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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Disaffected Youth: A Problem We Have To Live With?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It seems almost normal these days to hear stories about disgruntled students plotting harm to teachers and fellow classmates. But, whenever I read an article like this one about the McIntosh High School student who reportedly threatened to shoot up the campus, I can’t help thinking: We never heard about things like this when I was in school.
The thing is, many of these stories play out at good campuses in affluent suburban areas.
Peachtree City, where students drive to McIntosh in the family golf cart, is located in the wealthiest county in Georgia.
McIntosh itself was recently named a national Blue Ribbon School. Average SAT scores among the mostly white students are the 15th highest in Georgia.
State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox herself used to teach there.
Now does that sound like a place where you would find disaffected youth who want to kill or maim their classmates?
This is the second high school in Fayette County in just two years that has had a serious threat of student violence. Last year, a senior at Whitewater High School (in neighboring Fayetteville) brought a scary cache of weapons — including guns, knives and ammunition — to school on the first day of classes.
In that case, as in the latest at McIntosh, no one was hurt.
The question: If high-achieving schools that aren’t lacking for resources can’t reach such students, what school can?
UPDATE: I just finished speaking with John Hollis, my colleague who covers Fayette County. Here’s what Cele Eifert, McIntosh’s PTSO president, told him about the situation: “It can happen anywhere. Kids are screwed up all over the place. Parents are bad parents all over the place. I think you’d be fooling yourself if you thought otherwise.”
