Posted on 04/08/2008 6:57:06 AM PDT by mnehring
Melanie Bowers, 13, and her parents walked into Athens High School Monday afternoon to talk to campus police. They were hoping to get some answers.
"It never should have happened in the first place. The whole assignment was a silly assignment and they should have contacted us immediately after it happened," said J.R. Bowers, Melanie's father.
It was an assignment for history class--to make a protest sign for or against an issue, and Melanie said she chose illegal immigration. Her sign read, "If you love our nation, stop illegal immigration." Somehow, Melanie said the sign got passed around lunch and angered a group of Latino students.
"I didn't know any of these people," she said. One young, she claimed, jumped on her back and he put her in a choke hold. "We have brick walls in the middle school and he slammed my face on the bricks."
Melanie said a group of boys also threatened to rape and kill her. Eventually, the boys let her go and when she went for help, she was ordered back to class, and told she could not call her parents, she said.
"They handled this wrong, you know, they put a child back in danger," said J.R. Bowers. "It was a very racially motivated crime."
Athens ISD gave KLTV 7 a statement, confirming there was a disturbance in the hallway, Friday between two to three students. "We have a camera system in the building," said Louis DeRosa. "We are collecting other information and statements from witnesses and this is all the information we have at this time," he said.
Melanie and her parents said they just hope the right thing is done...and quickly.
"I won't be happy until the kids that did this are out of school," Bowers said.
You are sounding more and more like a zealot. Nobody on here has even so much as implied what you are writing in your post here.
I do not believe toddlers, infants or preschoolers should be outside of a family setting and I imagine a lot of people who have their little ones in day care probably don’t like it either, but maybe it’s the difference between their children starving or not. Sure, there are a lot of people that put their kids in daycare from infancy that don’t have to do this but they don’t want to give up their Mcmansion or Lexus.
My brother teaches in one of the worst schools in the country and to even imagine most of those parents homeschooling their children (if they even had the time) is just laughable.
And, finally, you are beginning to also sound as socialistic as most liberals and lefties, because YOU are trying to be the authority for what every other person and family should do and you apparently know better - that’s as elitist as anything I’ve ever seen.
Just out of curiosity, what type of school did you attend as a child (public, parochial/private, or homeschooled)? And did you attend college?
I happen to agree with you. IQ tests and data are useful, but that is all. There are many different ways people exhibit intelligence, and frankly, today, there are a lot of people that score high on IQ tests but have no common sense.
Some physicians are brilliant clinically but they are often very poor managers of money. There are many other scenarios.
I’ve met people who would do very poorly on an IQ test because they never read a book, but they are the most brilliant craftsmen. I’m thinking of a guy right now - a carpenter that is really artistic in his work.
I thank God for our differences. Too much focus is put on IQs and it’s only a way for the “systems” to try and channel people. God forbid if you are the square peg.
Many good points in your post. Some time back I read a piece that brought up many of the reasons we are seeing so many bratty, selfish, nasty young people today. I believe the thesis was very good. It’s simply this: Years ago, people had big families; child-bearing and childrearing were just normal passages of life for most people, as was marriage. Nowadays, people wait until they are in their thirties to marry and often wait several more years to have children - this is problematic in that women’s eggs age and the longer they wait, the higher their chances of infertility; thus, today many people struggle to conceive. This often includes some very expensive medical procedures. Once they are able to conceive and have their little “prince” or “princess,” they literally worship the kid like it is a god. They’ve put so much of their life into just HAVING the kid that they idolize the child and pamper the child and end up with a little monster.
I know many of these parents. Just awful children but basically nice parents who don’t want to “hurt” their children. How else do you explain kids winning medals and ribbons for 10th place and so on? The minute you criticize any of these kids by the time they become a teenager, they can’t handle it. They have no sense that they are not little gods themselves. And, you remember all the stories of Greek and Roman gods? Well, look at all the trouble they caused - same here.
Look at what you started. 244 posts and counting....
Wintertime - you are very blessed, but do you or your husband do anything to help unfortunate kids too? Just wondering.
I think it’s important to bring out the ideas you and your husband hold in your heart to others who don’t have good parents such as yourself.
Just my thoughts....
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have accomplished what I have **IN SPITE** of wasting many years institutionalized.
I am educated because of my parents and my OWN efforts. The school merely sent home a curriculum.
It was my parents who taught me to read using phonics, and drilled me on math facts, controlled the TV, and valued education. The school never walked me to the library. I did. It was my father who patiently taught me algebra and geometry. It was my mother and father who ruthlessly took a red pen to edit and correct my term papers.
All academically successful people I have ever met were homeschooled. If they were institutionalized for their education, all the school did was send home a curriculum for their parents and them to follow.
Are there exceptions? ...Possibly, but I have never met them.
I am just wondering? If govenrment school protects children from child abuse then why not have government newborn schools?
My brother teaches in one of the worst schools in the country and to even imagine most of those parents homeschooling their children (if they even had the time) is just laughable.
I have repeated posted that not everyone can homeschool. Some parents are too stupid, too uncaring, to dysfunction and unorganized, too undisciplined, too career minded, too poor, too sick, too drug addicted, divorced..etc.
While homeschooling by loving and competent parents is the healthiest and most natural way to raise up a child, some children will always need institutionalization. That is a shame, but true.
And, finally, you are beginning to also sound as socialistic as most liberals and lefties, because YOU are trying to be the authority for what every other person and family should do and you apparently know better - that’s as elitist as anything I’ve ever seen.
So...Advocating that all education be privatized is "leftist"? Huh?
Why should one favored sector of the population have the right to extract money by force from their neighbor just so the government can sponsor their favored religious, cultural, and political worldview in government indoctrination camps? Opposing this is "leftist"? Wow!
Stating that behind every government school is an armed policeman, is "leftist"?
Stating that children should not be forced into government indoctrination camps under threat of police gun, and children ( who have committed no crime) should not be treated like prisoners is ""leftist"?
Well...Yes, you are right in one regard. I don't think some groups of people should have the right to aim government police guns at their neighbors and force others to sponsor this type of "choice".
BTW, for many of us, our public education experience that was forced on us IS the reason we homeschool.
I remember what school was like and that was 30 some years ago and I attended one of the best districts in our area. It was a union free school district.
You are truly a lost cause. The schools provide the books for the students, the papers for them to use to study and learn, the teachers to give them assistance if they have questions, the equipment to further encourage a learning environment, meals to keep the body and mind strong enough to learn, an environment filled with other students to encourage the students to learn how to interact with other members of society.
That’s lots of help from an institution you say does NOTHING to help with your educational experience.
We tithe 10% to our church. Beyond this we give an additional 1% of our income to the church scholarship fund. If all Christians would do this, every child in the nation could have a free voucher to attend a private Christian school.
We also give another 1% to the church missionary fund. Indirectly this helps children since is strengthens families.
We have also, over the years, been active in Boy Scouting, and been youth leaders in our church. For many years I was a volunteer in the children's library and taught monthly classes for youth in library branches throughout our county.
I was a Young Women's leader for the teens in our church from many years.
At the moment, I am occupied with my parents. They are 95 years old.
That’s lots of help from an institution you say does NOTHING to help with your educational experience.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You are right. The schools sent home books. ( no supplies) My parents and I did 100% of the rest!
This is just the beginning folks. In the future look for laws to be passed to protect the assailants, just as we see the protection of Islam in the public workplace and public buildings. KC airport has footbaths for muslims to take baths in.
I have repeatedly posted that not everyone can homeschool. Some parents are too stupid, too uncaring, too dysfunctional and unorganized, too undisciplined, too career minded, too poor, too sick, too drug addicted, divorced..etc.
“One more reason I’ll be homeschooling. Last thing I need is some thug who shouldn’t even be in the country threatening to rape my daughter, only to have the school do nothing. The school officials probably think the girl’s a biggot who got what she “deserved” for making the sign.”
Forcing the gringoes out of taxpayer funded schools is part of the agenda. That way, the homeschoolers foot the bill for the illegals and must also pay to homeschool their own kids. This is called doubling the advantage to the illegals.
What a concept...it's not such a bad place after all?!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Although safe enough (this was the 1950s and 60s) the experience was mind numbingly boring enough to motivate me to homeschool my own children.
I can assure you that my kids were not bored in college at the ages of 13, 12, and 13.
I made the comment about this person being public schooled because they are being so judgemental towards anyone who dares to public school their children.
Even though they were public schooled, they came away from it with enough of an education that they are able to be productive members of society and able to home school their own children. At least give the teachers the benefit that they helped in that process!
They could have been illegal but probably not.
This incident points out how it is impossible to discuss issues like illegal immigration or affirmative action without emotions boiling over and racial conflict resulting.
Many legal Mexicans here in California are not thrilled by the influx of border crossers.Yet once whites or blacks start complaining,then Latinos circle the wagons to defend against”racist attacks on La Raza”.
I don’t know if thats just human nature or what.But it seems inevitable and makes it implossible to discuss these issues rationally.
I can't do that, myself. Nothing that I learned in high school was of any value to me later in life. Everything I learned that I found useful, I learned in college and on my own because I either wanted to know it or needed to know it. I learned far more in homeschooling my own kids that I ever came close to getting out of public high school.
My kids knew more by the time they reached 7th grade than I know that I learned by 12th, cause I remember what I knew, or more accurately what I didn't know. And that was back before the schools have deteriorated to the point they have now.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The above should read, nearly entirely privately schooled in Catholic parochial schools and universities.
10 years of Catholic parochial school and 4 years of Catholic university, and only 2 years of government high school.
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.