In the letter, Kathy Harris of Pace, Fla., with no evidence to back her claim, writes:
Last October 13-year-old Thomas White made the immature mistake of bringing a gun to school and firing it into the ceiling of Memorial Middle School. During the incident nobody was hurt or killed. Thomas was badly bullied for years by his schoolmates and the school administration did absolutely zero to stop it. Thomas reacted to the years of abuse with the weapon.
In the first place, this simply does not track with Principal Steve Gilbreth's record, either as Memorial Middle School principal, a post he has held for the past two years, or as principal at North Middle School. In addition to the courage he displayed when this "immature" 13-year-old was pointing a gun directly at him and threatening his life and the lives of others at the school, Gilbreth has always had a well-earned reputation as a decent, caring principal. I have also had the opportunity to work with many of the teachers at Memorial from time to time. These are not people who would ignore incidents of bullying.
While I would be the last person to say that any teacher or administrator catches all incidents of bullying (that would be impossible), I can tell you that none of them ignore any report of bullying or take it lightly. The Joplin R-8 School District has always had a bullying policy in place and administrators receive regular training to deal with situations. The lie continues to be told that the district did not have a bullying policy in place when the Memorial incident occurred. While it is true that the policy was re-examined at all district schools after the shooting, that is simply standard procedure.
Perhaps some warning signals were missed, but Ms. Harris continually blames everyone for Thomas White's actions...except Thomas White.
Ms. Harris has a First Amendment right to defend Thomas White and to express her viewpoint that he should be tried in a juvenile court. There are many who would agree with her, though I am not one of them.
What Ms. Harris does not have the right to do is to libel the hard-working professionals who care for every student who comes through Memorial Middle School...including Thomas Gregory White.
1 comment:
I am not overly familiar with this case - in other words, I know what I have read here, and at Betty B's place, but even on that limited knowledge, I have formed an opinion. I think he should be tried as a juvenile - because he is a juvenile. Why even have the damned distinction if it's just for charades and show-trials for prosecutors to act tough on crime? It's an obsession with punishment run amok.
The plain and simple fact is, 13 year old boys are just not wired up yet. There is a hell of a lot of neuro-physiology still needing to take place before he is an adult. Hell, the bones in his hands are not completely developed! His impulse control is certainly not matured. This is not a character flaw, this is part of the human condition.
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