A 14-year-old high school student who wouldn't pull up his pants was arrested Tuesday after taking a swing at a police officer. Indianapolis Public School Police Officer Dawn Austin had asked the John Marshall High School student to pull up his pants and tuck in his shirt but the student ignored her and kept walking. The boy also ignored the vice-principal and a teacher who also asked him to stop and tuck in his shirt, according to an IPS police report.
At the end of the hallway, Officer Damon Boyd tried to make the boy stop. When the student refused, he told him he would be arrested. The student struggled with Boyd and knocked him against a locker. Austin tried to put handcuffs on the boy and he started swinging at her, with the dangling handcuffs hitting her in the hand, according to the report.
After officers subdued the boy, he was charged with resisting law enforcement, battery of a police officer and disorderly conduct. Boyd tore his shirt and injured his left hand and left shoulder. Austin hurt her right hand. Both officers went to a medical clinic. The boy was sent to the Marion County Arrestee Processing Center.
I would venture to say, most of us have seen this type of behavior during our years at IPS.
ReplyDeleteIt's really a shame that some kids never learned respect for others.
That has happened more than once in IPS. Ridiculous that it has to happen over a shirt tucked in but that is the type of respect for law enforcement in the students of IPS (and other districts to be sure). The real shame is that the student will be viewed as a hero for resisting and "hurting" the officers. Also interesting is that the dress code has been around for years and students still flaunt it as if it is meaningless. Won't they ever get it?
ReplyDeleteThe Indy Star's headline "Sagging pants lead to student's arrest" was misleading and poorly worded, to say the least. Evidently the public's eye caught basically three words from the headline -- sagging pants and arrest. From that point, the Online masses digressed into mindless comments which ran the gamut from blaming the nebulous 'police culture' of the right wing to the ever present don't stomp on my 'individual freedoms and rights' from the left wing.
ReplyDeleteBut, like the above poster mentioned, there are an unfortunate few (or more than we'd like)students who just don't get it.
On a positive note, the principal at Marshall has performed a good job of cleaning up the hallways, enforcing the 6-Steps of Discipline, and staying consistent with both treatment of students and staff. He does not have a clique of teachers who he favors. For that, we should be thankful in light of the condition of other urban high schools.
By the way, Marshall's current student enrollment is 550+, not 400 which is the number often tossed out by people who do not work at that location.
Peace and stay strong.
I think it would be a good use of that silly "pants on the ground" audio to play it repeatedly over the PA system during all class change times. Maybe it would at least give the little brats some of the same annoyance they give us.
ReplyDeletewhere did the 150 come from?
ReplyDeleteTo the poster two posts up, if you're joking, that wasn't clear. If you're not, then you're too burned out to be an effective educator. At least that's when I'll know it's my time, when I think of the kids as "little brats" and when I consider them as general annoyances. That's the kind of attitude that breeds the contempt we see from these students. They know that they're as valuable as the suburban kids and they resent the constant attitude from home and school that they are "less than." So then a stupid thing like the dress code becomes the boiling point. I'm not defending the student, but the hostility of parents and teachers are far more to blame than the "lack of discipline" cliche. Many of these kids lack TRUE discipline, the teaching, modeling, positive kind. But I've yet to have a "problem" student who hadn't been told a billion times he was rotten. These aren't the overindulged, can-do-no-wrong kids from Hamilton County.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but you criticize someone about being an effective educator when they call students annoying but you yourself call Hamilton County kids overindulged, can do no wrong kids? That's the pot calling the kettle black. Don't get on someone else for something that you yourself are going to do.
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty wrong with Hamilton County kids just as there's plenty wrong with IPS kids.
ReplyDeleteKids are kids; however, it appears there are two kinds of adults -- opinionated/hateful adults who are defensive and open-minded adults who realize that 'kids are indeed kids' no matter where they live.
You are making an issue that someone said Marshall had an enrollment of 400 when it is really 550...if what you claim is true....either way, we are operating a building with a student capacity of 2500 and there are only 400 or 550 students there. What is wrong with that picture? What does this say about the fiscal responsibility of Eugene White and his bobble head board. We are in a financial crisis and we hhave buildings that 20% or less at capacity......The public should be outraged.
ReplyDeleteWhen i referred to the overindulged, can-do-no wrong kids from Hamilton County, I didn't mean to insult all Hamilton County kids. I was just saying the cliche of the kid who is told that everything he does is okay is much more applicable in educated, well-to-do families than inner city families. But that's in regard to parenting. Like the poster above says "kids are indeed kids no matter where they live."
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to change the subject but I have a couple of questions about the last personnel report. What is happening to all of the Assistant Principals that had their administrative contracts non-renewed for next year? Also, what will happen with all of the Elementary Principal positions that will open due to retirements?
ReplyDeleteTo add insult to injury after Eugene White's big raise for him and his close friends, the grapevine says that he has now asked the IEA to agree to give up the 1% bonus teachers bargained in the new contract. Apparently Ann Wilkins, the IEA president owned by Eugene White, has agreed. Board Member Cohen made reference to this in the board meeting and was quickly hushed up by Eugene White. Does anyone have confirmation to this rumor or know the real story??
ReplyDeleteI am NOT giving up my money.
ReplyDeleteMy how funny it is seeing Eugene White get a raise when the following has occurred this year:
ReplyDelete* 400 students attend Shortridge High School when Gene White bragged about it having 700 students.
* Arlington High School has another year of chaos, change in administation, and the black community being let down.
* The dummy wants to quit because people question his decision to cancel football at four schools.
* The "Dream Team" super principals pull out of taking over John Marshall High School that has only 500 students.
* He changed the central office assignments of four people at central office and gives them a raise.
* Jackie Greenwood becomes Director of High Schools and appoints her son as an Assistant Principal.
* Gene White hires his son.
* Dr. Johnson moves her office next to his office and her jaws remain sore and knees are filty.
The list can go on and on.
Annie Roof is making a name for herself. She is quoted in the Indy Star. They even make mention of her running for IPS School Board.
ReplyDeleteIf Ann Wilkins [IEA president] decides to give back your 1% bonus then you have no choice. Eugene White is the master of Ann Wilkins. When was the last time YOU heard from IEA?
ReplyDeleteTo the teachers who posted about kids being kids and hostility and such. Which Indianapolis schools (including IPS, township, magnets and charters) seem to best incorporate that viewpoint. I'm still in college but plan to teach in Indianapolis. Are there schools where the environment is more positive than what we often from the media and online messageboards? I'm leaning toward charter schools simply because the overall attitude seems to be more respectful of teaching and parent involvement. But what schools do you think have the most positive attitudes -- toward teachers, students, parents, and the high potential for success? I know I'll have to take what I can get out upon graduation, but I'm just trying to get an idea of what's out there.
ReplyDeleteNot only was Annie Roof quoted in the paper, she was one of two parents holding a sign in protest at the last board meeting. Making a name for herself indeed.
ReplyDeleteOnly in education is such uneducational rot perpetrated! So you think you can control the kids by enforcing a dress code! Where's the inspiration? This dress-code crap is suppressing inspiration and love of learning! I taught in Catholic schools like Brebuf where inspiring students to climb to the top of "Bloom's Taxonomy" has more value than checking the color of kids' shirts. The poor public has the perception that enforcing the dress code has the students reined in! Another great failure of American education---a dumb public and a guy who knows how to manipulate the dumb public and the dumb newspaper who needs ratings!
ReplyDeleteJohn Marshall made the news again this evening. One of the happy studious students provoked his bus driver.
ReplyDeleteabove@Only in education is such uneducational rot perpetrated
ReplyDelete______________________________________________
We hear you. Take your comment to the source of the dress code, the IPS School Board who is in no way affiliated with this blog.
FYIW - I knew a students in the 80's and 90's who said Brebeuf was the best place to score coke when he was a student. Kids are kids, they will do what they want regardless of economic or social class.
ReplyDeleteIPS bus driver arrested for fighting with student
ReplyDeleteUpdated: Jan 29, 2010 6:03 PM EST
Indianapolis - An IPS bus driver and student were arrested for fighting on a school bus. The driver told police a racial slur started the fight.
As the fleet of IPS buses rolled out for their afternoon shift Friday, one of their drivers was sitting in jail.
Lennell Dumas, 40, was arrested for aggravated assault and neglect of a dependent. Police say he got into a fight on his school bus.
"Apparently when the 15-year-old exited the bus, he made a comment a derogatory comment to the bus driver which did not sit well with him," said Lt. Jeff Duhamell, IMPD.
According to police reports, a 15-year-old John Marshall High School student and his sister approached the front of the bus. The student, according to police, used a racial slur. According to witnesses, Dumas then pulled the student toward him, setting off a fight.
"The bus driver has got a tough job the way it is. He has a right to protect himself. But it sounds like after the interviews with the other witnesses there that he tended to be the aggressor on the other side after the comment was made," said Duhamell.
The fight spilled out of the bus onto the street. Dumas told police he was hit in the several times face and head. He was treated at Wishard Hospital and then taken to jail.
"I would say a bus driver or a teacher has a right to protect themselves, but to be the aggressor to go after to continue the fight, no, that is not what it is about," said Duhamell.
The bus has a camera and part of the fight and conversation between the driver and the student was caught on tape. IPS has yet to release it.
don't they have a dress code at Brebuf?
ReplyDeleteI think what we need is a "standard" of dress. In the past, students' dress had the potential of being a real distraction and did not promote a standard of acceptable dress that one might wear to work. But they have gone overboard with this dress code...girls are wearing their shirts on the outside of the waist...isn't that a lot better than when they were showing their tummy rings...why do we have to nag them to tuck in their shirt? If a guy has his pants up, why does it matter if a shirt is tucked in?, why do we care if a top has a hood...if it isn't plunged so low to show cleavage. We are not a Catholic school...we cannot mandate "uniforms" - we just need to be sensible and keep the rules simple..."be appropriate in your dress"
ReplyDeleteWell because teaching is much more than simply instructing. We are training students for the rest of their lives. Part of that is the fact that the way you look influences how you look at yourself and how you are perceived by those you encounter in the world. It may not be right but it is a fact that we are judged this way in society. We have a standard of dress. We DO NOT have a uniform. We have had a dress CODE for three years. That is time enough to get it straight. I say that warning time has now ended. The time for debate has passed. We have a dress code and comply or goodbye. I mean, come on. THREE YEARS ALREADY and we are still debating the merits of it.
ReplyDeleteSounds to me like the bus drivers need to be "ill" on the Monday after the Super Bowl and let Eugene explain that.
ReplyDeleteLOL, that's silly. I don't really care one way or the other about dress codes (I see both sides) but the idea that "the time for debate has passed" is just nonsense. Did we stop debating about the merits of Dr. White after three years? No child left behind? There is not a statute of limititations on disagreeing with something. If people feel strongly enough against uniforms, someone is bound to hear them sooner or later, either IPS or charter schools. Someone on the Star mentioned starting a reward system where good students don't have to wear uniforms. I think that would be good too.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteWell I agree it is alright to disagree but until the policy is changed it is not the place of the 15 year old to defy authority. Adults can debate it all day long but while the Dress Code exists, there is no defense to the defiance of that Code. We all follow rules we may not like but that is called life.
ReplyDelete14 year old but good point
ReplyDeleteThe 6-Steps of Discipline is a big joke! It has never and will never work! The administrators DO NOT back it so how can the teachers??
ReplyDeleteDear Blogmeister...
ReplyDeleteAgain, is there anyway possible of setting this up so that the current posts are at the top? Perhaps it isn't possible or would be a lot of work...but the question has been asked a few times and, if it isn't possible, then let us know and we will quit bugging you about it.
Still wondering....
I was always told if you send discipline out of the classroom then you send your authority out that way too. If you're having lots of discipline problems in your classroom, you have to ask yourself why that is? I'm not blaming you, I'm just saying if your only discipline tool is the threat of the "office," you're always going to have discipline problems in your classroom no matter what system the administration is following. (Besides the fact that, at least in my school, the teachers who are always sending kids to the office are seen by administration and kids alike as "weak" which perpetuates the problem -- kids misbehave more and administrators take you less seriously.)
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the above post. Even with difficult kids, one has to have their own classroom discipline rules. Since I rarely send students to the office, the principal knows that if and when I do, they really needed to be there. AND, to me, one of the best tools to keeping order in my classroom is a sense of humor. BTW...I'm an elementary teacher with 30+ years of experience.
ReplyDeleteEugene White has created such a hostile workplace that it is sad to hear all of the young teachers talking about the applications they have or jobs they have accepted in school systems with competent leadership and an administration that values and knows how to treat employees. So sad. Does anyone in Indy care??
ReplyDeleteI would like to brag that at Donnan, we are not having the type of behavioral issues I've read on this blog. We not only have a wonderful staff, but a supportive administration and a powerful and caring Principal. I feel bad for those not having the type of year we are.
ReplyDeleteand now for off topic secret back office meeting news:
ReplyDelete- the retroactive pay raise we all just received is going away and will be rolled back soon for non-teachers (thanks!!)
- 12 mos employees will be losing pay for spring break, fall break, and other short holidays like that and not expected to come in
there were other things discussed which will go in to effect for cutting costs while Dr. White and his buddies get and keep their raises, but, these were the major points of interest
^^
ReplyDeleteDr White at the Ed Center last Friday. What a bunch of bullshit. I guess what they say about absolute power is true.
The IEA is being silent about the rumor that they have agreed to give back the 1% lump sum bonus to be paid this spring. What about it IEA and Ann Wilkins? Have you given the teachers' lump sum payment back to Eugene? We all know that Eugene controls everything Ann Wilkins does??
ReplyDeleteGod, the bargining committee has not even met, and the members will have to vote for any changes in the contract. Please understand the process before you start running your mouth and nope Eugene does not control Ann.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the person who posted the comments about dress code versus uniform. We have a dress code, which is by definition, a standard for acceptable dress. The reason that hoodies are unacceptable is because they can hide the face. Watch the evening news and observe the criminals who try to hide their faces during the commission of a crime. They wear hoodies.
ReplyDeleteAlso we are not just trying to get kids through 12 years of school. We ARE or should be trying to prepare them for the rest of their lives and that does often mean following rules they don't really like. Welcome to the world. As adults, there are even more rules...most are not so explicitly stated as a dress code.
To the person above who claims to know all about IEA: Why did school commissioner Cohen make reference to this at the last school board meeting and why did Eugene White shut him up? Perhaps you should look into our IEA leadership and what they are discussing ----if you could find them and yes, Ann Wilkins is a puppet of Eugene White!!
ReplyDeleteI hope they put every teacher and bus driver who calls in on February 8th without a doctor's note on probation. Unlike you all, if I don't work I don't get paid. So while you all nurse your hangovers, I will have to take off work because I base my work hours around my kids' schedule. And then you all will be the first tones to look down your judgmental noses at me when my kids don't have the money for something for school because I had a short paycheck. The rest of the city has to work on Monday. Exceptions for IPS teachers and bus drivers only proves all the negative stuff about you is true. You're NOT real professionals and it's no wonder students don't respect you! (I'm talking to the ones who think it's okay to take off, not the dedicated professionals.)
ReplyDeleteHow could a "retroactive pay that we all just received" go away? They would have to deduct it from the next pay if it had already been given. ?????
ReplyDeleteIf the IEA and Ann Wilkins were worth the salt in their bread, then we would hear from them frequently or even occasionally! They remain silent on everything.
ReplyDeleteYou need to read your agreement. We are scheduled to receive a lump sum payment of 1% in the Spring. This is what is rumored that Ann Wilkins is giving back to Eugene White. We already received the raise.
ReplyDeleteSo what was the retroactive check that teachers were receiving last week?
ReplyDeleteThat was not a retroactive check last week. It was a correction of errors made by the new multi million dollar computer proram to do payroll that has messed up checks almost every payday. Someone got a kickback for the purchase of that feeble program.
ReplyDeleteI just found this blog, so I am late on the conversation, in which I do apologize, but I would like to comment on the people passing judgement on the person who referred to the students as "little brats." Unless you have been in a school district where the leadership is far from sufficient, efficient,or fair you can NOT make any kind of judgement. I am an elementary teacher, have been teacher of the year, and have been a successful disciplinarian for many years, and I was just called a "bitch," to my face, last week. The child was not punished in any way. I had a boy throw a desk this year, again, no punishment. Zero consequence equals repeated infractions, and that is what is happening in IPS. Principals and teachers have to back down to parents who threaten and scream on a regular basis because Dr. White allows them to have a say in decisions that should be made by the teachers and principals....YET they do not discipline their child well enough at home to NOT need to be disciplined at school. This being said, if an IPS teacher continues to go to work hours earlier and later than their contract states, meets with parents about their childrens' academic growth, and simply listens and cares for their kids every day under almost unbearable circumstances, I think they should be able to refer to kids as little brats every now and again.
ReplyDelete