Learning While Black [Kid starts a fight at school. Kid's dad, angry his son got punished, sues.]

http://www.time.com/time/education/article/0,8599,238611,00.html ^ | June 5, 2002 | Jodie Morse

[Morgan's Raider]

Uhhh...........think this little angel will make it through 6 years of study to become an architect?

Somehow I think I'd be really leery about moving into a building he had designed...

[lowbridge]

"The 16-year-old high school junior from Salida, Calif., is a C student with a filthy mouth who has been known to saunter into class on his own schedule"

"Russell is indifferent to the charges flying around him. He has more urgent matters to attend to, like the D and the F on his latest report card"

After those two quotes, I have to laugh at this photograph:

Yeah, right. Like he ever cracked open a book before this photo was taken.

"and whether they will affect his prospects for studying architecture in college"

He's better off studying how to sell slurpees at the local 7-11

[Erasmus]

Uhhh...........think this little angel will make it through 6 years of study to become an architect?

Well, he's pretty likely to become very familiar with the Big House.

[Skooz]

That is one of the most obviously staged photos I have seen. I bet after the picture was taken, they were shoved back into the abyss from whence they were taken.

[ladylib]

It's pretty sad when kids can't go out to play unsupervised. When I was a kid, there were unsupervised kids all over the neighborhood, playing softball, riding bikes, building forts, up in a tree house. I never see kids out on the streets today. They're either at supervised activities or at home watching TV or on the computer -- and people wonder why they're so fat and out of shape?

[Skooz]

re: post 24: "they" being the books stacked in front of the perp.

[TC Rider]

Some of those books look like they have never been cracked open. They are not the books of a scholar.

[LetsRok]

"It's been hard catching up with my work," says Kenneth. "I lost out on a month of my high school life."

Here's part of the problem. This thug and criminal in training treats high school as a place to socialize and act out instead of a place for learning.

[Mr. Bungle]

"That is one of the most obviously staged photos I have seen. I bet after the picture was taken, they were shoved back into the abyss from whence they were taken."

An agenda? Nah. Don't be stupid. ;)

All racial disparities are the result of discrimination and racism....

All racial disparities are the result of discrimination and racism....

All racial disparities are the result of discrimination and racism....

All racial disparities are the result of discrimination and racism....

[summer]

If this fight took place during class hours, AT the school, expulsion sounds right for the one who threw the first punch . . .

My thought too.

And, Russell, the filthy mouth/attacker, should be thanking his lucky stars the school did not seek to have him arrested and booked on an assault charge, in light of the serious injuries he inflicted on the other student.

[summer]

Re your post #3 - Yes, I agree with your point: and, what the heck does the title of this article have to do with the actual events? "Learning" while black?

What happened is more like "black and beating up other kids while on school property." Where is the "learning" part in this???

Sounds like the NAACP prefers to say "learning" instead of the true fact of what some students do: beating the cr*p out of others.

[RWG]

If a teacher was around, why didn't the teacher break up this fight, before the student had injuries so severe he had to get stitches...what if SHE were a 5 foot 100 pound person?

[summer]

...And I would bet that black students are 2 1/2 times as likely as their white peers to start a fight.

Yes, good point. Has anyone done that research????

[summer]

Bet you that the teacher/school never made the kids call the teacher MR/MISS/ MRS. Bet you that the teacher wasn`t wearing a tie/dress.

I know firsthand that fights also break out in schools where the above does happen.

Bet you that both boys were not involved in sports.

Interesting point.

Bet you that, thanks to the lawyers, most of the other kids will miss the lesson of this whole mess, being a white or black jerk is stupid.

Agreed.

[okiedust]

About the time my kids were leaving the school system (their school was 60% minority) the wonderful idea of "zero tolerance" was coming in. The kid who protected himself, got suspended just as the aggressor. I told my kids to protect themselves and that the school would have to deal with me if they gave them a problem. It never came to that but the entire infection of zero tolerance seems to have spread quite widely. Oh, and by the way, the teachers that I knew, were not having any of that stuff, and dealt with things in the proper way. Not a career enhancing move on their parts, but it left me with a great deal of respect for the classroom teachers, and what they have to do to teach.

regards

[summer]

And the parents would rather scream racism than deal with the fact that their son is seriously troubled and is heading toward more (at least he was not criminally prosecuted). You know, I'm black, and somehow I managed to go through thirteen years of schooling without a single suspension. This kid could have too if he stayed out of trouble and his parents woke up and dealt with their son's problems.

Cases like this are why I didn't become a teacher, as much as I liked the other aspects of the work.

Thanks for your post here, LWalk18. I know many black kids manage to get through school without throwing a punch, but I also know many of the ones who do will scream racism -- and, threaten a law$uit -- and, suddenly, that parent(s) finds the time to come to $chool when there was never any time to do so before.

Also, see the link in my reply #1, as this is a serious porblem, and is the reason why some experienced teachers are now leaving the teaching profession. Thanks again for your post.

[summer]

porblem = problem

[ladyjane]

All you have to do is take a look at the expression on Dad's face in the background to get a feel for where this poor kid learned how to be a juvenile delinquent.

Actually I had a different take on this. First of all, he's around. Many kids don't have a father in the house. He's probably pretty ticked off that his kid is such a loser.