A week ago the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office handed felony and misdemeanor charges to 11 Matanzas High School students after they got into a brawl. The school principal and the superintendent issued statements that the behavior would not be tolerated, and that the students would be either placed in an alternative program or expelled.
But the incident had not occurred out of nowhere. According to eight of the parents involved, all of whom were interviewed on the record, several of them had been warning the school administration of problems well before the brawl. Some had asked for bus changes for their daughters, some had asked for class or lunch period changes, some had asked for mediation with the other parents.
While some students were ordered to stay home certain days and others were slapped with no-contact orders in the run-up to the brawl, parents’ alerts and suggestions were neglected or turned down outright, either by Fred Terry, one of the assistant principals, or by one of the deans, and to an apparently unaware principal, Kristin Bozeman, who would tell several of the parents that she was unaware of the issues until the day of the brawl.
After the brawl the parents say their children were questioned and handed charges without their parents present, with calls occurring later to some parents but not others: if the brawl had been chaotic, so had been its run-up, and so was its aftermath, in the parents’ view.
But it could have been avoided, they say, had the school taken their concerns more seriously.
On Saturday morning, most of the parents met at Ihop–most of them for the first time–including parents of the main antagonists. Sheena Daughtry had organized the breakfast.
“The purpose of this meeting is for all the parents to get on board and for us to all communicate, and get the girls to the point to where they can go to school,” Daughtry told the mothers around the table. “They don’t have to like each other, but get them to go make sure they go to school. African American women, this hinders them when they run into stuff like that, when they have plans going to college and stuff like this. So obviously the school failed us, so now we have to step in and try to resolve it.”
“Exactly, we’ve to to be the mothers to the community,” Tanesha said.
The parents, most of whom had been interviewed previously, all spoke for the record, including Daughtry, Alicia Rowland, Martina Currie, Lakita Williams (her husband Derrick was interviewed previously by phone), Surena Miley-Adair, Keisha Quijano, and Tanesha, a parent who asked that only her first name be used.
The next day–Sunday, Oct. 15–they met again, this time with their daughters, at Miley-Adair’s house, where the evening lasted from 5 to 9 p.m.
“All of our kids are beefing with each other and we’re all coming together to squash this, the parents are doing something the school didn’t do,” Miley-Adair said. “We just need to know where we need to go from here, what our kids need to do, how their grades are going to get fixed. I feel like we should go in there united, not separated. Don’t separate us. That way they know we’re going to do this together.”
The parents were especially resentful of the school seeking to keep the parents from meeting each other before the brawl–and of reactions after the brawl that painted the picture as an incident out of the blue, and the students as “animals,” in some social media reactions. “All of them are labeled as juvenile delinquents. That’s crazy to me,” Lakita Williams said.
“At the end of the day, they failed us as a community, they failed our children, and we’re going to let them know what it looks like,” Miley-Adair said. “When you fail us, we pick up the pieces, and we’ll be as one. Because we’re not separated. We may not be family, but our daughters have to live together, they’ve got to go to school together.”
“I called Mr Terry: we need to get all these parents together, we need to get all these kids together, we need to have a mediation,” Alicia Rowland, whose daughter is one of the main antagonists, said, recalling speaking to Terry days before the brawl.Terry had issued no-contact orders on some of the students, but he would not agree to a mediation involving parents–only the girls–and would not alter bus assignments.
“I wanted all the girls to be there at the same time so they could tell Mr. Terry what happened, and I wanted their parents to be there,” Rowland said. “He just kept saying it’s going to escalate more if we get everybody together, I felt he was afraid it was going to make it worse, but I was trying to express to him it was getting worse, because these parents were not aware.”
Terry did not respond to a request for comment. Bozeman declined an interview, referring instead to the message posted on the school’s website on Oct. 11. “I want to be very clear with our students and parents about our behavior expectations at Matanzas High School,” the message read in part. “Violence and fighting have no place in our school and are harmful to the positive student culture that we have at Matanzas High School.”
Bozeman referred to the Student Code of Conduct, and only in the fourth paragraph of the five-paragraph letter addressed conflicts and bullying, saying the school investigates all such reports. “If your child is experiencing any of these concerns, I urge you to reach out to their school counselor, a dean or myself so that we can help,” Bozeman wrote.
The line makes the parents sneer, because they say they did reach out ahead of the brawl, and nothing was done.
Martina Currie described the experience with her daughter and the school administration in detail. (The account could not be verified since the principal declined to be interviewed.) Currie’s daughter was not one of the main antagonists. She was more on the periphery.
“She told me over the weekend that there were some girls and they were getting into it with her friends, and that it was getting out of hand, and now the other young lady, they’re trying to bring her into it,” Currie said.
“Monday morning I got a text from her.” It was 10:49. Her daughter sent three short texts: “mom she starting w me.” “Im just letting you know.” “i tried to be the bigger person.”
Currie asked for the girl’s name and what she was saying. “She saying im scary and i dont want to fight and she ab to come to my class when it ends and im going to fight her,” and in another text: “basically trying to punk me in front of everybody.”
“It’s ok I called the office,” Currie texted her daughter.
Currie explained the sequence. She had been in a meeting at work (she’s an interim director of nursing). “I left out of my meeting and called the school,” Currie said, “spoke to whomever answered the phone. They transferred me to Maryann. Maryann assured me they would get my daughter out of class, because she told me all the deans were in a meeting [the school has three deans and four assistant principals], so I couldn’t speak directly to a dean. They told me they would get her out of class. They were going to call me when they got my daughter out of class. Well, nobody ever called.”
Her daughter was called down to the office, and told she could not have a no-contact order placed on the girl who was threatening her. As Currie understood it, a no-contact order would require a more serious pretext, like an actual altercation. “But they never called me, they never called my husband,” she said, so everyone involved could get a better handle on the situation.
Two hours later, Currie got the call no parent wants to get. “The next call I got was my daughter saying that she got into an altercation,” she said.
The brawl had taken place. A dean, Daniel Hawkinson, called her on a three-way call with her daughter on the line. By then the students had been charged. Currie’s daughter had a misdemeanor.
“I said well, how did this even occur if you all were supposed to get her out of class,” Currie said she told the dean. “How could any kids get into an altercation when I forewarned the school that this was something that was going to happen, and so I asked: how? And he said well, we had been having mediation with the other parents and all this stuff,” meaning one-on-one mediation, not in a collective sense. “I said I don’t care about that. I care about why did this occur when I already called the school and warned you all that it was getting out of hand and to protect the kids–all kids.”
The dean, she said, “was trying to put it on the parents. He was saying that the parents should teach their kids how to de-escalate. I said excuse you? I said let me allow you to speak, but let me tell you this: I said there is no way that you can say ‘the parents,’ when the school was notified by me hours before this occurred. So tell me where the fault is of you all and how you all failed all of our children. I’m not talking about just mine. I’m talking about every child there. If they have football scholarships, they will lose them. If they are going to college or wherever they may go on, this will follow them. I say, so what are you all going to do? Because this is totally ridiculous. This is unfair to say ‘the parents.’”
Rowland’s daughter had come home before the brawl and told her that she didn’t want to deal with Terry anymore because the way he addressed her concerns, she said, was to send her back to class with a warning: “You all got a no contact order, so if you all fight, you’re all going to jail,” Rowland said, citing what Terry had told her daughter. That upset Rowland.
She went to the school the next day–that was before the brawl–and told Terry: “Don’t talk to my child without me present, because y’all don’t know what to say to a child. Now she’s walking around all day like, ‘Mom, I’m gonna go to jail. I’m gonna go to jail. I’m gonna go to jail.’ And I’m telling her, you’re not going to jail. All you need to do is you all need to sit down and have a conversation.”
After the brawl, Rowland got a call, “and then he sits there and he apologizes,” she said of Terry. “And I told him, you don’t owe me an apology, you owe these kids an apology, because you failed the children, not us. You all need to do y’all’s jobs.”
Terry emailed parents two days later with a cut-and-paste copy of the appeals procedure, if they wanted to appeal the disciplining of their daughters. The principal’s message had stated that “involved students will be referred to the district multi-disciplinary team for consideration of placement in an alternative program or for expulsion.”
The school, the parents say, is taking an easier way out, leveling charges or disciplinary edicts without taking responsibility for its own failure to more effectively anticipate the brawl.
“I find it very hard to believe that if I call to warn you all and then these children still got into an altercation, and yet it’s no fault or liability for the school,” Currie said. “That’s like me, when somebody does anything I’m over as a director of nursing, I have to go as a regional nurse consultant, I have to say, we messed up. This is what we did, this is the plan moving forward. All you said was that my child maybe did the misdemeanor, and the court will let me know.”
This was Wednesday afternoon, when Currie was told at school after school staff hurriedly moved her to a back office to keep away from other parents gathered there. “I still don’t understand how this could have occurred,” she said. “That’s not OK.”
Several parents were stunned by the principal’s reaction. “The main principal had no idea any of this was going on–on Monday, when this fight was going on,” Miley-Adair said. “She found out about it I guess the day it happened because they weren;t doing anything about it.”
“The principal asked me, ‘what should we do?’,” Derrick Williams said. “I told her: I’m a nurse, you’re the teachers. You don’t have that going on at your school. Your teachers have to be the students’ teachers, not the teachers’ teachers.” He said his daughter has had her share of issues, including a stint at Rise Up, the alternative school, last year. He’s not excusing her for those issues. But he said the school was not willing to address the situation realistically. “They should have called the other girls’ parents, sat everybody down and find out why is everything going on, and get to the bottom of it.” Instead, he said, “the teachers and administrators, they allowed it to fly under the radar.”
Miley-Adair had a similar encounter with Bozeman: “When the principal finally–Ms. Bozeman finally found out what happened, I gave her my phone number, and when I went into the room she was like, how about your parents try to get to it, that was the first thing she said to me. And I said we’ve tried, the school wouldn’t let us.”
If Bozeman’s instincts were right–she was recommending what the parents had wanted to do all along–it was too late.
“We did something that you all failed to do,” Rowland said of the way the parents organized themselves by week’s end.
It was never clear what the feud had been about. Some of the parents say it goes back to last year, some say it goes back to Indian Trails Middle School, some say it had to do with a girl swiping another girl’s electronic device, and some, like Rowland, were certain that the girls themselves couldn’t say where this started. “Watch, tomorrow we’ll get them together, they’ll say, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.’” When they did get together, the girls blamed “a bunch of outsider people coming to them, telling them they want to fight.”
“So they quashed it, all the girls agreed to get along,” Daughtry said–assuming the school would let them get that far, now that the school intends to disperse them between expulsions and reassignments to the alternative school, while cases against almost a dozen them carry on in juvenile court.
Linda says
Wow, based on this article, I agree that your child’s needs were not addressed by the people who have the authority to protect them. I feel bad for the parents and children who tried to address it and prevent it from happening. The violence trends in schools are very concerning, if not frighting! There should be a formal review and accounting for all actions here. Thank you for trying Ms. Currie and all of the other parents. We need more people like you.
Mia says
Totally agree Linda. The school failed then. They were warned. She was trying to prevent something from happening. They did not heed her warning or care to (that’s just obvious).
The school needs to get off their high horse and handle these situations. This could have been handled better. Without this outcome.
Girls: you’re going to ruin your lives over stupid hs bs. Stop it already.
PC GRANDPARENT says
It is time for all parents to take the action these parents are taking. To bad these parents waited until it blew up. If the parents knew there was trouble between the kids, as your story states, instead of “warning the school” , why not do then what they are doing now. Being a responsible parent does not end when your kids head to school and the parents are responsible for the way their children act in school and in this community. It is not the principal or the teacher’s job to to raise this community’s children and it impossible for the school officials to know and act on every rumor of trouble. When I was a parent of school age children, the parents would handle those issues and not wait and then blame the school. I am sick and tired of reading stories with the parents blame everyone and everything except there poor parenting and their children’s unacceptable behavior, Sheriff Staley has repeatedly warned parents to talk to and teach their children about being responsible for their actions. He means that parents should do that before an incident, not after one when you are in the press blaming someone else. Last thing, looks like Mr. Terry told her the truth. Good for him!
Sarah says
When kids come to tell their parents what’s going on and they try to get the Dean involved you can’t control what other people kids are doing that’s why parents went to the school to get the staff to address the situation with other parents that wasn’t aware. No one want the school to raise their kids as you see they failed these kids reading the article. The parents did what was suppose to happen and it stated in the code of conduct if your child is been bullying contact the Dean or whoever and that’s what these parents did.
Surina Miley says
Thank u so much
PC is a joke says
PC Old person is probably not old and not in PC. This is exactly how things used to be handled. The school noticed, got all parties involved together, and tried to come to a solution. The school was warned and didn’t care. Then they questioned and arrested minors without and adult present This is a trash town run by trash people. Don’t bring your family here. The principal will ruin your child’s future on a whim.
bill says
home life decipline on home and respect as the child is growing up is the responsibility of the PARENT not the school sick of hearing its the schools , the police , own up to your responsibilities of raising a child in this world ,
my daughter went to a Catholic grammar school, Catholic high school and a Catholic college and she never had a problem plus the fact that we had prayer every night in our house church every Sunday
Sherry says
@bill. . . Even as a woman in her golden years who has not been blessed with children, it is very clear to me that people like you with your “holier than thou” attitude most certainly contribute to these kinds of problems in our society.
Consider the possibility that walking a mile in the shoes of a disenfranchised person of color would do you a tremendous amount of good. Some sincere compassion and understanding. . . maybe even a helping hand would be the “true Christian’s/Catholic’s” approach in responding to this story. Perhaps a soul searching discussion with your priest is long over due.
Surina Miley says
We did not wait for anything to get this big. This issue has been going on since last year and if the school administration did their jobs we would not be here. We take full responsibility for our actions and the system need to do their part and take responsibility for failing our children. Talk when u know something not when u just reading it. U must have never been a child before with hormones raging. I’m Sorry if u we perfect and never got in trouble but that is not reality sweetie.
Old school says
How about parents raise their kids the right way. It is really not the schools job to raise your kids and handle physical fights all day. School’s responsibility is to provide education to the kids. It all starts at home, always. Parents, have responsibility for your own kids. Raise them right! Teach them how to handle themselves with others. You are responsible for what you are putting out there into society. Kids these days are disaster, and it is getting worse. All starts with you. You are your children’s example. You know, Apple from Apple…
Sherry says
@old school. . . “raise them right” according to who? Hopefully you would agree that there is more than ONE way to raise a child, and that there is NO perfect way to create a perfect adult. . . . which of course does not exist.
Consider the possibility that finger pointing and “judging” the parenting styles of people you have likely never met is not being helpful at all. How about a little understanding, compassion and some actual assistance or suggestions, instead. Try being a part of the solution instead of being part of the problem.
Linda says
PC Grandparent, I’m not sure we are talking about the same article.
Same song says
The school district internal practice to not allow parents to mediate comes from mostly fear of hosting a mediation that would turn violent … they are stereotypical towards the parents before even allowing a resolution to be accomplished .and they are steadily hiding the fact they need to fully fund a true alternative campus not that enclosed 2 portable mess they have erected behind FPC that resembles a juvenile inmate facility recreational yard . The superintendent and the school board need to get in there and do something because they are hoarding those kids in those two buildings like sardines or slaves !!!! And they need an administrator to oversee the alternative program that knows what they are doing and are advocates for the kids assigned there … the current admin there is worthless and these kids don’t get any real services and cycle back through repeatedly after their 45 day enslavement !!!
Paul says
Well the least they could have done was reach out to the parents one by one and they failed to do that sorry but in this situation the school failed these kids. That’s like you going to counseling for help and they ignore you the whole time what’s the purpose of counseling.
ban the GOP says
Guess they were too busy removing books from the library. These kids were charged as adults with felonies right?
FlaglerLive says
They were not charged as adults.
ban the GOP says
ok thanks I thought I read a couple of them were.
But the children love the books! says
School staff do not remove books from libraries .. retarded moms emboldened by retarded politicians make that decision who have A) no education, and B) too much time on their hands watching conspiracy theory videos.. and whom of which have obviously not heard of the Internet (much worse on there!) ..
endless dark money says
agreed but I believe in most situations the parents chose to keep the books but the school board banned them anyways. Was a percieved choice parents didnt actually have a choice. Maybe they should sell the books since they are being defunded by the republicans.
Diane Bedwell says
Kids can read any books they want. The only caveat is the schools will not provide inappropriate books to them. What’s on the Internet does not determine what I allow in my house. My kid’s Granny was foul mouthed. That does not mean we became foul mouthed in our house. For the parents who want inappropriate books for their kid’s, feel free to provide them.
endless dark money says
So whats appropriate is racist rons decision? Did you see in another gop state they banned a book because the authors last name was Gay. Is having a last name you Dont Say make the work innappropriate? The right wing extremist groups post books they dont like online and the sheep follow to their local schools. Dont leave out in many gop states they also banned them in public libraries. If you want your kid to live under a rock go for it but it wont be to their benefit. Besides your kids future was already sold for profits they wont be living in the same world you did.
Having two penguin dads in a kids book is not inappropriate its a reflection of how actual people are; many kids have same sex parents. Even in nature this occurs. They shouldnt be treated different because of it. I know religious bigots like to hate on others so they feel better about themselves but schools are a place for all kids to feel welcome and loved, reguardless of how dillusional or religious their parents are.
Always the “religious” folks who are obssesed with genitals and want to tell others how they “should” live.
Been There says
The school could have done something and did nothing, but they are going to reassign the students. What are the consequences for the school not doing their job to keep students safe?
Too bad these moms didn’t sit down before the incident and run interference on their children’s behavior before it got to this point. That would have been parenting their kids instead of letting the school do it.
Either way, all the adults, parents and school officials, with knowledge leading up to the incident are culpable.
Not Shocked says
Teachers and school faculty are there to educate students. They are not policemen. When a student acts out or isn’t getting the education being provided it’s the school’s responsibility to alert the student’s parents. That education is not about ‘how to get along with each other’. That should be taught at home by parents. The State of Florida wants to protect ‘parent’s rights’? Tell the parents to speak and listen to their children everyday. Not just when the Dean or the Police are calling to share info about an incident.
Been There says
While the students are on school property, they are liable for the safety of those children. It IS their job to keep kids in their care from harm.
Mama J says
Terry did the same thing at Wadsworth, to the point the superintendent had to get involved. I guess he didn’t pay attention to the re- training he was mandated to take
Pc Parent says
I will absolutely second this! My daughter is on the spectrum and was constantly getting bullied at Wadsworth. We had meeting after meeting with him and he was more worried about labeling my daughter and having HER removed. It was so bad to the point where my daughter eventually defended herself against a boy who hit her, and because she scratched him by pushing him away, she was deemed the “trouble child”. the Principal at that time told us to put her on pills…. We put her in Old Kings when it happened and she couldn’t be happier. Mrs. Critcher and all the staff there know what they are doing when it comes to these kids.
He was at Wadsworth when I was attended and my parents removed me back then because the staff was a nightmare. Time to retire Terry!
Joecorey says
Amen. My daughter dealt with a situation close to yours. The only thing that saved her is she made straight A’s. She was bullied because she was mixed. My ex wife and I advocated deeply for her and the situation. They thought because I was an African American male I would be the problem and scared of me. Nope, it was the little white woman that ended up putting fear in their heart and they choose to communicate more with me and everything worked out. My daughter graduates from FPC this year and has achieved academic awards and already accepted at her college of choice to become a pharmacist. God is good!!!
hippy says
I am glad the parents got together t try to get THEIR children under control. The school did not fail them. The parents failed by not taking care of it with THEIR children prior to it happening. Why is it so hard for people to take responsibility for their own actions?
Jack says
Hippy- you are 100% correct. Parents should have control over THEIR kids, it is not the schools job. What else do they expect schools to do? They are there to teach the curriculum to students not deal/babysit with kids who have not been taught self control. That is the parents curriculum. They need to deal with the consequences of their parents having no control.
Surina Miley says
When we send out kids to school the school is responsible for them: we can’t go in no one school and tell them what to do with our children. These kids reached out for help and nothing was addressed. stop blaming parents for kid’s behavior because we all know that kids do what they want when they not around their parents. If we would have body slammed them kids or rough them up the way the school did we would be in jail.
Judith Michaud says
While you are correct about the control starting at home, but the parents can not be at the school controlling what goes on there ! The school needs to take action when they become aware of a brewing problem at their school ! So many times bullying at school is reported and NOTHING is addressed ! It’s a two way street !
hippy says
@Judith and @ Surina – This is exactly what is wrong. If parents don’t take responsibility for their actions, how can they expect their kids to to take responsibility how they act. If your kids is being a bully where did he learn that? He learned it at home and it is allowed at home. If a parent can’t see that their kid is acting as a bully you are not involved enough in that they are doing. Schools are not meant to be babysitters but that is what they have become. We feed the kids, put coddle them, we babysit during the day and after classes are over. Should we start feeding them and making sure they are in at dark and tucked in their beds too?
Jack says
Hippy is right again! Parents should send well behaved kids to school, if they don’t behave then they will bear the consequences. The violent behaved should have been stopped before they were sent to school. If they can’t control themselves, they they need to be removed and put elsewhere. There are many students who go to school and NEVER fight or ever see the dean’s office, get a referral. Teachers expect to teach students not deal with cursing, fighting and parents who defend these unruly students. If a student acts violently in a store- it is not the stores job to monitor them. They call the police to remove them and deal out the consequences.
Paul says
How can the parents sit down when all the parents wasn’t aware of the situation. That was the purpose of the kids telling the Dean so parents can be aware of the situation is what I received from the article.
PC GRANDPARENT says
Always someone else fault.
Mark C says
This is silly. Schools exist to educate. Students attend school to be educated. Our society has added so many burdens to public schools, in both good and bad faith, that it has become untenable. The school, and its administrators, did not fail anyone. It isn’t their job to mediate. Parents, that’s your job. I think it is wonderful that these parents are getting together to hash things out after the fact, but obviously more could have been done before hand. At home!
DJ says
Agreed. As a spouse of a teacher, I worry about their safety. Nobody mentions that when violence is the subject. This same school had a staff member attacked last year. Parents need to be present and involved. It seems the softball, everyone gets a trophy, not my kid, parenting approach is catching up to society. When I was a kid my mom would whopp my butt for fighting. Fear of consequence is powerful. Without consequence of action fear wanes and testing the limits gets more dangerous for all.
Linda says
As a friend of many teachers, you are right to be concerned of their safety, I know I am!
I think we must enable teachers the power to contact parents and anyone else they deem necessary. Emails stay alive and the facts are there to see. You can email and copy every one that you think should know. I think that if I was a teacher in these times, I would let my students know that they can come to you, and to protect yourself and all others by “see something, hear something, say something” I wonder how many teachers are afraid to say something, for retaliation from the principal, staff and their peers. Give the teachers the right to protect themselves and everyone else. Stay safe!!
Endangered species says
So more guns in schools? the NRA would be proud and can you imagine the windfall for shareholders. Maybe just give all the kids guns too so that way everybody can protect themselves… I mean we shouldnt infringe on the 2nd ammendment right?; kids can be the well regulated milita….
Look at all the laws we made that didnt work oh that right no new gun restrictions since columbine even as mass shootings keep going up. why? cause profits buys politicans which then provide legal preferance and loopholes for their donors. Citizens united at work…. For the corporations by the corporations. Some call it corruption others just call it merica’.
Mothersworry says
I have to agree. It is called school, where one goes to learn. It is not a state/county funded day care. These kid’s are actually depriving those who go to school to be educated. No concern for them? I’d toss all involved the heck out of school and permit those who want to learn the opportunity without all the distraction.
Purveyor of Truth says
It’s not credible that Ms. Bozeman was not aware. If it is true, she must be asleep at the wheel, or her assistant failed her.
Thomas says
The assistant failed her as you read in the article.
Surina Miley says
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however show me a perfect child and I bet I find some flaws. Some may have had robots for children but we have real humans for us With feelings and hormones! At the end of the day I know how I raise my kids and what was shown to the world was not the truth! I have videos to prove it. Should the kids be punished for their behavior “Yes”, but to go the extreme some of u parents of children are going is heartbreaking. We really have cruel people in this world and remember u Reap what u Sow! I serve a God that sits high and looks low and judgement is his! I pray he have mercy on y’all souls!
Mothersworry says
I pray that you parents learn to control your kids!
Racist rons golf simulator says
had to work all day to supply food and shelter so only get a couple hours with them a day. So yes teachers likely spend more time with my kids than i get to.
Marc Crane says
There is too much liberal crap in school now. School should be to to teach the basics and PARENTS can teach the way of life they want. It’s so simple it’s stupid yet we submit to ISIS, anti semitism, or some sexual attitude that doesn’t belong in school. Tolerance is good indoctrination sounds like hitler to me,
Someone says
Liberals only want teachers to teach the basics and parents teach everything else. It’s the conservatives that are pushing everything else and I am a conservative…
RichardSmo says
Come again?
Jack Howell says
Plain and simple! It is the responsibility of the parents to accomplish the task of parenting. Parents must get involved, communicate with their children, and build trust. If these teens can’t express the problems they are having in school with their parents, then scenarios like these fights will happen again and again. The fact that these young ladies could not exercise self-control shows a lack of maturity and parenting. Parents, look in the mirror! Check your parenting skills; they are sorely lacking. Don’t place the blame on the school administrators for your poor ability to parent.
The dude says
MAGA sending adult children to DC and then coming on here to complain about other folks actual children not behaving is peak central Floriduh.
Never cease to amaze me says
Good parenting does not always guarantee your child won’t do wrong. It seems to me that both parents and students
tried to alert administrators (how many does the school have – 8?) and none of them took any proactive action. Instead
they waited until it blew up thus risking possible injury to a student or a staff member. The grownups at the school put
their heads in the sand and this is not the first time that principal has been “unaware”. Sorry, but it is her job to be
aware – the last principal who was unaware is no longer employed.
There is much blame to go around in this fiasco, but unfortunately, the adult ears who were supposed to be hearing
the warnings were deaf.
Sherry says
Dear Flaglerlive . . . I had some amount of difficulty in following this story. Sure missed your usual fine editing.
Saying that, it appears root of this tragic physical confrontation just may be a clash of cultures/races. With way too much “finger pointing” going around.
Certainly most parents agree that teaching civilized behavior is the responsibility of the parents and family. Certainly the family unit has their personal approach to those teachings and rules of behavior in the home. It is also the parents/family’s responsibility to teach their children how to behave and interact outside the home and in public places, such as schools.
On the other hand, while it is not any school’s responsibility to “raise the children” that attend, it is their responsibility to create and enforce strict rules of behavior and decorum. That enforcement “must not” be meted out differently by race/financial position/power of any kind.
In my many years of life, I have seen the creation of those rules of behavior fall by the way side slowly over the last 50 years. The actual enforcement of those “unwritten” rules seem more and more inconsistent. The result has become obvious. . . the lack of a disciplined learning environment, at best. . . a dangerous place for children and teachers to be, at worst. The failure of our educational system is a failure of our fundamental culture and society!
“It takes a village” . . . NOT Judgement! NOT Blaming! Even our school boards are the center of political culture wars. Can we at least strive to come together for the benefit of ALL the children who will inherent the future of our nation and planet?