(12-27-2018, 06:05 AM)Labster Wrote: You're mistaking my intellectual outrage for moral outrage, though. It's not that the world is terrible even if it is, it's that granting the right to use force to hormone-riddled teenagers against their peers sounds like a recipe for disaster. Like, I would be surprised if the place doesn't blow up every week. Most societies have decided that they can't handle the right to vote, but somehow violence is okay? Like, what?
It's a Japan-ism.
Let me explain.
You ever notice how big of a deal the Student Council is? That's because it is a big deal. Almost more so than the faculty, the students are supposed to literally govern themselves. And this includes policing their own. Sure, teachers will crack down on a student who's dozing off in class or goofing off. But when the teacher is not around? Let's just say the Disciplinary Committee is a thing for a reason.
And in a city chock full of hormone-addled kids with legit superpowers? I haven't seen any of the Railgun series, so I'm only spitballing here, but I'd guess that they needed an esper among the student body for, if nothing else, a rapid response to keep things covered until help can get there.
Also, Japanese police are, by and large, unarmed. I don't even recall seeing batons on the officers that staffed the police boxes when I was over there. If the police ever needed an armed response, which is incredibly rare over there, they had officers specially trained for it. Espers would be an outside context problem for Japanese police to deal with, because anything more dangerous than a pocket knife is forbidden out in public. Ruiko is comfortable to them because yes, she is an esper, but she's very low powered, and therefore presents a more non-threatening image that they prefer.