonable deterrant for this kind of thing. However in many cases that's just not so.

I don't think anyone is saying it's "ok". However, all kids make mistakes and do dumb things as they grow up. Tossing them in jail is the wrong answer.

In this particular instance, what should have been done is for the girl to be spending her time after school cleaning desks, and removing her writing as well as that of any other students.