That was SO unnecessary.

isn't ignorance grand?

LOL!! :)

There is criminal behavior in every community committed by people of all ages, colors, races, education level, and economic classes. I think that this particular case has been so newsworthy because there is a videotape. If it bleeds, it leads. It is visual and vicious. Additionally, there is the upper class component. These are rich kids who go to a good highschool, so they ought to know better. That is what a lot of people think, and it bother me. No particular class or race has a monopoly on morality and decency and character. If you induldge children and don't correct them when they behave poorly, criminal behavior can be the result. It doesn't matter the race or class.

My thoughts exactly.

How come crime is concentrated in certain areas?

I don't know that it is. I think that media coverage of crime is concentrated in certain areas.

There is crime EVERYWHERE, although some cities do a better job of "covering it up" than others. A couple of the nation's "safest cities" are located in Southern California, and I still throw the club on my car when I visit them, LOL. Sometimes the most heinous crimes occur in the most "unlikely places", and by the most "unlikely" people.

Edited to add: if you think crime only occurs in certain areas, I don't think you've seen much of the world or you have a very sheltered perception of it. You should be observant, because you can get stabbed, robbed or shot just about ANYWHERE nowdays.

Putting this SORT of on track again...
 

OH YEAH...my HS, from what the people familiar with the GBN district have said, sounds very similar to GBN. Excellent school, great neighborhood, center of the community. It has gotten to the point where I use two resumes--one with my college emphasized, and another I use at home with my high school activities emphasized, and my AXO stuff. Where I live, where you went to HS is more important than where you went to college (especially if it's up north!).

The students graduated today. I hope that everyone can put the incident behind them and begin their futures on the positive note. Hopefully, those guilty will be punished accordingly. I haven't heard anything lately about punishments...

Update
 

Marnie Holz announced last week that she was dropping her lawsuit against the school district and would accept the consequences for her actions. Her mother has been taking quite a beating in the local newspaper's letters to the editor after she wrote one blaming the school for what happened. As far as I know, there are no more senior complaints against the district in court. One of the juniors sued the district, and she lost. I haven't heard if she's appealed.

The kids who were charged will be in court on Wednesday of this week. I'm sure there will be ample coverage of those proceedings!

At yesterday's graduation, the district superintendent talked about how what the world saw happen on May 4 is not what the district is about. He acknowledged that people fear the districts reputation is ruined, but he really did a good job highlighting the great stuff that occurs in the Glenbrooks. I was kind of surprised he brought it up at the Glenbrook South graduation.

And I got through the graduation shedding tears only once, when the principal said the Class of 2003 was the "nicest" group of kids their teachers said they have ever taught. We affixed the name of her new school to the back of our daughter's car last night--and this morning she's back in school finishing her last physics lab... :unhappy:

Re: Update
 

What's your daughter's new school?

Re: Re: Update
 

I'd rather not say, out of respect for her privacy. It's an out-of-state Big 10 school. Her Dad and I were pulling for UIUC but we're happy with her choice.

Another Graduation Story
 

At the Glenbrook SOUTH graduation, the Distinguished Alumnus who spoke to the class said some controversial words. (What follows is not meant to be judgemental about what goes on in college--I know drinking is a part of college life, in fact I met my husband at a keg! I'm just questioning the appropriateness of the remarks given recent events.)

The speaker is an executive with ESPN. He was giving advice about how to make the most of their college days. He tells them not to keep their nose in a book but to go out and have fun--"join a fraternity...(I can't remember what came between)...drink some beers out of a keg or two". The audience let out a collective gasp.

Given what the district has been through over the past five weeks--seeing the videos with kegs in the background while Seniors beat up Juniors--I can't believe he couldn't find some other advice to give our kids.

At least he wasn't speaking at GBN--there were reporters in their cafeteria watching the ceremony on TV--what a perfect sound bite that would have been to keep the controversy going!

I think the reporter was telling them not to be like this. On that note, I wholeheartedly agree, and I'm sure these attitudes run rampant at a nationally touted high school such as GBS. On the other hand, he probably should have reworded it a bit.

Re: Re: Re: Update
 

Ooh, maybe it's the University of Wisconsin. :) If she does decide to go through rush, let us know how it turns out. And if you have any more questions about rush at specific schools, feel free to ask! I'm pretty sure that all the Big 10 schools have strong Greek systems.