posted
So a nice police officer dressed as Santa decided to come to my wife's school and deliver gifts to the young students. He decided the older 5th graders should get a chance to see him to, and surprised them at lunch. 15 of them rushed him, pushed him down, and started kicking him. Thats right ,15 5th graders beat up Santa. The principal is afraid to suspend them because she doesn't want people to think that there is no control of the students in the cafeteria.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
How do you know the motivations of the principal?
Apart from that, if I saw a running-dog lackey of the capitalist powers trying to create false consciousness in children of the working class, I would beat him up too. I'm glad to see that Maryland's children have been taught the proper response to this sort of class-warfare agitprop!
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posted
Well, I guess that partially answers the question, "How many 5th graders could you take in a fight?"
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
Were the 5th graders by any chance under the impression that a stranger in a Santa suit arriving unannounced might be up to no good?
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by scifibum: I feel like we're missing something here.
Well the motivation of the students involved is still being worked out. There were a couple ring leaders that led the group.
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posted
How awful. Working in a school though I can see how it could happen. I hope the Santa cop is okay.
Posts: 1132 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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quote:Originally posted by Sterling: Vin Diesel IS... Santa Cop. You better watch out. Coming this Christmas.
Stop giving Hollywood ideas. Let them keep making their crappy remakes and mindless sequels; they don't need your help. Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:The principal is afraid to suspend them because she doesn't want people to think that there is no control of the students in the cafeteria.
Hiding the problem won't resolve it. I think I would lose faith in any administrator whose answer to a problem is to scrape it under the rug and pretend like it didn't happen.
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Why would the principle feel that public image is so much more important than discipline that she proves she doesn't deserve the aforementioned image?
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
I too feel like there's a bit of the story missing.
Is this a particularly angry school? Was it play that got out of control or an attack from the beginning? How many of them were boys? What does "surprise" mean in this situation?
If the children were "surprised", I wonder how much time passed between the appearance of Santa and the attack. Was it fast (a few kids go first within a minute or so of Santa entering) or was he there for a few minutes while the children planned a more coordinated attack?
It's possible it was some kind of unmasking attempt. Grade 5 is an age where children might be determined to, for example, pull off a fake beard and expose the fraud. They might feel angry at being deceived and feel like retaliation.
At the same time, a man in a beard and a suit is dehumanized. It's probably easier to plan an attack on a man in a funny suit and a beard than an ordinary looking man.
As a principal I would be wary of suspending all 15 of them before I had any indication of what kind of motivations they had and talked it through with each of them.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
Well my wife just emailed me. It turns out after questioning them, 27 kids were involved with 2 ring leaders. The ring leaders are being suspended, the other 25 get to be put in an "alternative" classroom for the rest of the week while the rest of 5th grade enjoys holiday festivities.
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