A group of Georgian (the state not the country) third graders plotted the death of their teacher, and were arrested for it. As many as nine little boys and girls brought a knife, duct tape, handcuffs and and a crystal paperweight to use against their teacher.
Mrs. Teacher’s offence? Scolding a student for standing on a chair.
It’s stories like these that make me wonder how some parents have children. There is one immediate error these parents made, and that’s not checking their kids’ backpacks before they set off for school. Then there’s the scarier, more involved mistake of WHAT THEY’VE BEEN TELLING THEIR KIDS EVERY DAY FOR THEIR WHOLE LIVES. What, in the upbringing of these nine upstanding third graders, led them to decide that an assassination attempt on their teacher was the logical next step in the educational progress? Here’s what the principal said regarding the incident:
“This is an isolated incident, an aberration. … We have good kids.”
An isolated incident to me is one kid. NOT NINE. Sources say the whole class might have been involved; however some did not understand the mission. Three ringleaders have been identified. THREE KIDS PLOTTING THE DEATH OF THEIR TEACHER ARE NOT ISOLATED. They got the rest of their class to cooperate with them. Throughout the news story, the words “good” and “kids” appear in conjunction repeatedly, and I am wondering what kind of denial the teachers and parents in this school are operating under, because any kid who brings a knife to school and wants to use it is not behaving “well” I would say.
God forbid these educators and parents have the balls to say “We messed up. We didn’t teach these kids right from wrong. We have learned from this and we will punish them accordingly.”
Because these kids were ready to kill this teacher. They divided up the tasks; one kid was supposed to cover the windows and another child’s job was to clean up afterwards. In other words, they were organized in their attempt to commit a crime. We don’t know if these kids would have succeeded in killing their teacher, but it’s scary enough to know they tried.
They’re being tried with an “unruly charge” since they’re all under 13. I wonder what charge is used against kids who throw spitballs and make farting noises.
10 responses so far ↓
1 DramaMama // Apr 2, 2008 at 11:40 am
Just wondering why you chose that particular picture of a bunch of random (white) third-graders? According to the demographic information on their particular school in Waycross, Georgia, the school is more than 55% black; I see, however, you chose a bunch of smiling, well-adjusted-looking white faces in the photo. As a former elementary teacher from the war zone of downtown Atlanta, I can also tell you from anectdotal experience that the “special ed” classes are disporportionately represented by minority students, as they seem to create the greatest demand for those services. Therefore, I’d be willing to bet that the class in question was most likely 80% black, if not more. Again, gleaning from my harrowing experiences teaching in the inner-city, these students would think nothing of a plot to harm a teacher, or anyone else, for that matter.
The plot was a retaliation for one student having been reprimanded for standing on a chair. That’s nothing. Throwing chairs, preferably at other students’ heads, was more the norm from what I witnessed during my tenure.
And as for “not checking these kids’ backpacks before they left for school?” Are you kidding? Most of the “parents” I came in contact with could care less what their kid left the house with, just so long as he left the house and was out of the mother’s/grandmother’s hair for the day. (Don’t even ask about the dads. They don’t know who he is.)
Shame on the media for supressing (yet again) an important angle of this story: the demographic of the children involved, thus making it seem that this is a very real threat in all of our upper-middle-class schools out in the exurbs. (Which is why we moved out here in the first place.)
Try replacing the picture with a more accurrate representation of the actual kids in that special ed class. (But then I guess you run the risk of average citizens taking one look at it and saying to themselves, “Oh, no wonder.”)
2 monikamagdalena // Apr 2, 2008 at 12:11 pm
my choice for this picture was to represent how freaking scary it is to think of third graders thinking about killing someone. any third grader. i don’t think a picture of a black kid is scarier or more relevant with the term “third grader” is brought up. and thank you for reinforcing my opinion that parents should be looking inthese kids backpacks before they go to school. the fact that they don’t care is bad parenting, which was my point. do you think just because those kids are white and smiling they are perfect angels as compared to the “black” kids in atlanta? you already said yourself their parent don’t care about them. maybe that should figure into your opinion.
3 prettygirlksp@hotmail.com // Apr 2, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I had to comment after reading DRAMA MAMA’s comment. Maybe the reason why they chose a picture of all white children is simply because of the nature of the crime. For the record, white people are the MOST INSANE people on the face of this earth. They drown their own children for Christ sakes!! So I am willing to bet that the class in question was just as white as the picture above. White children are more ignored by their parents than black children which explains why they have more than enough time and privacy to build bombs and plot murders!!
4 blackbarbie // Apr 2, 2008 at 2:17 pm
The bottom line is “THESE CHILDREN NEED THEIR ASSES KICKED!!!!!” Obviously they aren’t being properly disciplined at home. No child of mine would even think about doing something of this nature and if they did they better not tell nobody but GOD!! They say that these kids are “special ed” but they sound pretty damn smart to me. Smart enough to now its wrong and smart enough to get their little 9 year old asses kicked for it!!! This is just rediculous. what is the world coming to. Its not about black or white in this situation people, its about the kids period. Both black and white children are very capable of this type of crime so lets jus stop it with the race card. They are 9 year olds you know. This should be a serious wake up call for parents of all races!! WATCH YOUR DAMN KIDS!
5 Tammy Samuels // Apr 2, 2008 at 3:09 pm
What in the world.
6 Tammy Samuels // Apr 2, 2008 at 3:09 pm
What in the world is going on with the youth.
7 Charles T // Apr 2, 2008 at 4:01 pm
We have allowed our country to raise our kids and tell us we can no longer do the job. This has worked out well would’nt you say!
8 spiritchildlives // Apr 3, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I must admit, it is strange that this is a random picture posted above such a sensitive story. I also must admit that the nature of this crime, conspiratorial in nature drew an immediate question to mind- were the kids white or black ? The truth of the matter is that the first answer to mind in my inner dialogue was that the kids were white. Why, because though the face of evil is colorless…the mind processes of different cultures manifest differently.
Simultaneously, it crossed my mind that the the face of tragedy in our youth today has taken on a muted tome. Our children are lost as a whole …they’ve been sacrificed for the sake of big business, big egos, and big money.
While your preseident in the bush is more concerned about the looming demise that so called threatens our country from the outside in, we are watching and condoning the humancide of our own children next door. They are continuously, continually, and consistently bombarded with images of death, destruction, and despair…by US. We condone the media images, your president’s lies, and the pervasive dumming down, and desensitizing of their minds. What happened in this classroom is nothing at all unlike the mock sitautions in your commonplace video game where death is the objective. A disrespect of authority and, a distatst for humanity is the norm in our society…what do we expect of our children ?
With respect to respect for authority..We maintain, as a country, a tolerance for the abuse of authority by our elected officials. So when our children act out in a manner that we only wish we could…when they are acting out the behavior they see us exhibiting in our subconcious, we must know and accept that the chickens have come home to roost…and the proverbial shit is about to hit the fan !!
Flip side- These kids…white, black, asian, latino…whatever they be…are obviously acting upon behavior that has been somehow supported or condoned at home. We should first look at the nature of the parents..look within their psyches. What have you done/not done to protect your innocent child from such destructive behavior? Are you paying attention?
Are you aware? Do you have time to care? Or, have you abandoned your post, and left the rearing, molding, and shaping of tomorrow’s leaders up to the school, MTV, BET, VHOne, Hannah Montana, Fitty Cent, Big Brother (and His REALITY-SHOW-SISTER), You Tube, and the The NOT-SO-REAL- WORLD ?????
I have a nine year old…He’s in 3rd grade…We live in Sin City Las Vegas, we’re African-American…I’m a single mom…he pulls out my chairs…he opens my doors…he respects adults, and the true ways of a gracious world…he plays video games…he plays chess…I shudder to think of the people, places and things he’s exposed to that are beyond my knowledge or control. As a parent, (a concious one !!), you create the world you’d like your child to live in…the experience you’d like him to base his life on. You combat the way this world of shit we’ve created reaches in to strangle the soul and imagination of our babies. You pray for the best. This situation should spark a discussion…should galvanize a movement to save our children from themselves…the “themselves” that WE have created. This incident is our doing, not theirs.
9 jojo // Apr 13, 2008 at 8:19 pm
what the hell that is not a real pic. Even though they tried to kill the teacher i think it is for something else.NOT ANY KID IS TRYING TO KILL A TEACHER FOR SCLDING THEM TO STAND ON A CHAIR.THERE IS ANPTHER FACT.
10 Kren // Jun 13, 2008 at 9:43 pm
“For the record, white people are the MOST INSANE people on the face of this earth. They drown their own children for Christ sakes!! So I am willing to bet that the class in question was just as white as the picture above. White children are more ignored by their parents than black children which explains why they have more than enough time and privacy to build bombs and plot murders!!”
Hey, prettygirl, how’s about you stop being racist for a half a minute and think about the last time you heard about ANYONE, black, white, or pink with purple polkadots and yellow zebra stripes trying to drown their child.
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