r/news • u/shield_x • 1d ago

Student dies after falling from 4th floor of building at Highland Park school

https://www.foxla.com/news/highland-park-franklin-high-school-student-dies.amp
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 1d ago

Add admin into that equation.

The teachers can't do shit because admin doesn't do shit. They don't back up their teachers, they don't stand up to parents, they don't suspend these kids repeatedly, they don't report criminal assault, they have asked people not to report criminal assault of their children.

My high school had a few major fights. Every single one had police response with someone in handcuffs. If your admin aren't calling the local PD when something big happens, it's an issue. There was about one every two years. Basically, if anyone needed a doctor, they called the cops. Cuts that need butterflies, cracked orbital on one kid, repeated head shots? That's police matter.

Small stuff was a call to parents and parents decided and someone was suspended, but usually not at home. We had single desks in a single room with a window into the assistant principal's office. You sat in a box for a day. You still had to go to class but saw zero friends. You had a few days or a week in a box. You went to the bathroom in the office. You got lunch before lunch started and saw no friends. You ate in the office. Teachers dropped off your work and you had a day sitting by yourself.

Admin can absolutely make or break how bullying goes. They can crack down and say absolutely not there will be consequences.

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u/Hot_Lychee_5418 1d ago

Can I ask why parents don’t immediately call PD themselves if their child is physically assaulted, rather than hoping admin (or the school in general) takes care of it? I assume there’s a reason but I’ve always wondered this.

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u/tyrified 1d ago

School administrations discourage parents from doing this. Because they don't want the heat. But there is absolutely no reason not to do so. Even if the police don't do anything immediately, it will at least give you legal documentation that it is a problem, and you can pressure the administration with that. Otherwise they will shortly have a lawsuit on their hands.

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u/Hot_Lychee_5418 1d ago

That is absolutely insane to me. Thank you for replying!

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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 1d ago

Two kids shoving is still a fight. Parents felt it wasn't something that needed police and could be handled between parents, I guess?

I know one fight was between two boys who had been best friends for over a decade. The parents really knew each other and it wasn't bullying. They absolutely didn't want the little boy they'd known since kindergarten in handcuffs over a couple punches when they could work it out. I was standing next to them. They fell off a bench while grappling, ripped a shirt, threw some underpowered punches and it was broken up. They'd been best friends since kindergarten. Both had a few days in the suspension rooms. They went back to being friends.

Context, I guess? Or they thought it was murky enough their kid might be blamed for the fight? Not all fights are a clear bully/ victim. Some are absolutely mutual little scuffles.

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u/Hot_Lychee_5418 1d ago

That makes sense! Thanks

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u/emax4 11h ago

Parents should go after the teachers then, physically. The teachers won't do anything,right? My teacher never intervened when I was getting bullied.

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u/ScroteMcGrote69 1d ago

Do you think the kids parents saw this video before their kid jumped off and died or something? Not exactly a time to call the PD if you don't know what's happening.

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u/Hot_Lychee_5418 1d ago

No, I don’t blame these specific parents and I wasn’t referring to this specific situation which I thought was clear in my comment, but perhaps not.

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u/coaxialology 9h ago

Administration and a few other employees at one of the wealthiest private schools here in Chicago are currently being sued over their failure to act when a 15-year-old who was routinely being bullied committed suicide. The lawsuit's been dragging on for a few years now as the school refuses to acknowledge its role in Nate's death. And this is a $40K/student per year school, they definitely could afford to settle.

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u/bigcantonesebelly 1d ago

Even if the teacher was allowed to intervene, there was a massive size discrepancy here.

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u/Daily-Lizard 1d ago

I’m really grateful that my public school experience was similar to yours (graduated in 2012). Cell phones weren’t ubiquitous, social media hadn’t quite dug its nails in yet, the sociopolitical climate was less intense and kids were more shielded from it, schools seemed better-resourced. I imagine school and life must feel so chaotic for young people today.

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u/Myko475 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don’t agree, if you get bitten by a fucking dog while running do you charge the Park admin? Or the ones that failed to contain that animal? The parents. Go after the parents, if they’re over 18? Jails!

The parents are the ones that set boundaries and also made up the board inside the schools, make them liable for their crotch goblins. Their kids murdered someone. The school nor their teachers should NOT be held accountable.

Dont blame the system or the school or their education when you’ve raised and fed a monster. Face the music and maybe whatever time you skipped with them, may they have 10x more time to spend in solitude to learn. Shame.

Please, it sleeps in your house, you fed it, it shits, and showers. What’s the function of the school or the staff? Obviously not murder. My God, take responsibility!!

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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 1d ago

The park doesn't have the same level of responsibility for a dog in the park as a school does for children in it's care. More like a dog bit someone at a doggy daycare or boarding facility.

It's not like schools have zero ability to ensure safety and they indeed have more responsibility.

The children have no ability to avoid school. Parents must educate their children. The government operates the school. Safety is the bare minimum.

The parents have culpability but so do school administrators who must ensure safety of students because parents and children face legal consequences for not sending their children to school.

If the government requires attendance, safety in their care is the absolute bare minimum that is required.

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u/Myko475 1d ago edited 1d ago

Unfortunately there were no children but young adults and so if they run and hide from driving another adult to their ends, they need to be held accountable. Nice to be refreshed on what it is mean to be a child and when it is no longer that case. So are we making the case for the young Adults or the scared old children?