'Caroline Michaels' the beginning of the end...

So... Apparently we've been bombarded with this you tube video (and once again you tube as the main vehicle in getting this type of situations out to public knowledge).

I say apparently because after I saw the first guest speaker on the news I decided it was best to hear no more, since the guest was clearly unconvinced of what she was saying.

This can be somewhat amusing when looked at carelessly. Why? First, because some of us realise that this just happened next door! And second, when analyzing those images carefully it’s as if the students are imitating fictional characters…

I’m convinced That til’ a few years back this happening in a Portuguese class room was a very remote idea, something that only happened in Hollywood Blockbusters and in Foreign countries. Although, Looking at Portugal as a whole this is clearly something that could only happen in a city, since smaller and local schools have a very different dynamic.

Are city Schools becoming more Gangster like in a very delicate imitation of what is portrayed in movies like… Okay I can’t remember a good movie right now. I’ll get back to that one.

Another interesting topic is that everyone is to Blame in this ‘incident’. The child is to Blame because she has rude, undisciplined, violent, etc, etc, but then the most common explanation is to point the Parents are guilty for not paying more attention to their daughter blablabla. Maybe in the 21st century Parents need parenting classes. Yes, compulsory parenting classes to avoid raising their children and making the same mistakes their parents made when they were raising them.

But in the Middle of this confusion, I say the teacher is to blame as well. The Girl was clearly in that class room against her will, the teacher should have invited her to leave. Common’, we have to stop this nonsense that teachers have to keep all their students in the classroom no matter what they say or do. After all, what’s the reward? They figure in the Portuguese educational statistics in the end of the year? Most likely! They’ll just keep jeopardizing the education of the interested student in the name of those who are there simply present to boycott the class.

We have to stop working for the numbers and make an effort to actually change and make the right impact!

Check this out:

Juvenile and Criminal Justice Data top
Key Facts:

In 1999, 1,763 youth under 18 years old were arrested for homicide in the United States, a decline from 4,330 in 1993, the year youth homicide arrests peaked.1

Homicides committed by youth under 18 years old accounted for 10.1 percent of all homicides in 1999.2

The juvenile arrest rate for violent crime in 1999 was 36 percent below its peak in 1994.3

Juveniles accounted for 17 percent of all arrests and 16 percent of all violent crime arrests in 1999, including 14 percent of aggravated assault arrests, 17 percent of forcible rape arrests, and 24 percent of weapons arrests in 1999.4

More than 840,500 gang members were estimated to be active in the United States in 1999. This number represents an 8 percent increase from 1998, countering the
decline from 1996 to 1998 and approaching the estimated high of nearly 846,500 members in 1996.5

During the 1998 to 1999 school year, a total of 34 school-aged children were
murdered in or around school grounds or on the way to and from school.6

Less than 1 percent of all homicides among school-aged children (5-19 years of age)
occur in or around school grounds or on the way to and from school.7

In 1998, slightly less than 1 percent of students were victims of serious violent crimes while at school or going to and from school.8

During the 1996 to 1997 school year, 43 percent of public schools reported no violent crimes, and only 10 percent reported any serious violent crimes.9

http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/facts/statistics.asp#criminal

Regardless of those figures, some Portuguese will still take comfort from the idea that Portugal can never match those numbers.

In the end, I guess what shocks me most in this sad episode of the Portuguese education system was the teachers fear of reporting the happening, but in spite of everything, it could have been a normal day-to-day situation for her and last, the schools hesitation in Expelling this student. We can’t be scared of activating the little methods we have to ‘punish’ students for their progressively violent behaviour.

PS: I remembered a good movie: 'Dangerous Minds', Remember?