School or Prison?
At Wyoming Valley West there have been too many disruptions that have given our school a negative reputation. Threats of violence were all too common. These threats affected many people involved in theschool district. They also affected the police officers that put their lives on the line to come into a building with a possible bomb inside.
My senior year stands out among the rest. Coming into my senior year of high school, I hoped that I would have a nice, quiet, enjoyable, and memorable year. However, it ended up being the worst year ofmy four years in high school. Within the stretch of a week and a half, there were four bomb threats made at our school. On the days of each threat there was a note found in the girls' lavatory.
The first note was found on a Friday afternoon after school was dismissed. I did not hear about it untilthe following Monday. On that day, I was sitting in Law class like any other Monday morning. It wasaround 10:30 A.M., when the principal of the school, Mr. DeRemer, spoke over the loud speaker. He announced that the building was being evacuated. Every student had to immediately leave the building in an orderly fashion and report directly to his or her bus. Those students who drove to school were toleave their vehicles behind. At the time, no one was sure what was happening.
When I got home that afternoon, I turned on the television to see if there was anything on the newsMany of the local news stations were at the school, and they reported that there had been a bombthreat. This scared me. It had been only a mere ten months since the tragedy in Littleton, Colorado atColumbine High School. Even though I knew that it was most likely somebody just playing games, I stillhad to think of the worst. We were allowed to return to the school that evening to pick up our cars.
The next day, the pranksters did not wait too long too strike again. I was sitting in first period,Classical Literature class. My teacher in that class just happened to be the wife of the superintendent ofWyoming Valley West School District.
Hysteria. Terror. Paranoia. All words used to describe feelings after a school disturbance. Reports of such emergencies from mainstream media outlets cause some to conclude extraordinary security breaches happen on an almost daily basis. However, schools are actually safeguarded; in recent years, protocols have been installed in schools across the United States to ensure safety. The catalyst: nationwide panic and suffering after an act of terror at a high school in Littleton, Colorado. Journalist and author Dave Cullen, in his book, Columbine, narrates the horror surrounding this shooting. Cullen’s purpose is to inform readers by captivating their attention utilizing emotional language. He establishes contrasting characters and alludes to significant
As young girl with big dreams I imagined my senior year of high school to be one of the best years of my life. I imagined going to homecoming with all of my friends, being the captain of the varsity soccer and cheerleading teams, going to Friday night football games, going to Prom with my perfect date, and going on a senior trip with all of my best friends. I never imagined my senior year to be the way that it is. I am the new kid.
A team of FBI agents, psychiatrists, and psychologists reached a different conclusion than that of the media. A conclusion that was “both more reassuring and more troubling” (At last we know, Cullen). Cullen says in the same article, “We can’t understand why they did it until we understand what they were doing.” It was more than just a school
One ubiquitous concern of parents is that of their child’s safety. Parents go through life making decisions that they hope will benefit the child. One of the decisions parents must make for their child is where he or she will attend school. School is meant to be a safe haven, a place in which a child is encouraged to grow and prosper. Tragedy strikes, however, when that safe place is twisted and morphed into a place of fear and anguish. This was the shocking reality for parents of high school students in Columbine, Colorado. Two shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Columbine High School seniors, entered the school and opened fire, killing thirteen, injuring twenty-four, and firing a total of 188 shots. Although Harris and Klebold committed suicide at the scene, their actions are a living reminder of the possible dangers schools are succumbed to and the necessary precautions that must be taken to prevent future events such as this from occurring. Evidence supporting the motive behind the shooting, a depiction of the event itself, and the aftermath are portrayed in the gripping manuscript, Columbine, written by Dave Cullen. With in-depth descriptions and an unbiased tone, Cullen reveals the mystery and calamity that stupefied many for years—the Columbine Massacre.
news to learn that something so horrible caused this students to kill their own peers.
When the principal of Jena high found out what students were responsible for hanging the nooses, he recommended the students expulsion. After the school board of education and the superintendent explained how it was just a silly prank, they overruled the recommendation. They turned it into a three day suspension. Posterior to the incident, tension between the two groups advanced. This small
As Charles Dixon walked in his office he was thinking about what other fun things he should do to punish the students at good ole Merced High. As you could see Mr. Dixon is the commander, leader, or just as we call it today, a principal. After the war that happen between the students and the staff there as been a lot more strictness to the school rules. Ever since I left this school its basically been more like a public military school. Your probably wondering why I’m not at Merced High School well, I got kicked out. I was walking with my disc man to my class and all electronics must be off when the bells ring infuriately there happen to be a sniper on the west wing of the campus and has soon as the clock struck 8:20, they shot me! Right on my ear. I only didn’t go to the hospital I got kicked out for being tardy and I lost 30% percent of my hearing on my left ear!
The whole incident happened on September 14, 2015, in the English classroom where the clock’s alarm went off abruptly and startled the class.The teacher asked for Ahmed to bring his invention up to her. Ahmed thought that his teacher would like the invention he made but was upset and confused when she thought it was a bomb. The teacher called the police and the principle to report
8th grade, 8th grade from the opening day to the signing of the yearbooks. This is the year of memories, goodbyes, and regrets. 8th grade and I’m still realizing that there are people in the world that would die to go to a school like this. A school where every body knows everyone’s name, respects everyone, and where violence and fighting are about as common as the Yankees missing the playoffs. When I’m done with my homework and go to bed, as the days of 8th grade wind down, summer will come and go, and I will find myself in one of those giant, scary places called high school.
On the morning of October 3, four people were shot within a span of approximately 2 hours in Aspen Hill, and other nearby areas in Montgomery County. Another was killed that evening in the District of Columbia, just over the border of Silver Spring. In each shooting, the victims were killed by a single bullet fired from some distance. The pattern was not detected until after the shootings occurred on October 3. Fear quickly spread throughout the community as news of the shootings circulated. Many parents went to pick up their children at school early, not allowing them to take a school bus or walk home alone. Montgomery County and District of Columbia schools declared a lockdown, wit...
The news of Columbine was all over the TV, newspapers, and in every social aspect of life. This left parents no choice but to discuss the incident with their children. After Columbine, there seemed to be more and more reports of school violence, more shooting, bombings, and knives being brought to school. As much as parents would like to protect their kids from hearing any of this they can't and the kids come home with questions. The more the kids hear the more they fear; after Columbine 41% of teens in a nation wide survey became afraid for their safety at school. Kids are now scared to go to school and their parents are scared to let them. Kids are now skipping school and pretending to be sick; not because they have a test or because they don't like their teacher. They a scared that something might happen to them. In a nation wide survey placed by www.usaweekend.com, 91% have seen kids get picked on, 85% have seen them argue loudly, 74% have seen physical fights, 29% have been threatened physically, 25% have been hit, 14% have been...
As I opened the doors to Lynn Gross Discovery School P.S. 17Q. I felt the butterflies in my stomach. It was the first day of school in America for me and had a bad feeling. My mom, my dad, my sister, Monica and I step inside the school. I looked inside the enormous hallway and the walls covered with artwork and pictures. My dad commanded my sister, Monica and I “I have to go to the office and do something. You two sit down on the benches and wait with your mom.” Monica and I agreed and said, “Okay.’’ I felt the clock ticking by and I wished for the world to stop turning. I waited and waited and waited. Finally, I decided to ask my mom something. “Mom, do you know how to say I don’t know how to speak English in English?” I asked her in Russian. She told me how and I tried to remember. I repeated the words over and over again like a singer trying to memorize the lyrics to a song, until my dad finally came out the office. My dad told us “You are now officially students of P.S.157. Now it time to go to your classrooms” in Russian.
A: “Here 's what would happen. The teacher would suddenly yell “Drop!” randomly during class. We would duck and cover under our desks and stay there for a certain length of time; I don’t remember how long that was. Once the drill was over, the teacher would say all clear. I think this was in the early 50’s. I was somewhere around fifteen years old. It was definitely frightening to us because we were all well aware of what the threat was. Like I said, the pictures we often saw in the newspapers had put the ideas in our head. There was a time, during my early teens, where I thought I wouldn’t live past twenty because of the bomb. It didn’t get in the way of living a normal life, however. You wouldn 't wake up every day thinking you were going to die of the bomb that day. Although, the threat was always in the back of our heads. Even though this was during the 50’s; a very peaceful time domestically. Th...
We listened as Mrs. DeCostia enumerated the names of those involved. “Kat, Tara, Kelly, Alexis, Rob, Joe, Matt, and John.” She announced with annoyance. How is it that all my friends got in trouble for the greatest prank in Fairfield’s 75 year history, but my name was left off that prestigious list? I watched my friend’s proud faces as they walked to the front of the room and I laughed as I heard Matt say “So you caught the people, who perfectly reconstructed your room on the roof of the school, but you will never know who the genius behind it was, and as long as that stays a secret, we’ve done our job.” Then Mrs. DeCostia grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him outside. Soon there was a wave of people standing and clapping for their hero, the only person to show Mrs. DeCostia what a horrible person she really was. Apparently since my name had been left off the list, they had no intention of revealing it. But still I got the greatest prize of all, even better than being called up there with them: knowing that it was my idea to take every item out of her room and put it on the roof. There was a loud slamming of the door and soon the classroom fell silent. “Whose idea was it?” shouted Mrs. DeCostia. She was answered by silence. “I’ll ask one more time: Whose idea was it?” She said, speaking ever so slowly to ensure he understood. This time she was answered by a deep voice that could only be recognized as John’s. “You’re never gonna know so you might as well give up now.” “Oh, I will find out and when I do that person will be expelled! Now who is it?” Then in a voice that always seemed to say “What are you looking at?” Kat said “Listen lady, I don’t know who you think your dealing with but you’re never gonna know. We’re like...
In every person’s life there’s a time when their expectations are shattered and something isn’t what they thought it would be. For me, that was my junior year of high school. I was a verdant child up until that point. I never could imagine that I would be exposed to things like bullying in a personal way. I only saw the best in people which blind sighted me from the real truth. Not everyone is nice. It was a lesson that I needed to learn the hard way. It was a hard year but I can honestly saw that looking back at it, I wouldn’t change a thing. It helped shaped so much of who I am today. Though it can be deemed as the worst year of my life, what it produced will last a lifetime.