No Child Left Behind: School gun violence Increases with academic pressure

[jazzjunkysue]

(Photo of a teen Columbine shooter)

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/22/alaska.plot.ap/index.html

North Pole students suspected of plotting to kill
Six Alaska middle school students arrested

Saturday, April 22, 2006; 10:00 p.m.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) -- Six middle school students in a small Alaska town were arrested Saturday on suspicion of plotting to bring guns and knives to school and kill fellow students.

The arrests stem from an investigation into rumors reported to police earlier in the week about the students' plans in North Pole, a town of 1,600 people about 14 miles southeast of Fairbanks, said Police Chief Paul Lindhag.

The unidentified students wanted to seek revenge for being picked on by other students to disliking staff and students, Lindhag said.

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From Me:

I hear of 2 school killing plots in the same week. I also hear of record dropout rates the week before in Time magazine.

If the economy is so good, and unemployment is so low, and we're living in "a culture of life," then why are the kids ready to kill everyone at school?

Is this new hyper accountability to force every child into college-prep high school programs backfiring? Can we return to the progrssive 70's where some kids took the occupational education track and didn't have to pass calculus? Please?

[AngryAmish]

1. 6% of Chicago Public School students graduate from college

Something has to be done. This is not an endorsement of NCLB but it seems to make teachers in Choicago unhappy and if they are unhappy then it is usually a good thing.

[jazzjunkysue]

2. I'd like to see a link to that statistic, if you don't mind. It seems low.

Also, since all teachers have graduated from college, why would they be happy that very few of their students do?

[AngryAmish]

3. It's 3% for male blacks and hispanics

The schools here suck and the administration and teachers seem real content with the situation.

[jazzjunkysue]

4. I only get the page logo: No articles.

[AngryAmish]

5. Sun-Times web site is buggy

refresh and you'll get it I hope

on edit here is another link with less information

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. You know, i've wondered the same thing.

When I went through HS, the highest math requirement was Algebra. Geometry and Algebra 2 were standard, and Calculus for the whiz kids. But you could qualify for graduation and college entrance with only Algebra. Now, I understand, you're hopeless if you don't have Calc.

I think we went wrong in the 80s with the 'back to basics' move to get more math and science, while neglecting all the 'soft' subjects like the social sciences, and literature and, as you say, non-academic skills.

When you're 15 and bouncing off the walls with hormones you can't be expected to buckle down and plan for college which is 4 years away -- planning for next week is difficult enough. Some few will do so, but there are plenty who would rather spend 5 hours a week in Autoshop, or in Band, or rehearsing a Shakespeare play or taking a course in film production, but feel if they are going to be competitive they have to load up on heavy academics.

Of course the culture has changed. In my day nobody ever thought of studying for the SAT - it was an aptitude test, not a knowledge test, and how would you study for an aptitude? Now that kids can study for SATs it, IMO, undercuts the value of aptitude - which explains the high rate of college dropouts. Kids who are able to get the grades by improving their SATs with study still do not have the aptitude for college, so after a few abortive semesters they wind up going to the local community college or tech school, which they could have gone to in the first place, saving themselves and their parents thousands of dollars.

We have to offer kids a way to find their own path -- let them find what they love. That's the way to keep them in school and un-stressed.

[jazzjunkysue]

7. Aggree 100%. The 4th graders are already stressed about the tests.

I know schools where they always do very well on the state and national tests, and they hold review classes in the evening, anyway, and the parents elect to send their kids. It makes no sense.

Meanwhile, schools offer free summer help to struggling kids, and the parents who's kids need help the most turn it down. "I don't want to ruin his summer."

So, passing alot of laws and forcing alot of deep curriculum onto kids who aren't wired for school is going to backfire. Most of the time it won't take the form of a school shooting, of course. But I see these occasional outbursts as the tip of the iceburg: What other kinds of reactions are we creating that don't make national headlines, but affect kids in totally negative ways?

The european/japanese models don't try to send everyone to college. They may be too harsh in the way they refuse college to some students, but, at least they do have other programs that meet individual needs better. I think their programs do leave some children behind, but we should be able to craft a happy medium:

One that offers a college prep track to those who ask for it and another occupational training option for those who want to go right out and fix cars, refridgerators, plumbing, or serve in other capacitites such as cosmetology or food service.

I think we've left alot behind, because NCLB often pushes some to drop out, as the only escape from a system that doesn't ask what they need: It prescribes the same curriculum for all.