Does anybody know the incident recently happened in Sidwell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ignorance clearly doesn’t know boundaries. GDS had multiple anti-Semitic issues come up on campus last year, but I think it was kept within the community? Then there was the Bullis situation. And just this past week, we had the kids in Orange County, CA MAKE A SWASTIKA FROM RED SOLO CUPS, give the Hitler salute...and then post it all over social media. Google anti-semisitsm on school campuses and your skin will crawl. Is it ignorance, stupidity, “kids being kids”, or is there a growing anti-semitism sprouting up across the country?

What Bullis situation? I have kids there and I have no idea what you are referencing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignorance clearly doesn’t know boundaries. GDS had multiple anti-Semitic issues come up on campus last year, but I think it was kept within the community? Then there was the Bullis situation. And just this past week, we had the kids in Orange County, CA MAKE A SWASTIKA FROM RED SOLO CUPS, give the Hitler salute...and then post it all over social media. Google anti-semisitsm on school campuses and your skin will crawl. Is it ignorance, stupidity, “kids being kids”, or is there a growing anti-semitism sprouting up across the country?

What Bullis situation? I have kids there and I have no idea what you are referencing.

It was years ago. Some dumb kid posted a racist video on social media and he was expelled.

[Anonymous]

I'm a student and it was a student who did it

[Anonymous]

Someone hit the nail on the head upthread about the Sidwell bubble. These kids are products of a very progressive Sidwell bubble. So when they look to rebel, what do they do?
They seek to get a rise out of their liberal parents and teachers. I don’t believe these kids believe what they’ve written. They are just pushing back in a destructive way. That doesn’t mean they wish actual harm on others. It doesn’t mean they have any understanding of what these words do to other people.
I don’t have kids are Sidwell, but I would give admin a chance to investigate.

[Anonymous]

if this kind of incidents can happen in the liberal schools such as Sidwell and GDS, it will happen anywhere. Teenagers are more influenced by peers and friends than parents. Sidwell is a diverse and inclusive community. It's interesting to know how these students communicate with their classmates about their views in daily life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignorance clearly doesn’t know boundaries. GDS had multiple anti-Semitic issues come up on campus last year, but I think it was kept within the community? Then there was the Bullis situation. And just this past week, we had the kids in Orange County, CA MAKE A SWASTIKA FROM RED SOLO CUPS, give the Hitler salute...and then post it all over social media. Google anti-semisitsm on school campuses and your skin will crawl. Is it ignorance, stupidity, “kids being kids”, or is there a growing anti-semitism sprouting up across the country?

What Bullis situation? I have kids there and I have no idea what you are referencing.

It was years ago. Some dumb kid posted a racist video on social media and he was expelled.

Oh, ok. Thanks. We've been at the school for 3 yrs and haven't heard or seen anything major, and they are *quick* to nip anything in the bud if it smacks of bullying or race baiting, IME.

[Anonymous]

I think you could find suspects, but I doubt someone is going to confess unless they "plea down" to a lesser charge...

Also, it will be very difficult to trace specific student phones to IP addresses and user names... NOT impossible, but very difficult...

However, it will be good for local DC attroneys who specialize in getting rich kids out of trouble...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a student and it was a student who did it

Do the students know who did it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone hit the nail on the head upthread about the Sidwell bubble. These kids are products of a very progressive Sidwell bubble. So when they look to rebel, what do they do?
They seek to get a rise out of their liberal parents and teachers. I don’t believe these kids believe what they’ve written. They are just pushing back in a destructive way. That doesn’t mean they wish actual harm on others. It doesn’t mean they have any understanding of what these words do to other people.
I don’t have kids are Sidwell, but I would give admin a chance to investigate.

Such BS. The affluenza defense is not in vogue anymore.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I think that the "Sidwell bubble" doesn't exist. It's more of a "private school bubble" that has existed forever in every private school in town and elsewhere. Signed someone who grew up in a different private school bubble in a different city.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell is notorious amongst parents for having an impossible to predict discipline policy..even the student handbook leaves the actual consequences essentially up for customization...while often cited as a source for "the rules" when discipline does occur...the handbook is used as needed, when convenient to cite, by administrators who make up the consequences for kids on a case by case basis. Is that a good thing? Not sure. As a Sidwell parent I have seen the school mostly make good calls when it comes to discipline I have heard about--- but I have also seen countless instances where prominent parents' kids act out or kids of families associated with the Board act out, and the school goes much lighter on those kids. This is especially the case when the acting out happens on digital or social media which is a domain the school essentially has no articulated policy or training for kids on. Sometimes they address issues when bullying or sexting occurs on social media, usually they don't..it all kind of depends...it doesn't feel like a safe environment in this respect.

The heads of middle and upper school respectively do not have strong leadership skills or policy on this...it is a common complaint..If you ask kids at Sidwell what the discipline policy is in Middle School or in Upper School, they simply can not tell you. I hope this incident propels the administration of the school to start acting with consistency and clarity so kids stop feeling they are on unfair playing fields when some kids get disciplined for acts others are ignored for--and so kids can know with clarity what the consequences are for various forms of bad behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone hit the nail on the head upthread about the Sidwell bubble. These kids are products of a very progressive Sidwell bubble. So when they look to rebel, what do they do?
They seek to get a rise out of their liberal parents and teachers. I don’t believe these kids believe what they’ve written. They are just pushing back in a destructive way. That doesn’t mean they wish actual harm on others. It doesn’t mean they have any understanding of what these words do to other people.
I don’t have kids are Sidwell, but I would give admin a chance to investigate.

Such BS. The affluenza defense is not in vogue anymore.

+1 how far does a kid need to go to not be covered by “kids just being rebels”
This was hurtful and needs consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have also seen countless instances where prominent parents' kids act out or kids of families associated with the Board act out, and the school goes much lighter on those kids.

This is just a sad reality of life at pretty much all schools that are in the middle of a massive capital campaign.

[Anonymous]

Serious question...how would one insert a swastika into a username? Is there a font that includes that symbol?

[Anonymous]

Two kids at Flint Hill drew a swastika on a white board afterschool and I think they were expelled?

This is so much more hurtful to students in the audience to have that hateful symbol flashed on a big screen in front of them.
Kids have to find a way to rebel but c'mon, man.