MaxedOutMama
Friday, April 29, 2005
Beating Up My Psyche
Update: Ilona comes through again with further information, including this link to a story about the environment at Mifflin and what has changed at the school since the assault:
I know. I was an Alucard when I was a toddler. The difference is that my parents corrected me. They fought it out with me. My twos were really terrible. I would beat myself up in a rage. Literally. By the time I got to kindergarten I was no less stubborn but quite well behaved, and I no longer threw temper tantrums and beat my own head against the wall. When I saw that video of the cute little girl in a flipping rage I felt like I was seeing myself. I know exactly how she felt. Everyone was being incredibly unreasonable. Only they weren't.
There are further updates on the Mifflin story at Ilona's blog - keep watching it. Not all of them are in the original post, though, so check the current posts as well.
End Update:
Ilona at truegrit has linked to a news update on the Mifflin High story. It is not very informative but it certainly makes you think. The current superintendent and a former assistant principal contradict each other about almost everything, including on whether sexual activity is widespread at the school. I am starting to understand homeschoolers a lot better:
I am very upset and disturbed. I don't know that I would feel safe in sending a daughter of mine to this school. What would I be supposed to tell her? "Honey, if a bunch of boys grab you and force you to commit some sexual act, make sure to fight back enough to get some obvious bruising (but stop before you sustain a really serious injury, help may be quite a while in coming), because otherwise the school will assume that you were agreeing and decide that no crime or even abuse occurred?"
Please consider that this was not an off-the-cuff statement by this woman. She had time to think through what she was going to say and the implications of it. She obviously considers her position eminently reasonable.
Nobody likes to snitch, freshman Amanda Harrington said.and:
"They feel like it’s not them, so it’s not their concern. If they opened up the door and saw a girl getting raped, they’d close the door."
"We want to get back to normal, but with all the added stuff . . . we’re in the news every other day," senior Candace Allen said.and:
It makes students and staff members angry. No one knows the real Mifflin, they say.
"It’s a normal high school. It’s a good school," Allen said.
"They didn’t really have control," Bailey said.... Students say they can’t wander the halls the way they used to, because staff members have cracked down.Quite a bit of cognitive dissonance there. Still, at least they are trying to get physical control of the facility. As to why I think control is important, please see this post of Mamacita's. There are lots of Alucards out there. The problem is not the Alucards, it is the fact that they have never been disciplined and that the parents threaten the school for disciplining them. That is why kindergartners are being taken off to in police cars in handcuffs these days. It is the only way to avoid lawsuits. It is the only thing a school administrator or teacher has left these days. Pity the police. And think about a kid who has never been corrected (and therefore has never been loved as a child should be), sticking pins through his own lip and punching other kids and then think about that kid in high school, with your kid, and then sit down and think some more. Don't blame the teachers for this mess. Did you know that many public school teachers have seen kids physically attack their own parents? And that the parents don't do anything? They usually just ask why the kid is upset. See, it is never the kid's fault - it is something outside of the kid's control, so the kid is never taught any self-control at all.
I know. I was an Alucard when I was a toddler. The difference is that my parents corrected me. They fought it out with me. My twos were really terrible. I would beat myself up in a rage. Literally. By the time I got to kindergarten I was no less stubborn but quite well behaved, and I no longer threw temper tantrums and beat my own head against the wall. When I saw that video of the cute little girl in a flipping rage I felt like I was seeing myself. I know exactly how she felt. Everyone was being incredibly unreasonable. Only they weren't.
There are further updates on the Mifflin story at Ilona's blog - keep watching it. Not all of them are in the original post, though, so check the current posts as well.
End Update:
Ilona at truegrit has linked to a news update on the Mifflin High story. It is not very informative but it certainly makes you think. The current superintendent and a former assistant principal contradict each other about almost everything, including on whether sexual activity is widespread at the school. I am starting to understand homeschoolers a lot better:
A ninth-grade special education student claims she was forced to perform oral sex on at least two boys at the high school auditorium while others watched the acts and another student videotaped it.and:
Harris said parents should not think that these types of incidents happen on a regular basis.
"This is not anything that goes on every single day"It’s a normal high school. It’s a good school," Allen said. in our schools," Harris said. "It was a horrible incident. It never should have happened. We're taking all the appropriate steps to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Retterer-Helfrich spoke Monday about her role in the alleged incident.I'm finding the Retterer-Helfrich woman (her name is a sad irony) to be her own worst accuser. Is she really saying that if a girl reported that she had been forced into a sexual act on school grounds but there was no obvious injury that the school didn't have the obligation to report it? I urge everyone to read the complete article. Another assistant principal said that she had been directed before (in the case of a fight) not to call police but to contact the safety and security office.
"It's not at all about the child, not about the truth, because of the reaction taken by the top administration to remove all of us from our positions," Retterer-Helfrich said. "There was no indication that there was an injury, no indication there was an assault. The word wasn't being used at all."
Retterer-Helfrich said she believes what took place was consensual sex -- an all-too-common occurrence, she said.
"So we have these things happen on a regular basis," she said. "We know when we have to report injury, abuse, neglect. There was no sign of injury. There was no reported abuse and neglect."
I am very upset and disturbed. I don't know that I would feel safe in sending a daughter of mine to this school. What would I be supposed to tell her? "Honey, if a bunch of boys grab you and force you to commit some sexual act, make sure to fight back enough to get some obvious bruising (but stop before you sustain a really serious injury, help may be quite a while in coming), because otherwise the school will assume that you were agreeing and decide that no crime or even abuse occurred?"
Please consider that this was not an off-the-cuff statement by this woman. She had time to think through what she was going to say and the implications of it. She obviously considers her position eminently reasonable.
Comments:
<< Home
I've already been here today but I'm always glad of an excuse to come back. This time, Michele's Meet and Greet game is my excuse. As for the principal's statement, you are probably not in the least surprised to hear me say that I am not in the least surprised.
Probably Mamcita can address this, but why the casual attitude towards the school auditorium used as some convenient bordello hall? OK, not exactly...but how is it that the school personnel don't think this is any big deal? I will have to go looking again, but I came across an article(pdf form) that described the new conduct and the stricter enforcements now being taken.
Also, Crenshaw seems to have not had the highest marks previously, yet they put her in the #1 problem school. One with deep racial issues between American and Somalian blacks.
The administrator making the most noise, Retterer-Helfrich, didn't get much more than a slap on the hand.
And there is much to-do over Glen Beck's interview with the mayor. The criticism being that this isn't the mayors problem... but letting schools become a place where girls are raped with impunity and teachers get slapped around... and all the sotries that come out, isn't this a community propblem? And don't the guys in city hall have some leadership responsibilities?
I'm just asking.
Also, Crenshaw seems to have not had the highest marks previously, yet they put her in the #1 problem school. One with deep racial issues between American and Somalian blacks.
The administrator making the most noise, Retterer-Helfrich, didn't get much more than a slap on the hand.
And there is much to-do over Glen Beck's interview with the mayor. The criticism being that this isn't the mayors problem... but letting schools become a place where girls are raped with impunity and teachers get slapped around... and all the sotries that come out, isn't this a community propblem? And don't the guys in city hall have some leadership responsibilities?
I'm just asking.
# posted by 
: 11:40 AM
: 11:40 AM
Ilona, I got it and updated my post with it and a pointer to your blog and post.
I think the school administrators had just given up. Did you see this passage in the latest article you linked to?
Even just-suspended assistant principal Watson wants people to know he’s proud of Mifflin.
He misses his impromptu basketball games with Clarno, staff members and students on Friday afternoons. He said he misses the way teens giggled at his cowboy boots.
"It’s just a wonderful place to be an administrator and open yourself up and allow kids to laugh at you and have fun," he said. "This whole thing has been difficult, to say the least."
Buddy buddy, and meanwhile kids are running around in the halls doing whatever they want and fighting in the cafeteria. This guy sounds really nice, but he's not the disciplinarian he needed to be.
I think the school administrators had just given up. Did you see this passage in the latest article you linked to?
Even just-suspended assistant principal Watson wants people to know he’s proud of Mifflin.
He misses his impromptu basketball games with Clarno, staff members and students on Friday afternoons. He said he misses the way teens giggled at his cowboy boots.
"It’s just a wonderful place to be an administrator and open yourself up and allow kids to laugh at you and have fun," he said. "This whole thing has been difficult, to say the least."
Buddy buddy, and meanwhile kids are running around in the halls doing whatever they want and fighting in the cafeteria. This guy sounds really nice, but he's not the disciplinarian he needed to be.
He, Watson, did seem very conflicted. He didn't want to outrightly flaunt his superior, Crenshaw, but I think that points to a moral deficiency when you are talking about something of this magnitude.
I can't imagine that they thought they could just cover things up- it was an horrendous event. The whole focus was PR, and I think ,what was that!
Cause you just can't have kids publicly raped...and turn a blind eye.
btw, thanks for linking, and thanks for bringing it to attention to begin with. It really appears that Columbus was just hoping to let it quietly go away. It wasn't even reported on in the news here until the bloggers got hold of it.
...makes me wonder....
I can't imagine that they thought they could just cover things up- it was an horrendous event. The whole focus was PR, and I think ,what was that!
Cause you just can't have kids publicly raped...and turn a blind eye.
btw, thanks for linking, and thanks for bringing it to attention to begin with. It really appears that Columbus was just hoping to let it quietly go away. It wasn't even reported on in the news here until the bloggers got hold of it.
...makes me wonder....
# posted by : 4:09 PM
: 4:09 PM
But apparently their attitude is that you can have kids publicly raped and the school administrator doesn't want to admit it. It really underlines the points Mamacita was making or trying to make.
I can not imagine what it must feel like to be that girl. I can not fathom how a school administrator could take that attitude.
And yes, I think they did want it to go away quietly. I really do. I bet they are fried no end that people are talking about this. Very rude and intrusive, you know? How dare we!
Post a Comment
I can not imagine what it must feel like to be that girl. I can not fathom how a school administrator could take that attitude.
And yes, I think they did want it to go away quietly. I really do. I bet they are fried no end that people are talking about this. Very rude and intrusive, you know? How dare we!
<< Home
