Flutterby™! : Lord of the Flies

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Lord of the Flies

2008-04-01 19:33:07.468432+00 by ebradway 6 comments

Third Graders conspire to attack teacher in Waycross, GA. What strikes me about this is no one is asking the students why they went to such lengths to plan the attack. I mean, obviously these students aren't totally rebellious - they were able to find a leader and organize the attack. My guess is the teacher was overbearing and probably just dumb - "veteran educators" tend to be that way.

[ related topics: Children and growing up Handicaps & Disabilities ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2008-04-02 00:36:59.93307+00 by: polly

just the beginning of the long road to public education, 9 yo's plot to handcuff teacher and bludgeon her with a glass paperweight? wonder where the cuffs came from and if they were furry?

at least in the middle school WE get guns and knives! oh, no! i'm a "veteran teacher", oh my! does that really make me a target?

which state is going to allow teachers to carry guns?

#Comment Re: made: 2008-04-02 05:19:40.110914+00 by: ebradway

polly: Do you feel like there's been some kind of degradation of the character of students? I mean, do you feel like students are more dangerous now and what are the factors that might have led to this increased hazard?

#Comment Re: made: 2008-04-03 14:37:40.029517+00 by: polly

personal experience? the past year and a half has found our students ignoring teachers, walking around class when they feel like it, leaving class when they feel like it, blatently back talking adults, putting their hands on adults when reprimanded or shoving adults, more violent towards peers, pot showing up in lockers, a gun was on campus the other day but we didn't know about it until after school when a group of kids walking home shot it 4 times. our students take no responsibility for their actions, neither does their parents. we've had students who were suspended be sent to school by mom because she didn't want the kid at home. parents are not much help, and the ones who are involved are few and far between.

I'm not sure if this is a situation where the kids are more dangerous or because our new administration does not understand our type of students (inner city) and has not been FIRM enough. we are an all black school. the admin(s) have come from schools mostly white, or a magnet school, and not completely served by housing project(s)kids like we are. we have had chaos for a year and a half. if there are no "controls" in place or consistent consequences, a kid is going to "be off the chain".

so what makes a kid dangerous? no one to tell him NO, that is wrong, you can't do that, you are NOT going to do that or else.....and stand by your word.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-04-03 14:38:33.032173+00 by: polly

oh yeah, we haven't had an SRO officer either. i hear we are supposed to have one start next monday...the last 7 weeks of school. yay.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-04-05 22:47:27.605342+00 by: polly

please go to www.wdef.com for the update on the 7th grader who brought a gun to MY school last monday, hid it in his locker, then shot it behind the school while walking home with a bunch of kids...and they haven't found the gun.

is it their environment that makes them that way? you tell me, when i drive through the hood going home, i see the young men of the hood hanging around the corner store buying their drugs, or the couple walking across the road smoking their crack pipe. the kids are there watching and being a part of it. they know where the guns are. the older ones stash drugs and guns on these kids when the police drive up because the kids don't get into as much trouble with the courts. the kids see mom geeked up on meth and crack. they don't eat because the food stamps went for dope. mom had an abusive boyfriend, so a kid lived in an abandoned house during his time as an 8th grader at my school.

these kids are living CSI every time it comes on the tv. they know more about how to kill a person and cover the evidence than the average person. is this scary? yep...aint skeered! i'm a "veteran teacher", been there 7 years now. i don't run. and if a big 8th grade boy thinks he can intimidate me, i tell him, "go ahead, make my day", then step REALLY big into his space. these kids want someone to make them back down. they are KIDS without parents trying to keep them under control, or grandma is afraid of 'em. i love these kids, i love my school...wouldn't be there if i wasn't committed. i hope for each one of them that they make through high school and try to go to college.

the way our economy is going, they are going to need college to make it at mcdonald's.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-04-07 20:39:23.288878+00 by: ebradway

Thank you, polly! Seriously, thank you.