Friday, May 23, 2008 was the last day of school in DeKalb County Public Schools. As the last class on the last day of school was letting out at Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain a fight broke out. Not a fight between two girls over a boy. Not a fight between two boys over a girl. But a fight between a girl and a substitute teacher... over a wig!As reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and as shown on YouTube, substitute teacher Carolyn Jones claims that she was having problems with one of the female students and the girl had threatened to pull off her wig. According to school police report, Ms. Jones kicked the student which prompted the brawl. Of course, a student was at the ready to video the entire altercation on a cell phone. The two are shown slapping, grabbing, kicking, and punching each other for at least a minute in the video.
Read the entire AJC article on the incident here.
Watch the entire brawl and sub's account on YouTube
(NOTE: the teacher is wearing the white blouse).
plez sez: ...and you people wonder why plezWorld has the SugarPlum in a private school!
when i was in high school - i know, back in the olden times - i never heard of a teacher being goaded into engaging in a fist fight with a student. first, i was never witness to such disrespect and lack of manners by a youngster towards an elder. but i have to call into question the intelligence and wisdom of a fifty-something woman who would engage a teenager in a fist fight in the middle of a classrooom of students.
our society is reaching for rock bottom: a bankruptcy of morals, lack of respect, children not being raised by their parents, uneducated educators wandering the halls of our schools, and children thinking it is alright to fight teachers in the school... and this time, the destruction of Babylon is being documented on YouTube!
this past friday morning, i had occasion to visit an elementary school in the southside of atlanta. i participated in the school's career day. the children were attentive, eyes sparkling bright, so much hope for the future beamed in those little brown eyes. dreams of being lawyers and doctors and football players and nurses and singers and entrepreneurs and teachers. the children spoke of the fun they planned to have over the summer at beaches in florida or at their grandparents house or playing with their cousins.
but as i drove away from school's campus, i was struck by the harsh realities that awaiting these children as they descending the walkway into the ghetto that is cleveland avenue in inner city atlanta. the liquor stores, the motels that rent rooms by the hour, the ubiquitous church's fried chicken and assorted fast food joints, the drugged out bodies, and the hopeless minds. how many years will it be before those bright eyed dreams are dimmed by the reality of their environment? how long will it take for those 9, 10, and 11 year old boys to start sagging their pants and hanging on the corners not even a mile from the school? how many of those beautiful black girls will fall victim to the drugs and prostitution that is peddled along that wretched road.
as our society fails our children and molds them into the types of teenagers who will have an all out brawl with a teacher and grows them into the type of teacher who would engage in an all out brawl with a student... we fail ourselves and our communities. we sink alittle farther into the maelstrom of despair and we tick off another shared value to extinction like the dodo bird. and the stark reality of inner city cleveland avenue in atlanta inches that much closer to suburban stephenson high school on stephenson road in dekalb county.
another day in the uneducation of our children in dekalb county, georgia.
alll i can say is that u aint never lied and ditto
ReplyDeleteour society is reaching for rock bottom: a bankruptcy of morals, lack of respect, children not being raised by their parents, uneducated educators wandering the halls of our schools, and children thinking it is alright to fight teachers in the school.
ReplyDeleteLet the church say AMEN!
I work in early childhood education, and we have had to deal with preschool age children who try to fight with us. So it starts early and if it is not capped off, it will continue.
What really burns me up about this type of incident is the fact that the admin staff often acts like what is being reported is often inaccurate or the teacher's fault. Sometimes that is true. However, there are also times when it is obvious that no one grown has handled their parenting business.
I have mixed feelings about the teacher fighting back. I am not for taking a butt whipping from a child period. I also believe that there is a non-violent way to resolve problems. But, there is also the self-defense aspect of this situation~I do not know if I wouldn't swing back or not. I am in my fifties also. And at this point in my lifetime, I ain't the one!
It is going to be interesting to see how this gets resolved. Professionally speaking, the teacher was way out of line. But so was the student.
there is enough BLAME to go around in this sad case. unfortunately, we don't have enough SOLUTIONS to go around.
ReplyDeletethe elders are increasingly have less respect for themselves. and as a result children are having less respect for their elders.
there was a time in the not so distant past, when i child would NEVER EVER raise a hand to a parent or a teacher. now, it's a common practice. like i said, we are experiencing a bankruptcy of our morals!