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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Confirming that the 19 year old was a former Blake HS student. Hence why he was at the school to pick up a friend. He has ties to the Blake community and is known by many seniors.

Furthermore, the gun likely belonged to the student was shot. Which might mean he had the gun on him while he was in school.

Another thing: apparently the principal has been allowing students to eat lunch in their cars in the parking lot. So the reason why the kids were congregating in the parking lot was because the principal has been allowing them to spend lunch there. That seems like a really bone-headed call for him to have made.[/quote]

I think that’s common in many HS.  There isn’t really room in the cafeteria for people to eat.  Our schools are very overcrowded.  
I’m not really sure the solution.  I think one issue is that when I was in HS, you could drop out after 16, so I think some of these kids that just didn’t want to be in school weren’t in school.  [/quote]

Outside of MCPs there are high schools that schedule multiple lunches. Easy to combine lunch and advisory into one period to at least split lunches into 2.

In 2027, almost every HS building will have reduced enrollment due to the boundary changes and opening of Woodward. Seems like a great time to go back to closed lunches.[/quote]

The reasons that there is one lunch period is for clubs can meet and so kids can meet with teachers.  [/quote]

They can do clubs after school.  Kids can meet before and after school with teachers.  [/quote]

Do you have high schoolers?  Especially ones that rely on the buses to get to and from school?  Having one lunch period where students can do make-up tests, meet with teachers, and have club meetings is incredibly helpful for busy kids and families who would otherwise struggle to find time outside of the school day.  Activity buses only run some days, so it can be hard for students to stay late or get to school early.  As a parent with kids in two separate MCPS high schools (including one at Blake), I would prefer that more effort be put into actually enforcing the closed campus rules at lunch at least for the schools with closed lunches. I just dropped one kid off at their high school (not Blake) for an afternoon AP test and the number of students walking around the neighborhood during a supposed closed lunch period was ridiculous.[/quote]

We have to stop with this narrative. The same children you're insisting are too busy to meet after school have all the time in the world to:

- Get their hands on ghost guns
- Drug deal and/or use drugs
- Rob CVS
- Get into fights at McDonald's
- Break into vacant houses and record fight videos
- Stab and rob people at Wheaton mall

If the children have time to get into trouble after school, they certainly have time to do productive things after school.[/quote]

Um....the kids doing those things aren't the ones going to clubs! Do you even have a child in MCPS? :)

Also, there isn't MCPS funding for to support after-school activity buses for all the HS clubs (and probably not enough bus drivers, either).  Having it during school ensures that more kids can participate.[/quote]

Yes. I have children in MCPS. And guess what? Club participation in my kids schools sucks even with the lunch option.

Furthermore, my point is we got the kids doing the negative things I outlined above in a productive afterschool club, then we wouldn't have these issues.

Your high-achieving kid might benefit from accessing clubs during lunch, but that is at the expense of kids who need to be engaged in safe and productive afterschool activities.

Your AP kid will be fine because you're a hyper involved parent. And they likely can't meet afterschool because you have them signed up for other enrichment opportunities. So once again, your high-achieving kid liking the ability to meet as a club during lunch is not a reason to maintain a status quo that isn't working for the majority.

With regard to transportation: Assuming we're talking about high school kids, they have free access to Ride-On and Metrobus. Isn't that why that benefit was arranged with both of those transportation systems in the first place? Again, when kids need to get around to do bad things, they have no problem doing it. We have to stop acting like afterschool clubs is some unreasonable burden or hurdle that can't be overcome. This was the norm in MCPS for many decades.

Lastly, clubs running exclusively during lunch is inequitable because once again, it relies on teachers being willing to give up their contracted down time (lunch). You can't build a sustainable system on the backs of teachers being willing to give up their labor rights. This means only those teachers who are willing sacrifice their down time and space will do it. But that's not fair. They deserve a break. Additionally, because clubs and other stuff are crammed during lunch, fewer teachers are interested in becoming club sponsors too, which is a requirement for any club. Which just exacerbates the problem of school culture and connection which is prevalent in many of our high schools.[/quote]

That you think the solution to everything is to just "get the kids in a productive after-school club!" is wildly naive.  [/quote]

I’m sorry, what’s your solution again?[/quote]

Everyone is trying to come up with solutions.  [b]That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to say that yours sucks.[/b]  Also, clubs are dependent on teacher support and if you've been reading this thread, there isn't much enthusiasm for staying after school to host a club, and I don't blame them.  [/quote]

You lack the expertise and experience to even make such a declaration and your comment shows. Your arrogance is misguided and misplaced.

Research shows the number one way to keep teens out of trouble is to engage them in productive afterschool activities. If you're following the conversation and debate about the DC youth curfew law, that's precisely what kids and policymakers are saying is needed: Afterschool programs and safe spaces for kids to be after school. It's why DC is scrambling to find funding for exactly these kinds of programs and spaces for youth.

The problem of ensuring teens stay out of trouble after school is not new. And the solution of afterschool programming and engagement is not new. It's why the Boys and Girls Club of America was founded in fact.

Doing clubs during lunch prioritizes adults' needs (i.e. the teacher's) over the children's. If schools and teachers are not equipped to provide afterschool engagement then that's fine. Let's dismantle the entire school-based club model and claw those dollars back and give them to the recreation department or other nonprofit partners who will provide that service.

That MCPS and teachers have decided doing afterschool programming and engagement is inconvenient or stretches them too thin does not change the fact that it is precisely what most teens need to stay out of trouble.[/quote]

Lunch clubs are good for some kids as some are in after-school sports and outside activities, work, etc.  My kids cannot do after-school clubs.  But, they could have it at each lunch period or get creative. [/quote]

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