Friday, September 25, 2015

It's Stories Like This One That Give Public Schools A Bad Name

Normal, rational, real people recognize that, as in the Kenny Rogers song, "sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man."  There are some things worth fighting for, and defending the helpless is probably on the top of the "when violence is authorized" list--except at government education centers like this one in sunny California:
A California teenager who rushed to help a blind classmate being beaten up by a bully has been kicked off the football team.

The high school junior was hailed as a hero for intervening after he saw the 'visually impaired' student being repeatedly hit round the head during lunch break at Huntington Beach High School, California on Wednesday.

Footage, filmed by a bystander, shows the teen knocking the bully to the ground with a single punch to stop the attack.
I understand the rescuer has been both kicked off the football team and suspended from school.  Our schools are supposed to be oases of "tolerance", but "zero tolerance" policies rule the day.

Has this made CNN yet?  It hadn't when last I looked.

Anyway, I find the pithiness of this comment refreshing:
'The day you punish people who protect the helpless is the day you've lost humanity. Don't be STUPID!'
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2 comments:

  1. Ellen K6:20 AM

    When a random kid came into my son's chemistry class and sprayed him in the eyes with a can of deodorant, they tried to suspend my son for tackling the kid. That kid had no idea what was in the can or what it could do to someone. My son could have been blinded and as it was had some damage to his eyes as a result. But the conventional "wisdom" was that both kids were fighting and both would be suspended. I pitched a fit. As the injured party, my son didn't deserve punishment for lashing out. The problem was, my son is white, the kid who sprayed him was black and the school feared reprisals. I stood my ground and threatened a civl lawsuit against the school and the student. So they put the other kid in In School Suspension for two days and non-renewed the teacher, who really had nothing to do with the entire event. There's administration for you-always seeking the convenient scapegoat.

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  2. Mrs. Bluebird6:40 PM

    A few years ago in Tennessee they implemented a new law to help balance things out when it comes to students defending themselves. Used to be two kids got into a fight and both got the same punishment, even if one was simply defending himself. Now, the administration has the leeway to modify the punishment depending on who was the aggressor and who was the victim. I know this has happened in my school just this past week. One girl was suspended for two days for initiating a fight; the other one, who did throw a punch in defense, got In School Suspension.

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