Melee at Arabia Mountain High: ‘Turn Up Thursday’ and Twitter turn DeKalb school into a mess
An Arabia Mountain student tweeted this photo of police at the school Thursday.
UPDATE Monday: AJC education writer Ernie Suggs is doing a news story on what happened at Arabia Mountain. He says: I want to talk to a parent or a student who was at the school and witnessed the event. I can be reached at 404-526-5672 and esuggs@ajc.com.
Several of you have asked about a purported student melee at Arabia Mountain High School on Thursday that apparently was fueled by an avalanche of Twitter messages and led to police descending in force.
I have asked DeKalb Schools for official comment. I have not received one yet.
Here is one of the e-mails I received from a reader: On Thursday there were two food fights, a fire in the bathroom, flooding from a broken pipe, over a dozen county police officers. It appears to be something called Turn it up Thursday.
If you search Twitter, you will find dozens and dozens of messages from Arabia Mountain students saying, “I survived #TurnUpThursday” or “Glad I survived #TURNUPTHURSDAY.”
Many of the tweets reference assistant principal Monica Black, saying, “Monica Black .. DIDN’T Survive #TurnUpThursday At Arabia Mountain High School.”
(There was also a message that said, “Thanks to #TurnUpThursday, today is #EatLunchInTheClassroomFriday.”)
A half hour ago, a female student posted this comment on Twitter: “That was a crazy day that will forever go down in Arabia Mountain History.. LMAO.” (That stands for “laughing my a** off.”)
She’s right, but it will go down in history for all the wrong reasons.
It has tarnished the school’s name and reputation and fed the critics who believe DeKalb is a system on the decline. You can get a sense of the community outrage over this event by checking out the comments on DeKalb School Watch.
I asked a poster whose children attend Arabia if his kids were affected: He said:
Unfortunately my son was in the cafeteria when the melee began. I’m thankful he remembered my teachings and moved as far away as possible.
In keeping with wanting to go paperless, the school provided the wireless security code to the students. This is what provided the opportunity for the Twitter messages that when out during the school day. I wonder if the school will reconsider this given the negative publicity that has come from the students’ messages. In our day things like this happened but we didn’t have the Internet to let the entire world see our misbehaving.
There are four parent meetings after we return from the holiday break. I will assume they will want to discuss what happened along with possible changes in school policies. This incident has given a regretful black eye to the school and community.
Before the rants begin about urban schools run amok, this chain-reaction bedlam happens at all sorts of schools. I covered a swank suburb in my first job and a similar event happened there, although there was no Twitter to escalate a food fight into senseless vandalism.
I am sorry this happened for all the good kids at Arabia who came to school Thursday ready to learn.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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176 comments Add your comment
Miss Priss!
December 18th, 2011
12:01 pm
Shades of Freaknik. Enjoy yourselves, dumb ass kids … to death.
Zane Smith's Teeth
December 18th, 2011
12:14 pm
Jdawg,
I guess I should have been more clear. The “something else” that is going on is this: You have an administration that is unqualified/unprepared to run a school along with a student body that is perhaps the worst mix of factors. Kids with a middle class background from an economic standpoint, but little to no vaules or parental support/direction at home. No leadership at home combined with no leadership at school is never going to turn out well. Mix that up with the fact that “thuggery” is prized in South Dekalb (for black, hispanic, and white students) and what do you expect? Read the student tweets. Most of them mention how “Arabia MTN. ain’t lame no more” You had a school that was “perceived” to be academic and high achieving (lame) in a community where that was looked at as a bad thing by the majority of youth and treated with indifference by the majority of adults.
Maureen Downey
December 18th, 2011
12:26 pm
@Digger, I think that already happened, but it was an all white school called Columbine.
Maureen
Digger
December 18th, 2011
12:39 pm
Apples, oranges.
yes i am worried
December 18th, 2011
2:23 pm
Good Mother, The research is pretty clear about the academic challenges facing children who are from single family homes. Sure there are exceptions, there are always exceptions. Here are just a few of those studies…
http://familylaw.typepad.com/stats/effects_on_children_education/
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/dem/summary/v041/41.4ginther.html
http://www.mendeley.com/research/family-policies-childrens-school-achievement-single-versus-twoparent-families/
yes i am worried
December 18th, 2011
2:25 pm
I would add this to Zack Smith’s post. AMHS is a school of choice, but I suspect that this isn’t necessarily a school that many of the students have chosen to attend. Rather their parents made the decision for them. In many ways, the rules are stricter than most private schools and more restrictive.
These students genuinely want out. DCSS should revert AMHS to the neighborhood school it was meant to be as outline in the vote for SPLOST III and move on.
Burroughston Broch
December 18th, 2011
2:29 pm
Maureen, did you check facts on Columbine?
It is 75% white at this time (see http://www.jeffcopublicschools.org/schools/demographics/high/columbine.pdf) and I’ll wager that it was similar in 1999. What is Arabia Mountain – 99+% black?
What happened at Columbine was an armed attack by two students, not a general school riot and total loss of discipline like Arabia Mountain seems. Not the same thing at all.
teacher reader
December 18th, 2011
2:39 pm
I hope that those involved in this destruction are made to clean the school for some time to come, made to pay for the clean up costs, and are thrown out of the school and put into an alternative school program. There is no discipline in schools in DCSS. The memo sent out on Friday to school staff of doing what the administration tells them to do, is the problem with the school system. The students know that they can’t earn a zero, get multiple times to make up work and teachers have an extremely time of giving a child anything lower than a D. Students can cuss teachers out, throw chairs hurt others, and they remain in the regular ed classrooms. Students see this and figure why not join in.
DeKalb schools need to be totally over hauled. They need to really begin anew, as there is so much nonsense and corruption in how people received the positions that they have. Good people don’t stay in the system long and those that have close to enough years to retire are holding their breath and trying to make it to the end. Teachers that speak up about the policies of DCSS, the lack of rigor in education, as well as academic decisions that are made and make no sense are labeled and targeted. I know, I was one of those that spoke out, and finally left, as I knew that I could no longer work in a system that I could not send my own children to, even though we are DeKalb residents.
The silence from administration on this incident is deafening. The tweets that the students tweeted are not shocking, but hopefully will open the DeKalb public’s eyes to what is honestly happening in the school system. From what I have heard, it was a good system at one time, but that time has long past and it continues to get worse and worse as kids learn that they really are in control of the school system, as teachers need to make their customers happy and provide good customer service.
Dekalbite@Teacher reader
December 18th, 2011
3:00 pm
When I started working for DeKalb in the 70s, it had the highest pay and achievement of any school
System in Georgia. It was the school system everyone wanted to work for. DeKalb still has areas where students can get a good education. Some of the highest scoring elementary schools are in DeKalb. But those schools are not for everyone, and the unevenness of the educational opportunities for students is probably unrivaled in the metro area with the possible exception of APS.
Dr. Atkinson needs to clean house from top to bottom and redirect the resources back into the classroom with direct instruction for students. The number of non-teaching personnel added and teaching positions cut (600) during the Lewis years and Tyson year is shocking. I support Dr. Atkinson’s efforts to replace the upper management of DeKalb. This will be very difficult since DeKalb is so into friends and family first, students last.
Jan
December 18th, 2011
3:45 pm
The biggest and baddest authority figure in the school, any school, SHOULD be (in order) the principal, closely followed by the assistant principals, and then the teachers. Just as obviously, the parents should be in control at home. Students and parents should NOT appear in the authority ranking at school. Children should not be the authority figure at home. Unfortunately, DCSS and many parents apparently don’t believe this. So the students are in charge in school and home. And chaos prevails.
Rational Thinker
December 18th, 2011
3:47 pm
It’s the ignorance that’s being passed down from generation to generation that’s not making things any better. Unfortunately, it is quite evident that several people who have commented on this horrific incident are bigots that have been waiting for this opportunity, instead of taking that time to teach their own children how to be better people and find solutions within our school systems.
@jdawg – Perhaps you would be better off learning the process of research. National statistics show that 42% of the students at AMHS, not 70%, come from a one parent home. That in itself neither constitutes lack of common sense nor morals. Stating incorrect and useless opinions, however, does. Your statement of shame in being unable to talk openly as Americans about how to solve cultural issues, unbelievably enough, signifies that you might actually be able to rationalize. It would be just dandy if you would/could elaborate on your plethora of suggestions.
@Digger – Once again, you are another poorly advised commenter. Upon researching the Intelligence Quotient of 2-3 year attending students of AMHS, you will find that the average IQ falls within the superior intelligence level. The lid should be blown on why young African Americans are catergorized as undisciplined, angry, violent prone, low IQ’ed students. Although, the incidents that occurred recently, shed a less than lustrous light on the school as a whole, we, as level headed adults, should realize that the majority of the students are there to learn and become your boss one day.
I am sure that you two, along with your extraordinarily intellectual cronies, will have much to continue to say about this and any other incident involving African Americans. Please do. We would all love to witness the effects of inbreeding.
~ A 117 IQ’ed, highly educated, avid school district volunteer, married, involved parent of 2, and parent of an Arabia Mountain High School junior.~
TeacherMom4
December 18th, 2011
4:01 pm
Unfortunately, schools are short on discipline, including self-discipline among students. Many students have not been taught how to control their own impulses but have spent their entire short lives being appeased because that is the easiest thing for adults to do. Until students have the self-discipline to do the right thing, pay attention in class, and learn their assignments whether they want to or not, we will continue to see the same things over and over again. Schools refuse to do their end of discipline, for whatever reason, and children have learned that whatever they do or don’t want to do is what goes. Many parents don’t want the schools to discipline their children, but they won’t do it either.
The bottom line is that most kids don’t have the rational capacity to make sound decisions about behavior. They are all about what feels good now. That’s why the adults in a society must teach them right from wrong, both through modeling appropriate behavior and dealing with inappropriate behavior. When either or both of these fail to happen, children go out of control. That’s what’s happening in schools, and society, today.
Beverly Fraud
December 18th, 2011
4:37 pm
“The biggest and baddest authority figure in the school…”
Did Jan say “authority figure”? How Draconian! How can a child feel safe expressing their inner child with an “authority figure”?
I’m asking Maureen, “in the best interests of children” to break her normal protocol and forward Jan’s post to Amnesty International.
Dr. John Trotter
December 18th, 2011
4:42 pm
All of the teachers know the problem. It is the discipline, stupid ["stupid" meant for the gutless and selfish educrats].
Earl of Ft. Liquordale
December 18th, 2011
4:51 pm
We might not have had money in Cabbagetown, but had we students at Roosevelt High School in Atlanta done what the pampered children of Arabian Mountain High did, half of us would have gotten suspended for a couple a weeks, the other half would have been expelled from school, and all of us would have had our as$ses kicked when we got home. You would have been able to hear the yelping, crying, and gnashing of my teeth on Carroll Street! I also would have been sent back up the hill to humbly apologize to Mr. Renfroe, our principal. That is the difference from yesteryear and today’s spoiled brats. Their parents defend their defiant and disruptive conduct! This foolishness would have never happened in Clayton County either under the leadership of superintendents Ed Edmonds and Ernest Stroud when the Mrs. and I taught there.
Earl of Ft. Liquordale
December 18th, 2011
4:59 pm
Don’t tell the Mrs., but I have a Ben Franklin on Tebow and the Broncos. Looks like Abe and Eli might be paying me before the night is over! Headin’ to Pompano’s Fish & Grill!
Cranky Yankee
December 18th, 2011
5:01 pm
I worked at a residential school in NY many years ago.
The earlier comments about discipline (or lack thereof) ring very true.
My school’s students were sentenced to the school, we had the “cream” of the thugs from across NY State (everything from theft to murder).
We never had any melees, the grounds were not fenced, there was a small security force.
It must be pointed out…the school was small and that certainly had an impact, Each teacher knew every student’s name.
In the mega-school size environment we find in the metro counties, that is a big problem, anonymity is an effective hiding place for those who would stir the pot.
The discipline was solid, no quarter was given to those who broke the rules, they were dealt with according to the discipline code. If they wanted to whine about it, they could do so to their counselor, to no avail.
There wasn’t much whining.
Of course, we did not have any parents in the picture (they had already written the kids off, those who were around) so there were no parental types threatening legal action because their little darling was punished for assaulting another student.
The school was calm & learning was accomplished. What the kids did with what we taught them, I do not know. I hope we helped some of them.
Bottom line…we had disciplinary control of true thugs because we had a solid plan that was followed from top to bottom.
Lose control to your detriment, that is what is happening in some of our schools.
I was told a crew of students I had caught smoking in a restroom would not be dealt with according to the discipline code in another school I worked in because it “wouldn’t look good to have so many students suspended all at once.” I don’t work there any more.
Earl of Ft. Liquordale
December 18th, 2011
5:06 pm
I remember back in 1968 when three or four very popular seniors at Forest Park High School started some wilding before spring break. They brought about 50 small balloons to school. At lunch time they went into the restroom in the shop hall and filled up these balloons with water. They came out of the restroom, and commenced to throw the water balloons at students in the lunchroom. Oh it caused stir O. K.! A lot of the kids thought that this was funny.
Each one of these seniors were expelled for the remainder of the quarter. They had to go to summer school and night school to earn enough credits to graduate. Of course they didn’t get to walk. They graduated late. That’s how you handle the wilding.
Lee
December 18th, 2011
5:53 pm
Wow Maureen, Columbine? Really?
Why is it that whenever someone mentions the obvious fact that most of the discipline problems and general lack housebreaking by a certain demographic group, the politically correct will respond with the Pavlonian “Columbine” retort.
Really? That’s all you have? An isolated incident that occurred over a decade ago by two deranged individuals. But yet, you want to equate that with the horrors that occur daily at the predominately urban schools on a widespread basis.
Give me a break.
Digger
December 18th, 2011
6:18 pm
Those kids on Twitter are of superior intelligence? We are in much bigger trouble than I thought.
yes i am worried
December 18th, 2011
6:42 pm
Rational Thinker
I hope your volunteerism involves waking up your fellow citizens of S. DeKalb and getting them to demand that school board members not meddle and give Dr. Atkinson a chance. Rumor is, that some of these fine board members are already trying to protect some of the mediocre central office staff.
For S. DeKalb schools to have a chance, really for all DeKalb schools to have a chance, Atkinson needs to succeed.
Demand that your board members behave.
Maureen Downey
December 18th, 2011
6:55 pm
@Lee. That is not all I have. Offhand, I could also mention Santee, California, Pearl, Mississippi, West Paducah, Kentucky , Stamps, Arkansas, Jonesboro, Arkansas, Springfield, Oregon, Conyers, Georgia, and the University of Texas (16 killed.) Maureen
Burroughston Broch
December 18th, 2011
7:24 pm
@ Maureen
Let me backstop Lee. You seem to be in your “let’s make excuses” mode on this problem, just as you were for MONTHS about Beverly Hall and her staff in the APS cheating debacle. You only changed your tune after the facts could no longer be ignored. I don’t know why.
What I do know is that, unless the AJC missed it or covered it up, no one was killed at Arabia Mountain, unlike the other school instances you keep mentioning. Some kids went berserk, got into fights, trashed part of the school, and the staff lost control, so the police were called in.
Why do you keep bringing up tragedies in which people were killed? They don’t seem to be relevant to this incident at all. If you think that they are, then explain.
I’m not trying to minimize what went on at Arabia Mountain, but let’s not blow it up into something that it was not.
For the record, I live in DeKalb and remember when the DCSS was one of the best, if not the best, systems in the state. It has gone to hell in a handbasket since then and, unless the new superintendent makes big changes, is following APS’ and Clayton County’s lead toward educational purgatory.
Digger
December 18th, 2011
7:42 pm
The guy at the University of Texas had a brain tumor and was certainly psycho. The comparison to this is truly beyond me.
Teacher2
December 18th, 2011
7:48 pm
I find it hilarious when similar or worst behavior is demonstrated by White kids the response is apples to oranges or isolated incidents. Ethnicity and murder is now irrelevant, eh?
@Maureen, I ask again why do you provide Lee and Digger a platform to spew their hate on this blog?
Cere
December 18th, 2011
8:07 pm
It’s really pointless to discuss this further, as we don’t know what really happened. We reacted to reports we were getting from students and parents that there was a food fight, a fire, a flood in the bathroom, a possibly injured AP, and other mayhem. We downloaded photos of over a dozen DeKalb patrol cars that responded. It caused many parents great concern. However, it’s plainly obvious now that it’s over that we will NEVER know what went on. The communications have been shut down and the PR push is to downplay the whole thing into a bunch of overreaction to a food fight. End of story – we can’t know any more.
Cere
December 18th, 2011
8:13 pm
Forgot to mention that students were reporting that a student was tasered by a police officer. But we will never know. DCSS does everything in their power to sweep the bad news under the rug. There’s nothing behind the curtain – move along now… Until the ‘next’ event.
I do think students were trying to make some kind of statement. However, they were met with serious law enforcement response. One has to wonder if 12+ cop cars would show up at a Lakeside or a Dunwoody “food fight”.
If a student has something to report or some kind of explanation as to why this all went down, feel free to tell your story to the community at DeKalb School Watch or write to Maureen at the AJC. That’s the only way we’ll ever know.
Maureen Downey
December 18th, 2011
8:59 pm
@Broch, My responses dealing with fatal school shootings were originally to a comment by ‘digger” who wrote, ” One of these days, and soon, the lid is gonna really blow on one of these mostly African-American schools.”
I responded that the lid did blow on a school, only it was a white school. Columbine.
My comments are in response only to that comment, which was then picked up on by Lee.
I absolutely see no connection between the idiocy at Arabia and the horrible events at these other schools; the DeKalb kids escalated a food fight. At these other schools, these kids were coldblooded killers.
Maureen
Former APS student
December 18th, 2011
9:15 pm
Yeah I remember those days. Back in the days Benjamin E. Mays high which WAS a high performing APS school was considered lame. But we never did the things that Arabia Mountains student are being acused of doing to prove a point. SMH, We just look at it as others being jealous and mad because they couldnt attend one of the best schools in country at that time.
Arabia Mountains students needs to understand that lame means high achieving and lame is good. Lame is gonna help them become someone one day.
Dr NO / Mr Sunshine
December 19th, 2011
6:37 am
“It has tarnished the school’s name and reputation and fed the critics who believe DeKalb is a system on the decline.”
This event didnt feed the critics. It only confirmed what the critics already know.
Sam
December 19th, 2011
7:04 am
I think the problem is that people have no boundaries these days. People have lost the idea that their lives should have a purpose.
Jan
December 19th, 2011
7:46 am
@ Beverly Fraud… Yes, I said authority figure. And that is exactly what I meant. But of course, I ‘m sure that you are just being sarcastic and aren’t really that… well… let’s say out of touch…
Maureen Downey
December 19th, 2011
9:15 am
@To all, A parent from Arabia sent me this email and said I could share it here on the blog.
Cere
December 19th, 2011
9:22 am
I should clarify – I meant that the system administrators want it swept under the rug – not the parents. It was a parent who first contacted the blog, very upset to hear that over a dozen DeKalb police cars had responded to incidents at Arabia. I didn’t blame that parent for being worried. This incident shows a lack of control and IMO, students were making some kind of statement (if you read through the tweets, you get the idea that they aren’t particularly pleased with school leaders). They certainly didn’t feel that they were being ‘heard’ – but we can’t quite pinpoint exactly what their issue was.
Earl of Ft. Liquordale
December 19th, 2011
9:22 am
@ Maureen: Are you beginning to see what Dr. Trotter and Beverly Fraud have been talking about…the total out-of-control behavior of many of the students in many of our urban schools? It just takes a few defiant and disruptive students to destroy the learning atmosphere for those student whw want to learn.
The Mrs. and I were talking over coffee this morning about the deplorable situations like Arabia Mountain. We concluded that neither one of us would have gone into teaching if this is what we would have had to face each day.
I better get on down to the shuffleboard tournament. I owe Abe & Eli money on that Broncos-Pats game from yesterday.
Beverly Fraud
December 19th, 2011
9:34 am
“You seem to be in your “let’s make excuses” mode on this problem, just as you were for MONTHS about Beverly Hall and her staff in the APS cheating debacle.”
THANK YOU to B Broach. You see Maureen. It wasn’t JUST me who took note of it.
But the REAL problem with your stand is, in the same way you want teachers to be “accountable” you have never come on here and taken some accountability for your support of Hall, even AFTER it was PAINFULLY obvious, something was rotten in Denmark.
At least Jay Bookman had the INTEGRITY to show buyer’s remorse when it came to Hall, did he not Maureen?
Beverly Fraud
December 19th, 2011
9:38 am
Let me put forth a question, and let others decide if it’s right or wrong. Perhaps SOME of the angst about what happen at Arabia is that it is a SYMPTOM of a larger problems within that school, whereas Columbine might be more accurately seen as an aberration within the culture of that school.
Is that a legitimate statement? After all, you didn’t see a boatload of Tweets in SUPPORT of the Columbine actions did you? (Yes, there was no Twitter, but you get the point)
mem
December 19th, 2011
9:58 am
Food fights happen a lot in school lunchrooms, especially on the last day of school, the difference is that this got totally out of control and was likely a coordinated effort. There are many parents in Dekalb County who sent their kids to Arabia Mountain because of their good reputation and to get away from problems in other schools. This is truly a shame.
The Lithonia police department is very responsive and in this instance, but who knew exactly what was happening inside the school. Would people be this critical of the number of police cars had students’ lives been in mortal danger?
The hits against Dekalb County Schools keep coming and if those in charge aren’t paying attention, and those who keep voting them in don’t see that there is a problem, the school system will just keep being degraded. It’s a shame that one set of schools keep tarnishing the reputation of those schools were learning is taking place and respect is in place. People love to be proved right, and Deklab County keeps playing to the stereotype…not fair to the students who are doing the right things.
Dekalbite@Beverly Fraud
December 19th, 2011
10:00 am
“Columbine might be more accurately seen as an aberration within the culture of that school.”
That’s not accurate. The culture of Columbine was one of exclusion rather than inclusion as students sharply divided themselves socially, unchecked bullying was not addressed, and indifferent parents were all too common .
Maureen is right. Disturbances can occur in any school regardless of race or social and economic class. That doesn’t make the situation any better. It just means it is more comolex as are more variables to consider.
Once Again
December 19th, 2011
10:46 am
Another riot at one of the county prisons. Why is anyone shocked? The schools are little more than prisons for children. When any human is subjected to these dehumanizing conditions of boredom and compliance, they will eventually rebel. For some its clothing, for others disobeying the parents that imprisoned them there, for others it is bullying and violence and occasionally you will see the riot.
Homeschool, private school, whatever it takes to keep your children safe and in a sound educational circumstance. Why do you voluntarily send your children to these institutions??
Cere
December 19th, 2011
10:51 am
I in no way support the actions of the Arabia students, but I will say that our system leadership may need to look inward to discover what exactly could be wrong within that school to have incited such a ’statement’. It’s interesting that this occurred during exam week.
Atlanta Media Guy
December 19th, 2011
10:52 am
J Bookman, I hope you’re not the writer, J. Bookman, the “it’s George Bushes (’publicans) fault” is not going to work here. DeKalb County and DCSS have been under the control of Dems for the past 15 years. Their poor management through the years have placed DeKalb County at a crossroads. Why do you think so many folks want to incorporate themselves into cities? There are many throughout DeKalb who have had enough of the waste and mismanagement by our local government officials.
Eventually we will all know what happened. DCSS will do their best to keep it quiet. It will be the students and parents who are outraged that will make the difference. If students and parents, at Arabia, want to see change, send Maureen and/or Cere your stories, pictures, administration email blasts and subsequent meeting dates and times so the public can get an HONEST reporting of what happened. The community must respond or this will happen again and someone might actually get hurt.
HS Math Teacher
December 19th, 2011
10:55 am
Reminds me of the 1979 movie, Rock ‘N’ Roll High School! Ha!
Sandy Springs Parent
December 19th, 2011
11:01 am
One only needs to follow the movement of the Principals around. For example, why the West Lake Principal suddenly left Cobb county after having been the former Cobb Supt. Super Star. Sometimes it is clear politcal pets will not make it in the next administration. Someone really needs to look at all of these Principals and AP. See how many lack Classroom time. How many have no respect by the students or parents.
I remember we feared the principal of my High School. I accidentially accepted a date from his son, who went to school in another district. I could never live that down. They even put that in my year book.
Cere
December 19th, 2011
11:24 am
We feared our principal too – he had been our junior high principal and we all feel into tantrums when we learned he was going with us to high school! However – we knew that at his core he actually liked us and only wanted what was best for us. We ‘feared’ him sort of like one might fear God. The guy we all loved and who we KNEW loved us was the head counselor. To this day he almost always attends class reunions and everyone is happy to see him.
Maureen Downey
December 19th, 2011
11:34 am
@Atlanta Media Guy, The poster is not my colleague Jay Bookman, and I am debating pulling down the post as I don’t like people using other people’s names. There is someone who posts as Beverly Hall, and I try to pull them down when I see them. (I can’t put the name in moderation as it would take down all posts that mention the former school chief’s name.)
Maureen
Cere
December 19th, 2011
12:11 pm
Posting with someone’s name is almost always done ‘tongue in cheek’. You can tell by the content of the posting. It was meant to mock what the poster views as Bookman’s liberal stance in his regular columns. It was a personal jab at Bookman, and had nothing to do with this topic. These are the kinds of comments that should just be deleted, IMHO.
Frankie
December 19th, 2011
12:12 pm
It is not surprising that single parents and black students get attacked in these blogs..
What i do not see are the many issues that face the white community? wonder why..just like everything else lets sweep it under the rug…
I have seen just as many two parent house holds with children that are just as likely to be a career criminal, etc.
Plain and simple THIS is a parenting issue as well as a school system issue. it has nothing to do with what race they are..I have seen just as many 75-90% whiite schools do far worse than this…
Attack the issue, PArenting, lack of control by the school administration, the crappy system the teachers have to follow. Everyone has a stake in this issue…
Maureen Downey
December 19th, 2011
12:13 pm
@cere, I did take it down.
Maureen
When?
December 19th, 2011
12:19 pm
Still waiting for the AJC to report on this near riot as a news story. Thanks to Maureen for posting it on the blog, but when ten + police cars are called out to a school, with a fire, tasers, etc., it’s a clear news story.
Why hasn’t Dr. Atkinson addressed it yet publically? Why hid this?