**UPDATE**
MBT: A student from the school has commented below. Evidently, so far, the student who beat Ms. Berry is still in class – apparently no dicisplinary actions have been taken against her.
First the prinicpal blames the teacher, then nothing is done. Unfortunately, I guess it is open season on teachers for students who don’t want to sit in their seats during class.
So now we have come to this. We are a society in which the worse behavior is rewarded with fame and fortune. We live in the society of instant videos and MySpace uploading and getting famous for being bad and getting rich for being even worse.
Jolita Berry has become famous for having the sh*t beat out of her and having a video of the attack uploaded onto MySpace by her students. Isn’t that great fun.
(CNN) — Two teachers at a Baltimore, Maryland, high school say they were attacked by students, and one says such assaults are commonplace, according to CNN affiliate WBAL.
The school district says it is investigating and will take appropriate action, but both art teacher Jolita Berry and English teacher Marc Standish say the administration has failed to protect and support them.
“I looked over, and her friends were cheering her on. And before I knew it, she hit me in the face,�? Berry told WBAL after cell-phone video depicting what she said was a student beating her last Friday appeared on the social networking Web site MySpace.com.
Ms. Berry says that places of learning shouldn’t be this violent. Indeed!
Unfortunately, I don’t think this sort of very bad behavior is not going to stop until we stop rewarding it. We live in a society that has worked really hard for the past couple of decades to prevent anyone from having to face consequences for their behavior. We don’t want kids feeling bad if they don’t excel at EVERYTHING. We don’t want our little darlin’s to have a tear on their cute little cheeks. What we get for cushioning the fall of everyone in every circumstance is a society full of narcissistic little sociopaths who haven’t got a clue of what it means to take responsibility for their own behavior.
At some point in time, in some way, we are going to have to come back to basic values of human decency. Silly things like ‘honor’, ‘integrity’, ‘honesty’, ‘duty’. If you aren’t familiar with those words, you might can still find their definitions in the dictionary. They’ve been out of vogue so long, I’m not sure if they are still considered part of our vocabulary.
Jolita Berry Interview Video
April 10th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
This is why I refuse to enroll my 3 kids in softball/soccer leagues where “there are no loosers” etc. That pansy crap doesn’t teach kids anything. Some of the best lessons I learned from my childhood was the heartbreak associated with loosing or failing. It didn’t feel good at the time, but it made me who I am today. I truly worry about generation Y and beyond. Capitalism doesn’t give a crap about how you feel, it only cares for results. When this generation realizes that the real world sucks, I really do fear for them.
Of course, this is why so many people are looking to socialism to solve their problems. They complain that getting healthcare is hard. Yes it is hard. I’ve had to work 2 jobs at points in my life to provide what is necessary for my family. It sucks, but assuming you are able bodied what excuse do you have? Why are you looking to me to pay your medical expenses.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I frankly can’t see how a society can survive for long where there is such a destruction of fundamental values. May God have mercy on us.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:33 am
This story is heartbreaking. In an interview last night, she said that the principal told her that she instigated the attack! Unbelieveable!
As I posted in a previous comment, Baltimore City schools are the worst in the nation with the exception of Detroit – and the two of them are racing hard for last place. A successful African-American woman goes into the inner city to teach and this is the (non)support that she gets. It is dispicable and everything that is wrong with inner city schools. Poor principals, no support, kids that aren’t taught at home any moral values (the other students instead of helping the teacher were egging the student on to hit her more).
And then to put the video on MySpace because they are proud of it….
Deplorable.
April 11th, 2008 at 4:19 am
Does anyone over 40 remember why they behaved in class? Because the principles, teachers, and parents were allowed to spank their kids.
Now they get their computer privs revoked for a week.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Would be nice if I could spell right – principal, not principle.
Anyways, I just saw another article about violence from kids – the girls beating up the other and wanting to post on utube. They support my statement about punishment. When arrested, the arresting officer quoted them:
“They were laughing and joking about, ‘I guess we won’t get to go to the beach during spring break.’ And one … asked whether she could go to cheerleading practice,” he said.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:27 am
RSR #5 – oh my…
April 11th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I attend Reginald F Lewis HighSchool, and i honestly thought this was crazy when i first heard about because it was the talk around after i came out of class last friday.
and to answer ms. berry’s question, she was never expelled or suspended shes been in school
all week.
April 12th, 2008 at 3:29 am
^^Hey Mainlyout^^
What is the talk around school? have you heard anything about the student who beat the teacher? Her thoughts on the situation? Is she boasting or proud about beating the teacher?
April 12th, 2008 at 4:41 am
Mainlyout – thanks for stopping by!
It is REALLY regrettable to hear that apparently no disciplinary action has taken place against the student.
I live near Baltimore, but I am no familiar with your school. Is this a state of fear that you have to live with everyday or an isolated incident?
How has the principal presented the situation to you students? I assume that you are aware that the principal blamed the teacher for inciting it?
Do you know Ms. Berry?
So many questions…
Take care of yourself there.
April 12th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I do not live or teach in Ms. Berry’s area, however, I do teach in an Inner-City school. The happenings she describes are an everyday reality for me and my colleagues…the students are ALWAYS in an aggressive state of being…everyday NOT as an isolated incident! Ms. Berry is leading the life of an average teacher who teaches in the inner-city. If you’re curious…read all about it : http://www.msfriendly.wordpress.com
April 13th, 2008 at 3:44 am
Ms Friendly, thanks for your contribution and the link. This is sort of what i’ve heard from my friends who teach in Balitmore. Most of them don’t last long – there is just no support and it is a constant battle every say.
This is a sad state of affairs.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:36 am
Is this real??? OMG. It’s unbelievable.
I hope she presses legal assault charges against this child. I can’t fathom why that child wasn’t IMMEDIATELY removed from the school in a squad car. DAMN going to the administrator, she should have called police herself. She’s blessed that ONLY that child assaulted her.
What’s going to happen to Ms. Berry’s livelihood? How can she return to work there or any other school in Baltimore and try to maintain control of her class now? The entire school knows the child had the advantage in the fight? How does the administration of this school plan to discourage behavior like this in the future? The child from the incident with Mr. Standish apparently wasn’t “made an example of” which gave way for this incident to occur. Was that administrator EVER a teacher? It amazes me when people advance to administrators or board employees, they become STRAIGHT STUPID. They put fairy tales down in black and white and pressure teachers to make them come true.
I’ve been a teacher for 11 years. I just don’t get these children. We’re not going to force feed them education. If they don’t want the education we offer, they should avoid school PERIOD! It’s a shame this student chose to disrupt and impede the teaching and learning of everyone. Children like this young girl make it difficult to get anything done in class. Teachers can’t go more than 5 minutes without having to correct or redirect someone. It’s so frustrating to try to do your job and be repeatedly interrupted.
I will keep Ms. Berry in my prayers.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:50 am
TO JRJ:
The girl that attacked ms berry (i dont know her name, only her nickname), she hasnt really talked about it with anyone and all i know about her is that she is in the 10th grade.
but what i hear from people that
was in the art class is that Ms. Berry was cursing and “disrespecting” the girl. But we all know that some how theres two sides of a story.
MBT:
To some people which is very few it is a state of fear, but i am one of them because im only in the ninth grade and ive never had to go to a baltimore city school. ive been to private school all my life, and it just so happened i had to go to my zone school. but its kind of sad to say that this is something that I’ve become accustomed to, its fights everyday all day, and its like thats what people look foward to and sad. But dont get me wrong we all do have some good times but not enough.
My principal has not presented the situation to us at all, which i think we all have the right to know. but what ive found out, i believe that is being under investigaton
and by may 1st i think we’ll know if she’ll be fired or if our school will be closed.
I dont know ms. berry because i believe her class was for 10th – 12th i think, but ive seen her a few times around.
Thank you, i will try to take care.
April 13th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
JOLITA BERRY: SHE HAS LIBERALISM TO THANK…
You can’t discipline kids in school anymore… this is what you get.
You can’t discipline kids at home anymore… this is what you get.
Children have access to the courts to use as a weapon against adults… this is what …
April 13th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Mainlyout, wow. There are a lot of things you said that are amazing.
a) that sadly you have all become accustomed to the violence,
b)the principal has never talked to the student body about this when it has been on Fox News and other networks, and
c) the teacher could get fired?
Please let those of you at your school that are scared that we are keeping all of you (scared and others) in our prayers. It is truly sad that we can’t provide a safe, wonderful high school experience for all of you.
You have been a great representative of your student body. If all of the other students would take a cue from you, you would not have to go to school in fear.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
SAD – thank you for stopping by. I just spoke with another Baltimore area teacher who said she can sue the school and the girl (who probably has no resources) for assault and also sue the principal for defamation – I guess they have been somewhat briefed by their union.
I would like to say this never happened when I went to school in Ohio. Sadly, it did, but the perpretrator was expelled on the spot and charges were always brought. AND – the student was always removed by police.
Indeed, we all need to keep them all in our prayers.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
No, not the teacher my principal could get fired, but i forgot to mention Ms. Berry did come to school on Friday which was a total shocker. Which i think she came to talk to the principal or to get what belonged to her.
April 14th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Mainlyout – thanks for the clarification.
Wow – Ms. Berry came to school? I assume she had some very large guys with her to protect her? Probably not.
My heart goes out to her and all your other teachers that still work to give you a good education despite all the problems.
Take advantage of their bravery Mainlyout – nobody can take an education from you.
April 14th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
As an inner city high school teacher in Massachusetts, I know the altercation between Ms Berry and the student was not the first. It seems incidents like this will only get worse for new teachers since the NCLB laws reward districts for NOT disciplining (no detention, suspension or in school suspension statistics or they lose money) students. It takes about a week for adolescents to figure out there are no consequences for sociopathic behavior. In fact, administrators, especially the ones who have no classroom experience (a growing number) revel in the fact that the kids are in charge of their own discipline. Conclusion: the infants are running the nursery and highly qualified veterans are jumping ship in record numbers (another desired statistic of NCLB).
April 18th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I just wanted to make a quick comment. My wife and I are both teachers, and my wife’s career has been spent in the public schools. She has experienced both inner city schools and those in wealthier areas, but they ALL have one single trend in common: the number of parents who teach their children personal responsibly for their actions is dwindling. Granted, my wife was much happier getting out of inner city schools to teach the children of rich senators and diplomats in Northern Virginia because the kids didn’t get in her face every single time she told them to sit down or stop talking, and she no longer faced the threat of being thrown to the ground and punched every day. However, even there in VA, there seemed to be a lack of parents holding their own kids responsible, and these same parents would always blame the teacher, even in front of the child.
My point is that I don’t believe we can blame the liberals. This is the problem. We blame everyone but ourselves. Whether liberals exist or not, parents still have the choice of not stepping in and insulating their kids from the consequences they have coming, and holding them accountable. Enough with the enabling already. Why are we still having kids if it’s too inconvenient for us to do what’s necessary to do our part to make sure they develop into functional contributing members of society instead of sociopaths?
And yes, the schools need to stop enabling their students too. Even if it doesn’t come to throwing punches, if a student commits a certain number of acts of even incompliance or subordination, they need to be swiftly removed from the system. Teachers aren’t paid enough to have to put up with ANY crap from someone else’s child, let alone what they deal with on a daily basis in reality.
Incidentally, my wife has been working in the public schools here in San Antonio, Texas, and it’s been the same old inner city garbage that everyone in this forum has been talking about. Very rarely do students immediately comply without threatening her or creating a huge scene. The crazy thing is, though, she’s been working for the best school district in the entire San Antonio Metro area. Crazier yet, this school district has won awards for being the best. I guess it’s all relative, though.
Granted, some areas might be worse than others, but hardly any are acceptable anymore, whether they are in the inner city or the Happy Valley suburbs. In my opinion, we’ve chosen to make the schools and our kids the way they are.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
After showing my wife the blog entry I submitted here earlier, she reminded me that one of the worst and least safe schools she ever taught in wasn’t inner city at all, but a middle class suburban school. She also feels that this isn’t an anomaly, but an ever-growing situation. It just goes to show it might not be prudent to breathe a sigh of relief just because we don’t live in the inner city.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:34 pm
[...] teachers are now expected to take abuse in all forms from insolent teens, or face the wrath of parent’s wanting their 15 minutes of [...]
July 4th, 2009 at 2:05 am
burada ne oldugunu bilmiyorum ama katıldım herkese selam.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Heads up on this – the case was settled last month and the girl was acquitted. Turns out the teacher struck first. The video is just a piece of what happened. And in the footage, what is happening is the teacher is actually holding the girls hair and pulling her down instead of pushing her off, thus causing the girl to become more frantic and upset as she is trying to get out. Let’s all be careful in being too quick to judge others. Maybe we should all stop worrying about throwing stones and focus on what’s going on inside the four walls of our own homes.
August 10th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
There needs to be a ballance between the stupid extremes kids are doing today and the severe fist and weapon punnishments taking place from teachers when I was a kid.
I believe that everyone, regardless of age, should be held to the same laws. If a teenager knows they’re going to do hard time for a crime–I mean Prison time, it would be a deterent. And vice versa for parents/teachers assaulting kids severely. This girl needs to be locked up a couple of years–let her do a month or two in solitary and see how funny she thinks life is.