Violence at Lafayette, thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Am I missing something here? My DC isn't school-aged yet, so maybe I'd relate differently if she were, but it seems to me all that happened was a school-yard fight (yes, a particularly severe one) and the victim's parents were unhappy with the response from the school initially, but then learned a few things that tempered their concern a bit. To the people who say they now won't send their kids to Lafayette, what are you expecting from an elementary school? And to the poster above saying the kids taking part in the attack should be expelled, especially since they are out of boundary - what the hell does being out of boundary have to do with anything? Might it be that these out of bondary children also happen to be minorities????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I missing something here? My DC isn't school-aged yet, so maybe I'd relate differently if she were, but it seems to me all that happened was a school-yard fight (yes, a particularly severe one) and the victim's parents were unhappy with the response from the school initially, but then learned a few things that tempered their concern a bit. To the people who say they now won't send their kids to Lafayette, what are you expecting from an elementary school? And to the poster above saying the kids taking part in the attack should be expelled, especially since they are out of boundary - what the hell does being out of boundary have to do with anything? Might it be that these out of bondary children also happen to be minorities????

I could not disagree more about the details here. I am shocked that a group of second-grade boys were allowed to hit and kick one younger child, injuring his eye. I mean, this is the year 2008 - where were the teachers?

BTW, the child was in first grade. That means he's about six years old, maybe seven. It would certainly make me reconsider sending my child to that school. In today's enlightened world of "zero-tolerance" it's really shocking to read this ugly story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I missing something here? My DC isn't school-aged yet, so maybe I'd relate differently if she were, but it seems to me all that happened was a school-yard fight (yes, a particularly severe one) and the victim's parents were unhappy with the response from the school initially, but then learned a few things that tempered their concern a bit. To the people who say they now won't send their kids to Lafayette, what are you expecting from an elementary school? And to the poster above saying the kids taking part in the attack should be expelled, especially since they are out of boundary - what the hell does being out of boundary have to do with anything? Might it be that these out of bondary children also happen to be minorities????

You might sing a different tune once you actually have a child in school. NO CHILD should ever experience violence anywhere, especially school. Your child should be free to learn in a nuturing, caring, safe environment where children are also being taught how to resolve conflicts humanely and safely. And where they are being adequately supervised. Write back in a couple of years when you child is in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I missing something here? My DC isn't school-aged yet, so maybe I'd relate differently if she were, but it seems to me all that happened was a school-yard fight (yes, a particularly severe one) and the victim's parents were unhappy with the response from the school initially, but then learned a few things that tempered their concern a bit. To the people who say they now won't send their kids to Lafayette, what are you expecting from an elementary school?

That the teachers pay enough attention at recess to prevent gangs of kids from attacking their classmates. Is that so hard to understand?

[Anonymous]

16:36 here -- I'm not saying that children should not be able to attend safe schools, etc., but fights happen. Or at least they did when I was in school. But I guess one of the pp is right about nowadays there is "zero tolerance" so maybe standards are higher now. I just didn't find the description of the event as "shocking" as some posters have. Maybe it's shocking because of where it occurred? True, no child should experience violence, but I would imagine that similar fights happen on schoolyards across the country.

[Anonymous]

You don't find it shocking that several 2nd graders were allowed to hit and kick a 1st grade boy? I think that would be shocking no matter where it occurred. We're not talking about two boys engaged in a shoving match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The following was posted to the Chevy Chase listserv. My kids go here but in the older grades. I am saddened by it.

There was an incident on Wednesday December 10th on the playground
> at recess where several 2nd grade boys were kicking and hitting a
> 1st grade boy (our son). We received a call from the school that
> afternoon, letting us know that our son had been hit in the eye –
> that his eye was red and puffy, but no permanent damage. When my
> husband arrived to pick our son up from school that afternoon, he
> was then told by both the school counselor and our son's teacher
> that it was more than a punch in the eye – that several boys were
> kicking and hitting our son.
>
> That night one of the father's of the 2nd grade boys called to
> apologize (which we very much appreciated) and to assure us that his
> son would be reprimanded. The next day we started to receive calls
> from parents of other kids that saw what happened on the playground
–
> wanting to make sure our son was okay and to see what was being
> done about the incident.
>
> While I certainly hope the parents and the school reprimand the boys
> involved and take this opportunity to explain how dangerous it is to
> hit/kick another child, to explain that we are lucky there wasn't
> more physical harm done other than bruises and a puffy eye and that
> bullying is not tolerated; I'm just as concerned about how this
> happened in the first place and how the school has handled the
> incident.
>
> First – I'm concerned that there is not enough supervision on the
> playground – that an incident like this could have escalated to
the
> point that it did. Second, I'm disappointed in the way the school
> has handled our concerns. We have placed several calls to the
> school asking for an update and/or a meeting with the principle and
> were told that she was busy giving a tour to VIPs and would be in
> meetings all day Friday – that she could meet with us sometime
next
> week. I also left the school counselor a voicemail message on
> Thursday afternoon – letting her know that we were concerned that
we
> have not heard back from anyone at school and that we would like an
> update on the situation and asked for her to call me back. As of
> 3:15PM Friday – we have not received any calls from anyone at the
> school lettings us know if and how the situation is being handled.
> So far – the only information we have is from other families of
kids
> that saw the incident and the little detail we received from the
> school counselor the day of the incident and our teacher.
>
> Thanks to those that have been concerned - I'm happy to update you
> once we know more about the incident and the school's response.

Sadly, this is not the first such incident to happen at Lafayette. About a year ago, a friend's child was attacked on the playground by 5 boys, badly beaten--some of the boys stomping on his head and neck. Apparently the playground supervisor or teacher was on her cellphone at the time. The child had to have CAT scans and MRIs and was thankfully alright. Nonetheless, the school, and the headmistress in particular did next to nothing. Three of the boys were suspended for one day, two others (one whose parent worked at the school) were not even reprimanded. 4 out of the 5 were out of boundary students. In that case too, when the parents tried to get information as to what the school was doing about the incident, the administration tried to keep everything secret, even telling children who witnessed the attack not to say anything.

IMHO, the attacking kids should have been expelled for such a brutal attack, especially since they are out of boundary. Apparently this group had been instigators of other problems at school, but no one dares do anything.

I had really hoped to send my child to public school in DC, at least through the younger years, but after hearing about my friend's ordeal at Lafayette, a "blue ribbon school", I can't do it.

As I told my friend, these incidents need publicity--the more parents that know about it, the more pressure for change. How embarassing for one of the star schools? My friend chose not to publicize it for fear of retaliation against her children. Apparently, even though the school would not give her the names of the attackers, someone at the school gave out my friend's name and phone number to one of the attacker's parents, who then called her to pressure her not to bring criminal charges......


This is absolutely horrible and I agree the attackers should be expelled. Thank God this child wasn't killed. These children are not too young to learn that there are consequences to their actions. Unfortunately, they're not old enough to get arrested. Before, I pulled my dd out of the DCPS system in first grade she was threatened by another little girl who told her that she would slam her head down into the concrete if she didn't play with her. My dd went crying to her teacher, and we received a call from the school about the threat. The school's counselor had both girls sit down and write letters to each other about their feelings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I missing something here? My DC isn't school-aged yet, so maybe I'd relate differently if she were, but it seems to me all that happened was a school-yard fight (yes, a particularly severe one) and the victim's parents were unhappy with the response from the school initially, but then learned a few things that tempered their concern a bit. To the people who say they now won't send their kids to Lafayette, what are you expecting from an elementary school? And to the poster above saying the kids taking part in the attack should be expelled, especially since they are out of boundary - what the hell does being out of boundary have to do with anything? Might it be that these out of bondary children also happen to be minorities????

Yes, you are missing something. My kids are now in Middle School, and school yard fights in elementary school certainly are not unheard of. But this was not a one-on-one fight between two kids of the same age, which is within the norm (albeit something the school should intervene on). This incident, as described, was five bigger kids beating one smaller kid, and continuing to kick him after he fell down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I missing something here? My DC isn't school-aged yet, so maybe I'd relate differently if she were, but it seems to me all that happened was a school-yard fight (yes, a particularly severe one) and the victim's parents were unhappy with the response from the school initially, but then learned a few things that tempered their concern a bit. To the people who say they now won't send their kids to Lafayette, what are you expecting from an elementary school? And to the poster above saying the kids taking part in the attack should be expelled, especially since they are out of boundary - what the hell does being out of boundary have to do with anything? Might it be that these out of bondary children also happen to be minorities????

I don't know about the Lafayette incident but there are also plenty of white kids who are out-of-boundaries in DCPS (my white dc, for example) so race may or may not be an issue. And I believe that the poster's point was that out-of-boundary kids can be kicked out of the school more easily than in-boundary kids. For example, if you're late every day to school, the principal can ask you to leave.

As I said, I don't know anything about this particular incident. Just wanted to share more on the o-o-b issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:16:36 here -- I'm not saying that children should not be able to attend safe schools, etc., but fights happen. Or at least they did when I was in school. But I guess one of the pp is right about nowadays there is "zero tolerance" so maybe standards are higher now. I just didn't find the description of the event as "shocking" as some posters have. Maybe it's shocking because of where it occurred? True, no child should experience violence, but I would imagine that similar fights happen on schoolyards across the country.

I grew up in a pretty, violent neightborhood in Anacosita many, many years ago. I received a pretty severe playground beating just for being a new kid at school. Never forgot that experience especially as I didn't know how to attack back. I was knocked down, stomped in the head, kicked, and punched over and over again by several older boys. Wouldn't want my children or anybody else's children to have to experience something like that. No, I cannot imagine what happened to the first grader attacked at Lafayette is just a run of the mill playground violence.

[Anonymous]

Why isn't there better playground supervision?

Also, this has nothing to do with race. OOB kids who are that violent should be expelled. It's called consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I missing something here? My DC isn't school-aged yet, so maybe I'd relate differently if she were, but it seems to me all that happened was a school-yard fight (yes, a particularly severe one) and the victim's parents were unhappy with the response from the school initially, but then learned a few things that tempered their concern a bit. To the people who say they now won't send their kids to Lafayette, what are you expecting from an elementary school? And to the poster above saying the kids taking part in the attack should be expelled, especially since they are out of boundary - what the hell does being out of boundary have to do with anything? Might it be that these out of bondary children also happen to be minorities????

I don't know about the Lafayette incident but there are also plenty of white kids who are out-of-boundaries in DCPS (my white dc, for example) so race may or may not be an issue. And I believe that the poster's point was that out-of-boundary kids can be kicked out of the school more easily than in-boundary kids. For example, if you're late every day to school, the principal can ask you to leave.

As I said, I don't know anything about this particular incident. Just wanted to share more on the o-o-b issue.

I posted about the 5 attackers in the earlier incident as out of boundary. My point in suggesting they be expelled or asked to leave is that it seems to me that OOB is a privilege, that could be revoked as an effective punishment/deterrent. I don't know if it is easier to expel OOB kids, but for violence, it should be, I would think.

But aside from that, what if they were minorities? That doesn't excuse or explain or condone the behavior. I don't care what race the kids are, it's elementary school and this beat-down was more than a school yard fight. It was five bullies stomping on the head of another child. Suffice it to say, if they were adults, they would have been prosecuted criminally for aggravated assault, at a minimum.

[Anonymous]

16:36 here - just want to thank folks above for their (polite) replies. Reading everyone's characterization of the fight does make it seem shocking and beyond run of the mill playground fights. Sometimes it helps to see where your own perception of something is out of whack with the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:16:36 here - just want to thank folks above for their (polite) replies.

It makes it just a little harder to take the moral high ground when your post includes the words "what the hell"...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:16:36 here - just want to thank folks above for their (polite) replies.

It makes it just a little harder to take the moral high ground when your post includes the words "what the hell"...

That's the way I talk ... so that's the way I write.