Death At Fenger HS

More than a couple of folks have written in about this Tribune story by Tracy Dell'Angela and David Heinzmann on the killing of a Fenger HS student (Cop fatally shoots teen). 

As you'll see, the piece isn't just the facts, which are unremarkable, but rather a brief and searing portait of a kid and his friends trying to grow up.

As one person wrote me, the article "gives a true sense of the type of awful stuff that our kids and our high schools are dealing with…and it really shows that there’s often some good hiding behind the “thug” posturing that kids do to try and fit in or to survive."

Comments

You're right Alexander. But the facts aren't so clear. The cop's version is much too pat. The cop had a gun, heard the kid saying "Hey G, let's get this." What an amazing quote! Who was he talking too? What happened to the other person? Of course the cop gives him warning: "Stop!" "Hold it!" Right by the book. Of course the kid reaches for something, an unknown object, just as black kids always do before they are shot by white cops. Of course they find a knife on the body. Of course, of course. How perfect.

[Dan Bassill]

When I read your blog I went to the Program Locator on the T/MC web site to see if there were any tutor/mentor programs serving teens in the 60628 zip code of Fenger. I found 19 listings.

In my http://tutormentor.blogspot.com blog I wrote about how not all of these listings were current, and about how people in business, churchs, foundations, etc. could help us make sure the listings in the Program Locator are current, while also helping these programs be the best they can be at helping kids navigate their way through school and into careers.

This needs to be a partnership of schools, non-school organizations, churches, businesses. Otherwise we'll just keep seeing the same bad news repeated in other neighborhoods, and in this neighborhood, too.

Tracy's article was very, very moving. She and David Heinzmann were clearly motivated to tell this student's story and a very sad story it was indeed. Among the things I suspected that may have been missing was any discussion by Fenger staff whehter or not the student Dijohn was a hibitual truant. The article stated that Dijohn was a freshman, but then the article also indicated he appeared to be enrolled Fenger Achievement Academy High School because he had been retained at Mahalia Jackson School up to the age of 15. I found that a little confusing, because I could not tell if Dijohn had exited the Achievement Academy from what I read.

The last data that I saw for the Achievement Academy indicated that attendance was around 82%, whereas the high school itself was only a little better around 85%.

The article states that Dijhohn was adopted by Lester Childs a 63 year old who the article indicates is living on SSDI or SSI (about $800 to $900 a month) and earns extra money sewing. The article also indicates that Mr. Childs has adopted 5 other children.

From the story details it appears that Dijohn was a DCFS ward who had been placed in a foster home. It would appear that Mr. Childs adopted Dijohn though DCFS's adoption assistance agreement program and it is more than likely Mr. Childs recieves ongoing monthly payments equal to what the Dijohn's foster care payment was, or would have been at age 15. The article also indicates that Mr. Child's has 5 other adopted sons, including Dijohn's familial brother.

Mr. Childs seems from Tracy's article to be a very well meaning man who cared about Dijohn. But the fact that an individual who appears to be as old as Mr. Childs, disabled, and as poor, can adopt 6 boys indicates the extent that DCFS is pushing the limits to get children out of foster care and into adoption.

Possibly out of kindness Tracy completely skipped this part of the story.

1:50. It is sad that the teen was killed, but not by a white cop. Get your facts first before your bias.

3:44 is correct I assumed the police officer was an African American just based on his address. I hope the officer did not just shoot down the kid. I am bothered by the fact that the kid was shot multiple times.

In some states killing of home invaders is completely protected by law and I can understand that in the situation where someone breaks in and you are inside. But in this situation the Officer was outside and could see that his door had been broken in. Normally the officer would have called for back up rather than attempting to deal with a home invasion all by himself. But he took action without back up. That does not seem completely right to me.

The DCFS thing that 3:17 raised is upsetting. When I read the story I too thought it was strange that this kid's father had adopted a total of 6 boys. I never knew about the "adoption assistance" payments and I am a teacher. I guess I am dumb, I would have thought he was just a nice guy wanting to do good for kids. I only thought it was foster parents that got payments - you learn something every day.

How do we know the officer was black? He isn't identified by name for some reason, in the article. Why not?

3:17 correctly admonishes us to get our facts straight. But that's not so easy. The student died of "multiple gunshot wounds." How many? Why so many at close range? This was a veteran officer. The boy, reached for somthing. How many shots were needed before the boy was no longer a threat? I hope the facts come out so we can better know why another young CPS student is dead by gun violence. Let's not be so quick to blame it on the conditions or his adopted guardian.

Its easy to criticize, isn't it? We don't know much about what happened in the house, much less the cop's head when this took place. As for the man who adopeted 6 boys. Yes, not the ideal situation, but as you should have read the victim was previously homeless, living with a drug addicted mother, and lost a sister when she was hit by a truck. Obviously not the best life, so much so it was probably a giant step up to live with a disabled single man.

Unless you're willing to adopt a poor black kid, don't criticize the man for trying, even if he was paid for his effort, which he should be.

DCFS has been under heavy pressure to move children out of foster care and into adoption. But, at least back in 1999, families were getting more financial assistance for foster children than for adopted children. Let's not forget that these students often need psychological special education, and even medical services. And not too many people want them, so those who do often take on many of them because the need is so great.

Here is a link to a Chicago Reporter story from 1999 that lays out the situation.
http://www.chicagoreporter.com/1999/10-99/1099fostercare.htm

[George Schmidt]

Here is a try at a couple of questons asked here (1:50 and 4:47) and then some observations.

It's unlikely that anyone who owns a home on that block at this point in Chicago's segregated history is white. I know people who live and work around there and can ask, but doubt we will learn anything more. So the standard anti-cop "white cop/black kid" nonsense is simply not factual.

I happened to be working in that area at the time the police were working the crime scene. When I first saw all the detective cars (city vehicles with the "M" license plates) on the corner, I thought there was some kind of meeting going on at the church that sits on the corner of 86th and Bishop (just south of Foster Park). Then I noticed the crime scene cordoned off a half block south of the church and on the other side of the street. If there are any white homeowners on that (bungalow belt) block between 86th and 87th and Bishop in the year 2007, I'd be very surprised.

Had I been covering the story, I would not even have thought to ask: "Was the officer black or white?" But it should be irrelevant anyway, since the question remains what anyone is supposed to do during a home invasion? What if the homeowner who returned home had been older (say as old as Mr. Childs), and female?

According to the reports I've read and heard (WBBM, Sun-Times, Tribune), the man who came home to his house after working a long shift was certainly a Chicago police officer. Not one report said he was "white."

There were no other reporters at the crime scene when I was there (late morning). When other reporters arrived at the scene and how they covered the story, we don't know. I was doing other work, so I didn't put on my press credentials and work that story. Nor was I interested in that particular crime story that day.

(In part, I've been following up on the Wentworth elementary school auditorium riot from last week and the distortions that have been in the media following that event. We can get to the Wentworth story at some point if Alexander is interested in more facts than this blog gets from its usual "sources" As some people here know, Wentworth (70th and Sangamon) is a couple of miles east and north of the 86th and Bishop crime scene. Like I said, another story for another time...).

Back to the 8600 block of South Bishop on the morning of January 30, 2007. Let's begin by agreeing that none of us here knows what happened inside that house when those shots were fired. But anyone who wants to spend a little time can learn a lot about the block and also learn precisely who owns the home that was burglarized that morning. That's all public record. It's takes some reporting, as opposed to regurgitating, however.

One of the reasons that homes in that area (almost all of the blocks around the huge Foster Park) would be vulnerable to burglary during the day is that most of the people who live in those homes are working during the day. It's a very working class and middle class section of that part of town.

Census data will give you the racial demographics. But it has a deceptiveness for people who engage in New Age (or New Left) racial stereotyping. If you were to drive the average suburban white person there blindfolded and then take off the blindfold (before you saw any of the residences), the person would likely think: middle class; probably white. That sad block is an example of how "ghetto" (meaning segregated and all-black) in Chicago doesn't mean "poor and unemployed."

As some people here know, Tracey Dell'Angela has been at Fenger High School all school year (sort of an embeded reporter). As a reult, she had more access, for example, to the classroom teachers and fellow students than other reporters. That part of the story was good. The Sun-Times version was quick and dirty, like most of their coverage of "news" nowadays. The steep decline of the Sun-Times as a reliable source of news is getting frightening to anyone who cares about gettings facts from newspapers before the spin cycle of the TV evening news goes on.

Again, back to the 8600 block of S. Bishop in Chicago. As of now, the undisputed fact is that the young man, now deceased, was in a home that was not his, burglariziing it, when he was supposed to be in school.

The home's owner came home afgter work and what followed was a tragedy.

And anyone who thinks the average Chicago police office is not torn up by an incident like this doesn't know many (or any) cops.

If this thread had begun with some far out teacher bashing, most people here would have jumped in earlier. Because it was cop bashing, apparently the tendency is to believe the basher(s) on the part of some people here (or at least not to contradict the bashing).

There are several back stories here, not the least of which is the proliferation of foster care in homes in that part of the South Side.

But let's ask another question. How could the young man could think he could burglarize a residence "on the way to school." Does anyone really believe he would be able to unload whatever was taken and then make it to English class later that morning?

Now let's see if we can do some values clarification about the person whose home had been violated. As a Chicago police officer, he was "on duty" all the time. He was carrying his weapon, someone was in his home, and he had not given anyone permission to be in his home. It's also likely that the office was tired after working a full shift.

Put the alternative narrative into a script. "Excuse me, young man, but did you lose your way on the way to school? Would you like a ride to Fenger so you won't miss English class?"

Under the same circumstances, to get Kantian (the categorical imperative and all that), what would you have done?

Finally, why would anyone have a reason not to believe that the young man referred to a companion as "G"? If that is accurate, as Tracey can tell you (or you know if you know anything about Fenger) "G" probably means "Gangster Disciple", the largest drug gang in the Fenger High School part of Chicago. Several questions might arise following that simple quotation, and many would be very relevant to the underlying realities that make things so complex here.

Well, that was simple enough. The houses were nice. The kid was in the house. Said the letter "G". G stands for Gangster Diciple. The kid is dead. Just another dead GD. Cop was just doing his duty. Case closed. Thanks for clearing things up Schmidt.

George,
You seem to know all the inside dope on this case.
Do you know anything about the cop, aside from his race? Does he have any history besides 11 years on the force? Has he ever been in trouble? Been involved in shootings before? Anything we should know in his record before we just write this off?

I thought it was the CPD that engaged in racial profiling? What's the "new left" got to do with this case, George?

I would just say this, right or wrong, black or white shooter. If any teacher shot a home invader numerous times and killed them when they had a knife in their pocket, not drawn by the way, wouldn't we at least have to have a hearing to determine justifable homcide?

Since the individual in question was a police officer it can be justified within hours by CPD internal affairs. George is probably right the police officer was no doubt upset after the kid was killed, but multiple gunshot wounds?

Of course if the kid did not break in he would not have gotten killed. But if the DCFS had a nice high income family willing to adopt the kid and his brother then maybe he would not have broke into the house. I guess I am just a new left loser who still has illusions of social justice. Maybe that is why I became a social studies teacher at a south side high school.

Leave it to George to criticize the dead student on his reasoning skills.

Contrary to Hollywood portrayals and popular belief, there is no training to shoot to "wound" someone. When a police officer fires his/her weapon, he/she is trained to terminate the threat. This is done by firing as many rounds as is necessary until the threat is no more. The range is not important. Most handgun battles take place under 7 yards. To give you a background as to why this shooting is considered justified, you must consider several “hard” factors; these are “the rules” without exception.

The first is “use of lethal force”. Officers are allowed to escalate one level on the use of force chart to preserve their own safety. For example, if a subject is non compliant during an arrest procedure and a non-armed arrestee aggressively approaches an officer, the officer may use spray (+ 1 level). If the arrestee is still non-compliant, in some situations the expandable baton may be used. The stereotype is that all cops like hitting people with a baton. This is simply not true. There is so much paperwork involved and the lawsuit liability is so great, it’s only deployed in situations where spray is not appropriate (close quarters, risk of cross contamination, E2-type indoor crowds, etc.). The baton leaves blood, bruises, and breaks; olerium capsicum (pepper) spray is considered a food product whose affects wear off in about an hour and has no long term disabling means.

If the person has a deadly weapon (knife, gun, blunt object), the officer has no choice but to use deadly force. If it cannot be determined what weapon the subject has, an officer may perceive deadly force as his/her only choice in saving his/her own life. When hands are concealed, this is such a situation. Many officers are shot yearly by subjects pretending to remove a wallet to present ID from a pocket, only to shoot a handgun through the fabric. In a situation where hands are concealed and there are multiple threats, spray or a baton will not prevent a trigger pull by the subject. Additionally, these means cannot be rapidly deployed in a multiple target acquisition situation. You cannot re-aim spray or effectively deploy a baton on more than one person faster than they can pull a trigger and kill you. The officer saw two people who had forcibly entered his house. The odds are so great that one of them may be armed with a deadly weapon, (considering the house had been forcibly entered, and that there are weapons, the cops “tools” for his job, stored in the house), and upon perceiving one with concealed hands, the officer was justified.

It is justifiable for anyone, civilian or sworn law enforcement officer, to take a life in defense of self. This is based on the "reasonable man" theory, in terms of what a "reasonable person" would perceive in such a situation. If in a bar fight Average Joe were to pull a gun out, would that be justified? It depends. Was he significantly outnumbered? Were the assailants armed? Even if they’re not armed, are the odds good that Average Joe may be beaten to death by 2, 3, or more assailants? In Chicago, gun laws are such that Average Joe can’t carry a gun for self defense, so he’s out of luck anyway. The “reasonable person” clause is somewhat of a gray area. Would one unarmed person pose a threat to a cop? Probably not. Would one person on PCP who has just picked up a refrigerator to throw at a cop pose a threat? Yes. So you shoot those “unarmed” people. It’s “reasonable”.

Law enforcement (but not civilians) may also take a life in defense of others. No one may take a life in defense of property unless there is a chance that said property would be used to harm another. I.E., if a subject tries to grab a cop’s gun from his holster, that cop’s partner may elect to shoot that subject. Though “unarmed”, the subject had malicious intent to secure a weapon. Same goes for shooting a carjacker. They may just be stealing a car, but if in the process they’re doing 80 mph past a school, they need to be shot. In the case of a home invasion, if the perpetrator is witnessed, for example, running out the back door with stolen property, no one, police or civilian, is justified in shooting that person. In this case, when an officer found that his home had been forcefully broken into, this means that there is a likelihood that tools for forceful entry may be present. One must also consider means of escape. Technically, if someone is stealing your plasma from the living room and you can see they’ve busted through the front door, and you witness this from your back door, you should let them exit out the front. You may not shoot them. If you arrive to the second story landing of your home, to a bedroom with one exit (which you are now blocking), the odds of the thief jumping out the window are pretty slim. There’s going to be a confrontation. People get shot in the heat of those moments.

Whether an officer should have called for back-up is a debate that can go on forever. Officers leave their radios at the station. “Backup” is a 911 call to a dispatcher and waiting 5 minutes, assuming the officer has a cell phone. You must also understand that the officer may be considering that whoever broke in may have secured the officer’s firearms. They are now armed and dangerous. In waiting for “backup”, or allowing the thief to escape, the officer may have just allowed a criminal to walk the streets armed to the teeth. Perhaps even wearing the officer’s Kevlar. I assure you, if such a situation occurred, the officer would be publicly lambasted for not “doing something”. The public would scream “how can you let someone run out of your house with guns and bullet proof vests?!!” What kind of cop are you!?” Now, this cop will be lambasted for killing what’s being portrayed as a “poor kid.” True enough, this child is a byproduct of a horrible childhood, traumatic experiences, poverty, and a myriad assortment of other factors. It is horribly sad. But I can guarantee this; if it was a “white” cop, Jesse and Rev. Al would be up in arms playing the race card. If it was the reverse, and it was some white kids breaking into a black cop’s home, no one would say a word about “racism”. It seems to be a one way street here in Chicago, the way “racism” works. It wasn’t “racism” when some black kids hospitalized a white kid walking though the park in Beverly? That made the news for…2 days. Lenard Clark was on the news for a year for the racism he suffered at the hands of white kids in Bridgeport. People marched. They protested. They carried signs. They raised money. The victimization of the black community is perpetuated by its “leaders”. What people need to understand is that it’s not always racial. The cop would have shot a white kid who broke into his house and had a knife and hands in his pocket too. And he’d have shot him until he knew for certain that this person posed no threat to him. Once, twice, ten times. A whole magazine. However many it takes. And I could not fault the officer, regardless of his/her race or that of the “victim” who broke into the house.

Everyone seems to forget a significant true victim in this situation: the officer. Until you’ve taken a life, justified or not, you’ll never understand how that feels. It is a horrible, horrible experience. You don’t think this cop sits around and wonders why kids like this are so f**ked up that things like this happen? You don’t think he wonders why it comes to this? Why Rev. Al and Jesse are on their soapbox doing NOTHING for the community this cop immerses himself in? You don’t think this cop chose this job to try to do some good, to try to serve and protect the community he sees falling apart around him every day? Believe me, no one is a cop for the 9 - 5 hours and the climate controlled office. It does not exist. Try getting in and out of a squad car 50 times a night into the 10 degree Feb. air in Chicago to deal with s**theads who break into houses, murder, steal, rape, and pollute the streets with horrible drugs.

The posters who comment on this and say “of course it’s conveniently justified” make me sick. You’d be the first ones crying when the police aren’t at your house in 30 seconds to handle your relationship for you and tell you that no, it’s not okay to hit your girlfriend because she cheated on you (then why are you still with her?) or throw boiling water on your boyfriend’s face because he ate your last twinkie. Supt. Cline has done an outstanding job of cleaning up CPD, starting with the SOS cops who were doing terrible things. I didn’t notice Hilliard doing this (was he racist against his own community?) or Rodriguez. A white guy is cleaning house in CPD. And I don’t think his whiteness is what makes him able to do so. And I don’t think he’s only helping whitey. I think he’s doing a good job, and should be commended.

Tracy Dell Angela is “reporting” from Fenger as damage control after last year’s blog caused such an uproar by revealing how dysfunctional that school is. And let’s not pretend Fenger is the only school like this. If you don’t think she was placed there as a PR campaign by the principal and CPS, get your head out of your a**. That blog put CPS in the national spotlight, from the LA times to USA Today. It was embarrassing, especially because it’s fairly likely that there was more than a little truth to it. There have been horrible fights at Fenger where kids have been taken to the hospital in ambulances – unreported, while Tracy stood in a doorway. Same goes for shootings. Maybe she’ll report on a “fire alarm” once in a blue moon to seem just edgy enough, but then follow it up with an “all is well” report on the rare student success. She sees what they want her to see, and she reports on what she’s allowed to. If she reported on the teen pregnancy rate, the violent crime rate, the gangs, the horribly low literacy, the teacher quit rate, maybe she’d be called a racist. I wonder why no one is reporting on the fact that although CPS just spent millions of dollars rolling out CPR instruction and installing AEDs, including at Taft, no one even took it off the shelf and used it on the poor kid who died after the basketball game. His death is tragic. It’s more tragic that the means to save his life weren’t even deployed.

Not to take anything away from the kids who are doing great things at Fenger, but let’s not act surprised that this kid was enrolled there. I say “enrolled” rather than attended because I bet if you pull his attendance record, it ain’t so good. Good kids are on time for every school and every class – not just 82% of them. They aren’t breaking into homes. They’re not drawing money, grills, and rims on their school folders, immersed in the materialistic gangster culture perpetuated by the music and MTV. The good kids at Fenger and every other CPS school aren’t doing that. They’re reading and writing.

I hate to bust your all knowing bubbles, seeing how hardcore street-wise you all are, but not every person that calls someone “G” is a GD. Half the time it’s the same as “bro”. White kids say “dude.” Whatever. Maybe the kid was a gang-banger, maybe not. It doesn’t change what happened. Let’s stop trying to conveniently label and categorize our problems with neat definitions. It wasn’t a “gang” thing.

While I’m addressing your street-wiseness, I’ll also point out that every car with municipal (“M”) plates in Chicago isn’t a detective, homicide, “narcs”, or whatever else CSI and the Shield lead you to believe. Half the time, it’s the alderman or some clerk running papers. Just so ya know. Stop slamming on the brakes everytime one drives by, please.

And the adoptive father took in a kid that no one else would. No one should negate or judge that. This guy is a hero. If every other noble person in Kenilworth reads this and thinks that’s a tragedy, then why aren’t they taking in kids like this? Why aren’t Brangelina, Madonna, Rosie, and Oprah adopting these kids? Society as a whole needs to own up for its shortcomings collectively. It’s everyone’s fault, starting with the crackhead mom. Whites, blacks, everyone. We’re all responsible. I guess it’s easier to comment on a blog than to go out and do it though.

PS the Sun Times is nothing more than a tabloid.

love this Fenger student blog:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=45290503&blogID=178093014

I know this boy and his family. Mr. childs is a wonderful man. He is the president of our block club, and he was doing a good thing with those boys. Someone would have something to say if he had six girls living with him. I know for a fact that this young man was not a bad kid. He got caught up in some nonsense and had to pay for it with his life. People need to think about what will happen when they do wrong.

3:32 raises an interesting perspective when he or she writes:

Let me say this as a teacher who has been in a high school where a student had a gun and was in the building. Backup was called for via 911 because the Officer assigned to the school detail had no radio communication on him. The back up sent was significant and I believe the big display of force helped convince the kid to put down the gun and give himself up.

The details as reported in the media seem clear the Officer found his door broken in. Upon entry heard the robbers on the second floor. At that point he announced his office and went up. I assume the Officer actually did announce his office and the two kids did not give themelves up.

One kid completely escaped and got back to Fenger so he had an escape route, the other kid stayed up stairs and got shot. So the Officer in fact could by his failure to call back up, and yes wait like we all have too for a 911 response, have allowed the escaped kid who could have had his guns and Kevlar to "walk the streets armed to the teeth." In fact worse than walk the streets the escaped kid went back to Fenger.

Now, I am the first one to say I want armed police in the high school where I work. But with all due respect to 3:32 this Officer acted like a cowboy and he is lucky it was not the Officer that was killed instead of the kid.

Doesn't seem like the cop is lucky to me. Seems like it's his job to handle situations like that and he's good at it. Why would you say he's lucky? You're not really hinting that a ghetto thug (a 15 year old freshman forced into the "non"-achievement academy at Fenger because he coulnd't even pass grade school) is some kind of warrior are you? He was a lowly, knife carrying THIEF. The Officer wasn't being a "cowboy" -he was saving the lives of every person that would have been shot with his guns if they were stolen. 3:32 forgot to mention what if they stole his uniforms? Imagine if they sold those and people were going around impersonating a police officer. It happens all the time.

Also, no one knows whether both kids would have taken guns and body armor, because thankfully they got caught before they could take what they BROKE IN for. Maybe the 2nd one got away because the cop saw that he was unarmed and let him go (like he's supposed to, and he did) after shooting the armed (with a knife) thug.

Again, you don't wait for back-up if there's a chance that multiple people may be in your house and exiting with guns - not if you want to keep your job as a cop. If they got away with his goods, he'd be reprimanded for not acting.

Hey 6:29, you're right, he wasn't a bad kid. He was a knife-weilding 15 year old FRESHMAN who broke into someone's house to STEAL from them. He's a GREAT kid. Gimme a break.

[1.04]

Cesspools

For someone like me the idea of a student getting shot
Is sadly all too common. We used to look at the newspapers
every day for our casualty list. Now everyone is concerned with the
results of this little thug’s passing. My question is: Where were these experts
when this kid was growing up ?
In a general sense we as teachers allow far to much unlawful behavior to
Happen .For this reason kids like the deceased have no fear or respect for
Authority. After All Mrs. Smith doesn’t do anything when she is called a Bitch.
Mr. Jones just runs away when students bounce pennies off his head. Gangs
Own, that’s right own, the schools. If you get away with it for years why
Worry about an old man in a stairway? It is a shame a little pressure might have
Made all the difference

Good kids are on time for every school and every class – not just 82% of them. They aren’t breaking into homes. They’re not drawing money, grills, and rims on their school folders, immersed in the materialistic gangster culture perpetuated by the music and MTV. The good kids at Fenger and every other CPS school aren’t doing that. They’re reading and writing. 3:32

He was a knife-weilding 15 year old FRESHMAN who broke into someone's house to STEAL from them. He's a GREAT kid. Gimme a break. 8:20

3:32, for all your streetwise-ness (thanks for making the point that everybody says "G," not just the gangbangers) you and 8:20 seem to have a remakable illusion: that that a kid is either good or bad. Let's get real: it's never that clear.

Last semester some of my "best" kids in terms of class performance were in Saturday school every other weekend for tardies and/or absences. And one of the best papers I got first semester included a highly detailed description of rims.

I once had a kid with great potential as a writer who got expelled.

My neighbors' son speaks to me respectfully, helps me around the house sometimes, and waters my lawn in the summer. His parents found bullets in the basement a month ago and he was recently busted for marijuana possession. Is he a bad kid? A good kid? Does it matter? He's my neighbor. I'm trying to get him to focus on school and get him help to get out of whatever he's in.

Yes, let's not romanticize poor little knife-wielding freshmen. But let's not demonize them either. Thanks to that thinking, we have the highest rates of incarceration of any industrialized nation. Most research I know of doesn't link that to the drop in crime over the last decade. (I hear more about demographic trends.) And all those people in jail equal a lot of wasted lives.

It would sure be nice if schools and districts openly recognized teachers need explicit training and more adult backup (yes, uniformed cops and 911 backup, but not just that) to put the pressure on those not bad-not-good kids to help them step back from trouble.

Good kids are on time for every school and every class – not just 82% of them. They aren’t breaking into homes. They’re not drawing money, grills, and rims on their school folders, immersed in the materialistic gangster culture perpetuated by the music and MTV. The good kids at Fenger and every other CPS school aren’t doing that. They’re reading and writing. 3:32

He was a knife-weilding 15 year old FRESHMAN who broke into someone's house to STEAL from them. He's a GREAT kid. Gimme a break. 8:20

3:32, for all your streetwise-ness (thanks for making the point that everybody says "G," not just the gangbangers) you and 8:20 seem to have a remakable illusion: that that a kid is either good or bad. Let's get real: it's never that clear.

Last semester some of my "best" kids in terms of class performance were in Saturday school every other weekend for tardies and/or absences. And one of the best papers I got first semester included a highly detailed description of rims.

I once had a kid with great potential as a writer who got expelled.

My neighbors' son speaks to me respectfully, helps me around the house sometimes, and waters my lawn in the summer. His parents found bullets in the basement a month ago and he was recently busted for marijuana possession. Is he a bad kid? A good kid? Does it matter? He's my neighbor. I'm trying to get him to focus on school and get him help to get out of whatever he's in.

Yes, let's not romanticize poor little knife-wielding freshmen. But let's not demonize them either. Thanks to that thinking, we have the highest rates of incarceration of any industrialized nation. Most research I know of doesn't link that to the drop in crime over the last decade. (I hear more about demographic trends.) And all those people in jail equal a lot of wasted lives.

It would sure be nice if schools and districts openly recognized teachers need explicit training and more adult backup (yes, uniformed cops and 911 backup, but not just that) to put the pressure on those not bad-not-good kids to help them step back from trouble.

The teen could have raised his arms and opened his hands when confronted by the owner/police officer. There are actual classes explaining to teens how to react to the police. His adoptive father was great--it is sad that there are not more middle class african americans willing to adopt and foster. They speak up when whites adopt black children or social workers discourage whites from adopting black children because of the heritage issue--so let them languish and suffer the more. ?! As for Madonna--look at how she was hounded and Oprah adopted Africa. What is the middle class black populations excuse?

Alexander,
It's sad to see that your blog has become a sounding board for what seems like every racist teacher in the system to let out their real feelings about black kids. "Thugs?" "Good " kids and "bad kids"? Labels are so easy when used on other peoples's children. "Knife weilding teen." "Gang banger." This kid is convicted and sentenced to death without a trial, anyone knowing the facts or if there is another side. if this was a white, middle-class kid from suburbia, these stereotypes wouldn't be being thrown around so lightly. Shame on those of you who claim to be teachers.