In Re Eller

In In re Eller, 331 N.C. 714, 417 S.E.2d 479 (1992), the North Carolina Supreme Court reviewed a decision by this Court that upheld an adjudication of delinquency based on evidence that the juvenile "made a move toward another student" while holding a nail in his hand, and repeatedly banged on a radiator, causing "a rattling metallic noise" that distracted the other students. Id. at 715-16, 417 S.E.2d at 481. The Court first discussed State v. Wiggins, 272 N.C. 147, 154, 158 S.E.2d 37, 42 (1967), in which it interpreted an earlier version of the disorderly conduct statute: We stated that the words in the statute "are to be given their plain and ordinary meaning unless the context, or the history of the statute, requires otherwise." Proceeding to interpret the terms of the statute, the Court stated: "When the words 'interrupt' and 'disturb' are used in conjunction with the word 'school,' they mean to a person of ordinary intelligence a substantial interference with, disruption of and confusion of the operation of the school in its program of instruction and training of students there enrolled." Eller, 331 N.C. at 717, 417 S.E.2d at 481 (quoting Wiggins, 272 N.C. at 154, 158 S.E.2d at 42).