Comments on: Hopes and Fears

By: katie

katie — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:52:04 +0000

I agree that there are a lot of problems with disruptive students. I do not want to bash anyone but why is it that it is this year all of a sudden? Is it just gangs or does Mrs. Bastings have a hand in it too? And lets not forget our new assistant female principal.
She was basically thrown out of Wappingers becasue she did not know how to disipline and now we are stuck with her!!!!! Who makes these decisions????? Does the board even know what is going on or is it a case that all they care about is the dollar sign and not our education?????
I’l give you a perfect example…..my little sister in going into 6th grade next year and ALL the specials are being cut!!!!!What’s that about??????Mr. Rand is really mad. I loved band and now the who program is going down the tubes!!!! AND what about what Dr. O said about that we would get more computer classes? I hear that is getting cut too. It’s a lot more then just the disruptive students.
As far as clubs go…did you ever think that maybe the teachers are just as angry as the students with what they are doing to our school??? We are loosing one of the greatest teachers becasue he is fed up with the nonsense going on. So who is responsible? And how do we get the board to see that everyone is upset????

By: Ricky

Ricky — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:08:44 +0000

@Michael: Thanks! I forwarded that idea to the Gren Team.

@Kim: Thanks always, Kim.

@Christopher: You’re getting your own reply post.

By: Christopher S. Penn

Christopher S. Penn — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:41:55 +0000

You can enforce order to some degree by imposing it from the top on a group, and that’s necessary to handle the bad actors. The real question I have is:

Why can’t the students self-police to a degree?

Admittedly, I’m older than you by a generation, 33. When I went to high school, AOL was still a proprietary dial-up network, and the Web didn’t exist yet (that would take another 2 years after I graduated).

However.

Our student body was relatively self-policing against bad actors. Those folks who were ill-behaved did face disciplinary sanction, but more important faced the ostracism of their peers. There was a large majority of students who held a generally accepted behavioral code of sorts, and while it definitely had some wiggle room, for the most part, the student body self-regulated.

Were there fights? Of course. A few, here and there, but nothing as rampant as the picture you’ve painted. Were there disruptive students? Sure, but more often than not, one of the other students would just tell the bad actor to, “sit down, asshole!” - on several occasions.

In the 15 years since I graduated from high school, what’s changed so much that self-policing inside the community has broken down?

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:45:55 +0000

I honestly felt something was a little “off” when I visited the school over my winter break, but I chalked it up to my being away for so long. I’m sorry to hear that I was right in sensing something amiss. I’m proud that our school has you and that you’re making a sincere effort to do something even though you yourself are leaving soon. It’s really admirable. I don’t know much what I could do for you, but if there’s anything, let me know. I’ll be back at the school for the assembly for seniors (May 20th? I think) but aside from that I will, as you know, be in Amherst. Still, I’m here for you.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:01:20 +0000

If your “Green Team” is looking for a charter, cinsider becoming part of GLOBE (http://www.globe.gov) BHS’s GLOBE chapter does exactly what you are talking about, and it was started earlier this year. Although, the only effects that I’ve seen of being an official GLOBE chapter are the posters.

By: Jexca

Jexca — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:13:26 +0000

This school is going downhill.
After my class leaves, the rest is what the teachers aren’t fond of.
The administration is severely lacking in discipline.
And no offense, but our principal and vice principals are not putting the greatest effort into their jobs. If I were to walk into this school as a stranger, I honestly would not consider them to be in the positions that they are in now. I’d probably say they were just monitors.

The Green Team is a good idea. Would it last with the students we have? That’s hard to determine.

To be honest with you, it’s hard to have any hope for the future for Dover. I really can’t see it being the place it used to be anymore.

I will be happy to leave my impact, but who’s to say what that will and won’t do?