Take a step back and let the authorities complete their investigation in the Skyline High student assault case
PANIC IS CONTAGIOUS—SLOW DOWN.Â
A Skyline High School student was terrorized by some bullies at the bus stop. OK, let’s take a step back and deal with it. More importantly, let the people charged with taking care of it complete their investigations. Let the schools and the police complete their investigation before we start guessing what happened and what may have precipitated the incident.
I haven't spoken to any police officials about this incident. I'm responding only to the articles written and the comments that were quickly attached to the article.Â
Clearly this is an unfortunate incident - allegations are that during an assault, there were some ethnic epithets shouted, a religious headscarf was removed, and a student is now probably scared to go to school on the bus.
Commenters: You were quick to complain about the bus driver, the schools and the police. OK, let’s take a time out. The most important entity here is the victim. Let’s all take care of her and make sure she feels safe going to school. We can point fingers later, but let’s take care of her first.
Let’s make sure she talks to the school social worker. If she's scared, it’s our collective job to figure out how to calm her about attending school. If she has to be driven to school for a while, let’s do it. If it takes parents or adults monitoring that bus stop to make her feel safe, let’s do it. If it takes the Skyline police officer riding the bus until we figure this out, let’s do it. Let’s take care of the victim.Â
Next, let the system work through this problem before we start slinging blame. Let the school system complete its investigation and handle this as they see fit. I assure you they have the students’ best interest in mind as they investigate and correct the problem. Educators by their very nature care deeply about their students. School administrators necessarily care about the students and keeping them safe because of the risk of possible civil litigation. No parent, administrator or educator wants to hear about any child being terrorized. Let them study the situation and make corrections if necessary.
Criticism of the bus driver's actions is counterproductive. Bus drivers have a tremendous responsibility. Their focus should be on getting students safely from point A to point B. They are not trained to be crisis counselors or police officers. They are trained to transport our kids safely to and from school and maintain a safe environment on the bus. From my read on this incident, regardless of the specifics, the bus driver was put in a no-win situation.
Do we really want our bus driver getting off a bus with students still aboard? Do we really want a bus driver handling a situation he or she isn't trained for? Bus drivers aren't trained in conflict resolution, defensive tactics and arrest techniques. If that bus driver had grabbed a student or two, knocked their heads together and told them to knock it off to prevent this incident, the community would have been outraged a bus driver viciously assaulted “innocent” students.
There were upsetting ethnic overtones to this attack - or were there? Remember, these are children we're dealing with. When conflict develops, the first weapon most people use is their mouth. Humans usually want to strike quickly and verbally “hurt” someone before the fight gets physical. Emotional people say stupid and hurtful things when they're in conflict.Â
Most family fights I responded to started when someone said things that were guaranteed to enrage or hurt the other party. Most of those incidents were between “adults.” We're talking about children in this incident. Kids can be especially cruel because oftentimes what they think they say. Many lack the appropriate social filters most adults should possess. Â
One agitator in a group can say something stupid, in this case ethnic, and others will pile on. By their very nature, racial, ethnic, sexist, and religious slurs hurt and cause great pain. These epithets and associated actions can also be illegal and called ethnic intimidation. The question here that must be asked is: Did race, religion or ethnicity cause this assault or was the assault the result of some childish grievance or perceived injustice, and the words and actions were just used in anger born of ignorance?
Throwing epithets is a product of stupidity and a lack of guidance and self-control. Let’s all face some ugly truths here and admit that we all have biases, prejudices and default judgments we make about the world around us. Those judgments have been absorbed in our minds by our upbringing, experiences, peers and the world around us as we individually perceive it. So it's ludicrous to believe that the schools alone can teach diversity and acceptance. We all have to teach it by being living examples. This, of course, is easier said than done. If it was easy, there would be no wars.
In the meantime, remember there's always a lot more to the story than the media portrays. Slow news days can blow relatively small incidents into media events based on inflammatory titles or teasers. Most incidents that indict our entire community and require blame to be cast immediately with a large net are much dumber than you can imagine.Â
I’ve learned over the years to disregard complex motives and concentrate first on the simplest (dumbest if you will) motive. Be careful of people trying to force a social agenda or just inflame readers. The issue here appears to be a bunch of bullies picking on someone. That has to be dealt with. In this particular case, all the principles are known and it will be dealt with.
Let the police and school officials handle their investigations. In the meantime, as Cheri O’Teri on Saturday Night Live used to say in a skit, “SIMMER DOWN NOW!”
Later in the week I’ll discuss the crime figures reported this week and my theory on “The Perfect Storm In Law Enforcement.” In the meantime, protect yourself and your belongings. As reported this week the campus area thieves are back in business and day time burglars are hitting the west side of Ann Arbor. Keep it locked, don’t leave it unattended, be aware and look out for your neighbors.
Comments
Paul
Wed, Sep 23, 2009 : 8:55 a.m.
In a multi-cultural city like Ann Arbor, you will have blacks and arabs mixing it up, the same as whites and blacks, or muslims and jews, or protestants and catholics. Not every disagreement that occurs between people with ethnic or religious differences is a "hate crime". It would be absurd to think otherwise. What if a lesbian assaults a heterosexual male, is that a hate crime?! The bus driver is not a police officer, and should not have to follow children home to ensure their safety. Someone could have dialed 911 from their mobile phone, I'm sure a few of these kids had one. It's all well and good for special interest groups screaming for blood, but even with the reporting done so far, we only know what we have been told, not the real story. The BEHAVIOR of the suspects is what we should focus on here, why these kids behave as they do, and why their parents haven't taught them to behave properly in public. Where are the parents in this story? It will be interesting to see which charges the prosecutor recommends.
fd2009
Fri, Sep 18, 2009 : 9:52 p.m.
Agreed with Neo. There is no excuse for violence! I hope we do get a follow up report on the police investigation.
An
Fri, Sep 18, 2009 : 8:42 a.m.
Screw being fearless. The safety of my children comes first. This girl has been a problem on the bus for a while. All last year.
REBBAPRAGADA
Fri, Sep 18, 2009 : 8:06 a.m.
BE FEARLESS - LET HEALING BEGIN : Let not the memory of that brutal attack incapacitate you with a sense of fear.Ann Arbor School District Buses have been transporting School children for decades and this is an unusal incident. Children should be reassured and should be encouraged to have fun. This incident should not distract children from the pursuit of getting educated. The 'perpetrator' also needs education and time to redeem and repent for the misdeed.
An
Thu, Sep 17, 2009 : 3:15 p.m.
So, I shouldn't have been worried for my child's safety? She rides the bus this started on. The perpetrator is BACK on the bus. My daughter is afraid. Other kids are afraid. Yes, the victim is the most important person, but in my humble opinion, the other children on the bus where the fight started were ALSO victims.
REBBAPRAGADA
Thu, Sep 17, 2009 : 8:31 a.m.
PATIENCE AND TOLERANCE WHILE RESPONDING TO A CRIME OR MISDEED : Skyline is such a beautiful place and I am amazed to hear about this ugly incident. The students who attend Skyline are some of the most fortunate in the world.They should enjoy these precious moments of their lives and their minds and hearts should be filled with a sense of sweetness and not that of bitterness. The victim needs to be comforted and at the same time, we need to show tolerance and patience. A sense of restraint is proper in this kind of situation.The School needs to continue its important mission on a daily basis and the students need to pursue their academic goals without distraction.We need not respond with anger and a sense of retaliation will not serve any purpose. We need to take corrective action. This unfortunate event could be a learning experience.We need to demonstrate patience, tolerance, restraint and moderation and hopefully we should impart these qualities to the students.Students have to acquire the skills of interpersonal relationships. The foundation for all types of human relationships should be patience and tolerance which is described as "KSHAMA" in Sanskrit language. Kshama is not "FORGIVENESS". We should not forgive. We need to redeem ourselves. Such redemption would be possible if we are patient and tolerant. The Skyline Community should reflect upon this ugly incident and need to redeem themselves and restore the sense of pride, dignity, and honor that the Institution represents in public life.
pete
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 10:36 p.m.
Detective Kinsey is not trying to shut up commenters. You are wrong in4mation.
Neo
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 9:44 p.m.
@fd2009 "There is no excuse for violence against girls and women." I see that clich on bumper stickers. This implies that it is okay for violence against boys and men. Shouldn't it rather read "There is no excuse for violence, period"?
PformerPfizer
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 4:55 p.m.
It's funny what people choose to pick on in an article, or in this case, an Op-Ed piece, which I have no problem with and regularly read in print publications. My disagreement with the author is where he states, "Many (children) lack the appropriate social filters most adults should possess." I would argue, strongly, that 8 out of 10 adults also lack said filter. I believe 10 out of 10 people's filters are automatically disabled when they sit at a computer keyboard. Self included. Mr. Kinsey gives adults more credit than they (we) deserve.
Annie Zirkel
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 12:02 p.m.
Thank you for your commentary. Being reactionary seems to be the M.O. of the times. Griping, hijacking, tangents, speculation, and the chum that gets tossed in, just cloud the water. But I did find many of the comments on the original post valuable. Especially ones that were thought out and had facts to add. Kids (and adults) need to deal with conflict better. As someone who teaches bullying prevention, it needs to be taken seriously. Some professionals and parents get this, others give lip-service. Education and alternative skills need to be taught and reinforced, and consequences for crossing the line need to be enforced accordingly.
Eric P
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 11:45 a.m.
Agreed that AAPD and AAPS need to have time to figure out to the best of their ability what happened. At the same time there is no harm in dispelling false rumors. Failure to do so for an extended period of time only adds to later charges of a cover up. Also calling the high school students involved "Just Kids" degrades the impact of the incident on the victim of this crime, and devalues their pain. The perpetrators might not have reached the age of majority, but their action have the power to leave mental and emotional scars on the victim that could stay with her well into adulthood.
Alan Goldsmith
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 11:25 a.m.
You should send a link to this article to the Principal of Skyline. From the other Annabor.com article she is telling parents they've already decided it wasn't a hate crime... For a school leader to make such a statement is irresponsible.
djm12652
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 11:21 a.m.
eCoaster...you hit the nail on the head! I have to look elsewhere for real news in A2.
DanielF
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 11:17 a.m.
Well, this story has been blown out of proportion by the grevience-mongering, Arab-American and Muslim pressure groups, who have seized upon this incident. We nee dto wait till the full incident report is presented. Admittedly, school districts are sometimes unwilling to discipline or take action against students who misbehave or commit criminal acts, especially if they belong to certain "minority" groups.
GeeWhiz
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 10:43 a.m.
Thanks for a Great write-up. My point of view as well has been let us all wait for the facts and evidence before jumping to any conclusions.. What gave the story a huge life in the media was the initial inflammatory press release by the Detroit Arab-American Council that was picked up by the Detroit Free Press that gave the impression that 5 African-American "teenagers" dragged a helpless Arab girl off the bus to a house somewhere, ripped off her headscarf because of its religious significance and beat her up solely because she was an Arab. The crime would have been heinous if it occurred that way.. Based on witness reports, we now know that these kids did not randomly pick out an Arab girl to beat up because they hated Arabs.. We now know that it wasn't even a case of a "bunch of bullies" picking on someone. It was a case on a single African-American girl arguing with a single Arab girl over something on a school bus, got off the school bus and started fighting and other kids joined the fray.. Based on some of the witness reports on the other thread, the African-American teenager(s) appear to be troubled teens who need to be punished for the assault. However, their actions do not rise to the level of hate crimes with the head of Arab Council calling for the FBI and whoever else to investigate it!
eCoaster
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 10:21 a.m.
This is clearly an editorial. It does not add anything factual to previous stories about the case. In fact, the writer admits that he did no research beyond readers' comments. This just reinforces for me that annarbor.com is going the way of a blog, rather than a news source.
fd2009
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 10:20 a.m.
What is important is that we condemn violence as we see it. There is no excuse for violence against girls and women. I hope the investigation will be thorough and justice be served.
SBean
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 9:54 a.m.
Great post, Rich. In the same spirit of much of what you shared, I'll suggest that it wasn't "bullies" who picked on someone, but kids bullying someone. We're not what we do (and we don't necessarily do what we are.)
InsideTheHall
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 9:48 a.m.
This is an editorial and should have been noted at the top of the article. AnnArbor.com is off to a shaky start and hopefully the kinks will be worked out.
KJMClark
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 9:43 a.m.
Fair enough. One comment though, these are teens. As someone with two kids, there's a world of difference between elementary school kids and high school teens. My pre-teen daughter is bigger than my wife. There are plenty of teens bigger than average adult men like me. Teens are also supposed to be more responsible than younger kids. I don't agree with your characterization that these are just "children". And, come to think of it, if someone is attacked to the point of needing stitches, isn't that a bit more than "bullies picking on someone"? When I think of bullies, I think of name calling and intimidation, not physical violence. How do the police think of that?