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

[summer]

re your post 319 -- But what happens to a school that doesn't use zero tolerance and instead using logic and common sense in meeting out punishments? they get sued by the agrieved party. So for that reason (as proved here), many schools simply employ zero tolerance to avoid law suits.

That's the way it is -- you're correct. Thanks for your post, AB.

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I meant: re your post #19...

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

LOL....I wouldn't be surprised if he chose his field about five minutes before the TIME magazine photographer arrived at the kid's house to take the photo.

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Re your post #22 -- Yeah, right. Like he ever cracked open a book before this photo was taken.

Yeah, I noticed that too, lowbridge. There are more books in this photo than this kid has probably brought home all year from school. The "PROP" characteristic of this photo is very blantant.

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When I was a kid, there were unsupervised kids all over the neighborhood, playing softball, riding bikes, building forts, up in a tree house...

Same here. And, it wasn't all that long ago....

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This thug and criminal in training treats high school as a place to socialize and act out instead of a place for learning.

There's a valid point in what you are saying, as schools that are successful often share the following characteristic: the students KNOW they are there to LEARN.

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Re your post #31 - I also think there is way too much time and energy expended on teaching teachers to "understand" the culture of others -- how about a tiny little bit MORE time spent on kids understanding the rules of the school?

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Re your post #34 - Good point.

[Pablo64]

Whatever damages this kid and his dad sue the school for, the kid who got the stitches should then sue this punk and his dad for that same amount plus about a half-million extra for "pain and suffering, mental anguish, etc.", whatever their lawyer can dream up

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Re your post #37 -- 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.

Thanks, okiedust. :)

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First of all, he's around [the father]. Many kids don't have a father in the house.

I took note of that, too. Thanks for your post, ladyjane.

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Re your post #41 -- ...Not because he's the most qualified or has seniority - but because he's black...

Interesting note - in FL, according to the recent Miami/St. Pete poll, 65% of voters now support Gov Bush's One Florida plan. And, FL has more registered Dem voters than GOP voters. I think people are fed up...

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re your post #42 and the quote from the article you posted:

"Schools now call in the police if a student is talking too much or doesn't do his homework," says Pedro Noguera, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

I'm glad you posted this, because "Pedro Noguera" from Harvard, is, frankly, full of sh*t here.

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Re your post 343 -...We simply use a 'ladder' of consequences...

Thanks for your post, Teacher317, and what you describe is what I have seen most often. I am wondering who at the NAACP told this kid's father a legitimate legal claim, and why.

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I meant: ...claim exists, and why. There is no valid legal claim here, as far as I can tell.

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Please try again folks with "DISRUPTING learning while black".

Or: "DISRUPTING learning while a student is ANY COLOR and from ANY COUNTRY"...

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Re your post #45 -- How would those grades affect anything? If you are black and able to graduate from high school, you are IN, all expenses paid

See my reply #92. Thanks for your post, LH.

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...Verbal warning, written warning, lunch detention, phone call home, after-school detention (3, actually), and a one-day suspension (these were for a variety of offenses, but mostly tardiness).

People don't realize how much paperwork teachers do that is totally unrelated to teaching the subject matter at hand. All the recordkeeping you mention above takes time....

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Re your post #49 - Thank you for your entire post here, LWalk18. This part reminded me of a teacher I know:

...my young Calculus teacher was like that and she ended up getting her car stolen by one of the thugs in her other classes. I remember when our class would come in she would be in tears from the other (standard and lower) classes.

I have a friend who is in her 6th year of teaching and it may be her last, because she now has a permanent back injury -- yes, for life -- thanks to two high school students who decided to have a fight as she was eating lunch at a table with her special ed class, and one of the students pushed the other one onto this teacher, who fell back and just about broke her back.

And, no, the union didn't give lift a finger in her case either. Teaching can be a really hazardous profession. I tell her to be happy that at least the kid didn't pull a gun on the student, and miss and hit her.

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Re your post #50 - Thanks, MI.