Did FCPS fail Nick Stuban?

[Anonymous]

I have been following the very tragic news about Nick Stuban. With all the posts here on DCUM singing the praises of Fairfax County Public Schools, did FCPS fail him due to the one-strike-you're-out rule?

Do other northern Virginia school districts also have this one-strike-you're-out rule?


Long thread on FairfaxUnderground with many details:
http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/488541/

[Anonymous]

I work in Loudoun, and we have zero tolerance when it comes to drugs and weapons. Students sign the paper stating that they will not do drugs or bring weapons on campus, and read about the consequences. The problem is that most parents and kids don't read any of it and sign away.

The main problem is zero tolerance. I have seen on a number of occasions where really good, bright kids make foolish mistakes. The problem is that we know they are good kids and made a silly mistake, but the zero tolerance policy has to be upheld by the board. Because of this, kids don't get shipped to another school, they are expelled! We are talking about kids (who obviously don't have the best judgement). Should they be punished for these violations...yes, but let's look at it on a case by case situation. Not every child is the same and not every "crime" is the same.

I have a little one right now, but I know that at some point in her school careerer, she will make mistakes. Not because I am a bad parent, or she attends a bad school, but because she is a kid. Sometimes kids make bad decisions. Does their punishment have to affect the rest of their lives?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The main problem is zero tolerance. I have seen on a number of occasions where really good, bright kids make foolish mistakes. The problem is that we know they are good kids and made a silly mistake, but the zero tolerance policy has to be upheld by the board. Because of this, kids don't get shipped to another school, they are expelled! We are talking about kids (who obviously don't have the best judgement). Should they be punished for these violations...yes, but let's look at it on a case by case situation. Not every child is the same and not every "crime" is the same.

ITA. How a zero-tolerance policy is beneficial to kids, to the point where they take their own life, is beyond me.

[Anonymous]

Hhhmm. In MoCo it seems like they just move expelled kids around to different schools within the county. Where does FCPS send their expelled kids?

[Anonymous]

@ MoCo: Where does Fairfax send its expelled kids? Just down the street to another school. I know, that's what they did to mine after a RUMOR of an infraction. No evidence, just hearsay. No police involvement (no laws were broken). And no recourse. Rather, the "choice" of taking what is offered & hoping for the best. As is all too common (see fairfaxunderground) the decision to remove/expel the child is made well ahead of any "hearing" or appeal to a hearing. The administrators cling to "no tolerance" as an excuse.

Yes, I strongly believe (and have seen that) FCPS has failed many, many children. In Nick's case, they failed his entire support structure - his family (God bless them), his friends, his team mates, his coaches. These concrete rulings are NOT based on the individual child and situation, they are simply a way to move the problem out of the place it happened. Where is the sense in that? Where is the help and support for the child & family? It does not exist here as we are led to believe.

My heart breaks for his parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The main problem is zero tolerance. I have seen on a number of occasions where really good, bright kids make foolish mistakes. The problem is that we know they are good kids and made a silly mistake, but the zero tolerance policy has to be upheld by the board. Because of this, kids don't get shipped to another school, they are expelled! We are talking about kids (who obviously don't have the best judgement). Should they be punished for these violations...yes, but let's look at it on a case by case situation. Not every child is the same and not every "crime" is the same.

ITA. How a zero-tolerance policy is beneficial to kids, to the point where they take their own life, is beyond me.

ITA, too.

[Anonymous]

Link to the Washington Post article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/22/AR2011012203855.html

[Anonymous]

I grew up under a zero tolerance policy, we even had guilt by association (i.e. you at a party where there was drinking but where not, you could still be removed from the sports team and other after school activities). Kids/teens need to learn there are consequences in life (i.e. you break the rules, something happens). They do not like it but that is the fact of life. Teens maybe dumb but why is that an excuse to not have the full consequences that have been set forth up held. I think it is a shame that his boy took his own life but he could have done it for another reason later on down the road.

[Anonymous]

Since none of us know what he did to get expelled, I think it's hard to say if FCPS "failed" him. Yes, I read the FU thread and none of those people know what he did, either.

[Anonymous]

Until you know the whole story - what he did, how it was handled and what issues he may have had it is not fair to blame FCPS.

[Anonymous]

It's tempting to look for answers and to lay blame after such a tragedy. I don't think that it's productive to blame FCPS, but agree that it is a good time to talk about zero tolerance policies and their negative effect on children. Unless there is some strong data to support it, why take such draconian actions against a child?

[Anonymous]

FCPS School Board is to blame. They have the power to ensure fair hearings, with good standards of evidence, cross examinations, and many other procedures we have grown used to from a just legal system. And even in a just and fair systems mistakes happen, that is why the process and punishment needs to fit the "crime."

The board's inaction over the years makes it their fault.

[Anonymous]

I'm very surprised at all of the posts blaming the school system for this tragedy. What if this boy received consequences for bringing drugs to school? What if the recommendation for expulsion was for possession of a weapon? What should the school system do? It would also be a tragedy if the school system did nothing and because of that a child died.

As adults we struggle to understand how something like this could happen and it is only natural to look for someone or something to blame. Educate yourselves and your family about suicide and suicide prevention. Here are some facts from suicide.org:

Over 90 percent of people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death.

Untreated depression is the number one cause for suicide.

[Anonymous]

While untreated depression is a major risk factor for suicide, the fact that this child was expelled from his school can't be dismissed. A child can't see that this moment in his life is temporary, and that life will get better. It doesn't mean that the school is to blame, but it certainly contributed to the conditions that led to this young man's taking his own life.

Was it their fault? No. Should zero tolerance policies be scrutinized to see if they cause more harm than good? Probably.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm very surprised at all of the posts blaming the school system for this tragedy. What if this boy received consequences for bringing drugs to school? What if the recommendation for expulsion was for possession of a weapon? What should the school system do? It would also be a tragedy if the school system did nothing and because of that a child died.

As adults we struggle to understand how something like this could happen and it is only natural to look for someone or something to blame. Educate yourselves and your family about suicide and suicide prevention. Here are some facts from suicide.org:

Over 90 percent of people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death.

Untreated depression is the number one cause for suicide.

FCPS failed with Cho who killed 32 people at VA Tech. That kid [who refused to speak and wrote about replicating Columbine] was just passed along and given 50 minutes/month of speech therapy.