Reply to Whitman Teacher and Crew Coach Arrested

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here is a question I have reading through these comments.

Bethesda is chock full of well to do entitled folks whose general attitude is rules, regulations, laws, and processes don't apply to them on account of their wealth in society.

Many Bethesda people are K Street lobbyists whose livelihood depends on finding loopholes, writing new loopholes or how to extract their interests after breaking the law.  They will write Whitman teachers demanding they change their kid's grade because it impacts their ability to apply for Harvard.

When something bad happens or a mistake is made by a Whitman student, the MO of the Bethesda community for the past three decades is to pass the buck, blame someone else, rig the process and buy the best lawyer and go to court.  Say things along the lines of, "my perfect angel could not have done ____ and I fear this will impact their chances at Yale."

After the 1994 drunk driving crash on River Road (going toward the Beltway, right side of road after Wilson Ln), Dr Marco installed a zero tolerance policy which stated if you drink and come to campus you get banned for a year from school activities including graduation.  A student tested this in their senior year and got ZT.  Well their parents got the best lawyer money could buy and took the school to court and prevailed, they walked the stage.

My question is why are people on this board so angry at the actions of MCPS policy or process, CPS, the police department, the organization that employed Shipley as coach?  You can't have it both ways where you get angry that processes and rules aren't being followed when many in the Whitman community seek out ways to bend rules and processes when it suits them.  [/quote]
What does this have to do about a predatory coach and teenager that was allegedly raped? I am curious what your theory is about the former security guard at Richard Montgomery HS?

All I can say is that you and the people amening this have issues.[/quote]

There are multiple layers to the onion here, and multiple discussions going on here.  This is in reference to folks complaining that the process or protocols weren't followed by MCPS, CPS, Safesport, Whitman Crew, etc.

One thing is for sure, even though he is not from Bethesda, Kirkland's behavior fits the Bethesda culture.  Clearly bad actions and decisions can be excused with money, imbued with a sense of rules not applying to them.  I think its the hypocrisy going on here, Bethesda people sowing rage at rules and processes not being followed but at the same time have no issue throwing people under the bus when it doesnt suit their own professional or personal needs.

Personally, I want accountability and I hope Kirkland pays the price.  I am hopeful the District of Columbia court will have a backbone unlike say the Moco courts which are lax.

It sickens me to see how parents and boosters turned a blind eye just so boats could go fast.  At what cost?? [/quote]
"The Bethesda culture"? This is incredible. Are there other "cultures" unique to parts of this county that I should be aware of? What is the Rockville culture? What about Aspen Hill? Perhaps you could tell me about Wheaton or Damascus? I am all ears.[/quote]
[b]
I think they are referring to the lack of personal accountability that runs rampant in Bethesda and by extension at Whitman.  Kid takes a test, they get an 87 on it because they didnt study for it.  The next day, parent emails the teacher attempting to badger the teacher to change the grade.[/b]  Does every parent do this, no but according to several Whitman teachers, they get dozens of similar requests per week, especially kids in honors or AP classes.  Every year or so there is at least one prominent story of a Whitman student doing something they knew they should not have such as getting drunk then driving, going to a football game drunk, sexual assault, racist graffiti, robbing something, cheating on a test, and in many of these cases they eventually get away with it or get lightly punished.  In an effort to not imperil their child's college application, Whitman parents have been known to make mistakes disappear.

Bethesda has an extremely high density of highly compensated, well educated professionals infused with East Coast sensibilities (where you went to college is super important, one upping your neighbors with better schools, more successful kids, vacations is a sport).  Other similar places include Oak Park, Kirkland and Bellevue (to a lesser extent), Brookline, Bergen and Westchester Counties.  When you have lots of rich competitive privileged people in one place, you end up with some who use their wealth to get themselves or their children out of mistakes they have made.  It is not unique to Bethesda.

Not everyone in Bethesda is this way but there are enough who are.

Rockville, Wheaton, Damascus, and Aspen Hill don't have the same concentration of super wealthy residents who engage in this type of behavior.

How would you describe Bethesda?  [/quote]
You have concocted a fantasy in your own mind. This absolutely does not happen at any MCPS high school. Furthermore, I am not here to defend Bethesda, but I would venture to guess that if kids are excelling at school and in activities outside of school, that would not be possible without responsibility and personal accountability. You seem to think that these kids are successful because they cheat, instead of because they work hard and manage their time.

But lets say that you are right and that there is this pathology of affluenza of a "lack of personal accountability" (sorry that makes me laugh every time is read it) unique to Bethesda that led to this outcome. The question that I have that has not been addressed is then, what is the pathology of Richard Montgomery HS that led to a student having a sexual relationship with a security guard? Is there an answer for that question? Or was it just a person attaining a position of trust in Rockville? No conspiracy of pathological culture there.

But if you are right and these pathological cultures exist that are unique to areas and school, it would be impossible that Bethesda would be the only place that had one. So it would be great to hear how these area pathologies influence in and out of school behavior in other areas. What is the pathology of kids coming to school unprepared and not doing their homework? What do we make of high school kids getting murdered over drug deals? Or getting assaulted over a pair of sneakers? Do we develop fantastical theories about these kids and their parents?[/quote]

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