MSNBC - Violent stick-figure drawings put kids in cuffs
MSNBC - Violent stick-figure drawings put kids in cuffs
OK...
I have VERY mixed feelings about this story...
My daughter and I, when she was about 13-14-years old, decided, for various reasons to move to a different part of town. She wanted to get out of the school she was in in order to be able to go to school/live near her cousin. I agreed. So I pulled up stakes and moved into an old, drafty, 1/2 of a house in Lakewood, OH. (The neighbors were white trash idiots). So I was immediately not happy - not at all - but I decided this was what my daughter wanted so we stayed.
My daughter was put into one of the middle schools there. Not long after she started in this school, there began to be problems between her and a certain 'clique' of girls at this school. This in and of itself is not surprising - it happens between teenage girls all the time (I do not believe it happens as much with boys - that is until today's story). In our particular case though, it began to turn ugly real fast. Soon my daughter (who I must say did spend a lot of her life being picked on), was coming home pretty upset. These girls were viscious. And because my daughter would not pledge 'allegiance' to them she was threatened, treated like shit and talked about. She had absolutely no friends, save one girl that also seemed to be on their shit list. The threats escalated to actual letters promising she would be hurt and we even received death threats on our answering machine. I promptly, (EVERY SINGLE TIME THIS HAPPENED) - reported it to the principal of the school - I really felt like his hands were tied and he seemed unable to do anything. One day, my daughter was beaten up pretty badly - IN THE HALLWAY OF THE SCHOOL
This time I called the police - the procesutor was called in about this case and I found out that these girls had threatened others as well (with things like baseball bats). Were they arrested? NO! They were given a 'talking to' asked to write apology letters to my daughter and told that the next time they would be incarcerated.
That same spring, my daughter ran away - she was missing for 48-hours, we were lucky to get her back...
The next day after she came home (it was a Monday; she was missing form Friday night until Sunday), I pulled her out of school. I told my boss I had to stay home for a couple of days in order to clear things up and take care of my daughter - he told me to choose between that and my job - guess which one I picked. I was fired.
After I pulled my daughter out of the school, the principal called me and threatened to have me show up in front of a judge for letting my daughter be truant. I told him since he seemed unable to assure that my daughter would be safe in his school I'd sue the living daylights out of him, the school, the city etc. He shut the hell up.
We moved - back to Cleveland Heights....
*********
So I hear this story and I really feel for the kids involved (ALL of them) - but my hearts also goes out to the parents of the boy who was threatened.
While I feel that what happened here was a bit harsh (I mean a felony?!?!?!) - still part of me wonders....
And part of me wonders if I can still sue that school....even though my daughter is now 22-yrs-old.
OK...
I have VERY mixed feelings about this story...
My daughter and I, when she was about 13-14-years old, decided, for various reasons to move to a different part of town. She wanted to get out of the school she was in in order to be able to go to school/live near her cousin. I agreed. So I pulled up stakes and moved into an old, drafty, 1/2 of a house in Lakewood, OH. (The neighbors were white trash idiots). So I was immediately not happy - not at all - but I decided this was what my daughter wanted so we stayed.
My daughter was put into one of the middle schools there. Not long after she started in this school, there began to be problems between her and a certain 'clique' of girls at this school. This in and of itself is not surprising - it happens between teenage girls all the time (I do not believe it happens as much with boys - that is until today's story). In our particular case though, it began to turn ugly real fast. Soon my daughter (who I must say did spend a lot of her life being picked on), was coming home pretty upset. These girls were viscious. And because my daughter would not pledge 'allegiance' to them she was threatened, treated like shit and talked about. She had absolutely no friends, save one girl that also seemed to be on their shit list. The threats escalated to actual letters promising she would be hurt and we even received death threats on our answering machine. I promptly, (EVERY SINGLE TIME THIS HAPPENED) - reported it to the principal of the school - I really felt like his hands were tied and he seemed unable to do anything. One day, my daughter was beaten up pretty badly - IN THE HALLWAY OF THE SCHOOL
This time I called the police - the procesutor was called in about this case and I found out that these girls had threatened others as well (with things like baseball bats). Were they arrested? NO! They were given a 'talking to' asked to write apology letters to my daughter and told that the next time they would be incarcerated.
That same spring, my daughter ran away - she was missing for 48-hours, we were lucky to get her back...
The next day after she came home (it was a Monday; she was missing form Friday night until Sunday), I pulled her out of school. I told my boss I had to stay home for a couple of days in order to clear things up and take care of my daughter - he told me to choose between that and my job - guess which one I picked. I was fired.
After I pulled my daughter out of the school, the principal called me and threatened to have me show up in front of a judge for letting my daughter be truant. I told him since he seemed unable to assure that my daughter would be safe in his school I'd sue the living daylights out of him, the school, the city etc. He shut the hell up.
We moved - back to Cleveland Heights....
*********
So I hear this story and I really feel for the kids involved (ALL of them) - but my hearts also goes out to the parents of the boy who was threatened.
While I feel that what happened here was a bit harsh (I mean a felony?!?!?!) - still part of me wonders....
And part of me wonders if I can still sue that school....even though my daughter is now 22-yrs-old.
1 Comments:
Hey Collette,
That does suck, what happened to your daughter. But that is what happens when discipline is removed from the school. The kids have taken over schools and there is nothing a teacher, principal or administrator can do now a days. I am 39 and saw it all happening from 1980-1984. The slide has been hapening since about the late '70's I think.
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