Fri Apr 11, 2008 at 9:53 AMBy: sad High School Art Teacher Attacked In Class - On Video -- Gets Little Help Make that a Baltimore high school (not Detroit). The students who stood by and watched should be addressed too. One even grabbed a cell phone off the floor but didn't try to pull the attacker off the teacher. Teachers - what do you believe the other students should have done and why?

Fri Apr 11, 2008 at 8:34 PMBy: To N High School Art Teacher Attacked In Class - On Video -- Gets Little Help White children carry out some of the most vicious attacks against staff and other students. Columbine and other school violence is caused by children of all races. Did you know that the profile of a child most likley to participate in a mass shooting is white. Give me a break--you are way off base and RACIST!!!!

Fri Apr 11, 2008 at 9:38 PMBy: mimi High School Art Teacher Attacked In Class - On Video -- Gets Little Help It is heartbreaking to see that film.
We live in a world gone crazy, even sadder is if the teacher had been able to defend herself, the other onlookers would have jumped in and beaten her even more.
We live in a world where violence is entertainment.
The more horrific, the more it is watched.
What can be taught to stop this.
All of those kids should be kicked out of school.
Parents are concerned that we are calling them kids, but they don't give a damn what their kids do, how thae act, or who they hurt.
Those are not innocent little babes!

Sat Apr 12, 2008 at 7:25 AMBy: Soon to be displaced by CPS High School Art Teacher Attacked In Class - On Video -- Gets Little Help Matt Lauer-What are we suppose to do? If we act passive then the aggressive students will still try and intimidate and you will become a target for the entire year. I have told my students several times that I will defend myself and they know that I will. My classroom is not perfect in terms of discipline but I have a understanding with my students in this regards......

Sat Apr 12, 2008 at 8:49 AMBy: Jim Vail High School Art Teacher Attacked In Class - On Video -- Gets Little Help What can one say after seeing a horrorific beating - and in a school, with little consequences? How is this allowed? Only in a capitalistic country where these 'throw aways' who don't have the families to protect them, are fodder for the prisons, drug world or McDonald's jobs. The system is set up for this to happen. China almost wiped out illiteracy under the communists who would not have standed for this. Now their educational system is breaking down for the rest of the people as they embrace capitalism and the class system that ensures two different worlds like ours. I guess it all depends on the priorities of the country and the system you live in. In a sense we're all to blame for this, to live in such a world that tolerates this. The true heroes in the inner city schools who do battle to give the kids a better world are, unfortunately, only cannon fodder to the ruling class who don't need the children they serve.

Sat Apr 12, 2008 at 9:45 AMBy: N Reprised High School Art Teacher Attacked In Class - On Video -- Gets Little Help " only black kids will be able to do something like this... nobody wants to say it but it's just the truth..."

Really? Where have you been?

Have you not seen the video filmed by group of Florida cheerleaders who beat a girl so badly, her family could not recognize her? Not filmed on the fly, but planned out;the girl was kidnapped and her beating filmed for 30 minutes (near the end, one girl can be heard shouting, 'there's only 17 seconds left, make it good!'). The defendants were laughing and giggling as they were charged, and asking if they would still make cheerleading practice the next day.

And these girls? Looked like a Disney Channel show. An absolute Hannah Montana festival.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/12/us/12florida.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=cheerleader&st=nyt

Sat Apr 12, 2008 at 10:07 AMBy: cermak_rd High School Art Teacher Attacked In Class - On Video -- Gets Little Help North side schools vs. south, east or west side schools isn't just about race though. It's far more a matter of class. Middle class and higher students have more to lose by embracing a culture of nihilism, though some do, as seen by the violence at Columbine and other places. Families that are middle class or higher have more resources, both economically and socially, to ensure their children are being served. Many of the poorest families in Chicagoland are completely nonfunctional and unable to even look out for the basic interests of their children. Heck, the parents may even be in a gang so have absolutely no interest in keeping their children out of gangs. But it does no good to pretend that the tendency toward violence and familial incompetence is endemic to a race of people, it is purely a matter of class and poverty. Take a gander at the stats in the UK sometime where the poverty is ethnically about the same as the general population.

Sun Apr 13, 2008 at 9:15 AMBy: new norm High School Art Teacher Attacked In Class - On Video -- Gets Little Help Haven't you ever watched Jerry Springer? I think this video is a representation of the "new norm." If something isn't going your way....punch it out!

Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 11:55 AMBy: A Conerned Parent High School Art Teacher Attacked In Class - On Video -- Gets Little Help I have posted her before regarding Gwendolyn Brooks Preparatory High School. My intention was to add to earlier postings, however, I just discovered your move to a different location/new site. I wanted you to know that your efforts are appreciated.

16 April 2008


An Open Letter to the Mayor and the Chicago Board of Education

I am probably just as guilty as any other adult or parent of a Chicago Public school student, who has personally observed physical violence among other students while they were on school property. Yet, I was very reluctant to take appropriate action. In fact, I actually became aware of the problem after listening to the lamentable statements of indifference and “super-tough” attitude from my children that was intended to project the illusion of personal strength and courage, but actually belie deep fear and concern.

The youth culture and our overall societal actions give the impression that the violent actions of our youth, if not actually acceptable, are at least tolerated for reasons ranging from claims of self-defense to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Situations like this should never, ever, seem to perpetuate a standard that allows a reduction in the peace, tranquility and nurturing atmosphere that is supposed to exist in a school environment. Senseless violence may be better understood, or at least acknowledged, outside the school premises, but certainly not within the school grounds or inside the building itself.

The city has assigned sworn police officers to patrol the schools and maintain security for our children. Some schools have even supplemented that security by hiring private firms or individuals under contract with the Board of Education to help in the effort.

The appearance of effectiveness and the reality are quite different. There are nowhere near enough Chicago Police officers available or assigned to those duties (the Chicago Police School units were disbanded and/or downsized with significant personnel and resource reductions, all while we are being told that we have enough police officers). The current administrations, both at City Hall and the Board of Education, have been misleading the public for at least the past ten years. There are not enough police for regular law enforcement duties and service, let alone sufficient personnel to guard our schools. Those deficits are evident – even to people that do not have a vested interest in the school or have children enrolled in Chicago Public schools.

Given the current climate of indifference on the part of some adults toward the violence (as long as it does not affect their child), or the potential issues raised by taking action to protect children not your own in this overly litigious society, the current approach is simply wrongheaded and very problematic. We need to find a way to address these issues before we lose even more of our children to the violence that permeates from some of our homes, the streets and our schools.

A prime example of failure on the part of the City of Chicago, the Chicago Board of Education, and more specifically, the current administration on the individual school level, is the travesty that is Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory School on Chicago’s Southside. Brooks, a school that had been touted for it’s innovation, grand expectations of providing a first-class education to it’s students (on the same level as, say, Whitney Young or Walter Payton), and it’s potential for becoming the premier college preparatory institution for African American students, has taken a sickening turn toward mediocrity. Brooks is about to become just another high school in a school system that likes to brag on it’s testing and placement accomplishments, while actually “cooking the books” on scores and statistics to improve their image.

The slipping standards of teaching, staffing, administration, leadership, educational priority and mandatory compliance issues at Brooks, are one set of problems. But, a parallel issue, if not the more important of the two, is safety and security for the hundreds of students that attend that institution.

I personally, as was alluded to earlier, observed an all out fight among as many as six students, with many others joining in the fray, less than five feet outside the entrance doors at Brooks (no more than 20 feet from the metal detector and security desk). My child was attempting to exit those doors, at the assigned dismissal time, and was unable to negotiate the large, violent and seemingly senseless brawl that was taking place directly in front of uniformed police and security. Those adult personnel initially refused to walk a few feet, open the doors, and attempt to quell this altercation that had already injured several students. Instead, they remained impassive, apparently waiting until the disturbance subsided before moving in that direction. They did not even bother to stem the flow of students trying to leave who had yet to get involved in the fight or prevent them from walking directly into the center of the violence.
It was not until I pushed my way past the fighting students, who by that time had attracted a mob of approximately 50 others, that I was able to physically enter the premises, gather my child and forcibly walk out another set of exit doors to the parking lot.

We recently discovered that the uniformed police officers assigned to the school end their tour of duty at the last period of the day (approximately 3:45 pm). Given that, I would imagine that they would be less than enthusiastic about getting involved in a fight just at the time they are to get off work.

My child was very upset with what they witnessed, and claimed with obvious truthfulness, that this was almost a common daily occurrence. My child related that there are regular incidents of students with weapons inside the school; gang recruiting; violent physical hazing of underclassmen; fights and gang initiations in vacant classrooms; threats and intimidation; food fights and violent verbal and physical altercations in the lunchroom; sexual abuse and harassment; racial taunting, slurs and physical attacks between some African American and Latino students. I was told that mostly all of these incidents occur either directly in view of school security personnel or they were supposed to be in a position to know about these occurrences and take the necessary action.
Unfortunately, I have had several occasions to witness a repeat of these kinds of incidents in the past several months.

I was told that although there is generally a good relationship between the races, there are still those on both sides who constantly try to incite unrest. I was also made to understand that many teachers and administrators are aware of these issues, but for reasons unknown, either refuse to address these concerns or are precluded from taking action because of some arcane in-school policy.

The administration at Brooks has already been cited as incompetent, indifferent and uninformed in regard to their own student body, whether it’s scholastic issues or other matters (just ask some of the concerned parents and teachers). They have consistently shown their disdain for the parents and students by essentially ignoring any protests, complaints, or legitimate concerns, whether written or oral, initiated by parents. They are apparently intent on driving the school into the ground . . . and the students along with them. While there are many ways to approach those issues germane to education, the physical safety issues of these young students is in more immediate need of attention. As one student expressed . . . “How can I focus on schoolwork when I am afraid of getting’ shot or beat down?”

There have been reports (and talk among students) about how some students, the majority of whom were female, feared the end of the school day because they might be attacked and sexually abused by both male and female students from other schools. Some of these attacks did occur on bus stops and in the neighborhood around the school. Once these reports reached members of the security staff and administration, the response was, “We are only responsible for what happens on school property, not beyond.”
Does that sound like the response of a reasonable, caring and professional educator? I think not.

Security issues at Brooks, as well as other Chicago Public schools, need to be addressed, especially in light of the mounting toll of students being killed almost daily on the streets of Chicago. Taking a more proactive approach and at least providing a basic amount of security on the actual premises of the schools should be a starting point. Hopefully decisive action will give our students a feeling of support and safety they sorely need to be successful in their educational endeavors.


A Concerned Parent