Wednesday
Apr022008
These Kids These Days- Chicago's Lost Ones-Murderous Third Graders and High School Drop Outs
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 11:35AM The Blogmother
Folks in Chicago are rallying today. 20 school children have been killed by gun violence this year. I mean I remember when a boy in our class was killed when some gang members hit him in the head with a 40 oz, I can't imagine 20 deaths in a single year.
I can assure you that in other countries, like Rwanda, they managed to kill plenty of folks with machetes. Sure guns take a human life in a split second, but I think it is deeper than that. A fundamental disregard for human life. Aggression and violence in children. I think contributed to by the culture, but also I think a response to growing up in an environment where they just don't feel safe, physically, mentally, financially, emotionally and I point directly at the destruction of family in this country.
It isn't that Mama and Daddy aren't marrying their kids, but they also aren't married or committed to their children and it goes beyond the parents, but the loss of the safety net of the extended family as well. You can take away all the bullets in the world, but if you are growing up seeing mama get beat up, or not knowing where the next meal is coming from or bombarded by the message that opulence equals worthiness and you have to get rich or die trying, I can expect one of the responses might be to make sure that that victim hood and abject poverty never happens to you. By any means necessary. Some people work their butts off to get out of the hood through education, military service or just moving away. Other people, increasingly more young people are making another choice, including a life of illicit crime and arming themselves to the tee with whatever you can get your hands on a gun, a machete, or in the case of some third graders in Georgia, a paperweight and a steak knife ...
Murderous Third Graders
This week, you've probably heard the story of the third-graders in Georgia who hatched a well organized plot to harm / kill their teacher. Including brining a steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and a paper weight to school. According to police and school officials, they planned to distract the teacher, knock her out with the paper weight and then stab her with the steak knife.
The irony is that these are supposed to be special education students, but their planning mimic the precision of a covert military operation with division of duties and everything else. now imagine if we put them to work finding alternative energy sources so we don't have to pay $4 for gas this summer.
Ridiculous High School Drop Out Rates
Did you see the study yesterday talking about the high school drop out rate in major cities? In Detroit, home of Kwame "Textual Healing" Kilpatrick, they only graduate about 24% of their high school students. It is bad in other places as well. Read the full report.
High school is clearly obsolete in the city of Detroit if only 25% of its students are availing themselves of the traditional school structure. So what would be a relevant education to the 75% that throw up the deuce? I don't know, but I would rather have them in a job training program to teach them a skill than to leave them with nothing.
Let me just offer this word of advice. If you live in a city that had a 75% high school drop out rate....MOVE. MOVE like yesterday. Because how exactly are these folks supposed to feed cloth and shelter themselves working at jobs that don't require a high school diploma? So if they can't earn a living "honestly" I would say many of them will eventually have to A) rely on the taxpayers to care for them or B) rely on the tax payers to care for them. Now group A) will receive subsidies and other forms of assistance legally. Group B) will be subsidizing themselves with your property while you are at work or worse, taking directly from you as you go to and from work with involuntary withdrawals of your assets.
Education isn't just about money however, its about a functioning society of people with some modicum of critical thinking skills. People who can think for themselves and not fall victim to whatever silver tongued hustler gets in their ear. Its about having enough education to take care of your health and mental well being and the health and well being of your children and community. Its about competing with the rest of the world. I ain't talking about formal education either. Wow, here we are.
Brown vs. Board of What???
The first post- Brown vs. Board of Education generation and it appears we were a noble, yet short lived experiment. Did they imagine back then when Thurgood Marshall and his legal team were writing all those briefs and making all of those arguments that we would ELECT not to avail ourselves of a free public education? Who would have thought that a generation later, you would need National Guardsman, not to protect Black kids from angry White folks who didn't want to let them go to school, but from flying bullets from guns fired by their own people in many cases.
Some folks are rolling over in their graves...rotisserie style.
Twenty desks -- enough to fill a classroom -- sat empty in a downtown plaza Tuesday, each bearing a pair of sneakers and representing a Chicago Public Schools student killed by gunfire this school year.With all due respect. I am sorry, this ain't a purely gun violence issue to me. Sure guns make it easier, but it ignores the fact that in many rural parts of the nation the every single person in the house has a gun- including the toddlers. You would be surprised by how many suburban homes have ARSENALS in them or the number of lawyers and doctors with guns. Yet you don't hear stories of massive numbers of individual killings of school students via gun violence. To blame the guns without doing an additional examination of the culture of violence does not go far enough, but I can understand the need to blame something and it is easier to blame the gun vs. the shooters.Several hundred more sat empty in city schools, as busloads of teens skipped classes to attend a gun-control rally -- their absences sanctioned by the district, whose CEO says he's angry that too many students talk about "if" they grow up, instead of "when."
"This doesn't happen in other countries," Arne Duncan said. "We just value our right to bear arms more than we value our children, and our priorities are fundamentally backwards."
Associated Press.
I can assure you that in other countries, like Rwanda, they managed to kill plenty of folks with machetes. Sure guns take a human life in a split second, but I think it is deeper than that. A fundamental disregard for human life. Aggression and violence in children. I think contributed to by the culture, but also I think a response to growing up in an environment where they just don't feel safe, physically, mentally, financially, emotionally and I point directly at the destruction of family in this country.
It isn't that Mama and Daddy aren't marrying their kids, but they also aren't married or committed to their children and it goes beyond the parents, but the loss of the safety net of the extended family as well. You can take away all the bullets in the world, but if you are growing up seeing mama get beat up, or not knowing where the next meal is coming from or bombarded by the message that opulence equals worthiness and you have to get rich or die trying, I can expect one of the responses might be to make sure that that victim hood and abject poverty never happens to you. By any means necessary. Some people work their butts off to get out of the hood through education, military service or just moving away. Other people, increasingly more young people are making another choice, including a life of illicit crime and arming themselves to the tee with whatever you can get your hands on a gun, a machete, or in the case of some third graders in Georgia, a paperweight and a steak knife ...
Murderous Third Graders
This week, you've probably heard the story of the third-graders in Georgia who hatched a well organized plot to harm / kill their teacher. Including brining a steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and a paper weight to school. According to police and school officials, they planned to distract the teacher, knock her out with the paper weight and then stab her with the steak knife.
The irony is that these are supposed to be special education students, but their planning mimic the precision of a covert military operation with division of duties and everything else. now imagine if we put them to work finding alternative energy sources so we don't have to pay $4 for gas this summer.
Whew I am officially OLD because let me say it. I thought I would never say it, but I have to say it "These kids these days...." Cloe your eyes and imagine 20 years from now. Classes full of "special education" students because the schools want every unruly child on ritalin. Everybody has ADHD and the teachers will all be teaching from behind a bullet proof desk. If I ever do have kids I got two words for you "Home School." Why the heck not?The purported target is a veteran educator who teaches third-grade students with learning disabilities, including attention deficit disorder, delayed development and hyperactivity, friends and parents said.
The scheme involved a division of roles, Tanner said. One child's job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, he said. Another was supposed to clean up after the attack.
"We're not sure at this point in the investigation how many of the students actually knew the intent was to hurt the teacher," Tanner said. CNN.COM
Ridiculous High School Drop Out Rates
Did you see the study yesterday talking about the high school drop out rate in major cities? In Detroit, home of Kwame "Textual Healing" Kilpatrick, they only graduate about 24% of their high school students. It is bad in other places as well. Read the full report.
High school is clearly obsolete in the city of Detroit if only 25% of its students are availing themselves of the traditional school structure. So what would be a relevant education to the 75% that throw up the deuce? I don't know, but I would rather have them in a job training program to teach them a skill than to leave them with nothing.
Let me just offer this word of advice. If you live in a city that had a 75% high school drop out rate....MOVE. MOVE like yesterday. Because how exactly are these folks supposed to feed cloth and shelter themselves working at jobs that don't require a high school diploma? So if they can't earn a living "honestly" I would say many of them will eventually have to A) rely on the taxpayers to care for them or B) rely on the tax payers to care for them. Now group A) will receive subsidies and other forms of assistance legally. Group B) will be subsidizing themselves with your property while you are at work or worse, taking directly from you as you go to and from work with involuntary withdrawals of your assets.
Education isn't just about money however, its about a functioning society of people with some modicum of critical thinking skills. People who can think for themselves and not fall victim to whatever silver tongued hustler gets in their ear. Its about having enough education to take care of your health and mental well being and the health and well being of your children and community. Its about competing with the rest of the world. I ain't talking about formal education either. Wow, here we are.
Brown vs. Board of What???
The first post- Brown vs. Board of Education generation and it appears we were a noble, yet short lived experiment. Did they imagine back then when Thurgood Marshall and his legal team were writing all those briefs and making all of those arguments that we would ELECT not to avail ourselves of a free public education? Who would have thought that a generation later, you would need National Guardsman, not to protect Black kids from angry White folks who didn't want to let them go to school, but from flying bullets from guns fired by their own people in many cases.
Some folks are rolling over in their graves...rotisserie style.
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Reader Comments (17)
The high school dropout portion reminds me of an assembly we had in 10th grade at my high school.
The vice principal got up in front of all of the 10th grade students assembled in the gymnasium that day, and opened up his speech with something like this:
"Why are you here? Really? What are you doing here? By Maryland state law, at the age of 16 you don't have to be here at all. So go on, leave, drop out. If you don't want to be here, we don't want you to be here."
The rest of the hour was just as negative. No wonder less than 50% of the teenagers that made up the 9th grade student body actually stayed to graduate. That's roughly 200 students out 400+ students.
I guess the attitude was if the administrators don't care, why should the students?
I've done a couple of posts on the drop-out rate, and will probably do another one. I can't understand why people don't see this as the national security crisis that it is. What do they think will happen to all these young people who've trashed their future? They're certainly not going to vanish.
I think the point about lack of a safety net is spot on. Many of the "working class" type jobs are going overseas. Not everybody has it inside them to be a doctor, lawyer or other type of professional so where is the career for them?
I think if we elect a president who wants to stay in Iraq for the next hundred years (and this is without a draft because if there were ever a draft again in the USA the war would end), we will need an army. Then public schools would be cut even more than they are now, this would create a permanent underclass of people who would be unable to do anything except join the military.
While I do hate all the violence, there are times when it is justified for young people (and others) to pick up a weapon in self-defense. Like in this most recent case of the 12-year old boy from Baltimore defending his mother from her attacker.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040101090_pf.html
It's unfortunate that a death occurred, but there are very limited options nowadays if someone bigger or stronger than you attacks. You have to defend yourself and I think this kid did the right thing in this case, even though violence was involved.
.. a permanent underclass of people who would be unable to do anything except join the military..
Can't even join the military without a high school diploma or GED these days. And a clean police record.
maybe that's what the gov wants?
hey chris,
i fully understand your principal from your high school.
and if you were not a problem student and were not thinking about dropping out..he really was not talking to students like you.
he was talking to the same students that I would say some of the same things to in some of my classes throughout my 18 yr. career.
yes i admit it can come off negative. but when you have tried everything you are powerful to do, and helped all the students that you could-( those that want to be helped)....then the ones that continue to act out- create class disruptions, assault other students, skip classes and all the other assorted negative acts that they do...given their ages and the grade level they are in--then they do need to drop out and go to the local comm.coll. and complete their h.s. edu.
let me also give you all this thought...one year our supt. ordered all middle and high school principals, to go and convince the dropouts to come back???
we teachers were like, ahhhh i smell a hotmess.
now i'm not talking about the good kids that dropped out because of being pregnant, or because of a illness...we welcome them back.
i'm talking about the fropouts that are almost grown men that are 19 and still in the 9th grade sitting beside your 13-14 year old daughter or son who is also in the 9th grade.
he is macking hard--selling his wares. teaching them all the street stuff you would need to become a thug.
it is a huge problem when the majority of the return dropouts are still thinking that we owe them something and we just need to give it to them without them working for it.
this is just one situation in the dropout issue. as roslyn said, it is a HUGE problem that is only going to get worse!
and may i also add...not all students that dropout commit crimes and do nothing with their lives--many of them do complete their education--but they have to want to achieve.
In Detroit, home of Kwame "Textual Healing" Kilpatrick
I'm done.
Precisely Arthur, and that GED ain't no joke. Back when I was at Job Corps, I took a part of it just to see why my kids were struggling so. At that point I had a couple of advanced degrees and I was like, DAYUM!
Also, and I'm not sure if it's true now, but at one point to enter the military with a GED you had to have 22 college credits. That was about ten years ago, so presumably they've relaxed that, what with their recruiting issues.
'Textual Healing!' Gina, have you thought about writing for The Daily Show? That line alone has to be worth millions.
There's a 13 year old boy in my daughter's fifth grade class. He retained several times, and has some serious issues. Being the oldest "conch" of the class doesn't help either. He acts out violently on his younger class mates (he tries to strangle the girls), and verbally abuses the teacher etc.
I heard that a couple fearful parents at a PTA meeting suggested this child drop out, and start working a job somewhere (at 13). I too don't think he belongs in that class room. I also fear for the kids, and I could also act like a deranged fool when it comes to protecting my female child. My brain may not click in who or what's a "minor". But you still can't put him on the streets. If you think he's a problem to those kids now, what makes them think he's going to be better for them or othes when he hits society.
Something has to be done for these kids and the system, and I don’t even know what to suggest myself.
..at one point to enter the military with a GED you had to have 22 college credits. That was about ten years ago, ..
They have backed it off, Rosyln; it's a GED and 15 college credits now. Don't know how much difference that would make to a kid without a HS diploma, looking for a way out.
I have to disagree a little with littleeva on one point. While some low-wage, trade-skill jobs have gone overseas, the total impact is usually overstated. Most of those jobs that existed 50 years ago during the great migration days have been replaced by machines. The enemy of low-wage workers is not the Chinese worker, but technological advancement. Meanwhile, arguments about low-wage job loss to immigrants and overseas outsourcing distract us from solving the public education crisis. Rich white folks support globalization not only because it is their companies/stocks that benefit from cheap labor, but because they know that their kids will have the education to fulfill the high-wage managerial & technological jobs that the global economy also requires.
So, while a protectionist agenda might bring back some manufacturing jobs et. al., it will not stop the job losses that are due to technology. The only answer to that is education, so that you can position yourself for the high-wage, high-skill jobs that our US economy is producing. That's why the public education crisis is so devastating.
..The only answer to that is education, so that you can position yourself for the high-wage, high-skill jobs that our US economy is producing. That's why the public education crisis is so devastating..
That couldn't be more right. And it makes a mockery of the phrase "Equality of Opportunity".
la~msviswan said =
"Something has to be done for these kids and the system, and I don’t even know what to suggest myself."
-----------
call the admin. office to see if they have any 'alternative schools' in that county. they should.
then talk to the principal and see if this child has the papers to be sent there. these 'papers' would be all his 'write-ups' and all discipline actions taken with him by the school. (they cannot reveal to you what is in them--that is not the point--you just want to know has he reached the limit set by the board for the county/district)
if the principal acts shakey and uncooporative...then start calling board members. the county's website should have a list of who they are and their contact information. if the website does not have it..a secretary at the admin. office for that district will have this list.
start calling them and telling them what is going on about the kid.
seeking to offer help for him is the solution.
he should not drop out--actually he can't legally. i don't know the age in your state, but here in nc it's 16-to drop out.
in the mean time, if this kid does hurt your daughter-physicaly, or bullies your child daily, this is what you can do.
go through the teacher first--explaining your concern about what he is doing to your daughter--find out if the teacher has any notes or records documented.
if no results happen, because she really has limited power. go to the asst. principal, then the principal....
all the while, if he puts his hands on your daughter....call the police have them come to your home (take pictures of any marks the assault may have left) make a report and have his azz arrested.
that will definitely get the attention of the people that move and shake.
from what you are saying he should have been long gone.
the continued verble abuse alone to the teacher is grounds to have him sent to an alternative school...only the principal can make that call and start that recommendation....depending on the chain of command in that district, his reccomendation, has to be approved by the supt. of the county schools/district, before they wil put any child in alternative school.
There is also a no bullying rule--speak on that. document what your daughter tells you that happened.
do you have a school handbook? a code of conduct book? they have to be written and handed out to each parent...these are laws. if this child is going against the rules the board approved for every child to follow,,,again, this is grounds to protest him being in a "reg" school.
the office secretary should have them.
hope this helps.
also, i have had to stand up for my daughter because of a bully last year.
...mean azz little......
this was in the after school program.
he was a mess in his class room, and in after school.
he bullied and harrassed all the girls and a few boys, and they were doing as told, telling the adults in charge--each time...
my daughter was upset everyday didn't want to go back...all of that..i had already been speaking with the after school people..they had done all they were suppose too and all they could. he kept doing things...
after praying on it...
i called the director of all the after school programs and talked with her...and point blank told her...if they did not do something about this boy...the next time he touched my child-(he twisted her arm till she screamed in pain)(talk about wanting to open up a can of whup-azz!)-
i was going to call the police, if they could not do something NOW!--i would call the police - make a report of assault done by this boy and have his azz taken to juvie!
and this little county would be on the map alright.
i also told her to tell his mama! please do...
they were trying to 'work with him' by going through all these steps of intervention- but in the mean time other children suffered from his hateful mean ways.
he never bothered my child again...i really don't think he bothered anyone else.
that got his mama's attention more than what the principal could say.
and if anything like that happens within any other school year--i'll call the police and have their azzes arrested!
parents cannot let their children disrupt the education of other children--these are laws on the books in most states!
they had to create them in order to keep order in the classrooms.
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gotta blame the parents on this incident right here. obviously someone at home either talks about these things or allow these children to do what they want, see what they want, and hear what they want.
my oldest is going to be 14 and like his dad enjoys star wars and kung fu flicks. and like his dad he is a nerd, but he and his friends don't think or roll like that. then again he has been an honors student since the 1st grade.
about the high school drop out rate, its a multi faceted issue that needs to be addressedon so many levels.