Upcoming Hillsborough School Board Recognition (?)

Trust.

Trust?

I have a dream. Visualize that dream with me. The Hillsborough County Public Schools' Board will have a recognition night for the Coach and the Assistant Principal that acted professionally in outing the recent rape at Walker Middle School. This pomp and circumstance will encourage others to come forward when situations necessitate pro-active actions.


The local print media is once again fanning the fires of anger and ugliness, and perhaps misinformation. Click on any of the Tampa Tribune or St. Pete Times articles and read the public comments.

So far, it is clear that all of the students and parents involved in this Walker Middle School rape are to blame because they did not tell any one of what was going on, for over two months.

One thing we can be certain of is that parents just never get it right:

Attorney: Delayed penalties soften Florida bullying law#comments

Posted by ( samarmymom ) on 05/14/2009 at 02:08 pm.

"My son was bullied for years. I went to school and did everything a parent should do. But when that didn't work, I gave him permission to fight back. When he finally did, HE (my son) got kicked out of school and the parent of the bully threatened me. I am not a stand by parent, I am at school, as a volunteer and to support my kids activities."

In this Walker rape case, somehow we don't see the term "helicopter parent" being used. Middle school is where the system makes it clear that doting parents are not welcome and that coddled kids are no longer in elementary school. Middle school is time for tough love. Give an inch and students and parents will take a mile. Valid, reasonable concerns, if voiced, are lumped in with all of the invalid, unreasonable actions of the hoard of miscreants.

One article states that one reason the victim didn't tell of the ongoing abuse was because the victim knew that he would no longer get to play flag football. Can you appreciate the social-emotional toughness of a kid who is willing to endure social, emotional, and physical abuse so that he can simply belong and identify with a group? There he was, an island of independence, not depending on any adult around him, giving a clear message that he could handle it all.

This kid probably had the appearance of a pretty flower, probably quite similar to a columbine.

We can assume that there will be a learning curve from these recent events. What are the chances that what will be learned is to never, ever, ask students to write down what happened?

Unfortunately, we may have to wait a few years for the paralysis of the legal ramifications to end before we can benefit from the coach and assistant principal coming forward.

In the mean time, trust!