The Education Wonks
It is sad that this type of behavior erupts in public schools. If public schools were allowed to follow and enforce the same rules as private schools, teachers would be able to spend more time teaching and less time as disciplinarians. After all, students who misbehave would be kicked out and told to find another school.
Hey! Did you notice that their mascots are "saints?"
Ahhh, irony. We don't get enough of that around here.
If you tolerate fighting, you get more fights.
Sad stuff...a buddy of mine taught in a similar school and witnessed many of the same eruptions. Quite sad indeed. In other more positive educational news, there's a great program I'm working with Intel on called the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), which began in 1950 as a means of encouraging pre-college students to conduct scientific research. It's going on this week in Atlanta, and I urge all your readers to check out the website for some of the awesome projects these kids are working on! http://www.intelisef2008.org/
I'm just trying to get past the line "police restored calm with bully clubs."
I can't imagine sending my kids to a school where they have to beat the kids into submission. Do their parents have any control over them at home?
This really is a sad state of affairs not just in LA, but in most major urban centers in the US. While few, if any, fights have risen to such an escalation in recent times, it really is a sign of things to come, unless action is taken.
As an educator, I am naturally biased towards where the blame lies. I think as teachers, we need more support both from the administrations we teach with, but also from the parents of our students. Many of the problems seen in our urban classrooms today are problems that are stemming from the home and the family-structure (or should I say, lack thereof). The root cause of much of the problems we are seeing is a lack of values being instilled into our youths in the home. I suspect this is the main cause of many of the problems we are seeing in many of our urban high schools.
Stop the fighting? But how can that be done without denying students their right to self-expression? Would we not damage their self esteem beyond repair? After all, there are worse things then utter chaos, no learning, and a few contusions, bruises, broken bones and knife wounds in educations, aren't there?
A lot of this behavior stems from the lawlessness of Los Angeles itself. The Mayor defies federal immigration laws, instructs the police to not make problems for illegals, and has fostered a sanctuary city. Kids were encouraged by the Mayor to leave schools and defy school rules during the immigration marches. Legislators also encouraged students to break school rules to attend the marches. I still say, Los Angeles deserves everything it is about to receive.
It's sad to think this is what a now common event in schools everywhere. Teachers deserve a medal to be teaching in and putting up with what they do in some schools!
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