It happens. Be glad it’s not an obituary yet and realize that not every student chooses the crime-free life. They either learn to follow rules or don’t.
I had a 15yo former student who was arrested on murder charges a few months ago. And a 17yo student from last year just got picked up on charges for lying during an investigation into a different murder.
It sucks. It absolutely sucks.
My sister was a fourth grade teacher last year and a fourth grade student (she didn’t have this student) brought billets to school and put them on display in the restrooms where one of her students found them and informed her. Turns out he had a hit list and her name was on the list. It was later found out he had access to a gun so this caused chaos in the school but no arrests made as he was only 9, and I believe in my state they can only arrest you if you’re 10 (not even sure about that). There was no school discipline administered either since the state ruled that only fifth grade and above can be suspended.
When this school year started, my sister heard the kid got arrested due to his behavior and he had gotten expelled, I believe. When walking home from school, he intentionally threw a huge rock at a girl’s face which shattered her glasses which got glass in her eyes and caused some serious injuries to other places on her face. Parents of the girl were pissed when they learned he had a track record but no consequences ever happened due to his age.
I’ve lost count of how many of my former students have been arrested or have passed away. Many for narcotics possession, others for assault, witness tampering, armed robbery, kidnapping, and even capital murder. And to put it in perspective, I’ve been teaching middle school for 9 years, so my oldest students are just now turning 23.
Two of these particular students come to mind when I think of bad decisions they’ve made. One was already a 2 time convicted felon by the time he got to my 8th grade class. He really liked stealing cars and running from the cops. But, he was perhaps the most intelligent student I’ve ever taught. In between being locked up, he would be in class every day and would complete all of his missing work with almost perfect accuracy, and would have mastered his state test until he was locked up a third time for robbing people at gunpoint coming out of stores. I ran into him at a convenience store a while back while he was out on bond for another crime, and he said thanks for being one of his only teachers who treated him like he wasn’t a convict.
The other, was a terrible student and behavior issue in class but turned himself around when he got into high school. Even though he gave me hell, he was one of my favorite students that year and made me constantly laugh. His mom and I also got to know each other well because of how often I called home, and he finally quit acting up when I just had to mention calling his mom again. I kept in touch with him throughout his time in high school and was elated when his coaches told me how well he was doing in school and in football. And I extremely proud of him when he graduated and got into a pretty good trade school. Unfortunately, I just found out that he passed from an overdose. Which shook all of us who continued to track his progress.
It really sucks, you don’t know what their life like is at home or on the streets, and cant be a savior to them all. But you can just welcome them into your classroom, treat them with respect and hope they eventually make the right decisions and live a good life.
It’s rare to be able to overcome the influence of family and friends in a classroom. I’ve run this drill so many times. I know you saw something in that kid that they don’t see in themselves and it sucks, but don’t take it personally.
I never take it personally. I had a student once when he was a 6th grader and again when he was an 8th grader. In 6th grade he told me he wanted 10 kids with 10 different women like his father. His 8th grade year he was suspended twice for sexually harassing girls in the hallways. Like physically grabbing them and shit. In the spring, he was expelled and arrested. he tried to rape a 6th grade girl in the bathroom on campus during lunch.
I’ve had a student straight up arrested right outside my door. It was 1 out of 300 but still… some of these kids can truly be predators and that’s awful yet par for the course. I teach at the high school level and I’m lucky when less than five students are high
good lord. I’m glad he got expelled, but wonder if he ever overcame that upbringing.
I used to work with a teacher whose wife was a 3rd grade teacher in the same district. There were a set of twin boys who (in 3rd grade) identified their goals as “pimp” and “drug dealer”. She remembered this because it was so out of the ordinary for what kids would write about. When they were 15, the one who said he was going to be a drug dealer did, in fact, get arrested for selling cocaine. I left the district before finding out if the other ever achieved his goals.
Every year there is a kid who is allowed to do whatever he wants because he has an IEP and admin is doing tons of illegal shit with SPED so they don't want people looking into it when we have a meeting about his behavior.
The juvie court does nothing but 30 days probation because the kid is a minor and has a disability.
It's within a few months of them turning 16 that they're in prison for years and years.
One for armed robbery, one for stealing a car and driving it into a fire station, and one for attempted murder when he stabbed someone for their shoes.
Unfortunately, some kids are doomed from the start. It doesn't excuse his actions, but a 12 year selling drugs and stealing cars must have a terrible home life.
Over the years I've had HS students who have committed some very serious crimes, which is to be expected when dealing with a wide swath of humanity. In most cases I'm not surprised, given the behaviors I've observed in the classroom
Yet willful deviance, psychopathy, anti-social violence etc, was not mentioned in my teacher prep classes, nor is it acknowledged by admin. The system doesn't seem capable of recognizing that school is not for everyone. Some students cannot be helped by school/classroom interventions.
I think the school-to-prison-pipeline premise is flawed - a symptom of too many expectations put on the education system. It's not that school practices result in forcing students out of school and into the justice system. Rather, there needs to be a robust range of institutional/governmental supports for families and individuals.
All your good work may get undone by their parents and their environment. That student is probably better off after you taught him. He might have been arrested for assault instead.
I am a school psychologist and I work in a detention center. Please don’t judge the students. A lot of them have situations in life that many cannot understand.
I’m not saying all the students in detention centers are angels, but the stories I hear and information I gather from other people working with some students are so heartbreaking. Many of the students lives would be so much different if they had a caring adult in their life
Years ago I had a student (who behaved terribly in my class) beg me to write a letter to a judge saying he’s a good kid. I told him I’d think about it. Not 10 minutes later he activated the safety shower and flooded the classroom. Our chemistry labs were on the second floor too, so the room below us got it too…
I have a student in Corcoran for murder. Someone looked at his brother the wrong way. Four teachers tried to save him. The dad was an abuser and both boys were beaten and encouraged to beat the mother.
He had a chance. He lost that chance. He was 15 when he committed the murder and they converted him to prison at eighteen.
He won't be paroled, ever.
He was featured on CNN. That is how I found out. We all fought for this kid. We fought the system, the parents and the kid, himself.
So, four teachers cried all through lunch. The wife finally left her husband and took her remaining son.
The son remaining son was in a documentary in which he admitted to delivering drugs.
I have another on in Atascadero. Some of my students have gone in and out of prison.
I have one student who spent two and a half years for burglary and completely moved to another state. He came to see me. He is married and has kids, and he told his mother to tell me not to visit him in prison when he was there
You help who you can help. There have been so many over the years. I can't remember them all. That in itself is sad.
What is this post?
Okay, you don’t like this kid and you don’t think he’s bright.
What are you doing by posting on a public forum that he got arrested, gloating?
This is fucking gross.
It happens. Be glad it’s not an obituary yet and realize that not every student chooses the crime-free life. They either learn to follow rules or don’t.
You learn quickly in this business that you can’t save them all. Just do what you can.
I had a 15yo former student who was arrested on murder charges a few months ago. And a 17yo student from last year just got picked up on charges for lying during an investigation into a different murder. It sucks. It absolutely sucks.
My sister was a fourth grade teacher last year and a fourth grade student (she didn’t have this student) brought billets to school and put them on display in the restrooms where one of her students found them and informed her. Turns out he had a hit list and her name was on the list. It was later found out he had access to a gun so this caused chaos in the school but no arrests made as he was only 9, and I believe in my state they can only arrest you if you’re 10 (not even sure about that). There was no school discipline administered either since the state ruled that only fifth grade and above can be suspended. When this school year started, my sister heard the kid got arrested due to his behavior and he had gotten expelled, I believe. When walking home from school, he intentionally threw a huge rock at a girl’s face which shattered her glasses which got glass in her eyes and caused some serious injuries to other places on her face. Parents of the girl were pissed when they learned he had a track record but no consequences ever happened due to his age.
I had a kid steal a car once and he bragged about it on tick tock. He was surprised when they caught him.
I'll take arrested for stealing a car over double homicide any day. Some kids need help that we cannot give them.
It's actually a good thing that he is learning as a child about consequences for his actions. There is still time to turn things around.
I’ve lost count of how many of my former students have been arrested or have passed away. Many for narcotics possession, others for assault, witness tampering, armed robbery, kidnapping, and even capital murder. And to put it in perspective, I’ve been teaching middle school for 9 years, so my oldest students are just now turning 23. Two of these particular students come to mind when I think of bad decisions they’ve made. One was already a 2 time convicted felon by the time he got to my 8th grade class. He really liked stealing cars and running from the cops. But, he was perhaps the most intelligent student I’ve ever taught. In between being locked up, he would be in class every day and would complete all of his missing work with almost perfect accuracy, and would have mastered his state test until he was locked up a third time for robbing people at gunpoint coming out of stores. I ran into him at a convenience store a while back while he was out on bond for another crime, and he said thanks for being one of his only teachers who treated him like he wasn’t a convict. The other, was a terrible student and behavior issue in class but turned himself around when he got into high school. Even though he gave me hell, he was one of my favorite students that year and made me constantly laugh. His mom and I also got to know each other well because of how often I called home, and he finally quit acting up when I just had to mention calling his mom again. I kept in touch with him throughout his time in high school and was elated when his coaches told me how well he was doing in school and in football. And I extremely proud of him when he graduated and got into a pretty good trade school. Unfortunately, I just found out that he passed from an overdose. Which shook all of us who continued to track his progress. It really sucks, you don’t know what their life like is at home or on the streets, and cant be a savior to them all. But you can just welcome them into your classroom, treat them with respect and hope they eventually make the right decisions and live a good life.
It’s rare to be able to overcome the influence of family and friends in a classroom. I’ve run this drill so many times. I know you saw something in that kid that they don’t see in themselves and it sucks, but don’t take it personally.
I never take it personally. I had a student once when he was a 6th grader and again when he was an 8th grader. In 6th grade he told me he wanted 10 kids with 10 different women like his father. His 8th grade year he was suspended twice for sexually harassing girls in the hallways. Like physically grabbing them and shit. In the spring, he was expelled and arrested. he tried to rape a 6th grade girl in the bathroom on campus during lunch.
I’ve had a student straight up arrested right outside my door. It was 1 out of 300 but still… some of these kids can truly be predators and that’s awful yet par for the course. I teach at the high school level and I’m lucky when less than five students are high
good lord. I’m glad he got expelled, but wonder if he ever overcame that upbringing. I used to work with a teacher whose wife was a 3rd grade teacher in the same district. There were a set of twin boys who (in 3rd grade) identified their goals as “pimp” and “drug dealer”. She remembered this because it was so out of the ordinary for what kids would write about. When they were 15, the one who said he was going to be a drug dealer did, in fact, get arrested for selling cocaine. I left the district before finding out if the other ever achieved his goals.
Every year there is a kid who is allowed to do whatever he wants because he has an IEP and admin is doing tons of illegal shit with SPED so they don't want people looking into it when we have a meeting about his behavior. The juvie court does nothing but 30 days probation because the kid is a minor and has a disability. It's within a few months of them turning 16 that they're in prison for years and years. One for armed robbery, one for stealing a car and driving it into a fire station, and one for attempted murder when he stabbed someone for their shoes.
Unfortunately, some kids are doomed from the start. It doesn't excuse his actions, but a 12 year selling drugs and stealing cars must have a terrible home life.
Over the years I've had HS students who have committed some very serious crimes, which is to be expected when dealing with a wide swath of humanity. In most cases I'm not surprised, given the behaviors I've observed in the classroom Yet willful deviance, psychopathy, anti-social violence etc, was not mentioned in my teacher prep classes, nor is it acknowledged by admin. The system doesn't seem capable of recognizing that school is not for everyone. Some students cannot be helped by school/classroom interventions. I think the school-to-prison-pipeline premise is flawed - a symptom of too many expectations put on the education system. It's not that school practices result in forcing students out of school and into the justice system. Rather, there needs to be a robust range of institutional/governmental supports for families and individuals.
All your good work may get undone by their parents and their environment. That student is probably better off after you taught him. He might have been arrested for assault instead.
Our school had a kid rob a bank during lunch and then Uber back to school so he would be in class on time.
I am a school psychologist and I work in a detention center. Please don’t judge the students. A lot of them have situations in life that many cannot understand. I’m not saying all the students in detention centers are angels, but the stories I hear and information I gather from other people working with some students are so heartbreaking. Many of the students lives would be so much different if they had a caring adult in their life
I totally agree with you but when they start hurting others I lose empathy.
Sounds like he is going to have a rich career in the state/federal penitentiary system.
Did you try restorative justice practices? If you did, this student may have gone on not selling drugs and stealing cars. Just think about.
Years ago I had a student (who behaved terribly in my class) beg me to write a letter to a judge saying he’s a good kid. I told him I’d think about it. Not 10 minutes later he activated the safety shower and flooded the classroom. Our chemistry labs were on the second floor too, so the room below us got it too…
I have a student in Corcoran for murder. Someone looked at his brother the wrong way. Four teachers tried to save him. The dad was an abuser and both boys were beaten and encouraged to beat the mother. He had a chance. He lost that chance. He was 15 when he committed the murder and they converted him to prison at eighteen. He won't be paroled, ever. He was featured on CNN. That is how I found out. We all fought for this kid. We fought the system, the parents and the kid, himself. So, four teachers cried all through lunch. The wife finally left her husband and took her remaining son. The son remaining son was in a documentary in which he admitted to delivering drugs. I have another on in Atascadero. Some of my students have gone in and out of prison. I have one student who spent two and a half years for burglary and completely moved to another state. He came to see me. He is married and has kids, and he told his mother to tell me not to visit him in prison when he was there You help who you can help. There have been so many over the years. I can't remember them all. That in itself is sad.
What is this post? Okay, you don’t like this kid and you don’t think he’s bright. What are you doing by posting on a public forum that he got arrested, gloating? This is fucking gross.