Posted on 02/12/2018 9:25:24 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Why one Philly elementary school is paying kids not to fight
Updated: February 11, 2018 7:26 AM EST
by Kristen A. Graham, Staff Writer @newskag | kgraham@phillynews.com
Mikel Lindsay is acutely aware what the world thinks of him a 14-year-old attending a public school in a particularly tough corner of Philadelphia.
People look at me and say, You should be fighting,' said Lindsay, an eighth grader at Mitchell Elementary at 55th Street and Kingsessing Avenue.
But thats not him, Lindsay said. And this year, hes proving it. Hes part of an eighth-grade class whose principal is attempting an unusual and, some would say, audacious experiment: If Mikel and his 32 classmates make it to graduation with no physical altercations, each gets a $100 bill.
As of Friday, the Mitchell eighth-graders streak of peaceful days hit 70, no small feat for students surrounded by people responding to problems with fists, and worse.
Even in the nations poorest big city, the schools hard-luck Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood, Kingsessing, sticks out: 81 percent of Mitchells students live below the poverty line. Some are homeless, many are hungry, and some are essentially raising themselves. Kingsessing is also among the citys most violent corners, police data shows.
And the school has not been spared. By this point in the 2015-16 school year, nearly a quarter of its eighth-graders had been suspended at least once. And on a 1-to-100 school district measure of academics, climate and growth, Mitchell had scored just 3.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
So in Philly they are paying kids to be good.
When I was a kid I was good for nothing! (Badoom tish)
The world has gone mad
Next to “beautiful” Upper Darby.
A cop got beat up when I was there the other year.
A home owner broke up the beating with a gun.
Next to where Will Smith was “born and raised”.
>> If Mikel and his 32 classmates make it to graduation with no physical altercations, each gets a $100 bill.
God help the idiot that throws the first punch.
I think it's apple that has a thing going on with the mayor of Fresno to pay folk not to steal. Charlottesville's mayor is also got his folk on the payroll and guaranteed to vote for him - it was part of the deal for the statue of Lee to remain - the deal that was reneged on and thrown in the faces of Charlottesville.
Sheeeet......dats scratch aint but a third of my hyper kicks...got dose thru a beatdown of som cracker. I makes mor stashn blunts fer my brudder... stupid beoytch.
Who in the hell is saying this to him???? I guess we have a new definition for shithole.....
Why not? Democrats are paying people to have babies and vote, so this sounds logical if you’re a Leftist....
The welfare state mentality!
The soft bigotry of low expectations.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.