Posted on 12/07/2005 5:15:44 PM PST by BenLurkin
HOUSTON (AP) -- More than two dozen students were arrested Wednesday after a series of fights at a high school between Hurricane Katrina evacuees and local students.
One student suffered a cut under the eye. No other injuries were reported, said Houston Independent School District spokesman Terry Abbott.
Abbott said 15 students involved in the fights - which started between girls in Westbury High's cafeteria and spread to other areas - were from New Orleans. The other 12 charged were from Houston.
One student was charged with assaulting a police officer. The other 26 faced misdemeanor charges of engaging in a riot.
"We have families who are under duress from what happened with the storm," Abbott said, explaining those displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina have been pushed into an unfamiliar city. "It is natural that a situation like that is going to cause some tension."
Abbott said the district has had other fights break out between students from New Orleans and Houston since more than 475,000 Louisiana residents were relocated to Texas. School officials are doing everything they can to curtail tension, he said. The school system offers counseling and student-parent forums to discuss how to improve student relations.
Nearly 2,500 students attend Westbury, including about 300 who are New Orleans transplants.
The Houston district has taken in more than 5,000 New Orleans students, more than any district outside Louisiana, he said
Do you remember in high school.. the Jocks, the Heads, the Nerds, the Rednecks?
Each had territories and exclusive members and lingo and a particular subculture.
The Jocks had a subculture of preppy chicks and cheerleaders.
The Heads had a subculture of clandestine dopers.
The Nerds had a subculture of computer freaks and oriental kids.
The Rednecks had the four-by-fours and guns and dogs.
These kids have their social niches all defined, the introduction
of another group of varigated groups offsets their social balance.
These kids are being expected to absorb a whole mass of others
who have an established identity of their own but who did not establish
that identity within the host group.
Only a fool would expect no conflicts.
Only if you feel sorry for me because my home was destroyed by a hurricane. Oh, and give me your lunch money.
Oh, it's all coming back to me now! :-)
And I was in school before drugs OR integration!
I never was around when girls actually fought; I can only imagine how ugly THAT would get.
Considering how far society has collapsed you may be right.
One of the early incidents involved the parents getting into it on the sidewalk after being called to the school and a couple of them got arrested also.
**
Sounds like we have some real class acts here....
Girls have 'turf'? As in gangs?
***
It is amazing -- and very sad -- but many girls today act very much as only rude boys once did. And it's not just lower classes either.
The 1880's?
And here I always pictured you as 40-ish.
I graduated in 1960, No drugs, no integration.
We actually had it pretty good, everyone got along ok ,If there was a fight it was between two people not half a dozen. There was sometimes a scuffle between two different schools at basketball games but we always won. As I say the schools werent integrated so we had no racial problems. The black High school was about 5 miles down the road it was newer than ours. When they built a new school in 1964 they combined the schools.
IT'S ALL BUSH'S FAULT!
I wasn't even born until '64, you are positively ancient! ;-)
Seriously, with the rap / gang culture present in today's schools
these kids are compelled to be territorial whether it matters or not.
Ananlyzed, a lot of the current braggadocio is almost Samaurai in it's "value of face."
Shuddup. NOT the 1800's!
Why do you assume that it was the New Orleans girls who started the fight? The article doesn't say so.
Hey, that's my line!
Sorry - you were too slow!
It's all Bush's fault.
His Dad lives in Houston. Need I say more?
Still trying to figure out the math here. Is it 27, 26, or 53 or something else? Were the misdemeanor kids not arrested? Is this ghettomath or am I missing something?
No biggie, just multitasking with eBay. Actually hoping the entire world will pick up this motto!
Abbott said 15 students involved in the fights - which started between girls in Westbury High's cafeteria and spread to other areas - were from New Orleans. The other 12 charged were from Houston.
One student was charged with assaulting a police officer. The other 26 faced misdemeanor charges of engaging in a riot.
Doh! I missed the 1! I can only see numbers when they aren't spelled out in words.
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