Student attacked with taser in Oakton HS locker room

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where did the kids involved land?

Probably very little consequence. Money talks.

I thought at least one was being sent to another school.... so which school(s) did they land in?

Yeah, just make it some other community’s problem. Hey it worked for the Catholic Church. Guess we’ll find out where these thugs went when the next kid is assaulted with a weapon for which state guidelines call for expulsion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where did the kids involved land?

Probably very little consequence. Money talks.

I thought at least one was being sent to another school.... so which school(s) did they land in?

They weren't being sent to one of the alternative school. The school was likely the nearest school. I'm not sure that's punishment for what they did. They should have been expelled for bringing a weapon onto school ground and using it against another student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d like the original video shared with the OHS community. It’s important that my kids know who the perps in their school are!

Weird that only the PTA sees the unfiltered version.

PTA should hold a community meeting about this! With Scott, Jamie, Doug, SRO, chief of police, DA. Why the heck not?! This was felony assault at our high school!

A large percentage of the student body know the peeps. Oakton freshman son rattled off 3 names. THEY are now being harassed on Snapchat.

Addendum - good if the perps are being harassed on Snapchat, not the kids who outed them

So you encourage online harassment if the target is an alleged perp.

Great way to teach kids that harassment is permissible. Excellent example you're setting there--be judge and jury, and rain down your abuse online. They deserve it, right?

Except next time a kid isn't as clearly and criminally attacked, but just gets into a beef with other kids, those kids are going to remember that adults supported online harassment this time, and they'll have at it again. And again.

The kids who perpetrated the Oakton attack deserve to be prosecuted. I'm not defending them. I'd want them to disappear from my kid's HS and end up in jail. But instead of teaching other students to report through the right channels and push for legit consequences, you're applauding online personal harassment. That lesson won't end with this one genuinely horrible, clearly documented incident. Parents who urge online harassment now, because the Oakton attackers "deserve it," may end up finding their kids are doing it in other circumstances when this incident is over. Because the adults said it was OK this time. And going back to say later, oh, I only meant it was good in THAT case, but you shouldn't do it otherwise....Well, teens are great at spotting hypocritical adults.

Please don't encourage online harassment even of people who deserve it. It cheapens and degrades the kids doing the harassing. Better to treat the perps as if they have vanished and give them zero attention.

So many feels here. Reality: They took a weapon and picked on a kid smaller then them. Consequence: Other kids are harassing and hating on them. Sounds right to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where did the kids involved land?

Probably very little consequence. Money talks.

I thought at least one was being sent to another school.... so which school(s) did they land in?

They weren't being sent to one of the alternative school. The school was likely the nearest school. I'm not sure that's punishment for what they did. They should have been expelled for bringing a weapon onto school ground and using it against another student.

That's what I'm worried about...

(parent of a kid at "the next closest school")

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where did the kids involved land?

Probably very little consequence. Money talks.

I thought at least one was being sent to another school.... so which school(s) did they land in?

Yeah, just make it some other community’s problem. Hey it worked for the Catholic Church. Guess we’ll find out where these thugs went when the next kid is assaulted with a weapon for which state guidelines call for expulsion.

Awful decision if there weren't huge consequences. I thought they revamped the program to actually provide legitimate consequences for students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From next-door "the attacker was given 30 days suspension! There were no criminal charges against him. They seem to believe that this leniency was due to having wealthy and powerful parents. I have no way to confirm the truthfulness of what we learned but if we don't hear any updates on the news, it might have some truth to it." And then this " A long suspension (10+ days) is usually given by the schools to keep a student out while they wait for the hearings office to make an expulsion decision, which, by the way, the schools themselves don’t ever get to decide."

Bingo. Happened at LHS (FCPS) too, though not with a taser, but with a kid with anger issues. Rich parents got him off, for the time being....serious victim blaming by bully parents who raise bully kids in FCPS. People should know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where did the kids involved land?

Probably very little consequence. Money talks.

I thought at least one was being sent to another school.... so which school(s) did they land in?

Yeah, just make it some other community’s problem. Hey it worked for the Catholic Church. Guess we’ll find out where these thugs went when the next kid is assaulted with a weapon for which state guidelines call for expulsion.

Awful decision if there weren't huge consequences. I thought they revamped the program to actually provide legitimate consequences for students.

Please elaborate on what the changes were and what prompted the changes, and why you thought there might be changes.

[Anonymous]

Awful decision if there weren't huge consequences. I thought they revamped the program to actually provide legitimate consequences for students.


Please elaborate on what the changes were and what prompted the changes, and why you thought there might be changes.

I'm curious, as well.

The changes that I am aware of demanded more leniency for perps because of a couple of suicides that happened a few years ago. There was a "zero tolerance" policy then, and the suicides were blamed on being expelled from their schools. So, we went to the other extreme.

The "zero tolerance" was as a result of lobbying because it was thought that white students were being treated more leniently than minority kids, so it was agreed that everyone would be treated the same. Then, a couple of kids were expelled who had problems that led to tragedy. So, it was decided that they would give more second chances.

I have no clue what the current policy is. It seems to me that some discretion depending on the offense should be considered. To me, this offense is among some of the worse that I have heard. But, if it is a first offense, that should be considered. I would think, for sure, that the kids should be kicked out of Oakton. Sounds to me like lots of people in the community must know who they are. I doubt it will happen again. If it does, I would think Juvie would be appropriate, if not already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d like the original video shared with the OHS community. It’s important that my kids know who the perps in their school are!

Weird that only the PTA sees the unfiltered version.

PTA should hold a community meeting about this! With Scott, Jamie, Doug, SRO, chief of police, DA. Why the heck not?! This was felony assault at our high school!

A large percentage of the student body know the peeps. Oakton freshman son rattled off 3 names. THEY are now being harassed on Snapchat.

Addendum - good if the perps are being harassed on Snapchat, not the kids who outed them

So you encourage online harassment if the target is an alleged perp.

Great way to teach kids that harassment is permissible. Excellent example you're setting there--be judge and jury, and rain down your abuse online. They deserve it, right?

Except next time a kid isn't as clearly and criminally attacked, but just gets into a beef with other kids, those kids are going to remember that adults supported online harassment this time, and they'll have at it again. And again.

The kids who perpetrated the Oakton attack deserve to be prosecuted. I'm not defending them. I'd want them to disappear from my kid's HS and end up in jail. But instead of teaching other students to report through the right channels and push for legit consequences, you're applauding online personal harassment. That lesson won't end with this one genuinely horrible, clearly documented incident. Parents who urge online harassment now, because the Oakton attackers "deserve it," may end up finding their kids are doing it in other circumstances when this incident is over. Because the adults said it was OK this time. And going back to say later, oh, I only meant it was good in THAT case, but you shouldn't do it otherwise....Well, teens are great at spotting hypocritical adults.

Please don't encourage online harassment even of people who deserve it. It cheapens and degrades the kids doing the harassing. Better to treat the perps as if they have vanished and give them zero attention.

So many feels here. Reality: They took a weapon and picked on a kid smaller then them. Consequence: Other kids are harassing and hating on them. Sounds right to me.

Reality: The kids doing the harassing and hating are doling out their own "punishment" in their eyes but it only makes them harassers and haters, not noble defenders of the weak.

They are lowering themselves. They are being given the idea--by adults--that their actions are acceptable. Do you not get that if adults like you condone the harassment this time, then the next time they want to harass someone else who "deserves it," no adult will be able to say, "This time is different"--?

They need to ignore the existence of the perpetrators. Harassing them online only keeps the perps' names alive. Let them vanish by not acknowledging them, instead of giving continuing oxygen to the issue with harassment.

Adults who condone this harassment, however deserved they and their teens think it is, are adults who are very naive about how teens think, and likely are adults who themselves would harass online anyone they felt was deserving of harassment. Harassment is the reaction of the ignorant and vindictive and those who are convinced they know and do better than anyone else.

The Oakton perps deserve serious legal punishment. But harassers can't deliver that. They can only boost their own sense of superiority and at the same time degrade themselves.

[Anonymous]

Agree. Instead of attacking the perpetrators they would be more effective if they attacked FCPS for the incorrect punishment and demand more just punishment. A large outcry among the public would sway things and would achieve their long term objective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree. Instead of attacking the perpetrators they would be more effective if they attacked FCPS for the incorrect punishment and demand more just punishment. A large outcry among the public would sway things and would achieve their long term objective.

Does anyone know for sure what the punishment is? Is there also police involvement?

[Anonymous]

NP here with no skin in the game (my children are younger but we are zoned for this high school). I'm curious if the victim reported this to the police and if there are any charges being placed against the harassers, or at least the instigator/child who brought the taser to school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree. Instead of attacking the perpetrators they would be more effective if they attacked FCPS for the incorrect punishment and demand more just punishment. A large outcry among the public would sway things and would achieve their long term objective.

Does anyone know for sure what the punishment is? Is there also police involvement?

DP. Because the attackers are juveniles, we aren't going to hear much, if anything, about how this gets handled. No school system will ever discuss publicly how a student was disciplined; a school MIGHT issue a generic "appropriate actions were taken" statement in a very public case like this one, but it won't give details. I wish that FCPS would at least issue a statement saying whether the students are (for example) "no longer at Oakton HS and not at any other FCPS HS" or whatever. There are rumors now that some attackers might have been transferred to other high schools -- regular high schools, not the "alternative" schools used for students with disciplinary issues. FCPS isn't going to come out and say where they are but if they're in regular high schools, parents in those schools should get reassurance from their principals that these students are being closely monitored. Again, IF they're in regular local schools. We don't know and should be careful not to let rumors grow. I just wish FCPS would say something even if it's generic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree. Instead of attacking the perpetrators they would be more effective if they attacked FCPS for the incorrect punishment and demand more just punishment. A large outcry among the public would sway things and would achieve their long term objective.

Does anyone know for sure what the punishment is? Is there also police involvement?

DP. Because the attackers are juveniles, we aren't going to hear much, if anything, about how this gets handled. No school system will ever discuss publicly how a student was disciplined; a school MIGHT issue a generic "appropriate actions were taken" statement in a very public case like this one, but it won't give details. I wish that FCPS would at least issue a statement saying whether the students are (for example) "no longer at Oakton HS and not at any other FCPS HS" or whatever. There are rumors now that some attackers might have been transferred to other high schools -- regular high schools, not the "alternative" schools used for students with disciplinary issues. FCPS isn't going to come out and say where they are but if they're in regular high schools, parents in those schools should get reassurance from their principals that these students are being closely monitored. Again, IF they're in regular local schools. We don't know and should be careful not to let rumors grow. I just wish FCPS would say something even if it's generic.

Blah blah blah. You know FCPS isn’t going to issue any such statement.

This thread should have been locked by now. If this incident had happened at Wilson HS, it would have been locked after a week (or two at most).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree. Instead of attacking the perpetrators they would be more effective if they attacked FCPS for the incorrect punishment and demand more just punishment. A large outcry among the public would sway things and would achieve their long term objective.

Does anyone know for sure what the punishment is? Is there also police involvement?

DP. Because the attackers are juveniles, we aren't going to hear much, if anything, about how this gets handled. No school system will ever discuss publicly how a student was disciplined; a school MIGHT issue a generic "appropriate actions were taken" statement in a very public case like this one, but it won't give details. I wish that FCPS would at least issue a statement saying whether the students are (for example) "no longer at Oakton HS and not at any other FCPS HS" or whatever. There are rumors now that some attackers might have been transferred to other high schools -- regular high schools, not the "alternative" schools used for students with disciplinary issues. FCPS isn't going to come out and say where they are but if they're in regular high schools, parents in those schools should get reassurance from their principals that these students are being closely monitored. Again, IF they're in regular local schools. We don't know and should be careful not to let rumors grow. I just wish FCPS would say something even if it's generic.

Blah blah blah. You know FCPS isn’t going to issue any such statement.

This thread should have been locked by now. If this incident had happened at Wilson HS, it would have been locked after a week (or two at most).

Why so eager to see this thread shut? Discussion bothers you? You might have missed that I'm talking about how to quash rumors, not how to keep them going. I didn't say FCPS would issue anything. I pointed out that they don't discuss discipline. I just know that if one of these attackers were at my kid's HS the rumor mill would go nuts and it would be beneficial for someone in authority at the receiving school to recognize its better to get out ahead of tumors than let them fester. No specifics needed but FCPS can talk generally about what it's doing to prevent a repeat of that kind of incident and how it places students who have been involved in physical altercations.

You seem invested in wanting this all to go away. Parents at Oakton and all FCPS high schools should want to know how this kind of thing is, or is not, handled.