'Zero-Tolerance' school horror stories

SNKorSWM · Feb 12, 2011

Public schools aren't much more than just "daycare center for older tots", so there's really nothing to qualify for (Teacher's Edition FTW). If you can babysit and have no criminal records, then you're qualified. In turn, the students are asked to "not killing each other" rather than to learn anything of importance.

Private schools might not be better than public schools when it comes to education, but at least they don't have to adhere to asinine rules that public schools are made to follow. That alone is worth the babysitter fee.

Nesagwa · Feb 12, 2011

SNKorSWM said:
Public schools aren't much more than just "daycare center for older tots", so there's really nothing to qualify for (Teacher's Edition FTW). If you can babysit and have no criminal records, then you're qualified. In turn, the students are asked to "not killing each other" rather than to learn anything of importance.

Private schools might not be better than public schools when it comes to education, but at least they don't have to adhere to asinine rules that public schools are made to follow. That alone is worth the babysitter fee.

Not really.

evil wasabi · Feb 12, 2011

SNKorSWM said:
Public schools aren't much more than just "daycare center for older tots", so there's really nothing to qualify for (Teacher's Edition FTW). If you can babysit and have no criminal records, then you're qualified. In turn, the students are asked to "not killing each other" rather than to learn anything of importance.

Pretty much. Public schools only exist so that parents can go work meaningless jobs to generate tax revenue. It's a scam, sucker the population into sacrificing their precious and limited time on the planet, to accomplish bullshit for small pay. Public schools help make it easier to accomplish.

abasuto · Feb 12, 2011

My g/f attended a private high school and from talking with her, the quality of education she received was 100x better than mine.

What was required of you, the level of classes, at her school was what maybe 3% of the students at my school ever acheived. ie....making it to Calc was a requirement for her. I took Calc my senior year and there was literally maybe 10 kids in the class with me. That was also the only Calc class taught for the entire day and there was around 1,200 students at my school. I'd bet you vital organ that 75% of the kids in my school never made it above algebra. Even my Trig class was half empty my Jr year.

Another big thing was how every student at her school got college prep counseling. Every Senior was worked with one-on-one over what college they'd attend the next year. My school had around a 30% graduation rate and the only students who ever got spoken to over college were the athletes.

I actually got into UGA on an athletic scholarship. My GPA was terrible (1.8 I believe), but I got over 1500 on the SAT, plus I could throw a 97mph fastball with control.

evil wasabi · Feb 12, 2011

Abasuto said:
My g/f attended a private high school and from talking with her, the quality of education she received was 100x better than mine.

What was required of you, the level of classes, at her school was what maybe 3% of the students at my school ever acheived. ie....making it to Calc was a requirement for her. I took Calc my senior year and there was literally maybe 10 kids in the class with me. That was also the only Calc class taught for the entire day and there was around 1,200 students at my school. I'd bet you vital organ that 75% of the kids in my school never made it above algebra. Even my Trig class was half empty my Jr year.

Another big thing was how every student at her school got college prep counseling. Every Senior was worked with one-on-one over what college they'd attend the next year. My school had around a 30% graduation rate and the only students who ever got spoken to over college were the athletes.

I actually got into UGA on an athletic scholarship. My GPA was terrible (1.8 I believe), but I got over 1500 on the SAT, plus I could throw a 97mph fastball with control.

over 1500 on the SAT is impressive. But you're a smart guy, so it's not that surprising.

abasuto · Feb 13, 2011

As much as people want to point the full finger at the schools, many ignore the fact that schools have never been 100% of a child's education.

The parents helped at home, which is something many parent(s) have forgotten. Also those very early years where the parents instill in a child the urge to want to learn and gather knowledge.

A person who desires to learn will learn, a person who doesn't won't. Doesn't really matter what the school does.

It also helps a ton to find subjects the child naturally seems interested in and allow them more space to persue that. Keeps them interested. Public schools are terrible at that. They have a mundane one-size-fits-all system that might fit for 10% at best.

That's why I've always been in full support of Federal and State having a huge portion of their power removed when dealing with schools. Let the school disctricts create up an agenda that's more tailor fitted to the region at hand.

Yeah, there could be problems with this as well. ie..southern Georgia school wants to teach why interacial marriage is a sin and causes mental illness (I could really see this), so there would have to be a little Federal oversight to ensure no district starts teaching total bullshit.

SML · Feb 13, 2011

Are there some John Taylor Gatto fans in this thread?

Some of these comments are pretty well in line with his thesis that public schools are mostly about teaching obedience and dependence on authority while freeing up parents to work all day.

Marek · Feb 13, 2011

StickmanLoser said:
Are there some John Taylor Gatto fans in this thread?

Some of these comments are pretty well in line with his thesis that public schools are mostly about teaching obedience and dependence on authority while freeing up parents to work all day.

I'll have to look him up.

Nesagwa · Feb 18, 2011

http://journalpress.com/king-george/2411-sophomore-suffers-jaw-fractures-in-cafeteria-attack

Bump.

evil wasabi · Feb 18, 2011

Nesagwa said:
http://journalpress.com/king-george/2411-sophomore-suffers-jaw-fractures-in-cafeteria-attack

Bump.

I hope that the principal in that school is imprisoned for child abuse.

SNKorSWM · Feb 19, 2011

wasabi said:
I hope that the principal in that school is imprisoned for child abuse.

How? The principal wasn't amongst the ones that jumped the student. The student should have reported the threat he received to the police instead.

Hewitson · Feb 19, 2011

In Australia, I believe the public school system is far better than the private.

The public schools have all sorts of trade classes (automotive, metalwork, woodwork, etc), where as the private schools generally have none of this stuff, and focus purely on teaching you things you're never actually going to use.

If I had kids, I'd send them to a public school over a private one any day of the week.

Nesagwa · Feb 19, 2011

SNKorSWM said:
How? The principal wasn't amongst the ones that jumped the student. The student should have reported the threat he received to the police instead.

The Principal is responsible for the well being of students. The student reported this to the highest authority in the school who in turn ignored the problem and then suspended the student after he had his jaw broken in a few places requiring hospital stay. (Later canceled the suspension after reviewing video tape of the beating.)

The responsibility lies with the Principal to delegate this situation to the schools resource officers (if they even have one.)

This "fight" (he never fought back) should never have taken place, shows gross negligence for the well being of students by the principal and, since it is a zero tolerance school, treated the victim as a guilty party.

The man will be lucky to ever teach again after the lawsuit that's about to be laid on him and the school board.

SNKorSWM · Feb 20, 2011

Well, the principal can't do anything until the attack actually happened. All that innocent before proven guilty stuff. It's questionable if the principal could do anything about it even if he knew that a massacre of the Columbine caliber is coming up.

SouthtownKid · Feb 20, 2011

SNKorSWM said:
Well, the principal can't do anything until the attack actually happened.

Incorrect. You are confusing school principals with tv cop shows.

Department of Education in 2009: “Threats to kill or to do bodily harm are specifically prohibited by § 18.2-60. of the Code of Virginia. The prohibition includes threats to any person or persons “(i) on the grounds or premises of any elementary, middle or secondary school property, (ii) at any elementary, middle or secondary school-sponsored event or (iii) on a school bus.”
Further, according to a Guidance Letter released by the Virginia Department of Education on Oct. 26, 2010, Office of Civil Rights Office of the Assistant Secretary, “A school is responsible for addressing harassment incidents about which it knows or reasonably should have known.” The guidance letter continues and reports that “When responding to harassment, a school must take immediate and appropriate action to investigate or otherwise determine what occurred.”

It appears as though the initial failure of school personnel was in the failure to follow school policy in assessing risk after learning of a threat to a student. A second failure of school personnel was to take immediate and appropriate action as called for by VA DOE guidance noted above.

Failure to act.

Ami Tajiri · Feb 20, 2011

I remember hearing of a student in my old high school art class who made a huge pen-and-ink poster with intricate patterns connecting various symbols that was going to be entered into a contest. However, it was discovered that there was a pot leaf in one corner. Instead of getting to enter the contest, he was given a mandatory failing grade for the project and forced to attend some bullshit classes or psychological evaluation.

Seriously, if you can't express yourself freely in art, where the fuck can you? Isn't school supposed to be a place for the free exchange of ideas? Wouldn't you rather have students holding a dialogue with their teachers about drugs and violence than stuck in silence or hushed whispers?

Same for the guy who drew a phenomenally detailed poster of a mafia shoot-out for his class and had to receive a failing grade. You shouldn't have to check your right to free speech at the door of a school.

SML · Feb 20, 2011

Ami Tajiri said:
Isn't school supposed to be a place for the free exchange of ideas?

No, it's a robot factory. Again, see Gatto.

evil wasabi · Feb 20, 2011

SNKorSWM said:
How? The principal wasn't amongst the ones that jumped the student. The student should have reported the threat he received to the police instead.

No, schools should be safe for students, just as workplaces should be safe for employees. The principal has domain over all students in his/her school. Failure to provide a safe environment should be grounds for punishment. Continuous and wanton failure to provide a safe environment, resulting in malicious acts of battery or assault, should be grounds for imprisonment.

Kids have to learn how to be tough and stand up for themselves, but fellow students are not qualified to teach those lessons, and often leave their victims further incapable of standing up for themselves than before. A principal who knows such things are happening, without even regard to specific instances, and does not make the best efforts to correct the situation, should be held jointly and severally liable for each and every offence, along with the parents of the offenders.

brentsg · Feb 20, 2011

SNKorSWM said:
All that innocent before proven guilty stuff. It's questionable if the principal could do anything about it even if he knew that a massacre of the Columbine caliber is coming up.

Do you really believe this stuff?

I received warning that one of my employees was going to do a bomb threat. Should we have waited to see if anything went bang?

TonK · Feb 20, 2011

brentsg said:
Do you really believe this stuff?

I received warning that one of my employees was going to do a bomb threat. Should we have waited to see if anything went bang?

Wait 6:00...............

Thanks!

You're a great boss.

Ami Tajiri · Feb 20, 2011

StickmanLoser said:
No, it's a robot factory. Again, see Gatto.

So I just read an article by Gatto to get a feel for what you mean, and I have to admit that it sounded pretty revolutionary to me. I don't know that I agree with it 100%, but he has some serious points to make about the way we manufacture scared conformists in schools. Looking back at my pre-college education, I'm shocked that I never noticed it as much as I do at this moment, even though I remember noting how wrong the excessive standardized testing, ridiculous dress code policies, censorship of art and writing, and programs like DARE felt.

I am currently on track to become an ESL teacher a few years down the line, and I hope that I can instill a real love of learning and creativity in my students the way my family and better teachers did for me.

Marek · Feb 20, 2011

SNKorSWM said:
Well, the principal can't do anything until the attack actually happened. All that innocent before proven guilty stuff. It's questionable if the principal could do anything about it even if he knew that a massacre of the Columbine caliber is coming up.

You are sinking here buddy.

I think its pretty funny that you're still flexing your little amateur legal skillz here even when someone who has passed the Bar Exam is like, "No dude."

SML · Feb 20, 2011

Ami Tajiri said:
I am currently on track to become an ESL teacher a few years down the line, and I hope that I can instill a real love of learning and creativity in my students the way my family and better teachers did for me.

I wish you the best. Schools could use more like you.

beigemore · Feb 20, 2011

This stuff makes me angry.

norton9478 · Feb 20, 2011

Basically, REGULAR pubic school districts can be broken down into 3 categories:

URBAN: Bad results, moderate cost.
Suburban: Great results, high cost.
Rural: Moderate results, moderate cost.

'Zero-Tolerance' school horror stories

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