Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Radford plays the blame game

Blaming the Buffalo Public Schools for the death of 15 year old Jawaan Daniels is ridiculous. Sam Radford III, an active(grandstanding) parent, says the district's suspension policy is to blame.

"That was a preventable death," said Samuel L. Radford III, an active parent in the city, who is outraged by the [system's] response. "This [system] is so desensitized to young people dying that they have lost a sense of urgency. We want a sense of urgency about our children's lives."

Give us a break. The only person to blame is the yet to be named gunman who pulled the trigger. Daniels was suspended for wandering the halls of Lafayette High School on Friday. He was sent home at 12:30PM.

Jawaan Daniels was wandering the halls at Lafayette High School on Friday when the announcement went out: Any student caught in the halls would be suspended and sent home.

A number of parents said suspensions are imposed for minor infractions such as students being in the hallway during class time, talking during a fire drill or wearing inappropriate clothes to school.
"The punishment must fit the crime," said Kelly A. Ticco, president of the PTO at Lafayette. "We cannot continue to use even short-term suspensions, out of school suspensions, as a punishment for minor problems."


Lafayette High School did nothing wrong in this case. They sent home a bunch of students who were treating class as a joke. They got their free breakfast, hung out with their friends, and then got their free lunch. Their day was, in effect, over. Radford should go into the schools and see how seriously these "students" take school. In fact, if Daniels left school at the regular dismissal time, how do we know this gunman wouldn't have fired into a crowd of students at the bus stop? He obviously had a complete disregard for life.

Parents and students, though, say Jawaan was "a good boy" who was wandering the halls because he did not want to go to a class where he had encountered problems with a teacher. The precise nature of the problems was not clear.
When he found out he was going to be suspended because of the hall sweep, he got upset and talked back. Insubordination was added to the disciplinary counts against him.


More excuses. To see any young life lost is a tragedy, but let's look at the facts here. He "encountered" problems with a teacher? In other words, he disrespected an adult. Then, he argued with more adults. I feel bad for his family because of his death. I feel worse for the good kids in the Buffalo Schools that have to attend class with the likes of his shooter on a daily basis. Sam Radford: Stop playing the blame game. Stop trying to use this tragic event to promote yourself. Start addressing the real reasons behind this murder; the breakdown of the family, a complete disregard for the value of an education, and easy access to handguns.

Student's death inflames suspension policy debate : Home: The Buffalo News

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