Violence Shatters Mom's Fierce Shield

Washington Post ^ | June 2, 2009 | Aaron C. Davis and Ashley Halsey III

[La Lydia]

Crofton, MD -- It's hard to imagine anything Jenny Adkins could have done differently to protect her 14-year-old son, Christopher. She moved to a bucolic corner of Anne Arundel County, indulged his love of football and ice hockey to keep him from roaming suburban malls, and allowed him to wander unsupervised only along a mile-long tree-lined street between her home and that of her ex-husband, a Prince George's County sheriff's deputy.

Five weeks ago, when Christopher mistakenly found himself between two groups of school friends that had started calling themselves gangs, Adkins even swiftly moved her son to a different high school...But in a tranquil neighborhood, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, trouble found him nonetheless.

...down the street from her home, Adkins walked past a group of six or seven teens and fearfully wondered whether they might be part of the groups of youths...Adkins sent a warning in a text message to Christopher, who was riding his bike nearby. He responded "I'm fine..."two of the teens Adkins had spotted walked up to her son and punched him so hard that Christopher fell to the ground...He hit his head in the middle of the street his mother considered his safe zone and later was pronounced dead at Baltimore Washington Medical Center....

Sunday, Anne Arundel County police charged Javel George, 16, and a 14-year-old boy with manslaughter in Christopher's death. George was charged as an adult...Authorities yesterday backed off initial statements over the weekend that the youths "targeted" Christopher...

"We don't think they targeted him. They just came on him in the street, and the incident took place," said Capt. David Waltemeyer, head of criminal investigations for the Anne Arundel police. "They are neighborhood cliques and gangs. These aren't the Bloods and the Crips," he said....

[ussc1863]

I had this problem with my stepson in a combined elementary and middle school here in Shreveport, LA. The counselors were worthless and would not talk about the “ gang” situation that was occurring in the school. I pulled him out and placed him in a Magnet school in 2 days. A Vice Principal at a high school told us, the School Board had given orders that no one was to talk about the situations like this in the schools. It is a scary feeling when your child is afraid to go to school. It took me a week to get the information out of him, why he was wanted to avoid going to school. As soon as I did, the phone calls started and when I did not receive a call back on the second morning, he was in a different school that afternoon.

[flowerplough]

Not the Bloods and the Crips, yet.

[MrB]

Has this been more prevalent since November?
I’ve heard that such racially motivated violence as been “empowered” by the election of 0bama.

[gibsosa]

bump for later

[SatinDoll]

“...he hit his head on the street...”

This is very sad. My best friend’s brother, age 10, died from the same cause - knocked off of a bicycle, he hit his head on a paved street - and no gang was involved. He died from skull fractures, injuries a helmet would have prevented.

Both boys had moms that were very protective of their kids but neither child wore a helmet.

A helmet won’t protect a child from violent peers, but that is whole other argument. It is sad that he died from a head injury in fall from a bicycle, something that needn’t be fatal.

[CharlesWayneCT]

First, has Obama expressed deep regret over the tragic loss of this child’s life?

Second, has Eric Holder pledged to send US Marshals into neighborhoods like this so that it won’t happen again?

And third: It sounds like he wasn’t wearing a helmet. He was on his bike, it said, and he was hit and fell down and hit his head on the pavement. If he was wearing a helmet he probably would not have been hurt.

Just to say that this mother was very paranoid, and apparently rightfully so, and it makes me wonder why she wouldn’t force him to wear a helmet when riding his bicycle.

[goldi]

Our schools hold assemblies for kids about gangs and gang violence. I can’t believe school officials would try to cover something like this up. It seems all they care about is their jobs — the hell with the kids. There should be a boycott. I hope this lady gets on all the news shows and relates her story to everyone. She should mention the superintendent and what he told her.

[Secret Agent Man]

Department of Justice statistics show that when it comes to black/white crime, 90% of it is black on white. Yet the MSM and black groups always portray that only white on black crime occurs or that it almost always that way.

[ussc1863]

I agree. She should go to the press. Even at the Magnet school, I placed my son in there were problems. He had one boy that pulled a knife on him, which is against the contract you sign to be admitted. Within 3 months, this same boy threw my son's head into the wall and we got called to the Principal’s office because he stood up for himself. I let that principal have it. I asked why that boy was still in the school after pulling the knife, she knew there were problems prior with that child and nothing was done. I told her the next time I heard of an incident with that child, I would not be in her office but that Youth and Juvenile would be there because of the weapons issue and the school not properly handling it. She was stunned. I guess she is just used to parents agreeing with whatever she said. I unfortunately did not give my husband an opportunity to speak but I did get the satisfaction of letting her know that I would hold her, the school board and the child liable for any further incidents that may have occurred.

[MuttTheHoople]

Amish youth rage alert.

[fleagle]

Wow. Excellent article. I appreciate you posting that.