Wednesday after school, I saw "Deondre" and "Leon" rushing past my classroom with looks of anxiety on their face. Normally these are kids - especially Leon - who would stop by and say hi, but they rushed past without even turning their heads. I sensed something was up, and called Leon's name. He didn't see me, or ignored me, and kept on trucking down the stairs. I actually chased after him, shouting his name again - I felt like something was up - and finally he turned around. "Is everything okay," I asked, to which he replied, "Yeah, everything's good," and I let him go so I could tend to the 40 kids in my room for a baseball pre-season meeting. I still wasn't convinced, though.
When I heard sirens a little bit later, I didn't make the connection. I should have. This morning, I learned that Leon, as well as several other kids I teach, had been suspended for fighting. And apparently it was an all-out brawl, with Leon and Darien getting into it and rolling around at the front of the school. Both of these kids are mine, and both are at risk - both appeared on the list of 17 kids who, after the first quarter, had failed four or more classes (the bottom 17 of the 300 ninth grade students at the school). I happen to like both of these kids a lot, have taken them under my wing a little bit. Both passed my course, and I think both are sweet - if a little playful - kids. Why were they fighting?
Well, Desean gave me the scoop after 5th period. Both are Bloods - I've heard Leon's older brother is one of the biggest Bloods in Baltimore, though I'm not sure - but Darien had been making statements that Leon didn't belong anymore, and Leon wanted to confront him about it. Text messages rang through the school, and the fight between two became a brawl, and I know of at least five kids who were in the middle of it that I teach. All 9th graders. 9th graders in gangs.
Today, as I told my 10th period, the class with Darien in it (though suspended now), my heart hurt. Maybe I could have stopped Leon, if I would have followed my instincts. These kids need so much help, and I just can't give it to them, and missed a prime time to give them some on Wednesday.
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7 comments:
I understand how hard it can be to try to help everyone, particularly with big classes, your own personal life, and all of the factors that contribute to your students' current states that are totally beyond your control.
I believe everything happens for a reason and that even when things are most difficult, life is moving forward and things are getting better. Don't be too hard on yourself, you are helping so many students by offering yourself up in the classroom and as a coach. You might have prevented those young men from being in a fight that day, but it wouldn't have necessarily resolved their underlying issues. The fight pushed their issues out into the open and you know things only get resolved once they're addressed honestly. Maybe the brawl is the first step in a long series of steps that leads to their lives improving.
I don't know, I'm an unrelenting optimist. Just know that it seems like you have a good heart and you're doing a world of good for your students, even if it doesn't feel like it.
Don't they expel students anymore?
I concur with everything Anon #1 just said. You work in such a challenging environment, and I commend you for trying to make the best of the situations you're handed and really making a difference in the lives of these students. Because you do.
P.S. I'm glad you decided to keep writing!
You act surprised at 9th graders being in gangs. My classes, as you know are mostly 9th graders. In the past year or so, both my room and the other freshman science teachers has had an explosion of gang graffiti on desks and books. What is surprising is that it is happening in THIS school. Prior to 3-5 years ago, the bathroom graffiti was almost entirely themed around the class year.
To Anon #2: the new head of schools in the BCPSS has sort of put a moratorium on suspensions, reassignments, and expulsions. Only with mountains of documentation have we recently been able to remove the most intractable and incorrigible students.
-T.C.
T.C., this is anon #2. Yes you hit the nail directly on the head. I was going to make the comment you made, but I wasn't sure if it was going to last, due to it possibly hitting too close to home for epiphany dude.
And it's why I asked if they still expel students anymore. During my time as a student in citywide BCPSS schools, expulsion seemed to be a likely punishment for some offenses, or for a student with a history of offenses, especially in high school. The fear of being immediately sent to Northern, Lake Clifton, Northwestern, whatever one's zoned school, was enough to keep some of the more "borderline" students in line, both academically and behaviorally. There were proported "slips" that administrators could fill out and out the door you went. I guess with schools like Lake Clifton and Northern being changed, they're not supposed to be also used as a dumping ground, more or less, for students who can't handle either the work or discipline at citywide high schools.
It's just disappointing to hear that expelling students has become more difficult in recent years. It's also disappointing to hear that some students come into this particular school with gang affiliation, while some can't understand all the hub bub surrounding the big game and other such activities.
Are academic dismissals also difficult to obtain these days?
Anon #2:
If I understand your most recent question, over the last couple of years, of the plethora of students marked for the traditional academic reassignment due to having multiple failures, nearly ll of them shared the fate of those marked for reassignment due to behavior reasons: they were bounced back to us.
I have to wonder if the undermining of the one threat a city-wide/magnet school has contributed significantly to both the slide in academics and/or behavior (including the gang thing).
T.C.
Anon #2 again
Unfortunately, I'm an outsider (not currently in the system as a student or employee), so I'm working purely from assumption, but when I was in the system, there did seem to be some correlation between overall academic performance and the removal of problem students from the schools.
In terms of just crunching numbers, it makes sense that if one removes failing students from the school, the school's performance seems to automatically go up as those failing grades are no longer factored in with the rest, just as you said. And in my personal experience, not having those types of students around contributed to a more stable learning environment. Now, the stakes seem to be higher.
Don't get me wrong. I totally believe that all BCPSS students deserve a quality education. I just don't believe it deserves to come at the expense of other students. And I don't believe that attendance at Baltimore's citywide high schools are a right either. In fact, they are a real priviledge (and honestly, an honor) for those who have excelled and continue to. They shouldn't be havens for gangs. We might as well just open them up to anybody, if that's going to be the case.
I think history tells us that one Baltimore citywide school in particular faced some serious issues when they didn't weed out problem students. When they returned to the practice of dismissing students with low academic performance, behavior problems went down, academic standing returned.
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