Hoax Bomb Threat at Washington Latin
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Anonymous
Previous posters have indicated the children are not white PP. 
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Anonymous
+1. If your child is one of the hundreds wait listed at Princeton and your hasn't, say, phoned in a bomb threat or done anything else to be punished by their school (or arrested by the authorities) wouldn't you puzzle why this kid gets to keep their spot? |
Anonymous
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+1. If your child is one of the hundreds wait listed at Princeton and your hasn't, say, phoned in a bomb threat or done anything else to be punished by their school (or arrested by the authorities) wouldn't you puzzle why this kid gets to keep their spot? And if some Latin students did things where the punishment was expulsion under the family handbook but were allowed to stay (which has happened), wouldn't you puzzle why your child was expelled? |
Anonymous
Well, that's inconvenient! |
Anonymous
I believe someone pointed out that the handbook doesn't say expulsion is the only option. It is my understanding that the administration felt that this case rose to the level of expulsion. Perhaps that was the case with the other students, expulsion wasn't the only option, but in those cases the administration didn't feel that it warranted expulsion. Were the other cases bomb threats from a Muslim student? I would want to know the specifics of the previous cases before deciding whether there is something amiss with the decision for this case. |
Anonymous
Yet you will never know. I generally trust schools/trust Latin. Were they often lenient? Yes. Were there high expectations and a lot of mentoring to counterbalance that? Yes. However, this is making me look back at all the inconsistencies when our child was there and wonder when she benefitted, when she didn't. Of course, for us--her whole future wasn't on the line. Or maybe it was and we didn't know? I would have liked more than a one day consideration here and thought given to these children's histories with the school. This is not about Princeton. This is not about the times we live in. This is about who they have shown themselves to be as people over time, and the specifics of the case, which the school is privy to. |
Anonymous
I wanted to read these before responding. The overarching theme I saw in all three sites was that expulsion and/or suspension can increase dropout rates, crime, and drug abuse. However, in reading the material, the caveat is usually made that this “is for students at risk” or “when students are provided with no immediate educational alternative”. I understand this and do not want the kids who were expelled to go down a path like this. But I also think about the kid whose email was used. I can’t imagine the fear and alienation he felt when he first saw the email. I don’t know that this kid has had to deal with discrimination because of his religion in or out of school, but I’m sure he is very aware of what could happen to him and his family. The news is full of what could be done to him. If I trust the school’s correspondence, they are helping the students who were expelled. They are not leaving them or the families to face this alone. I’m very glad that they are doing this. I think this shows the kids that they have made a mistake and there is a cost to that, but that doesn’t mean that they are no longer worthy of help or support or a second chance. Again, I feel for all that are involved and wished we didn’t have to deal with this as a school community and a society, but that is the reality. I truly hope the kids expelled are able to learn something. ----------- Below are some of the highlights I pulled out from the sites you gave. The knowledge Center graphic has a couple of key statements/stats that stand out to me. When talking about the impact of expulsion or suspension on the dropout crisis, it states “particularly for those students at greatest risk.” It doesn’t seem to me that someone who was already accepted to Princeton is at the “greatest risk”. Further down when it mentions the 56% who failed to graduate, it mentions those with 11 or more suspensions or expulsions. I don’t know the history of the two kids who sent the email, but there has been no indication that they have a history of expulsion/suspensions. The information provided at the safe support site seems to be a power point presentation but does not show where the information provided comes from in terms of research. I did find interesting the following: “Developmental stages of wiring in early adolescence resemble wiring of toddlers in which emotional deregulation and egocentrism are high.” The corresponding chart, shows that he was talking about 13 year olds. The chart only shows images for kids up to 15.5 years of age. I presume the high school seniors are older than that. The presentation also talks about how when pressured or under stress, a young person’s ability to “stop and think” drops off rapidly. Further it states that exposure to prior trauma (e.g., child abuse, violence) worsens performance dramatically. No one has claimed that the two students who sent the email fit this description. The last site discusses the use of zero tolerance which does not apply to this case. As several have said, expulsion is one of the punishments listed in the handbook but not the only one. There is also an appeals process which has been shared with the parents of the kids expelled (according to the school administration). The following quote from this site links back to the overarching theme I mentioned above. “Suspension and expulsion may exacerbate academic deterioration, and when students are provided with no immediate educational alternative, student alienation, delinquency, crime, and substance abuse may ensue.” |
Anonymous
+3. This is what happens when you makes bomb threats. |
Anonymous
So you are for zero tolerance which Hs been repudiated by the bar association and pediatricians. Ok. |
Anonymous
Really, the "bar association" and "Pediatricians" are all for excusing bomb threats? |
Anonymous
| They are for evaluating discipline on a case by case basis - not one size fits all. |
Anonymous
People making bomb threats get expelled. These two are lucky they weren't arrested and only expelled. |
Anonymous
First of all, this is false, since I went out of my way in my post to express concern for the victim. Second of all, concern for the victim kind of goes without saying, doesn't it? Are you under the impression that the parents here that have posted about what they view as the unnecessary harshness of the penalty are silently thinking "And the victim deserves it?" Because of course we feel badly for the victim while hoping for a just punishment. |
Anonymous
There seems to be an argument that expulsion is too harsh a penalty because it will potentially interfere with the seniors' college plans. That is beside the point. Even if the students were allowed to stay at Latin after a suspension, it is highly likely that the bomb threat incident would cause a college to withdraw its admission offer. And justifiably so. |
Anonymous
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If they were not expelled...
Is it fair that the student they victimized would have to face them daily as part of the Latin family? It also seems that sending emails from other's accounts has happened repeatedly before this incident. In hindsight, the administration probably wishes they would have sdhut this practice down sooner. However, at that time they would have been lambasted for overreacting. |