Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wow. My first year of middle school, I was in a school where it was around 95% White and 5% Black, and the police had to be called over a fight. The middle school also got vandalized.
Interesting you mentioned cigarettes. There were two girls in middle school, that I personally knew. They were mean and nasty towards me. They both got kicked out of school for smuggling in cigarettes.
The first two weeks on the bus in middle school, this is what I remembered:
1) One kid had his cigarettes confiscated.
2) A kid caught with a lighter trying to burn holes in the seats.
3) Two boys swinging chains at each other.
In my high school, there was pot, alcohol, and "shrooms". There were kids who were into that crap. It was all under the radar. There was on girl, who was the student president of the freshman class. The next year, she skipped class, got drunk, came back to school drunk, and got expelled. And she was quite a mean person.
I think one major difference between what you mention and what I mention is this. You never got caught. Alot of the cases I heard were of those persons who got caught. Actually, the case of the girls who got expelled, I didn't hear about it until one of them returned. High school, I remember hearing about one kid who got caught smoking weed, in front of someone else. Alot of what was under the radar were those who didn't get caught.
One person told me about his own experience in high school, during the early 1990s, where he was in the suburbs(more like exurbs though), he got in a fight with a kid who was trying to stab him. I never got threatened with a knife, but I did get jumped a few times in middle school and high school.
My high school was around 80-85% White and around 15% Black. There were both Black kids and White kids causing problems in school. I got jumped by a group of Black students while walking in the hallway on the way to take a test. I had to fight off three students trying to pick a fight with me. Black on Black violence.
Honestly, middle school and high school were basically like going from one zoo to another. I had problems because I was shorter than the other kids, skinnier than most of the kids, nerdy, socially awkward, and sometimes I dealt with racial tensions(from both sides).
I went to a high school of around 2,500 students, 9 of them being black, and one of them being one of my best friends! We never saw him or treated him differently. He was just one of the guys. While I smoked in school, I never partied before or during school, as my parents would absolutely kick my a** if I got caught for that. There were just certain lines that I wouldn't cross, which I can't say was the case for some of my friends. 2 of them in particular spent from the time they were 16 to 18 on probation, because they couldn't stay out of trouble... 1 in which his dad was a cop, and then expected myself and another friend to babysit his a**. I guess he trusted us, because we did make sure he stayed out of trouble when he was in our presence.
As for fights. I was always a skinny guy, and from time to time became a target. That stopped when I learned enough was enough and to fight fire with fire. The only time someone attempted to jump me were 2 dudes from the rival high school, and that didn't end so well for them, because I had a friend end up bailing me out. Both of them ended up with broken noses. In which 1 of those broken noses were from 1 of my fists.
I could tell several more stories about school, but it would take a lot of time.
In addition to the increasing number of minorities, how have school policies changed? What year are the textbooks? What about teacher training? Teacher retention? After school programs? Tutoring services? Academic counseling?
Interestingly enough, my old high school has some pretty tech savvy people behind it. They received a state grant for Kindles about 5 years ago, and are in the process for applying for another grant to supply iPads to each kid. The textbooks, as a result, are current -- mainly because they simply download the latest on their Kindles.
Teacher retention is surprisingly not a challenge. When I graduated in the 80's, the teachers had all been there for quite a while, and while those teachers have moved on, the current group has been there at least 7-10 years on average. Overall, the average age of the teachers is younger than when I attended.
The counseling and tutoring services are MUCH better now. I didn't need those services -- mom was a teacher, dad has a PhD in education and was a principal -- but the "student support" piece was really light back in the day. Granted, it was over 25 years ago, but it seems like it should have been much better, even back then. Not 100% sure about the after school programs, honestly.
One interesting anectdote, though: I moved away from the area in 2000, but my parents still live there, so I visit 4-6 times a year. I would occasionally stick my head in the door to see the one person in the front office who was still there from when I was there (she retired last year). Mrs. Thompson was a dean who transitioned into an "school office manager" type position towards the end. The last time I saw her at school, she said the main difference between the kids today and the kids from my graduating class was that in my years, BOTH parents were fairly heavily involved in their kids education. Back-to-school nights were WELL attended, with most classes being standing room only.
Now, at this same school, there is a decided lack of involvement from parents. Having kids of my own, I can say for certain that kids NEED parental involvement, whether they realize it or not. Making kids takes a matter of minutes, but raising kids takes a lifetime. Unfortuantely, the current demographics of the school is such that there is little parental involvement, and the kids are trying to find their way. They aren't doing a very good job, apparently, as the 2012 graduation figure was 51%. Out of 460 kids in the senior class.
By comparison, only 8 kids (out of 590) in my senior class failed to graduate. The school had a completely different demographic makeup in the 80s, but honestly, does it really explain THAT many dropouts?
I thought kids smoked in the bathrooms even in the 60's.
Who woulda thought that when you treat students as prisoners, who are forced by the state to go to school, and the teachers only care about making more money , and the school teaching system is outdated by 15 years, that any problems would arise?
I think you fail to see it goes beyond smoking the the boys room. If they feel like prisoners then have their parents home school them. The system I time needs to just keep those who want to learn and lets other find their own way thru life.
No, kids are forced to go to school , so they can learn how to follow orders and directions. Also so parents have a free baby sitter , and so the parents can make money to pay taxes to pay the gov't so the gov't can control the citizens.
Correction, going to school to get an education is what should be taking place. However, fights and drugs often take place.
And the way school works today, this is basically schools using the "factory worker model". Many schools were made to churn out good factory works "follow orders and directions". And let's be honest, this isn't like the old days where teenagers were assets on the farm or as an apprentice. Adolescents are seen as a liability, so there are many parents who don't want to deal with those kids.
In my opinion, schools were not meant to function like prisons. However, they function like defacto prisons because teenagers aren't seen as being valuable to society.
I think you fail to see it goes beyond smoking the the boys room. If they feel like prisoners then have their parents home school them. The system I time needs to just keep those who want to learn and lets other find their own way thru life.
I agree. The legal age of 18 is too high. These teenagers want to be adults, so there is no sense in forcing them to go to school.
A reason that many younger adults are having trouble making it on their own, is because they were forced to still be controlled like kids when they were 15,16,17,18,19 years old. Being controlled when you are trying to become independent usually results in high stress levels, depression, and learning ability decreases.
The parents already know what's going on. They just aren't gonna do a damn thing about it.
That used to be a proud high school with a great tradition. Now it's just a babysitting service for bad ass kids.
True of so many schools. The schools need to have the flexability to expel deadbeat and problem kids, and give the ones that want to make something of themselves a chance. Instead we have a system that rewards the school system for keeping every kid in school, no matter how much they drag everyone else down.
Then actually I gave you more credit than was due to you. Sorry I'll make sure I dumb down my comments for you next time.
I am not saking you do dumb down anything. My problem is with your race-baiting comments. Why else would you have written something like that?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In which 1 of those broken noses were from 1 of my fists.
