Almost daily, it seems, there is a news story about some kid bringing a gun to school, or a student being shot or shooting someone. And when a discussion of these incidents comes up, it is not unusual for someone to say “ in the Good Old Days --- we had our fistfights, but nobody was shooting at anyone”.
Yessiree --- in the Good Old Days ! We kind of looked at kids getting into fights in the way that Ole Sheriff Taylor, would have,.
If little Opie got into a scuffle at school, Andy would have been mostly concerned about whether the fight was fair, and he might even have talked to the school principal or teacher about the situation --- not as a Sheriff, but as a Parent.
It was almost refreshing a couple of weeks ago when two students at Shorewood High School turned to fisticuffs to resolve a dispute. No guns, knives, bottles, sticks or stones --- and it seemed (from the video) that both guys were about the same size --- probably not a “bully” thing.
Yep refreshing --- versus the continuous reports of guns and shootings, right next door in Milwaukee at MPS schools.
But wait --- some kid had a video camera, so the scuffle became a news lead on probably every TV channel for days. At the same time that there was real violence going on in Milwaukee, with people dying, our news channels thought two teenagers rolling in the mud was worthy of countless re-showings as a “major” news story.
Additionally, this Non-Event-Phenomena-News-Sensation however, got the Shorewood Police Department involved. Apparently the school officials felt the scuffle was a criminal issue, that needed to be dealt with by the legal system.
It is hard for me to imagine police involvement in an occurrence of this nature 40 years ago when I was in high school in the 60’s. And I don’t imagine that back then, the police in Shorewood would have normally been called for something of this nature.
Nowadays, though, it seems that the high school officials turn to the police for almost all disciplinary situations. According to my information, the police have even called to the high school to issue tickets for disorderly conduct to students involved in a shouting match --- no hitting or physical contact involved --- 100% verbal !
Why ? Why do we now involve the police in school disciplinary matters now, when we didn’t do so years ago ? Is it because of a new racial mix in the high school … are our school officials now lacking in skills necessary for dealing with such situations … have our laws tied the hands of school officials ?
What? What does this tell the kids in school ? Break a school rule and you will be punished in the school system --- and have to go to court too ! Break a school rule and we will call someone with a badge and a gun to deal with you … proportionality to the infraction does not apply !
Should kids fight in school (or off school property) --- NO. Will kids sometimes fight --- YES. Is it a situation for the Police --- sometimes --- but in my opinion, probably not this time.
Of concern to me about this fight, was when some of the onlookers decided to get involved by kicking the fighters. I still believe that the best venue for discipline and counseling for the fight is at the school level, and I believe that the four or so “kickers” deserve as much or more discipline than the actual combatants --- at least under the rules of the “Good Old Days”, that would be normal.
Perhaps we need a boxing program at the high school. In the “Good Old Days”, it was not unusual for the school coach to take the fighters to the ring, put the gloves on, and have them duke it out --- usually to end up shaking hands when it was all over. Besides, from the video that I saw, neither one knew how to throw a punch --- about all they were capable of hurting was their pride!
WHAT'S YOUR TAKE ?
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