Thank whatever higher power you believe in, if any, that it's Friday, and other assorted topics
(1) Girl reports a teacher is having sex with student; girl gets suspended; school district says the suspension wasn't "punishment." In related news, Hillsborough schools to launch new "Don't Be A Snitch" campaign.
(2) This pepper-spray incident at Dunedin High School story is another example of a topic I've been thinking about, school resource officers, otherwise known as Police In Schools. I'd be curious to know why officers & teachers couldn't just pull the fighting girls apart & stick 'em in separate rooms to cool down Of course, I also wondered why the Gainesville officers couldn't have just dragged that obnoxious guy out of John Kerry's speech and thrown his butt outside... [Times file photo]
(3) I might consider letting this guy go.
(4) I wouldn't let this guy go.
(5) Not to sound like an animal-rights extremist, but this is our interesting double standard: Do it this way, and it's a crime. Do it the more customary way several million times a year, and it's bacon.
(6) Fortunately, the girl in this case sounds fairly sane, considering what her mother sounds like. Last time I read about a mother this weird, the daughter ended up causing a pretty nasty scene at the high-school prom. Cue Amy Irving and the dream sequence...
(7) Serves them right.
Best wishes to all for a good Friday and a good weekend...
Welcome to TroxBlog, the web-home of columnist Howard Troxler, where he and readers discuss his column topics and current events. The goal here is to focus on the merits of issues, instead of personal attacks or knee-jerk partisanship.
Re: the Dunedin girl fight thing.
Because you can't touch the kid. Look it up in the Pinellas County Schools handbook, if you can find one, and I'll bet it is spelled out in black and white: don't touch the kid. Remember the kindergarten girl a year or two back that threw a temper tantrum in the teacher's office and it was all on tape? The police dept got a bad rap for putting the 5 year old in handcuffs, but the teacher/principal was applauded for "doing everything correctly according to the training." Cue the tape, she didn't touch the kid.
Posted by: Jennifer W | October 26, 2007 at 12:22 PM
Numbers 1 through 4 I agree with. Number five? Come on Howard, someone entered private property and killed two "piglets". That is a crime. As for number 6, what should parents do today? While I agree she went too far just what is a parent to do with out of control children especially when the government offers no help and it is illegal to give them a good old fashioned a.. whippin. Number 7, I love it!!
Posted by: Don Mott | October 26, 2007 at 03:43 PM
1) Ever hear of an anonymous tip?
2) Don't Taz me bro.
3) He did his time in outside of jail
4) Keep this sucker locked up forever.
5) Ugh. sounds like the work of future serial killers.
6) Mom is sitll a virgin.
7) Wisconsin home of cheese and cement heads. What do you expect.
Posted by: Boo Boo | October 27, 2007 at 06:42 AM
#1 DONT ASK, DONT TELL! is my 2nd choice for dealing with the teacher/student sex thang. If I had my druthers teacher/student sex would be added to the sex-ed curriculum and teachers would collect some cash like coaches do.
I have a hunch lawsuits will likely bankrupt every school district before we're ready to tackle the problem.
Posted by: Jim Johnson | October 27, 2007 at 09:03 AM
#2 Common-sense isnt an option anymore. Every event is potential grist for the TIMES mill, the kids know it and escalate until things are out of control. I say TASER and MACE TIMES' reporters and pundits.
Posted by: Jim Johnson | October 27, 2007 at 09:13 AM
It's good to have ya back Jim!
Posted by: Karen | October 29, 2007 at 09:28 AM