15 yr old Wilson student abducted his teacher

[Anonymous]

This kid is a thug and I would prefer my kids not to go to a school with a concentration of them. For those extolling Wilson on this thread, how old are your kids and where do you live? Do you live near Wilson? Have you been there? Will you send your children there regardless rather than move? Would you at least apply to SWW or is that not gritty enough for your kids?

I live off of 41st street, very near Wilson. I am also there several days a week. I might send my kids there, they are in elementary right now.

I don't excuse what the 15 yr old did. I also don't think his presence in a school of how many? hundreds of kids is going to alter my kids' education in the Academy or get them killed between 8:30 and 3. really!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prove that Wilson has a concentration of kids with criminal records. Cut the BS and give us data.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/04/dc_schools_folly_nearadults_in.html

Just FYI, Wilson ain't Janney, Murch, Lafayete or Mann.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yikes. Almost sad. Anyone worried about the much documented revolving door that is the DC juvie system for the younger one? They might have this kid back in this lady's class by Monday.

Wonder if Rhee has a policy for that.

[Anonymous]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/20/AR2008032003527.html

[Anonymous]

The placing of these out of boundary kids from deprived neighborhoods in Wilson and other NW schools is just another progressive idea gone wrong. At the end of the day, the Upper NW kids go back home to Tenleytown and other neighborhoods with 2 parents, both at least with BA/BS (most likely Masters) who care about their child's future (this is also social currency). No one in Upper NW wants to be the parent of a fu**up. The other kids go back to their den of squalor with at best one undeducated parent, who is probably so tired from taking the bus all around town to her low wage job, that she doesn't have the time, energy or wherewithal to even begin to comprehend what it takes to raise a successful child. Since most of them happen to be black (due to our city's makeup) there is a racial component to it but this would be the same in a predominantly white town in the MidWest of Mountain West etc. There has always been inequity since the beginning of time and there always will be, smart and opportunistic individuals rise above that. THese kids wont. They do need better schools in Ward 5,7,8

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prove that Wilson has a concentration of kids with criminal records. Cut the BS and give us data.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/04/dc_schools_folly_nearadults_in.html

Just FYI, Wilson ain't Janney, Murch, Lafayete or Mann.

This is not data. This is a piece from 2 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prove that Wilson has a concentration of kids with criminal records. Cut the BS and give us data.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/04/dc_schools_folly_nearadults_in.html

Just FYI, Wilson ain't Janney, Murch, Lafayete or Mann.

This is not data. This is a piece from 2 years ago.

Given that many of those kids were starting in 9th grade, and came from Oak Hill, clearly criminal records, how can you dismiss it as data on current students?

[Anonymous]

No data points are given.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The placing of these out of boundary kids from deprived neighborhoods in Wilson and other NW schools is just another progressive idea gone wrong. At the end of the day, the Upper NW kids go back home to Tenleytown and other neighborhoods with 2 parents, both at least with BA/BS (most likely Masters) who care about their child's future (this is also social currency). No one in Upper NW wants to be the parent of a fu**up. The other kids go back to their den of squalor with at best one undeducated parent, who is probably so tired from taking the bus all around town to her low wage job, that she doesn't have the time, energy or wherewithal to even begin to comprehend what it takes to raise a successful child. Since most of them happen to be black (due to our city's makeup) there is a racial component to it but this would be the same in a predominantly white town in the MidWest of Mountain West etc. There has always been inequity since the beginning of time and there always will be, smart and opportunistic individuals rise above that. THese kids wont. They do need better schools in Ward 5,7,8

I'm going to pretend you're not a troll and inform you that one of the best ways to break the cycle of poverty is to expose underprivileged children and adolescents to a different set of expecations. If you fear your children be used in that manner (i.e., positive role models) then it's up to you to withdraw them to private school. It isn't up to the city to fulfill your desire for a citadel to keep the rif-raff out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prove that Wilson has a concentration of kids with criminal records. Cut the BS and give us data.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/04/dc_schools_folly_nearadults_in.html

Just FYI, Wilson ain't Janney, Murch, Lafayete or Mann.

This is not data. This is a piece from 2 years ago.

Given that many of those kids were starting in 9th grade, and came from Oak Hill, clearly criminal records, how can you dismiss it as data on current students?

I found that article very very confusing and poorly written, but it also clearly says that large numbers of kids AREN'T coming from Oak Hill, and that in previous incidents the perpetrators didn't come from Oak Hill.

[Anonymous]

PP here.

Furthermore that article is about the dangers and disadvantages of holding kids back repeatedly and having 17 year olds in 9th grade.

Given that the student involved in this was 15 and already at Wilson, it seems impossible that he has already been a 17 year old 9th grader.

Do we actually know that this child comes doesn't come from upper NW where all families have 2 master's degreed parents (except mine, my poor single parent child is obviously destined for failure) and not from the other side of the park, (where for the record there are plenty of 2 parent well educated families, not to mention plenty of single parent families or grandparents raising children who care deeply about their children and their education)? Or are we just imagining his address and the color of his skin so that we can pat ourselves on the back for being such excellent parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prove that Wilson has a concentration of kids with criminal records. Cut the BS and give us data.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/04/dc_schools_folly_nearadults_in.html

Just FYI, Wilson ain't Janney, Murch, Lafayete or Mann.

Just an FYI, some kids from those schools do go on to attend Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The placing of these out of boundary kids from deprived neighborhoods in Wilson and other NW schools is just another progressive idea gone wrong. At the end of the day, the Upper NW kids go back home to Tenleytown and other neighborhoods with 2 parents, both at least with BA/BS (most likely Masters) who care about their child's future (this is also social currency). No one in Upper NW wants to be the parent of a fu**up. The other kids go back to their den of squalor with at best one undeducated parent, who is probably so tired from taking the bus all around town to her low wage job, that she doesn't have the time, energy or wherewithal to even begin to comprehend what it takes to raise a successful child. Since most of them happen to be black (due to our city's makeup) there is a racial component to it but this would be the same in a predominantly white town in the MidWest of Mountain West etc. There has always been inequity since the beginning of time and there always will be, smart and opportunistic individuals rise above that. THese kids wont. They do need better schools in Ward 5,7,8

You're making huge assumptions. It's pretty disgusting. I live in NE DC (Ward 5). My kid is not underpriviledged. We are a white, 2-parent family, both with master's degrees. We care about our kid's future. None of my friends from the neighborhood wants to be the parent of a "fu** up" (to quote you, not language I would use!). My kid would not go back to a den of squalor with at least one uneducated parent. We do not (usually) take the bus around town, though we're certainly not adverse to it (we like public transportation). We do not have low wage jobs--though we both work at nonprofits so our salaries aren't high either, and we moved here during the housing boom, so Upper NW was WAY out of our price range. Yes, we need better schools in Ward 5, 7, and 8. But don't make assumptions about "out of boundary kids". Sounds like you would consider my neighborhood deprived. Why don't you come over here and look around? The worst thing about my neighborhood is the schools.

[Anonymous]

My white, 3- masters degree, 2- parent family frequently takes the bus all over town. We live east of the Park, though still in-bounds for Wilson.

Sometimes Upper Northwesties are out of touch. It's hard when your only view of the city comes courtesy of your minivan's windshield, especially when half of those minivan trips are to destinations in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

I’m the person who made the comment about the OOB kids. Maybe I didn’t explain myself in the first post, and I was going at rapid speed.

My comment wasn’t really about the kids being OOB as it was being kids who are emotionally scarred, criminals, have no expectations etc. By the time a person is 15-17 the whole molding phase is out of the window. It’s not fair for these kids coming from Oak Hill or other juvenile centers to be thrust in with "normal" kids and be expected to adjust. I know that even in my private high school it was tough adjusting then and all the kids came from pretty much the same socio-economic status. It's not fair to the teachers because they have to change their teaching style, pacing, etc. to accommodate these kids who are clearly behind, and it’s not fair to the kids already at Wilson because they're now being slowed down as well.

Think about the emotional impact of coming from a situation where you were a member of a gang, or sold drugs to buy dinner, or lived in a rat infested boarded up tenement. At age 4-6 you can mold these kids and mold them, at age 16, where hormones are raging, and the brain is undergoing substantial change it is really tough, now imagine being 17 surrounded by 14yr olds that read better than you, know more about the world than you do, it is unfair. This has nothing to do with not wanting gifted or lottery etc. kids from other parts of the city being at Wilson.