Suspended Detroit Student Create Their Own School

Freedom School

Students suspended for walking out of class at Detroit's Western International High School earlier this week to protest school closures and demand a better education, are holding a "freedom school" Friday in Clark Park, across the street from their official school building.

Students left class Wednesday morning to protest the closing of Southwestern High School, which many fear would lead to overcrowding at Western, and to demand more resources and greater teacher engagement for the district's schools.

One Western student told The Huffington Post she could be facing more than a suspension. Raychel Gafford, 17, said she has been singled out by school authorities for her vocal role in the walkout and that the district's police have indicated she may face unspecified charges.

Gafford said students are organizing the freedom school for the same reasons they walked out. "We're sticking together and we're not backing down from this," she said. "We were thrown out of school for fighting for an equal education and we're doing this to show we're still going to be learning even if we got kicked out of school."

Good for them! Sounds like some people aren't drinking the kool-aid anymore. Now if only more people did this, we'd be in business.

I like this:

Raychel Gafford, 17, said she has been singled out by school authorities for her vocal role in the walkout and that the district's police have indicated she may face unspecified charges.

How are we to understand what's happened to our schools? Their only crime is that they want a better-quality education? (No surprise that the charges were unspecified; they're wracking their tiny brains for something--anything--that can be twisted into commission of a crime.)

And I know it's been a long time since I was in high school (mid-'60s), but school districts have their own police forces now? WTF??

reply to post by happyhomemaker29


Great find! S&f. I am pleased to see the young population adapting to problems with so much flexibility.

reply to post by Ex_CT2

(No surprise that the charges were unspecified; they're wracking their tiny brains for something--anything--that can be twisted into commission of a crime.)

Actually they're probably going to charge her with skipping class. That's a crime as far as I know. However, they usually just give the kids a warning. But they will charge her for not being a spineless sheep and for challenging the status quo.

I have a Master's in Education and I can tell you that "Public School" is nothing more than Juvenile detention for poor kids. They brainwash our children so that they will fit "properly" into the rich man's agenda. My eyes were opened to this recently after my child was mentally abused by the Principal. I pulled him out pronto. If a kid can read and understand maths then that is all they really need as far as formal instruction. They will learn what they want and need otherwise.

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
reply to post by Ex_CT2

 

(No surprise that the charges were unspecified; they're wracking their tiny brains for something--anything--that can be twisted into commission of a crime.)

Actually they're probably going to charge her with skipping class. That's a crime as far as I know. However, they usually just give the kids a warning. But they will charge her for not being a spineless sheep and for challenging the status quo.

edit on 28-4-2012 by ChaoticOrder because: (no reason given)

I hope you are joking. Skipping class is now a crime--a charge-able crime? Holy s---!

Skipping class was one of my favorite pasttimes as a kid. I can remember that the assistant principal would counsel me--he always looked like he had permanent acid reflux--and give me a couple of days' detention. But a crime? Geez....

Originally posted by Ex_CT2
I like this:

Raychel Gafford, 17, said she has been singled out by school authorities for her vocal role in the walkout and that the district's police have indicated she may face unspecified charges.

How are we to understand what's happened to our schools? Their only crime is that they want a better-quality education? (No surprise that the charges were unspecified; they're wracking their tiny brains for something--anything--that can be twisted into commission of a crime.)

And I know it's been a long time since I was in high school (mid-'60s), but school districts have their own police forces now? WTF??

Tell me about it. Remember when the worst thing you had to worry about at school was a kid wanting to fight? Now they have gun, knives, etc... Heck, I remember the worst thing was getting caught smoking in the bathroom. Heck, I even remember recess and playing foursquare (now it's just an app), and my favorite, tetherball. What have we done to our kids?

Originally posted by swan001
reply to post by happyhomemaker29

 

Great find! S&f. I am pleased to see the young population adapting to problems with so much flexibility.

Me too, now if only they were all like that. Those are the kind of people I don't mind voting for. Not ones that sit on their hands and hope they don't get the hot potato, but the ones trying to make a difference. If these are the kids today, then maybe there is hope. Maybe.

Originally posted by krazykanuk
I have a Master's in Education and I can tell you that "Public School" is nothing more than Juvenile detention for poor kids. They brainwash our children so that they will fit "properly" into the rich man's agenda. My eyes were opened to this recently after my child was mentally abused by the Principal. I pulled him out pronto. If a kid can read and understand maths then that is all they really need as far as formal instruction. They will learn what they want and need otherwise.

My daughter was in a special needs self-contained classroom. Her entire class was non-verbal except for her. We would personally witness the teacher yelling at the non-verbal children for not taking their notebook out of their book bag as soon as they walked in. When one child kept getting up and fidgeted with his hands and made noises while rocking, she's grab him, forcibly make him sit down and tell him to be quiet. I kept trying to get my daughter moved to a different classroom. She hated it. She wanted her music teacher to be her teacher because doesn't yell at you, she'd say. We reported her to the principal numerous times, and he did what he could to reprimand her, then a couple days to a week later, she'd be right back at it. I never understood why she went into the field. It's not as if their paid well. Boggles the mind.

Originally posted by Ex_CT2

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
reply to post by Ex_CT2

 

(No surprise that the charges were unspecified; they're wracking their tiny brains for something--anything--that can be twisted into commission of a crime.)

Actually they're probably going to charge her with skipping class. That's a crime as far as I know. However, they usually just give the kids a warning. But they will charge her for not being a spineless sheep and for challenging the status quo.

edit on 28-4-2012 by ChaoticOrder because: (no reason given)

I hope you are joking. Skipping class is now a crime--a charge-able crime? Holy s---!

Skipping class was one of my favorite pasttimes as a kid. I can remember that the assistant principal would counsel me--he always looked like he had permanent acid reflux--and give me a couple of days' detention. But a crime? Geez....

Heck my stepmother was bored during the day and would encourage me to skip! I remember the facade of going to school for my father and as soon as I got to the school, I'd turn around and run home avoiding cops along the way. The funniest thing was, when I skipped at a friend's house one time and she found out, she was P*SSED!! I was forced to stand in the corner until my father came home to punish me. And this was in elementary school. The best part, I was a straight A student and even with doing no homework, I had the highest final exam grades of anyone in the class. (Back then they'd pass you if you passed your final tests at the end of the year.) I shocked the heck out of the teacher. He wanted to hold me back because I did no work all year. When I did go to class, I'd sit at my desk reading library books. Didn't take notes, didn't do homework. (I think it helped that at night my dad's college professors would let me sit in on their classes and for fun would let me take those tests. I love it better than my school.)

When my daughter refused to attend school, I called the school thinking they had a truant officer would could make her go. They said they couldn't force her to attend, but if she didn't go to school, I would go to jail. But if she was caught outside, THEN they could force her to go. Ugh!

reply to post by happyhomemaker29

Heck, I remember the worst thing was getting caught smoking in the bathroom.

We had designated smoking sections at school, outside of course, but they were under canopies so you could smoke even during bad weather. Ahhh how I miss school now.

Originally posted by mikelkhall
reply to post by happyhomemaker29

 

Heck, I remember the worst thing was getting caught smoking in the bathroom.

We had designated smoking sections at school, outside of course, but they were under canopies so you could smoke even during bad weather. Ahhh how I miss school now.

Heck at lunch I'd either hang with the smokers, or I'd hang out in the teacher's lounge with them. I would dollars to donuts THAT definitely doesn't go on anymore either. You could also leave the high school for lunch and come back after without having to sign yourself out, sign yourself back in, etc...

Great topic, thank-you.

I was thrilled to read about this and I hope this idea takes off, but something tells me the Federal Government will stop this. Why?

School To Prison Pipeline

What Is the School-to-Prison Pipeline?
The school-to-prison pipeline begins in deep social and economic inequalities, and has taken root in the historic shortcomings of schooling in this country. The civil and human rights movements of the 1960s and ’70s spurred an effort to “rethink schools” to make them responsive to the needs of all students, their families, and communities. This rethinking included collaborative learning environments, multicultural curriculum, student-centered, experiential pedagogy—we were aiming for education as liberation. The back-to-basics backlash against that struggle has been more rigid enforcement of ever more alienating curriculum.

Why send kids to jails and prisons?

The Prison Industrial Complex by Leftist
Private Prisons: What's The Harm? by me.

Originally posted by Kali74
Great topic, thank-you.

I was thrilled to read about this and I hope this idea takes off, but something tells me the Federal Government will stop this. Why?

School To Prison Pipeline

What Is the School-to-Prison Pipeline?
The school-to-prison pipeline begins in deep social and economic inequalities, and has taken root in the historic shortcomings of schooling in this country. The civil and human rights movements of the 1960s and ’70s spurred an effort to “rethink schools” to make them responsive to the needs of all students, their families, and communities. This rethinking included collaborative learning environments, multicultural curriculum, student-centered, experiential pedagogy—we were aiming for education as liberation. The back-to-basics backlash against that struggle has been more rigid enforcement of ever more alienating curriculum.

Why send kids to jails and prisons?

The Prison Industrial Complex by Leftist
Private Prisons: What's The Harm? by me.

It certainly seems that's all they're doing nowadays. Heck my daughter's school here was a school for discipline children, etc... Her problem? She was special needs and they didn't know how to handle her so she was placed there. The only high functioning kid in a non-verbal classroom. She rode the bus with middle schoolers from a different school who bullied her frequently. We'd end up driving her most days because she would get so distressed at having to ride the bus, she would refuse to go school, period. I firmly believe ALL cities should have one special needs school, even if it's a tiny one. Schools today are just not equipped to deal with children like them.

Originally posted by happyhomemaker29

Originally posted by Kali74
Great topic, thank-you.

I was thrilled to read about this and I hope this idea takes off, but something tells me the Federal Government will stop this. Why?

School To Prison Pipeline

What Is the School-to-Prison Pipeline?
The school-to-prison pipeline begins in deep social and economic inequalities, and has taken root in the historic shortcomings of schooling in this country. The civil and human rights movements of the 1960s and ’70s spurred an effort to “rethink schools” to make them responsive to the needs of all students, their families, and communities. This rethinking included collaborative learning environments, multicultural curriculum, student-centered, experiential pedagogy—we were aiming for education as liberation. The back-to-basics backlash against that struggle has been more rigid enforcement of ever more alienating curriculum.

Why send kids to jails and prisons?

The Prison Industrial Complex by Leftist
Private Prisons: What's The Harm? by me.

It certainly seems that's all they're doing nowadays. Heck my daughter's school here was a school for discipline children, etc... Her problem? She was special needs and they didn't know how to handle her so she was placed there. The only high functioning kid in a non-verbal classroom. She rode the bus with middle schoolers from a different school who bullied her frequently. We'd end up driving her most days because she would get so distressed at having to ride the bus, she would refuse to go school, period. I firmly believe ALL cities should have one special needs school, even if it's a tiny one. Schools today are just not equipped to deal with children like them.

The entire educational system is so beyond broken that it needs to be scrapped and rethought of. Smaller schools= better schools. These large, industrial sized schools is chocking the life out of future/current generations of American Students.

reply to post by korathin


Better yet,TEACH real curriculum.

By contrast, Finnish schools are now “exemplars of many of the success indicators we … want to see in American schools. Achievement is consistently high. Students are self-motivated and engaged in their learning. Schools have wide latitude to decide on their own programs, and there are no intrusive sanctions.” (Jill Wynns, CA)

The focus on strict quantitative accountability has never worked for any organization, and it has not worked with No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Teachers are trying to meet the mandates of those programs and consequently “our children suffer and are not getting educated to their individual potential.” (Carolyne Brooks, IL)

Teachers’ focus on tests is undermining their potential and initiative, making it more difficult to share a love of learning with their students. Our students will never be first in the world on standardized tests. We never have come close. Nor is that something toward which we should aspire! We simply are not a compliant people willing to absorb facts without challenge. But we have had the most innovative workforce in the world (and now vie with Finland for that top position). Though intended to encourage equity, our current policy is, in fact, driving us toward mediocrity. Our students may be becoming better regurgitators, but what we need is excellent thinkers.

‘Mr. President, public education in the U.S. is on the wrong track’

Originally posted by korathin

Originally posted by happyhomemaker29



It certainly seems that's all they're doing nowadays. Heck my daughter's school here was a school for discipline children, etc... Her problem? She was special needs and they didn't know how to handle her so she was placed there. The only high functioning kid in a non-verbal classroom. She rode the bus with middle schoolers from a different school who bullied her frequently. We'd end up driving her most days because she would get so distressed at having to ride the bus, she would refuse to go school, period. I firmly believe ALL cities should have one special needs school, even if it's a tiny one. Schools today are just not equipped to deal with children like them.

The entire educational system is so beyond broken that it needs to be scrapped and rethought of. Smaller schools= better schools. These large, industrial sized schools is chocking the life out of future/current generations of American Students.

I remember going to school most classes were in the 15-25 kids per class range, some even smaller. We had one class that only had 7 students. It was an early childhood development class. It taught how to take care of children (it was also a slash daycare for the teens who had babies. So the kids could be near them in school). We learned about germs in a daycare, appropriate snacks and what were choking hazards, infant CPR, what stages of development they should be in, etc... One of my favorite classes ever. I loved it.