Thursday, May 24, 2007 - 
10 comments
10 comments
The Injustice of it all!
Last week shit hit the fan (finally!) at our local junior high school. The shit being alcohol and drugs hitting a fan. Several dozen CHILDREN were caught DRINKING ON CAMPUS, and IN CLASS!!!! Some of those CHILDREN were also brought to attention for SMOKING POT in the BATHROOMS during lunch! I say FINALLY because it came out that this has been going on FOR MONTHS and MONTHS!!!!! WHAT THE HELL!
While we were at the parent orientation several weeks ago, we were assured that the staff and administrators know what is going on at all times. Um, yeah I don't like liars! If you are so sure you know what is going on on your campus, then why the hell haven't you noticed MANY CHILDREN DRINKING ALCOHOL DURING CLASS! Um you think their behavior was NORMAL? OR my theory, you chose to ignore it. I wish this story was out when we were at orientation, I would have asked MANY questions. But it wasn't and this is why...it took a child, yes A CHILD, to fall unconscious in the bathroom from MAJOR ALCOHOL poisoning! The girl was in SERIOUS condition and had to be admitted to the hospital. HELLOOOOOO do you not see a person getting that intoxicated in a class??
I do understand what goes on in junior high and high school, I was there once too and let me tell you, I"M NO FRICKIN SAINT!!!!! So what makes me SO FUCKING MAD!!!!! Is that NONE of these CHILDREN were disciplined! Yes folks, not a one! No suspension, no loss of graduation, no loss of 8th grade dance, no community service. Nada, nothing, zero, zip! The majority of these CHILDREN are also honor roll students, and here it is folks, SCHOOL LEADERS!!! They just got a slap on the wrist. I'm still in a state of shock, but I'm more just really really fucking pissed!
Today I went to the junior high with our sixth grade class to take a tour of the campus. We were met by the "Web Leaders" who are "GOOD" "WELL BEHAVED" and "EXAMPLE STUDENTS". Yeah I bet you already know where I'm going with this... Yes the majority of the CHILDREN involved in the "drinking problem" ARE ALL WEB LEADERS!!!! These CHILDREN took these innocent kids around the campus to show them the ropes and talk about what the next 2 years of their lives are going to be like. Um I wonder if they shared where is the best place to smoke pot and not get caught, or the best place to give a blowjob, (yes that is also a huge problem at junior highs, although ours has seemed to have gotten it under control.) maybe they shared how to act when drunk so you don't get caught. Needless to say I again was MAD! These "web leaders" are NOT roll models for incoming 7th graders!!!! These "web leaders" should not be able to be a leader anymore! THEY ARE NOT FUCKING LEADERS!
What is going on! Yes, I have written a letter to the school and district, but is that going to solve the problem, or label me. I really don't give a shit! What gets me is that the school administrators just told all the kids in this VERY SMALL community that it is okay to drink at school and smoke pot when ever you want. Go ahead kids, enjoy yourselves! We'll just sit back and watch you waste away into a pile of shit. God forbid the schools should have to pay for rehab in 5 years, no that's our responsibility! Thanks for the boost folks!
So you may be asking what are we doing about this as a family. Well, you think you should be involved in elementary school, think again! This very incident is EXACTLY why I quit my job when Jacob entered 4th grade. I HAVE TO BE THERE FOR MY CHILD. NOW! We have been talking about this very candidly with Jake for several reasons, the main one being that he personally knows several of the CHILDREN involved, he has looked up to them and admires them. We've also been candid, because he needs to understand that I am not going to just walk away now. I'm there all the time. I've even told him that I will be on campus during lunch, he practically cried, but I swore, I'd leave him alone and he can even tell his friends that I'm a bitch and the meanest mom in the world. I'm not there to just watch him, but to be there for others. We want to give the blame to us, Mike and I, not let Jake make excuses to get out of a sticky situation. He can blame us all he wants! "So yeah, um my mom wont let me walk home because she makes me get picked up here, what a bitch she is!" I DON"T GIVE A SHIT WHAT ANYBODY THINKS!
I want my CHILD to be a CHILD as long as he can. Life only happens once! You are a CHILD only one time. Don't hurry to grow up, it happens before you know it! And guess what, I'd give ANYTHING to be a CHILD again and live my troubled youth over. Give me high school and yup I'm gonna say it, I'll even do junior high again too. That's where my trouble began, and if I can help it I'm gonna help my son get through these next few years as innocent as I can. Actually as WE can, it's all of us working together.
Our CHILDREN are our future!
10 comments:
Kayce, that is AWFUL. I applaud you for taking care of your child. How sad for the other kids at school. Sad
Good for your stance. Wow...I'm not naive either but it is freaking me out to see how much younger and younger these behaviors are starting.
No punishment? WTF???
I appreciate your anger and your willingness to stand up for all of our children. I would be angry as well and would have taken steps just as you have.
What I can offer you, though, is a bit of an inside view into the difficulties we, as school teachers, face when it comes to attempting to provide a consequence to students who do something horrid.
We face struggle and strife when trying to enact consequences. When we want to suspend, parents appeal. When we want to lay charges, parents high lawyers. Sometimes school administrators are more interested in making nice with parents than in providing important and structured consequences for their students.
In my third year of teaching, I had a students threaten to kill me. He aid that he would blow me up into so many pieces that no one would be able to identify me. When my administrator and school board would not support my request for a suspension or expulsion, I had to call the police. The police told me that they could do nothing because he was under the age of 13. I finally had to use my union's lawyers to remove the student from my class and as it was happening, his parents were cursing me and threatening me further. Finally, when he was removed, our school board PAID to have a PRIVATE teacher homeschool him.
I wish that we, as teachers, had more support when it comes to making decisions. We're not all lax in our judgments.
You know, back in the old days, some 20+ years ago, it was not what was going to happen to you at school that kept you in line, but what would happen when you got home. I have several stories of my indiscretions and the hours of pain and tourture I suffered through. I was not abused, but I was worked like a dog, my home life was hell for the duration of my punishment and I rarely made the same mistake twice. What I'm getting at is this, the school has policy that can be followed and it takes a strong administrator to stick to his/her guns. But it only takes a pissed off mamma or daddy to get a good kid back in line. Fear of disappointment is a healthy fear to instill in children. Until they develop their own moral compas, you have to be the one to help them navigate. Not everyone has the means to be on campus every day, but that does not mean that parents are ineffectual. I challenge all parents to get involved and work with the schools, not against them. This is a little trick my own mother taught me and it has served me well.
It is a scary world out there....I'm not sure what i am going to do with the rest of my little tribe when they are school age!
We talked about this... it's frightening..... I would post more.... but I think you know my thoughts! :)
Gosh, I agree, I want our children to be allowed to be children for as long as they can. You are a fantastic mom. I am learning more and more about how important it will be for me to not only be home a lot during the elementary years, but into high school as well. I told Dan about your post..he has stories to match and it is so frustrating to him as well.
I felt the wind on that post. Glad the venting made its way out. Can't keep that inside. Nosireee...
That is a disgrace and I would be putting my children into different schools. If there is that level of alcohol and drug abuse in junior hight school, I can't imagine what the high school is like.
Terrifying.
You live in CA, right? I thought we had a "zero tolerance" policy? I work at a private school that goes up to seventh grade and some kids were caught with pot in their lockers and they were asked to leave the school. Period. It is unbelievable to me that there would be no consequences for drug and alcohol use at school. It sickens me.
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