Criminalizing the Classroom

The New Empire

Coming soon to a school near you.

==========================
June 19, 2007
What Kind of a System Does This to Its Youth?
Criminalizing the Classroom

By LINDA FLORES

"They're treating us like criminals, like we're animals."

-- Student at Curtis High School, Staten Island, New York City

"Sometimes the classroom feels like a jail cell."

-- Jane Min, Flushing High School, Queens, New York City

Imagine if schools were places where youth were treated like the
precious people they are--where their creativity, their curiosity, and
their critical thinking were valued and encouraged. Imagine if, in
school and out of school, the youth were challenged and unleashed and
they were called upon to discuss and debate everything from Shakespeare
to religion, from the state of the planet to how society--including
their own schools--should be run. Imagine if the rebellious spirit and
questioning of the youth were not only not squashed and
corralled--imagine if it were valued as a crucial part of
revolutionizing society.

But in this society, we can only imagine this. And for way too many
youth, the experience is exactly the opposite. Schools are ringed with
fences and metal detectors. Instead of the sounds of debate and lively
discussion over string theory or globalization, the hallways ring with
echoes of cops, Glocks at their hips, screaming to the youth to "Get the
**** back in line!"

When youth come to school, instead of knowing they are coming to a safe
place where they will learn and be learned from, they live with fear:
will they be frisked and humiliated in front of everyone for no real
reason? Will they be arrested if they wander out of the metal detector
line? Will they make it home at the end of the day, or will they be
taken to jail for swearing or getting into a fight?

An important report, "Criminalizing the Classroom: The Over-Policing of
New York City Schools," was released by the New York Civil Liberties
Union in March 2007 . It covers the experience of youth in New York
City, but it provides an all-too-rare glimpse at the experience of youth
all over this country, particularly Black and Latino youth--the
harassment, degradation, brutalization, and criminalization that they
are forced to endure when they come to school. The report is drawn from
interviews with parents, teachers, school administrators and staff, and,
importantly, surveys from 1,000 youth in New York City schools.

In New York City, the public schools have been policed by the NYPD since
1998. In the 2005-2006 school year, there were a total of 4,625 cops
(200 of them armed) patrolling the schools as so-called "School Safety
Agents (SSAs)." The NYCLU report points out that if the NYPD's School
Safety Division were its own police force, it would be the 10th largest
in the country--larger than the entire police force in Washington, D.C.,
Detroit, or Boston.


Cops Like School Prison Guards

Under the school "safety" program, any junior high and high school in
the New York public school system is subject to "roving metal
detectors." What this has meant is cops coming into schools unannounced,
setting up a military-style task force. In an approach very similar to
what U.S. soldiers do in Iraq, the cops swarm in, take over the school's
cafeteria or gym, and turn the school into a police zone, snaked with
lines of students waiting to pass through the metal detectors.

Students are forced to wait for hours in line as their bags are searched
and their cell phones (prohibited in the school district) or cameras
(not prohibited) are confiscated. And 21 percent of the city's junior
high and high schools now have metal detectors permanently installed. At
Wadleigh Secondary School in Manhattan, one student who found a "roving"
metal detector at his school called his mother to come pick up his phone
before it was confiscated--and was then arrested when he tried to
explain why he wasn't waiting in line.

These cops in the schools act like, and basically function as, prison
guards: barking orders, pushing and shoving students, deciding
arbitrarily what is and is not allowed on any given day. Students' bags
are searched, and everything from house keys to spare change is
confiscated. The cops decide what they will and won't let students bring
in to schools. For example, some students who had permission to carry
cell phones had them taken. Some students had their iPods confiscated
and never returned. And at an aviation magnet high school, students had
their engineering supplies taken for supposedly being "weapons."

Cops have confiscated students' food and then eaten it. Students are
routinely yelled at and cursed at, and have reported being physically
shoved through the metal detectors or shoved against the wall to be
frisked regardless of whether they set off the metal detectors. At one
school, the cops taunted one student who was wearing a nice coat,
accusing him of stealing it. When one cop found a blank CD in a
student's backpack he said, "Is that rap? That's probably why you're
being searched." In one eight-month period more than 17,000 items were
taken from students in the "roving" metal detector program--70 percent
of them were cell phones, and 29 percent were iPods and similar items.
Not one gun was found.

The NYCLU report detailed numerous instances where the cops actively
terrorized and brutalized students. At one school, cops chased students
who tried to avoid the checkpoints, screaming, "Round them up!" At
Samuel Tilden High School in Brooklyn, a 17-year-old student named Biko
Edwards was walking toward his chemistry class when a vice principal
stopped him. When Biko protested not being allowed to go to class, the
vice principal called in a cop. The report describes what happened next:

"Officer Rivera then grabbed Biko and slammed him against a brick
door divider, lacerating Biko's face and causing him to bleed. Officer
Rivera then sprayed Mace at Biko's eyes and face, causing Biko's eyes to
burn. Rather than treat the student, Officer Rivera then called for
back-up on his radio, and proceeded to handcuff Biko [He]was taken to a
hospital where he spent approximately two hours being treated for his
wounds, and spending most of his time in the hospital handcuffed to a
chair He faces five criminal charges."

And what happens to young women in these schools--are they places where
young women are treated as human beings with value and intelligence, and
not as a collection of body parts? Are the schools themselves a place
where young women and men are encouraged to debate the oppression of
women, and called upon to solve it? No--the schools are places where
women are harassed and groped by the armed enforcers of the state
themselves. One student reported that "the police like to put their
hands on kids without reason." And 27 percent of students surveyed
reported that officers touched or treated them in a way that made them
feel uncomfortable. Young women whose underwire bras set off the metal
detectors reported they were forced to lift up their shirts, supposedly
to prove they weren't carrying any weapons, or to unzip or unbuckle
their pants supposedly to prove they weren't concealing cell phones.
Young women have been searched by male officers, and the report says,
"students and teachers alike complain that male SSAs subject girls to
inappropriate behavior, including flirting and sexual attention." At one
high school, cops were heard making remarks about a young woman's body.
At another school, a gay student was humiliated every day as male cops
would flip coins to see who had to search him.


Teachers Also Targeted

And what about those teachers who really are trying to make a
difference? Who care about the students and despite low pay, cutbacks,
deteriorating buildings, and increasingly fascistic rules, and who are
really trying to connect with students and give them an education? Who
do not like the way schools are being turned into prisons?

The ACLU report exposes how teachers who dare to defend their students
are attacked and brutalized, sending a crystal clear message to the
youth: "No one is going to defend you. Look what happens to anyone that
does." Take one story recounted in the report:

"On March 8, 2005, at least seven NYPD officers arrived at the New
School for Arts and Sciences after teachers called 911 to ask for
medical assistance for a student who had been involved in a fight.

"Several teachers had successfully stopped the fight and controlled the
situation before the police responded, and Cara Wolfson-Kronen, a social
studies teacher, informed the 911 operator that the fight had been
defused. Despite this, one of the officers demanded that the teachers
identify the students who had been involved in the fight and said that
they would be handcuffed.

"Quinn Kronen, an English teacher, pointed out that those students were
now peacefully sitting in the classroom. Officer Bowen responded by
yelling: 'You ****ing teachers need to get your **** together. These
kids are running crazy. You need to get rid of them.' When Mr. Kronen
objected to such language, Sergeant Walter told Mr. Kronen that he had
'better shut the **** up' or she would arrest him. When Ms.
Wolfson-Kronen objected, Sergeant Walter said: 'that is it; cuff the
bitch.' Officers arrested Ms. Wolfson-Kronen, paraded her out of school
in handcuffs and forced her to stand outside in sub-freezing temperature
without a jacket. They also arrested Mr. Kronen.

"The teachers were detained at the 41st Precinct for approximately two
hours before being released. The charges against them -- disorderly
conduct -- were dismissed at their initial court hearing, because their
alleged wrongdoing did not constitute unlawful activity.

"On March 22, 2005, Mr. Kronen and Ms. Wolfson-Kronen received an
anonymous letter signed by 'The Brotherhood.' The letter threatened them
with physical harm for 'messing up with our fellow officers' continuing:
'If I were you I'd be planning my getting out of New York fast.'"

In October 2006, Adhim Deveaux, a math teacher at the Urban Assembly
Academy of History and Citizenship, ran outside after hearing that one
of his students was being assaulted by a cop. After seeing the student
being slammed onto a car, Deveaux went up to the cop, hoping he could
calm the situation down; he said, "He's my student, I'm his teacher.
He's just a kid." In response the cop hit and shoved Deveaux and then
another cop grabbed Deveaux from behind, slammed him onto the sidewalk
and handcuffed him. Deveaux was taken to the precinct and charged with
assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, and obstructing
governmental administration.

This teacher was trying to defuse a situation before it got worse: in
any society where the police or other kinds of authorities were really
about serving the people, they would welcome this and try to work with
and rely on the teacher--and they would listen when the teacher pleaded,
"He's just a kid." But these cops arrested the teacher, because
enforcing repressive prison-like conditions in the schools is what they
are about--not trying to solve problems among the students and teachers.


Criminalization of the Youth

The NYCLU report details numerous times where students were attacked
and/or arrested for petty and ridiculous offenses like swearing, being
late for school or refusing to turn over their cell phones. Their web
site mentions a case of a 13-year-old girl who was handcuffed and taken
into custody in May for drawing on her desk in school, charged with
graffiti. These are youth who are doing nothing wrong--and they are
being pulled into the criminal system and treated like criminals themselves.

And this kind of criminalization of the youth is not limited to New York
City. Bob Herbert, a writer for the New York Times, has written a number
of columns about outrageous instances of police brutality against youth,
including a 6-year-old Black girl in Florida who was handcuffed and
driven to jail because she threw a tantrum in kindergarten, and a
7-year-old Black boy in Baltimore handcuffed for riding a dirt bike on
the sidewalk. Herbert points to the racist discrimination involved in
such cases. For instance a 14-year-old Black girl in Texas was sentenced
to seven years in prison in 2006 for shoving a hall monitor (she was
recently released) while a white girl in the same town convicted of
arson was sentenced only to probation.

Commenting on how students are "belittled, shouted at, cursed at,
instrusively searched and improperly touched by cops," Bob Herbert
points out: "This poisonous police behavior is an extension into the
schools of the humiliating treatment cops have long been doling out to
youngsters--especially those who are black or Latino--on the city's
streets." ("Poisonous Police Behavior," June 2, 2007)

What kind of message is this sending to the youth? Schools should be
places where the youth are encouraged to test and try out limits, where
they are encouraged to make mistakes, where the most important thing is
making sure their minds are really challenged and unleashed. But not in
this society. When a young woman is handcuffed for drawing on a desk, or
a 6-year-old is handcuffed for throwing a tantrum, this is a reflection
of how this society views youth. And the message to the youth themselves
here is unmistakable: This is not your world. Your lives don't matter.
The only future this system has for you is a **** job or prison. And
when the cops arrest these youth, these illegitimate and bogus arrests
are used to "prove" that the youth really are criminals, and to isolate
these youth further from the rest of society.

It is not simply that these cops are racist, brute thugs who hate and
fear the youth they are charged with controlling--although that is
unmistakable after reading things like this report. The outrageous and
brutal use of the police in the schools and more generally against the
youth reflects the role of the police in enforcing exploitative and
oppressive relations in society, including national oppression. These
police are not in the schools (or anywhere else) to "serve and protect"
the people. They are there to serve and protect the conditions of
poverty, misery and degradation that many of these youth face with the
highest unemployment and worst housing, education, and health care.

The report states that "during the 2004-2005 school year, 82 percent of
children attending high schools with permanent metal detectors were
Black and Latino, a minority enrollment rate eleven percentage points
higher than in schools citywide. At DeWitt Clinton High School in the
Bronx, the largest high school with permanent metal detectors in the
city, there are 4,511 students and not one school librarian."

What kind of system is it, where youth are forced to go to overcrowded,
under-funded schools that look more like prisons than places of learning
and growth? What kind of system treats the energy, the creativity, the
rebelliousness of youth, as something to be snuffed out, rather than
cherished and unleashed? What kind of system has enforcers who harass
youth for not going to school--and then harass and even arrest them, for
petty bull****, when they do?

Those who peddle the lie about America being the "land of opportunity
where any kid can become president," who prattle on about the "value of
education" and "no child left behind"--while saying and doing nothing
about the prison-like conditions in schools--have no right to speak
about "individual responsibility" and how the youth need to take make
"better choices."

To quote Pink's song "Dear Mr. President":

"How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb, and we're not blind
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell"

Linda Flores writes for Revolution. She can be reached at:

at Amazon.com





--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Jun 19, 12:36 pm, Joe wrote:
The New Empire

Coming soon to a school near you.
SNIP

From the New York Post:

"Students checked more than 1,500 guns, knives and other dangerous
items at the door at New York City schools this year - down 18 percent
from last year.

"From July 1, 2006, to June 10 of this year, cops netted 353 weapons -
including guns and knives - from city schools. They also confiscated
1,340 "dangerous instruments," including penknives, imitation guns,
laser pointers and pipes."

I don't think that armed police officers and metal detectors are the
answer to this problem. But I sure as heck don't think that removing
them is going to create some sort of utopian dream school.

So, Joe, since you posted this screed, what is YOUR suggestion?

Barbara

Barbara wrote:
On Jun 19, 12:36 pm, Joe wrote:
The New Empire

Coming soon to a school near you.
SNIP

From the New York Post:

"Students checked more than 1,500 guns, knives and other dangerous
items at the door at New York City schools this year - down 18 percent
from last year.

"From July 1, 2006, to June 10 of this year, cops netted 353 weapons -
including guns and knives - from city schools. They also confiscated
1,340 "dangerous instruments," including penknives, imitation guns,
laser pointers and pipes."

I don't think that armed police officers and metal detectors are the
answer to this problem. But I sure as heck don't think that removing
them is going to create some sort of utopian dream school.

So, Joe, since you posted this screed, what is YOUR suggestion?

Barbara



Hi Barbara -

I didn't post this excellent article to suggest 'solutions' but to
illustrate the march of fascism across our once great land.

Power to the ninnies. lol.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Jun 19, 2:01 pm, "0:-]" wrote:
On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:35:21 -0400, Joe wrote:
Barbara wrote:
On Jun 19, 12:36 pm, Joe wrote:
The New Empire

Coming soon to a school near you.
SNIP

From the New York Post:

"Students checked more than 1,500 guns, knives and other dangerous
items at the door at New York City schools this year - down 18 percent
from last year.

"From July 1, 2006, to June 10 of this year, cops netted 353 weapons -
including guns and knives - from city schools. They also confiscated
1,340 "dangerous instruments," including penknives, imitation guns,
laser pointers and pipes."

I don't think that armed police officers and metal detectors are the
answer to this problem. But I sure as heck don't think that removing
them is going to create some sort of utopian dream school.

So, Joe, since you posted this screed, what is YOUR suggestion?

Barbara

Hi Barbara -

I didn't post this excellent article to suggest 'solutions' but to
illustrate the march of fascism across our once great land.

Oh, real news. Okay then. 0:]

Power to the ninnies. lol.

One of the great things about this country and it's system is the
intent of the founders to have it rest on tension between factions.
They learned this, I think, most powerfully as the pre-debates around
centralized vs decentralized states rights government raged between
thinkers.

Hence we have this disconcerting (to some) seesawing back and forth
around just about any human issue one can think of... with the means
built in for one or the other to have the power, PERIODICALLY, if it's
a close call issue.

We see it in our system of elections for certain offices, and not for
others.

We see it in a bureaucracy that still has to answer to the people both
directly and through the OTHER two branches of government when one is
the problem.

What does all of this have to do with the COPS in those schools
roughing up students and teachers needlessly, false arrest
and "the brotherhood" threats after a cop got caught for it?
Or the needless and counterproductive surly behavior
and obscene language?

Sadly, metal detectors do seem to be called for in many schools.

The other NAZI like behaviors are not going to enhance
quality of life or endear citizens to the Police or government.
The NAZI like behaviors prove beyond a shadow of doubt
that Law Enforcement Officers can actually be worse than
the thugs they are supposedly an antidote for.

I can charge the executive to enforce laws broken by either of the
other two, and I can put, via law, those in any of the three in fact,
facing the judicial. I can lobby AND I can vote IN and OUT my
representatives in the legislative.

I see you made no mention of "beauty contest" effects in elections
or the way the two parties are blurred together to the point they
are almost not distiguishable from each other.

I think our government and legal code has reached such a
high level of complexity that even if every bureaucrat
were a brain surgeon, they could not manage it all by the code.

And they sure as hell are not brain surgeons.

Man it's clumsy, isn't it....but it's got what I think of as big
feet...a broad foundation that so far has not fallen, and when it
totters, I can make it teeter right back up.

Megalomania again? Like Atlas you PERSONALLY hold up the world?

We've done it successfully for 250 years or so.

Isn't that reason enough to be much more cautious
about choking ourselves with more laws, more socialism,
more government and more bureaucracy?

Or straying too far from the Bill Of Rights guarantees
because a politically appealing expansion of
Social Bureaucracy on a crusade would be hindered?

So be not alarmed, my son, for neither rampant fascism, nor lunatic
liberalism, will prevail for any great length of time.

Translation: Your personal brand of politics is going to push
the fascists and the liberals out, right?

Or are you going to ""infiltrate"" them and destroy those
who won't worship you?

Blessing. Kane

A Blessing from an avowed atheist? Damn peculiar!
Perhaps you think you are a new God, seeking adherents?

Greegor wrote:
On Jun 19, 2:01 pm, "0:-]" wrote:
On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:35:21 -0400, Joe wrote:
Barbara wrote:
On Jun 19, 12:36 pm, Joe wrote:
The New Empire
Coming soon to a school near you.
SNIP
From the New York Post:
"Students checked more than 1,500 guns, knives and other dangerous
items at the door at New York City schools this year - down 18 percent
from last year.
"From July 1, 2006, to June 10 of this year, cops netted 353 weapons -
including guns and knives - from city schools. They also confiscated
1,340 "dangerous instruments," including penknives, imitation guns,
laser pointers and pipes."
I don't think that armed police officers and metal detectors are the
answer to this problem. But I sure as heck don't think that removing
them is going to create some sort of utopian dream school.
So, Joe, since you posted this screed, what is YOUR suggestion?
Barbara
Hi Barbara -
I didn't post this excellent article to suggest 'solutions' but to
illustrate the march of fascism across our once great land.
Oh, real news. Okay then. 0:]

Power to the ninnies. lol.
One of the great things about this country and it's system is the
intent of the founders to have it rest on tension between factions.
They learned this, I think, most powerfully as the pre-debates around
centralized vs decentralized states rights government raged between
thinkers.

Hence we have this disconcerting (to some) seesawing back and forth
around just about any human issue one can think of... with the means
built in for one or the other to have the power, PERIODICALLY, if it's
a close call issue.

We see it in our system of elections for certain offices, and not for
others.

We see it in a bureaucracy that still has to answer to the people both
directly and through the OTHER two branches of government when one is
the problem.

What does all of this have to do with the COPS in those schools
roughing up students and teachers needlessly, false arrest
and "the brotherhood" threats after a cop got caught for it?
Or the needless and counterproductive surly behavior
and obscene language?

Sadly, metal detectors do seem to be called for in many schools.

The other NAZI like behaviors are not going to enhance
quality of life or endear citizens to the Police or government.
The NAZI like behaviors prove beyond a shadow of doubt
that Law Enforcement Officers can actually be worse than
the thugs they are supposedly an antidote for.

I can charge the executive to enforce laws broken by either of the
other two, and I can put, via law, those in any of the three in fact,
facing the judicial. I can lobby AND I can vote IN and OUT my
representatives in the legislative.

I see you made no mention of "beauty contest" effects in elections
or the way the two parties are blurred together to the point they
are almost not distiguishable from each other.

I think our government and legal code has reached such a
high level of complexity that even if every bureaucrat
were a brain surgeon, they could not manage it all by the code.

And they sure as hell are not brain surgeons.

Man it's clumsy, isn't it....but it's got what I think of as big
feet...a broad foundation that so far has not fallen, and when it
totters, I can make it teeter right back up.

Megalomania again? Like Atlas you PERSONALLY hold up the world?

We've done it successfully for 250 years or so.

Isn't that reason enough to be much more cautious
about choking ourselves with more laws, more socialism,
more government and more bureaucracy?

Or straying too far from the Bill Of Rights guarantees
because a politically appealing expansion of
Social Bureaucracy on a crusade would be hindered?

So be not alarmed, my son, for neither rampant fascism, nor lunatic
liberalism, will prevail for any great length of time.

Translation: Your personal brand of politics is going to push
the fascists and the liberals out, right?

Or are you going to ""infiltrate"" them and destroy those
who won't worship you?

Blessing. Kane

A Blessing from an avowed atheist? Damn peculiar!
Perhaps you think you are a new God, seeking adherents?


The way he rants OT - sometimes I think he has help form AI.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Barbara wrote:
On Jun 19, 12:36 pm, Joe wrote:
The New Empire

Coming soon to a school near you.
SNIP

From the New York Post:

"Students checked more than 1,500 guns, knives and other dangerous
items at the door at New York City schools this year - down 18 percent
from last year.

I work in a NYC school and I call bull**** on this story. In the sweeps the
cops have done on my building -- and there are about 3,000 kids -- they have
netted one gun and two or three knives. That's ALL year. They have had
three or four sweeps, can't remember. What the cops do net is cellular
phones, gameboys, ipods -- TONS of "contraband" like that.

"From July 1, 2006, to June 10 of this year, cops netted 353 weapons -
including guns and knives - from city schools. They also confiscated
1,340 "dangerous instruments," including penknives, imitation guns,
laser pointers and pipes."

I don't think that armed police officers and metal detectors are the
answer to this problem. But I sure as heck don't think that removing
them is going to create some sort of utopian dream school.

You know what? As someone who works in the NYC public school system, I am
utterly and totally disgusted at how the kids are treated. Cops, SSAs,
certain teachers, deans, and administrators treat these kids just like
prisoners. They are preparing them for a life in jail. They are teaching
them how to behave in jail. These kids are not learning the skills they
will need to thrive in the corporate world -- nope. They are learning to be
prisoners. It's disgusting and I am sick and tired of adults who act like
prison guards and who have no idea how to model the kind of behavior that
will help these kids succeed in the real world.

So, Joe, since you posted this screed, what is YOUR suggestion?

Since I work in a NYC public school, my suggestion is a training course for
all faculty, SSAs, paras, schools aides, etc. People need to learn the
importance of modeling, polite, considerate behavior. How are these kids
going to learn how effective such behavior is unless they see it in action?
FWIW, metal detectors don't stop anything. If a kid wants to get something
in, he will. One other thing -- this ban on cellular phones is ridiculous.
Parents WANT their children to have them, and I don't blame them. The ban
is impossible to enforce and it is just rude to the parents to say, "Well,
we don't care what you want, we are just banning the cellular phones."
Please. Let us enter reality, shall we? These kids are taking public
transportation to school. They walk through bad neighborhoods. They should
have their phones. They just shouldn't be allowed to use them in class.


Barbara

--
nimue

"Let your freak-flag fly, and if someone doesn't get you, move on."
Drew Barrymore

On Jun 20, 8:24 am, "nimue" wrote:
Barbara wrote:
On Jun 19, 12:36 pm, Joe wrote:
The New Empire

Coming soon to a school near you.
SNIP

From the New York Post:

"Students checked more than 1,500 guns, knives and other dangerous
items at the door at New York City schools this year - down 18 percent
from last year.

I work in a NYC school and I call bull**** on this story. In the sweeps the
cops have done on my building -- and there are about 3,000 kids -- they have
netted one gun and two or three knives. That's ALL year. They have had
three or four sweeps, can't remember. What the cops do net is cellular
phones, gameboys, ipods -- TONS of "contraband" like that.



"From July 1, 2006, to June 10 of this year, cops netted 353 weapons -
including guns and knives - from city schools. They also confiscated
1,340 "dangerous instruments," including penknives, imitation guns,
laser pointers and pipes."

I don't think that armed police officers and metal detectors are the
answer to this problem. But I sure as heck don't think that removing
them is going to create some sort of utopian dream school.

You know what? As someone who works in the NYC public school system, I am
utterly and totally disgusted at how the kids are treated. Cops, SSAs,
certain teachers, deans, and administrators treat these kids just like
prisoners. They are preparing them for a life in jail. They are teaching
them how to behave in jail. These kids are not learning the skills they
will need to thrive in the corporate world -- nope. They are learning to be
prisoners. It's disgusting and I am sick and tired of adults who act like
prison guards and who have no idea how to model the kind of behavior that
will help these kids succeed in the real world.



So, Joe, since you posted this screed, what is YOUR suggestion?

Since I work in a NYC public school, my suggestion is a training course for
all faculty, SSAs, paras, schools aides, etc. People need to learn the
importance of modeling, polite, considerate behavior. How are these kids
going to learn how effective such behavior is unless they see it in action?
FWIW, metal detectors don't stop anything. If a kid wants to get something
in, he will. One other thing -- this ban on cellular phones is ridiculous.
Parents WANT their children to have them, and I don't blame them. The ban
is impossible to enforce and it is just rude to the parents to say, "Well,
we don't care what you want, we are just banning the cellular phones."
Please. Let us enter reality, shall we? These kids are taking public
transportation to school. They walk through bad neighborhoods. They should
have their phones. They just shouldn't be allowed to use them in class.



Barbara

--
nimue

"Let your freak-flag fly, and if someone doesn't get you, move on."
Drew Barrymore



I agree that in the end, young people are too often left feeling like
they are in jail as opposed to in an environment of learning. I would
also agree that all teachers, cops, security personal, associates and
volunteers should act as if they are demonstrating the same positive
social behaviors that we want to see the students utilizing. I am,
however, not sure what the best plan of action is to deter the
violence that is rampaging through the lives of our young adults in so
many cities in America. I was disturbed to see a news article
concerning the number of youth killed this year that belong to the New
York public schools. If one child in my upper middle class
neighborhood was killed through violence the entire country would be
seeing it on national TV and the community would be outraged. I think
the problem stems from people not valuing the life of inner city poor
kids. I will continue to speak out on behalf of the children who must
walk through "scary" neighborhoods to get to school and feel that
joining a gang is the only way to stay safe but only until the great
people of the US begin to value every life that lives in every
neighborhood can we find a positive solution for the problems in the
community and in the schools. I am a teacher that worked with inner
city youth for 5 1/2 years. The saddest stories were of children that
carried weapons, not to hurt the teachers or the other students but to
protect themselves on the walk or ride into school. Some of these
students left school long before graduation do to the pressures of
coming to school and worrying about the violence that would be inside
or right outside the door. Where is the beginning? Education of the
adults, police (acting as positive community members) on the streets
each morning and afternoon keeping an eye on the neighborhood, and all
people valuing the lives of these VERY scared kids and trying to help
get rid of the "street creed". It is amazing when you sit down with
these "dangerous" kids and their families. They will tell you that
they are scared and would give anything to live somewhere, anywhere
else. For what its worth....

On Jun 20, 9:24 am, "nimue" wrote:
Barbara wrote:
On Jun 19, 12:36 pm, Joe wrote:
The New Empire

Coming soon to a school near you.
SNIP

From the New York Post:

"Students checked more than 1,500 guns, knives and other dangerous
items at the door at New York City schools this year - down 18 percent
from last year.

I work in a NYC school and I call bull**** on this story. In the sweeps the
cops have done on my building -- and there are about 3,000 kids -- they have
netted one gun and two or three knives. That's ALL year. They have had
three or four sweeps, can't remember. What the cops do net is cellular
phones, gameboys, ipods -- TONS of "contraband" like that.

The numbers here actually don't refer to the sweeps. As noted below,
the sweeps numbers are 353 guns, knives and other weapons. This
sounds right based on your numbers at a single school with just a
couple of sweeps. And, IMHO, even one gun or knife in school is too
many,

As to the other *contraband,* its just plain silly. Maybe -- maybe,
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here -- there was some reason
that I'm not aware of to ban cell phones at some point. But
particularly in NYC schools, where kids may be travelling some
distance, the benefits to families of their kids having the phones is
likely to outweigh those concerns. And, let's face it. At this
point, its a losing battle. IMHO, its just another sign of
administrators who are out of touch with reality. If kids misuse
their phones, iPods, etc, then the schools should deal with that.



"From July 1, 2006, to June 10 of this year, cops netted 353 weapons -
including guns and knives - from city schools. They also confiscated
1,340 "dangerous instruments," including penknives, imitation guns,
laser pointers and pipes."

I don't think that armed police officers and metal detectors are the
answer to this problem. But I sure as heck don't think that removing
them is going to create some sort of utopian dream school.

You know what? As someone who works in the NYC public school system, I am
utterly and totally disgusted at how the kids are treated. Cops, SSAs,
certain teachers, deans, and administrators treat these kids just like
prisoners. They are preparing them for a life in jail. They are teaching
them how to behave in jail. These kids are not learning the skills they
will need to thrive in the corporate world -- nope. They are learning to be
prisoners. It's disgusting and I am sick and tired of adults who act like
prison guards and who have no idea how to model the kind of behavior that
will help these kids succeed in the real world.

I don't disagree with you. But I don't think that removing the metal
detectors solves this problem. You suggest teacher education, which
may be a good idea.



So, Joe, since you posted this screed, what is YOUR suggestion?

Since I work in a NYC public school, my suggestion is a training course for
all faculty, SSAs, paras, schools aides, etc. People need to learn the
importance of modeling, polite, considerate behavior. How are these kids
going to learn how effective such behavior is unless they see it in action?

I agree here. Every child is entitled to be treated with respect and
consideration. If our schools are not doing that, then they need to.

But what sanctions are you willing to impose for breach of rules of
proper conduct? Are you willing to allow disciplinary action,
including dismissal of school personnel -- including teachers -- who
fail to act properly on several occasions? I would, but I'm not a
teacher, and I'm guessing that the union wouldn't go along with it.

FWIW, metal detectors don't stop anything. If a kid wants to get something
in, he will.

So what *do* we do to keep guns and knives out of schools? I'm with
you on hating what is being done now. Nonetheless, I don't think that
treating kids better helps this issue. (Rather, its a necessary goal
on its own.)

One other thing -- this ban on cellular phones is ridiculous.
Parents WANT their children to have them, and I don't blame them. The ban
is impossible to enforce and it is just rude to the parents to say, "Well,
we don't care what you want, we are just banning the cellular phones."
Please. Let us enter reality, shall we? These kids are taking public
transportation to school. They walk through bad neighborhoods. They should
have their phones. They just shouldn't be allowed to use them in class.

As noted above, agreed.

Barbara