Gothamist: Bronx High Schoolers Call Their School a Jail

petra

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:17:46 -0500

i went to bronx science as well and i only remember one instance where a friend of mine got into a tiff with someone at dewitt. generally we stayed out of each other's ways and we rarely saw them otherwise. in fact, i ran girls track and most people from dewitt were no different from the other girls at science, except for the obvious racial backgrounds of some of the students. we all got along really well and i cant think of anyone who lived in fear of a student from dewitt.

edEx

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 19:23:50 -0500

Perhaps a class trip to a real jail like the tombs or rikers would show these children that the school, dewitt in this case, is a far cry from a jail. the metal detectors are there because, as stated by "former teacher", a small minority of kids screws things up. regardless, in this particular school or many others like them need metal detectors. guns, razors, knives, etc are not part of school. these kids think by carrying guns people will respect them more. people fear them, which isn't near the same class as respect. -- i know of a school upstate new york with primarily white kids that has metal detectors for the same reasons; guns and knives. this is not a race issue as some may think, not just inner city as colubine and other white majority schools across this nation have shown us. cell phones are also not an item children need in school. if they do want to carry it, it should remain off until an emergency, if one even arises, warrants it to be turned on. school, you're there to learn, make friens, memories and have some fun, not kill a kid cuz we looked at you "hard".

iceberg

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:47:11 -0500

It can only be compared to a jail since schooling is compulsory.

Jean

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:10:05 -0500

I went to Bronx Science, which is right next to Dewitt and we were totally afraid of the Dewitt kids, who generally were older and bigger than the skinny asian kids that made Science. It was almost a daily occurence that some Dewitt kid would mug a Science student. I remember that the local stores around the area were often getting harrassed by Dewitt students. Although I feel terrible about the school being locked down, it might be for the good of the general community.

former teacher

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 08:00:09 -0500

I used to teach at a different high school in the Bronx. It definitely felt like a trip to the airport each day, seeing those metal detectors, but without them, the daily fights and melee and security guard attacking (OK, that wasn't daily, but it did happen more than once) would have turned ugly and violent. DeWitt Clinton used to be a sort of good school because the principal somehow worked it out that he was able to select students based on reading scores, but that bubble has burst and the school now educates the general population of the Bronx like all the other schools. Metal detectors are necessary since there's no way to otherwise remove the violent and dangerous wannabe (or actual) gang member kids-- who are definitely the minority-- but who ruin it for everyone else.