DEAL MIDDLE SCHOOL: Report of firearm at school but no gun found

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How times change.

When I was in my (wealthy international) high school, one of the boys is my grade brought a gun to school, with a separate bullet, in his backpack, and showed it off in study hall when the proctor wasn't there (proctors were hardly ever there).

Most of us scolded him like a little boy, and told him to put it away. Some boys passed the gun around, but it ended there. None of us, in those benighted times, thought to tell any adult. It didn't feel like a crisis situation.

I can’t tell if you’re scolding people for not wanting guns in schools or not. I am confused about the point of your anecdote

Really? Today's society is a lot more watchful about firearms, given mass school shooting events, than in days of yore, when we were blissfully unaware. My point was just how times have changed since I went to school. And I'm not THAT old. I'm 41

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How times change.

When I was in my (wealthy international) high school, one of the boys is my grade brought a gun to school, with a separate bullet, in his backpack, and showed it off in study hall when the proctor wasn't there (proctors were hardly ever there).

Most of us scolded him like a little boy, and told him to put it away. Some boys passed the gun around, but it ended there. None of us, in those benighted times, thought to tell any adult. It didn't feel like a crisis situation.

I can’t tell if you’re scolding people for not wanting guns in schools or not. I am confused about the point of your anecdote

Really? Today's society is a lot more watchful about firearms, given mass school shooting events, than in days of yore, when we were blissfully unaware. My point was just how times have changed since I went to school. And I'm not THAT old. I'm 41

Here’s another anecdote. I’m a 39 year old who grew up in a wealthy US suburb. I never saw a gun at school, don’t remember lock down drills, never had metal detectors, school was an open sprawling campus with many buildings and we could go off campus during free periods. If I had seen a gun at school I would have alerted administration because I knew, even in my idyllic privileged youth, that a gun is a violent weapon that kills people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How times change.

When I was in my (wealthy international) high school, one of the boys is my grade brought a gun to school, with a separate bullet, in his backpack, and showed it off in study hall when the proctor wasn't there (proctors were hardly ever there).

Most of us scolded him like a little boy, and told him to put it away. Some boys passed the gun around, but it ended there. None of us, in those benighted times, thought to tell any adult. It didn't feel like a crisis situation.

I can’t tell if you’re scolding people for not wanting guns in schools or not. I am confused about the point of your anecdote

Really? Today's society is a lot more watchful about firearms, given mass school shooting events, than in days of yore, when we were blissfully unaware. My point was just how times have changed since I went to school. And I'm not THAT old. I'm 41

Here’s another anecdote. I’m a 39 year old who grew up in a wealthy US suburb. I never saw a gun at school, don’t remember lock down drills, never had metal detectors, school was an open sprawling campus with many buildings and we could go off campus during free periods. If I had seen a gun at school I would have alerted administration because I knew, even in my idyllic privileged youth, that a gun is a violent weapon that kills people.

This could be a fun anecdotal spin-off about all our high school experiences and exposure to guns. I'll go.

I'm 51 who also grew up in a wealthy, midwestern US suburb. I never saw a gun never had to deal with metal detectors, lock down drills, etc. However, we also had a smoking lounge in the front of the school, fights in the halls all the time (..."it's a boy thing" or "rite of passage..." nothing out of the ordinary), friends being sexually assaulted and not saying a word cause also, yeah maybe that was a rite of passage or worse, that they deserved it. Has I seen a gun in school it is extraordinarily unlikely I wouldn't have said anything, to anyone cause a lot of shady stuff goes on in high school.

[Anonymous]

Deal not having soap dispensers in the bathroom is a scary thing.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like Ms. Neal still doesn’t have that school under control. Shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like Ms. Neal still doesn’t have that school under control. Shame.

Are you the poster who really has it out for that principal? I am not a huge fan but you really have a grudge or something. Why?

[Anonymous]

Not sure what you want Ms. Neal to do. Kids do crazy things. Deal handled it as well as can be expected. I cannot even imagine the stress Ms. Neal and other principals must be under during Covid times. If she burns out and resigns, then we are really in trouble

[Anonymous]

I agree with the other poster. Ms. Neal is a coddling politician. The school needs Dr. Melissa Kim back to bring people back to reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the other poster. Ms. Neal is a coddling politician. The school needs Dr. Melissa Kim back to bring people back to reality.

Kim ran Deal when suspensions were allowed. Neal’s hands are largely tied by the DC Council’s inane laws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the other poster. Ms. Neal is a coddling politician. The school needs Dr. Melissa Kim back to bring people back to reality.

Melissa Kim is in charge of social and emotional learning for the district and giving inspirational speeches to teachers during PD week. Which any teach who knows her at all rolled their eyes at because she is terrible at SEL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like Ms. Neal still doesn’t have that school under control. Shame.

I'm not a fan of Principal Neal for a lot of reasons, but I don't see what she could have done better in this situation. The school alerted the proper authorities who investigated, and there was no gun found. Unless I'm missing something, it seemed a bit of a nothing burger to me other than there's a child who needs help (the one who claimed to bring a gun to school but didn't really do it).

[Anonymous]

My DC knows the kid who did this. He is a kid who jokes around a lot, like a class clown. I think he discovered there are certain things you do not joke about!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like Ms. Neal still doesn’t have that school under control. Shame.

I'm not a fan of Principal Neal for a lot of reasons, but I don't see what she could have done better in this situation. The school alerted the proper authorities who investigated, and there was no gun found. Unless I'm missing something, it seemed a bit of a nothing burger to me other than there's a child who needs help (the one who claimed to bring a gun to school but didn't really do it).

It’s a total nothing burger! Principal Neal is great. Kids do and say stupid things. Moving on!

[Anonymous]

so glad baseless rumors have a home here on dcum

[Anonymous]

Ms. Neal is a highly organized and even-keeled school leader. Deal is known for being a great middle school. Our family and hundreds of others would agree with that statement. If your child is not thriving there, you might want to get off of DCUM, take a deep breath and see what you can do to make things better.