It seems that the pen IS mightier than the sword
Superintendent Carol Comeau & Principal Kersten Johnson-Struempler at South High meeting
Last week, an incident that had been dealt with several weeks ago at South High School came to a head. As written in the Anchorage Daily News:
Violent lyrics written by a South High School student about attacking other students resulted in a felony charge of making terroristic threats and a 45-day emergency suspension from school, according to police and the Anchorage School District.
The sophomore now faces expulsion from the School District, Superintendent Carol Comeau said Wednesday.
I learned about this issue through the ADN article and then through an email conversation with a South High parent who gave me a link to the lyrics. Because some of the accusations being leveled at the School Administration were definitely not my experience with the District, I decided I would attend the Friday parent’s meeting held at South.
I got there a little late and this was the scene when I walked in, before my video camera died — South High Principal Kersten Johnson-Struempler is speaking first:
Julia O’Malley did a good summary of the meeting over the weekend. I believe that the male speaker from the audience in the video was the one referenced in this quote: “A man lectured Comeau about things he’d heard on talk radio, criticizing the district’s lack of communication with parents.” This man was not the only one to cut loose on the Superintendent.
It seems that many folks were reading the same talking points and they repeated them over and over…wielding them like a cudgel against the women standing at the front of the room.
The School District screwed up on the communications issue…we get it. Carol Comeau also “got it” and repeatedly took responsibility for the communications SNAFU and stated it’s something they will look to improve for the future.
However, there were a number of facts that it seemed many of the folks missed while embracing the drama:
— The student mailed his song lyrics out to a number of people on a Tuesday night.
— Principal Johnson-Struempler clearly stated that within an hour of receiving the song lyrics that Wednesday, she had the boy isolated from the student body and in an office.
— The principal also said that, within the hour, APD/the Resource Officers were involved and engaged with the boy.
— The boy was removed from the school and by that Friday his 45-day emergency suspension was official. This was two weeks ago.
— Per Superintendent Comeau, the “robo-call” that went out to the parents provided the information that the Anchorage School District felt they could share without violating the privacy rights of the young man involved. They also sent it with full knowledge that he was out of the classroom and being fully investigated by the Anchorage Police Department.
Parent waving a copy of the threatening lyrics
What they didn’t realize was the extent of the email, internet and social media flurry from both students AND parents stoking the flames of doubt…something for which they were unprepared.
I can appreciate parents fearful for the safety of their children. Having a daughter in ASD, I would be crazy to protect my child from any possible threat. However, the professionals already had the investigation well in hand and don’t give out information when an investigation is ongoing.
— APD Resource Officer Pratt told how they did not have enough evidence to justify a warrant so he would need consent to search the young man’s room for any other evidence. The lawyer for the young man in question said “absolutely not” when they asked to search the house. However, Officer Pratt was able to convince the mother to allow them in because she “didn’t have anything to hide.” They found no weapons but did see more writings, which enabled them to get a felony charge.
— Anchorage Police Chief Mew commented that police probably view these things a little more “dispassionately” than the rest of society, but their investigation determined (as a result of Officer Pratt’s search) that the young man had no access to any of the weapons or items-used-as-weapons mentioned in his lyrics.
South High Resource Officers
— The most significant piece of information I learned from Officer Pratt was the reason they needed that extra evidence. It seems that the parents of the children mentioned in the song lyrics were asked in the very beginning to sign a complaint and press charges against this young man in order for the APD and court system to do their jobs. They refused to press charges.
So, some of these same parents and children who were blanketing the emails, airwaves and social media with rumor and indictments of the young men and the Anchorage School District AFTER THE FACT would not step up when they had a chance.
Besides the complaints about the communication lapses, the other piece of information that kept coming up from students and parents at the meeting was that this young man was known to be bullied…according to one student…”on a daily basis.” There has been mention of it all over the comments at the end of just about every internet story regarding the South High incident. This was found within the comments at the end of the KTUU story:
A.NON.AK. at 9:08 PM April 21, 2011
They failed to mention that **** ******’s child bullied the boy almost on a daily basis, with coments almost as disturbing as the lyrics of the song. Although this gives no excuse to the boy who wrote the lyrics, he was provoked. Those in his classes can confirm that he was openly mocked by the vast majority of students who saw him as a “social misfit.” perhaps he was tired of being called “that ROTC Freak” and “f word Pus**” by her apparent perfect son. Now ive never been friends with either person, but i sympathize more with the lyric writer than Mrs. ******’s son, lets just say he wasnt the only one who has been bullied by her son.
South has a organized a “Rachel’s Challenge” group in the school, whose mission includes treating all with respect and anti-bullying. I have learned that South also has the smallest minority population in the Anchorage School District and that some of their minority students may feel somewhat isolated. I hope that South will actually learn from what this incident has brought up and make some positive changes in the school itself.
However, as the Chief Mew stated at the meeting, this case against this young man is far from a “slam dunk.” I hope we don’t see a resurgence of insane drama if the verdict from the court is not to some folks liking.
How distressing for everyone. It’s so sad to read through the anger in those lyrics. If he had had any weapons or actual material indicating that he was going to follow through in any way, then yes, he should be charged with a felony. He definitely needs help and lots of it. But as someone else said, a felony might be too severe because it really will take away his future chances to really move on beyond this.
The school district seems to have done the right thing at the beginning, but really should have tried a little harder to keep control of the rumor mill. One of the things that the University of Kansas did back in 1970 when our Student Union was bombed and set on fire was to set up a hot line that anyone could call for information on the latest rumors. It was open 24 hours a day and that was before all the technology we have now. The intention was to let students and parents and anyone else get accurate information instead of unconfirmed rumors. It worked well.
If the school really didn’t know about all the rumors being generated, then that is where they failed. Apparently they know now and should act accordingly. Having a meeting was probably a good idea, but it may be too late. We have seen that some people, even when given the facts, continue to cling to their own ideas about any situation.
It seems the school district took all the appropriate actions, but they can’t defend themselves from rumors or what I see as a form of bullying from members of the public that are using this as an opportunity to harass school officials.
When the school district enforces a zero tolerance policy on bullying, then lyrics (and the thoughts behind them) like this will happen much less often. If so many kids knew he was being bullied, then so did some in positions of authority.
Though I feel for the boy, the right action was taken by the school district. Piss poor parenting makes for bad situations.
Schools need to have zero tolerance for bullying. This does not mean that I would excuse the threatening behavior of the child being bullied. I think it is dangerous and wrong for schools to allow young people to be psychologically or physically threatened.
they see our governor bulling the legislature. they see plenty of adults bullying others, some are bullied by their parents or watch one parent be bullied by another.
So true. But, frequently, the schools don’t know. I taught at a zero tolerance school that took it very seriously.
One of my students endured bullying behavior several times a day, all out of the eye of adults. Nobody–not her friends, not her family, not her–said anything for a year and a half, when she finally broke down after school one day and told us. We called her mom, got a formal complaint signed, and when the bullies showed up at school the next day, they were intercepted, read the riot act, and told they would be suspended and then transferred if it happened again with anyone. One was gone by the end of the week. The others toed the line.
All that work we did on educating, working on support gourds, roll playing and so on, and she STILL put up with it a year and a half before saying anything. How many never say a word?
Support gourds!
Pumpkins to the rescue! 🙂
Gourds are frequently misunderstood.
Zucchini, however . . . they’re in your face.
You are right, Laurie….ZERO tolerance for bullying…!
I hope they reduce his charges from a felony. A felony will follow him all his life, severely limiting his life choices. I hope this kid gets a good lawyer and is able to also get the help he needs.
I do not see anyone reacting to this as if it could be their kid that wrote this violent tirade. The parents in that meeting are angry and demanding that the school protect their kids, but when their kids are the bullies, who is there to demand protection FROM them?
My son is a senior at another ASD school, and this incident has gotten blown way out of proportion. I am so sad for this kid.
They’re going crazy over this guy’s writings. Don’t they realize that there are armed kids on campus every day? I used to teach in an urban high school. The thought that my students weren’t armed was laughable. There were a few, but, for the most part, I would swear on a stack of anti-NRA email that they carried more than one weapon.
And I had more than one student die. None at school, but one as he stepped off the bus just a block from school. Bus driver saw it happen and called it in but was powerless to do anything but try and help the kid after he’d been stabbed–he had a bus load of elementary school kids that witnessed the whole thing.
If this letter thing is getting these people’s shorts in knots, then they are completely clueless about high school campuses. And stupid + naive = over reaction.
This entire episode got blown way out of proportion by first, the students, then the parents and then the school district. Everyone involved seemed to have “Columbine Fever” which led to hysterics on everyone’s parts. Such a sad reaction for everyone involved.
Did you mean you would be crazy not to protect your child from any possible threat,or did I misread something? I wish I lived in Alaska and could observe you and Akm and others when you tackle these issues. You may not see this ,but, the passion and anger and other enotions sure shine through when you write.
Bah, leave it to Mike to catch my grammatical errors…I meant I would be crazy about protecting her!
Thank you for taking the time to go to the meeting and then post for everyone:
The man in the video was wrong when he said it was not a privacy issue and privacy issues are much more sensitive when dealing with minors.
The real issue here is did the school district do anything to punish or control the behavior of the student or students who perpetrated the bullying that lead to the whole incident. Not stopping bullies in the school system harms those who are bullied, often causing PTSD, and also harms those who observe it. Not having consequences for bullying teaches the bullies their behavior is ok so they continue to bully and learn how to step up their tactics. They then become the very skilled workplace bullies and those who perpetrate domestic violence.
The really sad part of this story is this young man now most likely has PTSD and has to pay for the psychological torture that caused him to become ill rather than those who caused it paying. They should track the origins of the false rumors (tweets or whatever) to see where they originated. You see one of the main tactics bullies use is spreading false rumors, it is the foundation of all their attacks and is used to get others to dislike their target. It is also used as a defensive tactic to protect themselves when it looks like they are going to be found out. Their favorite false rumor that is spread after they cause emotional distress is the target is “crazy”. The evidence has been designed by the bully who enjoys destroying people. They have engineered a person who is an emotional wreck and may have PTSD while creating a scenario that makes them look like they are the aggrieved person. The parents may be helping the bullies or more often completely bamboozled by them.
Carol Comeau and the principal BOTH stated that they were told a bunch of stuff about bullying…AFTER the fact.
No one said a peep about it before hand. That was backed up by the Resource Officer as well in a seperate conversation.
People are like sheep– women gathering increase the hype exponentially. Most of the sane people probably stayed home. I wouldn’t go to an event like that and stand up to those parents (saying what A.Non.AK said in his or her post) without a body guard. Or a team of them.
Thank you for attending the meeting and covering it with your seeing eyes.
My cousins were at Bethel High School when Evan Ramsey walked the hallways coldly “reloading” his shotgun and terrorizing the teachers and students after murdering the Principal and one of his bullies.
Evan’s life story in and out of the foster care system and under the constant bullying by more popular students was tragic but nothing justified the deaths and fear he perpetrated that day in 1996.
This child’s violent lyrics is an expression of his frustrations, fears and impotent rage. He needs help, and I’d rather we err on the side of caution and get him counseling or redirection, but AKM is right, many of our children are still subject to bullying.
It’s really something that these parents that made the effort to show up were armed to take on the superintendent for whatever reason (political no doubt) rather than address their faults and the faults of their own children.
I don’t know, my children are too young for me to relate that much with this episode, but I know I’d do anything to protect them too, including press charges.
Don’t teachers see when kids are being bullied??? Teachers ARE in and around ALL throughout the schools…WHAT do they do when they see a situation??? I have always upheld teachers…however…school-bullying is at an alarmingly high level…
What a sad story. I understand heightened sensitivity with respect to school-age children in light of US school shootings, but guess what – teenagers do stupid things. Including writing things they shouldn’t.
Is there any evidence this kid DID anything toward what he wrote, or is he simply an Eminem/Catcher in the Rye in making, being detroyed by paranoia and the system.
If he was bullied, and anyone knew about it and turned a blind eye, shame on you.
Hopefully people can wait for the court proceedings before jumping to a conclusion, and hopefully this young man’s progress won’t be retarded by his removal from school at this juncture.
Let’s wait for proof beyond a reasonable doubt.