DCUM Forum

Anonymous

01/19/2025 17:33 Subject: BCC Fight

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fights are always targeted, OP - they're between students who have an existing beef. Your child should feel safe attending this school.

This is what I received from the school. My kid was at school today but was not aware a fight occurred:

B-CC Serious Incident - 1/17/25

Dear Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Community,

I am writing to inform you about a serious incident that occurred this morning and the actions taken to address it. During this incident, two students attacked a third student, resulting in physical injuries. A staff member quickly intervened, de-escalating the situation and brought the students involved to the office. The police were called, and both the police and the school began an investigation.

The school nurse assessed the victim, who was later taken to the hospital by their parents. Additionally, another student recorded the incident, and while the video has since been deleted, it did make its way to social media. I strongly urge everyone in our community to refrain from sharing or reposting such content, as it only amplifies harm and trauma.

I am always saddened when sharing information about incidents such as this. When students resort to physical violence rather than working to find productive ways to resolve conflicts, it impacts our overall school environment and can endanger other members of our school community. While we are continuing our work to address this incident in accordance with the MCPS Student Code of Conduct, I can confirm that all of the involved students will not be attending school in the coming days. In addition, we need to work together to ensure that our students find ways to resolve conflicts appropriately.

How You Can Support at Home:

Monitor and limit social media use. Many conflicts arise from social media posts, group chats, and hurtful messages.

Encourage your child to seek support from a counselor or administrator if they are struggling with peer interactions or experiencing bullying.

Reinforce the importance of respecting others, even in disagreement.

Talk to your child about avoiding confrontational situations and reporting concerns to an adult.

I am also concerned about the actions of students who may choose to film events like this. When these events are filmed, they encourage fights, glorifying violence and disrupting our learning environment. I want to be clear: any student who uses their phone to film or incite violence, as well as those who are directly involved in the fight, may face disciplinary consequences in line with the MCPS Student Code of Conduct.

At Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, we are committed to fostering a safe and welcoming environment for all students. It will take all of us working together to achieve this goal. Thank you for your continued support and partnership as we navigate this challenging situation. Please feel free to reach out to your child’s administrator if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Shelton Mooney, Ed.D.

Principal

This was a pretty good incident letter. MCPS should use it as a model.

Hi Shelton!

lol not Shelton by any stretch.

I was impressed that he included the bit about the students not returning to school because that was something MCPS refused to tell concerned parents in the past. Plus, the letter had lots of specifics and details which was not the norm for MCPS two years ago.

BCC parent here. It's because we hauled him over the coals so many times over his poor communication style. We've had meeting after meeting and drummed it into him. He's learning. Slowly. Not the brightest bulb, but his heart is in the right place.

I’m also a BCC parent and understand the frustrations with Dr. Mooney - but this is unbelievably rude. Please think how you’d feel if people were online talking about how you were “not the brightest bulb.”

PP you replied to. Yes, I am rude, because I see the damage done. Dr. Mooney is nice, but he should not be teaching high school in this area, where parents expect much better. I have a kid who went to a special program at Walter Johnson, while my other kids are in-bounds for BCC. The WJ principal Jennifer Baker (who has since retired) was absolutely outstanding and brooked no nonsense. There are other Principals like her in our area. You have to be decisive and highly-intelligent to run a public high school. Dr. Mooney is a nice guy but he's not up to the task, and I think BCC could be better run with a more competent Principal.

Anonymous

01/19/2025 17:27 Subject: BCC Fight

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did some girls punch the Principal at one of these schools? Probably just a rumor.

Yes, last year. Both the BCC Principal and the security coordinator were hurt.

Really? I have a student there (who was there last year) and I didn't hear about any of this!

The school did their best to squelch it.

Anonymous

01/19/2025 16:45 Subject: BCC Fight

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did some girls punch the Principal at one of these schools? Probably just a rumor.

Yes, last year. Both the BCC Principal and the security coordinator were hurt.

Really? I have a student there (who was there last year) and I didn't hear about any of this!

Anonymous

01/19/2025 15:45 Subject: BCC Fight

PP are you suggesting handing out a PRESS/Journalist vest to each student or staff filming incidents?

Anonymous

01/19/2025 14:55 Subject: BCC Fight

If schools actually punished the students fighting they wouldn’t have to worry about kids filming fights. So instead of actually dealing with the problem they punish the kids filming while the kids fighting face some restorative justice BS and nothing really happens.

Oh so they won’t be in school a few days. Yeah neither are any students over this three day weekend.

The district would love never to have these fights filmed so they can hide the violence. How about having a policy if you fight at school or use violence against a staff member it is an automatic minimum three day in school or out of school suspension. You fight more than 2 times at school you go to a continuation school.

I don’t get the hate against the kids filming. Of course they want kids to fight so they can post it in social media and get views. But photojournalists and newspaper photographer/videographers do the same thing and it’s thought if as a great service to democracy.

Anonymous

01/19/2025 11:31 Subject: BCC Fight

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids filming the fights are part of the problem and should be punished. The videos circulate on social media and glorify the stupidty as well as encourage retribution, inside and outside of school. The fights in school don't need to be videoed in order to discipline the perpetrators because there are always tons of eyewitnesses including teachers and staff. So the only point of the videos is to go viral on social media and fuel the beefs. Any parent who justifies this is an idiot.

I personally think it’s ironic that parents who are super duper against banning books and pro freedom of speech are simultaneously in favor of harshly punishing students who document incidents of wrongdoing so that we don’t need to rely on what eyewitnesses remember or how they characterize what happened. Posting on social media is different but it’s rich to me that a kid who is possibly trying to be an upstander by revealing truth is someone to be silenced and harshly disciplined.

Please. HS kids who are filming fights in school aren't doing it to be an "upstander" - they're filming to post on social media or text to groups of friends for likes and/or facilitate retaliation. That's exactly what happened with this latest BCC fight and with other teenage violence in this area.

I can’t speak to the motivations of this student or what some kids have done. I can speak to the body camera footage from the East Silver Spring incident that revealed a different story than what admin and police may have said. I can speak to the recent incident of the other admin who recently had charges dropped based on video footage that contrasted with eyewitness characterizations. If it were my kid getting attacked, I would be grateful to have video evidence of what transpired. I get why admin doesn’t want to fan the flames on social media, but you’d think they’d want to have as much info/evidence rather than less. So many perps get away with wrongdoing like sexual assault bc there isn’t “proof.”

Anonymous

01/19/2025 11:13 Subject: BCC Fight

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids filming the fights are part of the problem and should be punished. The videos circulate on social media and glorify the stupidty as well as encourage retribution, inside and outside of school. The fights in school don't need to be videoed in order to discipline the perpetrators because there are always tons of eyewitnesses including teachers and staff. So the only point of the videos is to go viral on social media and fuel the beefs. Any parent who justifies this is an idiot.

I personally think it’s ironic that parents who are super duper against banning books and pro freedom of speech are simultaneously in favor of harshly punishing students who document incidents of wrongdoing so that we don’t need to rely on what eyewitnesses remember or how they characterize what happened. Posting on social media is different but it’s rich to me that a kid who is possibly trying to be an upstander by revealing truth is someone to be silenced and harshly disciplined.

Please. HS kids who are filming fights in school aren't doing it to be an "upstander" - they're filming to post on social media or text to groups of friends for likes and/or facilitate retaliation. That's exactly what happened with this latest BCC fight and with other teenage violence in this area.

Anonymous

01/19/2025 11:07 Subject: BCC Fight

Anonymous wrote:Kids filming the fights are part of the problem and should be punished. The videos circulate on social media and glorify the stupidty as well as encourage retribution, inside and outside of school. The fights in school don't need to be videoed in order to discipline the perpetrators because there are always tons of eyewitnesses including teachers and staff. So the only point of the videos is to go viral on social media and fuel the beefs. Any parent who justifies this is an idiot.

I personally think it’s ironic that parents who are super duper against banning books and pro freedom of speech are simultaneously in favor of harshly punishing students who document incidents of wrongdoing so that we don’t need to rely on what eyewitnesses remember or how they characterize what happened. Posting on social media is different but it’s rich to me that a kid who is possibly trying to be an upstander by revealing truth is someone to be silenced and harshly disciplined.

Anonymous

01/19/2025 10:45 Subject: BCC Fight

Teachers really shouldn't report crime and violence because more often than not admin will take your reports and use them against the teacher as they find it impossible to control to violent students.

Anonymous

01/19/2025 10:32 Subject: BCC Fight

Anonymous wrote:Kids filming the fights are part of the problem and should be punished. The videos circulate on social media and glorify the stupidty as well as encourage retribution, inside and outside of school. The fights in school don't need to be videoed in order to discipline the perpetrators because there are always tons of eyewitnesses including teachers and staff. So the only point of the videos is to go viral on social media and fuel the beefs. Any parent who justifies this is an idiot.

I agree kids filming the fights are part of the problem, but MCPS admin have proven they can’t be trusted because they deny, lie and mischaracterize the severity of incidents in school.

So until MCPS proves it can be trusted, I’m not comfortable with students being seriously punished for documenting incidents.

Anonymous

01/19/2025 10:27 Subject: BCC Fight

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fights are always targeted, OP - they're between students who have an existing beef. Your child should feel safe attending this school.

This is what I received from the school. My kid was at school today but was not aware a fight occurred:

B-CC Serious Incident - 1/17/25

Dear Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Community,

I am writing to inform you about a serious incident that occurred this morning and the actions taken to address it. During this incident, two students attacked a third student, resulting in physical injuries. A staff member quickly intervened, de-escalating the situation and brought the students involved to the office. The police were called, and both the police and the school began an investigation.

The school nurse assessed the victim, who was later taken to the hospital by their parents. Additionally, another student recorded the incident, and while the video has since been deleted, it did make its way to social media. I strongly urge everyone in our community to refrain from sharing or reposting such content, as it only amplifies harm and trauma.

I am always saddened when sharing information about incidents such as this. When students resort to physical violence rather than working to find productive ways to resolve conflicts, it impacts our overall school environment and can endanger other members of our school community. While we are continuing our work to address this incident in accordance with the MCPS Student Code of Conduct, I can confirm that all of the involved students will not be attending school in the coming days. In addition, we need to work together to ensure that our students find ways to resolve conflicts appropriately.

How You Can Support at Home:

Monitor and limit social media use. Many conflicts arise from social media posts, group chats, and hurtful messages.

Encourage your child to seek support from a counselor or administrator if they are struggling with peer interactions or experiencing bullying.

Reinforce the importance of respecting others, even in disagreement.

Talk to your child about avoiding confrontational situations and reporting concerns to an adult.

I am also concerned about the actions of students who may choose to film events like this. When these events are filmed, they encourage fights, glorifying violence and disrupting our learning environment. I want to be clear: any student who uses their phone to film or incite violence, as well as those who are directly involved in the fight, may face disciplinary consequences in line with the MCPS Student Code of Conduct.

At Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, we are committed to fostering a safe and welcoming environment for all students. It will take all of us working together to achieve this goal. Thank you for your continued support and partnership as we navigate this challenging situation. Please feel free to reach out to your child’s administrator if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Shelton Mooney, Ed.D.

Principal

This was a pretty good incident letter. MCPS should use it as a model.

Hi Shelton!

lol not Shelton by any stretch.

I was impressed that he included the bit about the students not returning to school because that was something MCPS refused to tell concerned parents in the past. Plus, the letter had lots of specifics and details which was not the norm for MCPS two years ago.

BCC parent here. It's because we hauled him over the coals so many times over his poor communication style. We've had meeting after meeting and drummed it into him. He's learning. Slowly. Not the brightest bulb, but his heart is in the right place.

Maybe it's your students punching him that caused that??

Anonymous

01/19/2025 10:25 Subject: BCC Fight

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There have bene multiple issues at BCC. Having a mix of rich families and lower income don't blend well. Its always been that way there.

NP here - I do not think it is the income per se that matters, but rather the educational level and cultural background of the family that the kid is coming from.
signed
Single Mom of two kids here who does not earn a whole lot of money for DC standards, but is highly educated

Or that the kid has severe mental health problems, and has been bouncing around the system for years because there's no placement for him/her. Don't forget that the violent kids get a temporary placement in an MCPS-associated holding school (which is rife with its own violence issues, obviously), but then they get to enroll in a regular high school, and that high school is obligated to take them... until the student causes problems. After which another high school has to take them, and so on, until they graduate or age out.

I've said it before, but there have to be more or larger holding schools for violent students in MoCo, so they don't need to be let loose again to terrorize staff and kids in regular schools. And those holding schools must be safe so that kids can actually go there and try to learn something, without fear of getting into fights with crazies and without too much staff turnover.

In a time of teacher shortages, who will babysit the students until they age out/graduate? Can't open more schools if teachers are non-existent or unwilling to teach in those holding schools.

Anonymous

01/19/2025 10:22 Subject: BCC Fight

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did some girls punch the Principal at one of these schools? Probably just a rumor.

Yes, last year. Both the BCC Principal and the security coordinator were hurt.

Was it female students that did that there?