STA anti semitism expulsions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What was the joke about?

I don’t think there was any particular joke that was deleted. It’s just that there have been some humorous responses throughout the thread that some felt were inappropriate given the subject matter.

No, I meant what was the joke about that the kids supposedly wrote or whatever that got him expelled?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just gotta love these parents who talk so poorly about St.Albans, yet they don't even have a kid there. They act like they know everything that goes on there and they get inaccurate facts about STA from parents of kids from other schools who have to put down STA, so they feel better about themselves for the schools their own children attend. If you have no relations to the school, then don't say stuff you don't know or hear from parents not associated with the school. The boy who was expelled made some mistakes and joked about an event that should never be joked about, but this boy was still a great kid. Many of the boys in his grade loved him and had known him for 11+ years.

I freely admit I don’t know the school, but this episode makes me think more highly of the school as an organization.
I am so, so, so weary of the excuses people make.
“Mistakes?”
“Still a great kid?”
You know what, I guess he has the rest of his life to earn the moniker of “great kid/man/person.” But right now there are so very, very many things going wrong in his thinking for him to think that this is remotely acceptable.
Such action requires “shock treatment” response, or this doesn’t get fixed.
Also, it is IMPERATIVE for the rest of the school to see how unacceptable this is, and particularly for the targeted students to feel safe. People complain about someone being made “an example of.” You know what? As long as next week a kid doing the exact same thing doesn’t get different treatment/punishments, one one is being “made example of”. It’s simply a consistent application of discipline policy.

+1000!

[Anonymous]

I don't know what the jokes were beyond that they involved the holocaust, but expulsion does seem somewhat extreme. I'd be annoyed by the jokes and I would also expect the school to confront it, but expulsion is extreme. My idea of a punishment would be suspension, have the kids write a research paper on the subject, meet with a local Jewish organization, and deliver it to the student body. Make him learn about the holocaust and out of that learning understand why making jokes is not funny.

If there was a repeated pattern of anti semitism from the kid, then that would justify expulsion. But a one time incident? Kids are kids. They make mistakes. There's a lot of arrogant cockiness in teenage years and out of that cockiness kids, especially boys, are prone to immature behavior. Let them learn from it. Punish them for their actions in a way that also guides them to the right direction. Don't punish them so strongly that they resent it, which is the opposite of learning. We seem to be entering an era where there is a distinct lack of not just forgiveness, but also the ability to allow people to reform themselves, and that is worrisome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know what the jokes were beyond that they involved the holocaust, but expulsion does seem somewhat extreme. I'd be annoyed by the jokes and I would also expect the school to confront it, but expulsion is extreme. My idea of a punishment would be suspension, have the kids write a research paper on the subject, meet with a local Jewish organization, and deliver it to the student body. Make him learn about the holocaust and out of that learning understand why making jokes is not funny.

If there was a repeated pattern of anti semitism from the kid, then that would justify expulsion. But a one time incident? Kids are kids. They make mistakes. There's a lot of arrogant cockiness in teenage years and out of that cockiness kids, especially boys, are prone to immature behavior. Let them learn from it. Punish them for their actions in a way that also guides them to the right direction. Don't punish them so strongly that they resent it, which is the opposite of learning. We seem to be entering an era where there is a distinct lack of not just forgiveness, but also the ability to allow people to reform themselves, and that is worrisome.

+1000

[Anonymous]

STA parent here. I heard from someone with knowledge of the incident, but not yet official news from the school, so will not repeat what I heard, which was pretty sickening. It was much worse than just "making a joke."

Until the full story is known, please do not Monday morning quarterback the punishment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:STA parent here. I heard from someone with knowledge of the incident, but not yet official news from the school, so will not repeat what I heard, which was pretty sickening. It was much worse than just "making a joke."

Until the full story is known, please do not Monday morning quarterback the punishment.

Yes many more spots will open up soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, what does this mean for the waitlist?

LOL! Thanks for the laugh. Seriously - you made my day.

Yes. Post of the day!

(And yes, I can enjoy this lighthearted moment and still be appalled by the actual behavior these kids demonstrated.)

If they really want to teach the kids involved, they should make them go to the Holocaust museum. In my experience kids don’t really understand the horror of the Holocaust by being told a bit about it. It’s hard to appreciate what really happened when you don't have a point of reference. Walking through a two storied hallway lined with photos of an entire town that no longer exists is overwhelming. Seeing the piles of shoes of some of the people that were murdered is something you can’t forget. You see that and you just might not make jokes or antisemetic remarks. What I care about is that a kid learns why what they did was so awful. Why tolerating antisemetism is dangerous. problem with expulsion is all of the people that were killed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know what the jokes were beyond that they involved the holocaust, but expulsion does seem somewhat extreme. I'd be annoyed by the jokes and I would also expect the school to confront it, but expulsion is extreme. My idea of a punishment would be suspension, have the kids write a research paper on the subject, meet with a local Jewish organization, and deliver it to the student body. Make him learn about the holocaust and out of that learning understand why making jokes is not funny.

If there was a repeated pattern of anti semitism from the kid, then that would justify expulsion. But a one time incident? Kids are kids. They make mistakes. There's a lot of arrogant cockiness in teenage years and out of that cockiness kids, especially boys, are prone to immature behavior. Let them learn from it. Punish them for their actions in a way that also guides them to the right direction. Don't punish them so strongly that they resent it, which is the opposite of learning. We seem to be entering an era where there is a distinct lack of not just forgiveness, but also the ability to allow people to reform themselves, and that is worrisome.

+1000

Agree.

[Anonymous]

What else would you expect from a preppy, WASPY school OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know what the jokes were beyond that they involved the holocaust, but expulsion does seem somewhat extreme. I'd be annoyed by the jokes and I would also expect the school to confront it, but expulsion is extreme. My idea of a punishment would be suspension, have the kids write a research paper on the subject, meet with a local Jewish organization, and deliver it to the student body. Make him learn about the holocaust and out of that learning understand why making jokes is not funny.

If there was a repeated pattern of anti semitism from the kid, then that would justify expulsion. But a one time incident? Kids are kids. They make mistakes. There's a lot of arrogant cockiness in teenage years and out of that cockiness kids, especially boys, are prone to immature behavior. Let them learn from it. Punish them for their actions in a way that also guides them to the right direction. Don't punish them so strongly that they resent it, which is the opposite of learning. We seem to be entering an era where there is a distinct lack of not just forgiveness, but also the ability to allow people to reform themselves, and that is worrisome.

None of us know what the full pattern of behavior at play is here. But I suspect the kids had a history of causing trouble within the community and this was just their latest instance of meanness. I have a child at a different private school. The administration absolutely knows which kids are causing trouble. My child was new this year and had a minor bullying incident with one kid. We did not report it but figured out strategies to deal with it and what do you know . . . two weeks later, the kid is gone (rumor has it he was expelled for cheating but I'm sure it was for a pattern of behavior that the school decided it could no longer tolerate). This may be the only anti semetic joke these kids made, but that doesn't mean they haven't been causing other kinds of trouble for years.

[Anonymous]

A family that was bullied?

[Anonymous]

Upthread it was said one boy had been in the community for 11 years. Is this true? If so, it is s not a problem with a new kid but with one who came up through STA.

[Anonymous]

The Trump supporters ARE the ones causing the problems and increased nastiness at the school in my son's opinion. He is in US and says the current 9th grade is rife with this kind of ugly behavior and attitudes and it is directly associated with the crazy Trump supporters. The behaviors go hand-in-hand in his observation. It digusts the older boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Upthread it was said one boy had been in the community for 11 years. Is this true? If so, it is s not a problem with a new kid but with one who came up through STA.

I don’t know the boy. Maybe now that there are so many pro Trump supporters and so many conservatives, people are expressing views they didn’t once express because they feel more comfortable now expressing them. Different views are OK as long as they abide by the values that the Cathedral schools say they believe in. Intolerance, bigotry, racism, homophobia, are not values that the Cathedral schools say they embrace in their handbooks and mission statement.

[Anonymous]

Big 3 Jewish alumni parent here. I'm sorry that your school is going through this divisive time. I've met many STA families over the years and they've been lovely, welcoming people.