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Fight club fracas at Fairview

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Contributed by: Louise Benson on 3/15/2008

The Internet and YouTube has exposed sheltered types to the world of off-campus score-settling, girl fights, and other traditional teen misbehavior such as racing cars.

Maybe I'm low-class, but this was common when I grew up in the '60s, and rarely was anyone seriously hurt, with the exception of really stupid stuff like playing chicken on dark country roads (racing toward one another with headlights off).

The Fairview response is unfortunately typical zero-tolerance, double-whammy school and legal discipline for misbehavior that in the past, would have brought parental consequences only. I don't see that anyone was seriously injured, and the fighting seems consensual. One student commented, "It's all in good spirits, like a boxing match."

Zero tolerance, dual punishment for misbehavior on and off school grounds, is all part of the creeping criminalization of our children. The legal language for juvenile offenses is telling: "...(the charge), which would be a misdemeanor/felony if committed by an adult." Our society and the legal system recognizes that juveniles have undeveloped judgment, and do and say some really dumb things, but deserve a second (and a third) chance. Of course, I am not using the term misbehavior to describe serious crimes.

News reports continue to tell the toll, particularly of kids 8-14 years old, arrested and suspended or expelled for such things as throwing french fries in the cafeteria (the charge in Laramie food fight: "hurling missiles"). Until it happens to your child, people tend to say, well that'll send a message! But any family who has been chewed up by the double cogs of zero tolerance tells a different tale of largely unnecessary trauma, expense, and lost educational rights.

Principals such as Fairview's Stensrud are charged with maintaining a school atmosphere where teachers can teach and students can learn, as free of disruption as possible. Thus, even though thefight clubwas off campus, he must feel that it disrupted the school and even bystanders may warrant suspension. This is unnecessarily harsh, in my opinion. And with some of the kids, be a welcome break from school and give them status in the eyes of peers. A better response would be Restorative Discipline, including the school-wide action possibly planned to discuss the harm of this sort of misbehavior. And community service, which is much more of a bummer than suspension!

I wouldn't want to really go back to the bad old days of fighting behind the school after hours, but it did keep bullying more in check, as bullied kids enlisted older siblings, relatives and neighbors in putting the bully on notice. Nowadays bullying is a huge problem, because kids are not supposed to fight back, teachers turn a blind eye, and kids get arrested and suspended or expelled for fighting back.

What's the answer? Restorative Discipline can restore some sanity and improve safety. The Boulder Valley School District seems to be in a transition phase from zero tolerance (as exemplified by recent school and legal actions against streakers and cheaters) to Restorative Discipline (community service for food fight at a middle school). This more enlightened approach is at least verbally espoused by Superintendent King and Deputy Superintendent Miller-Brown. We're just not fully there yet. It would be nice to see more oversight from these supers to implement Restorative Discipline.

If you're interested in Anti-Bullying programs, check out the presentation by New York Times bestselling author of Please Don't Laugh at Me... Jodee Blanco, at Casey Middle School on Thursday, March 20, 7-9 p.m. Looks like it'll be great!

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Louise Benson

Broomfield , CO

Louise Benson has posted 64 stories and 38 comments since joining on 3/11/2007. Louise Benson 's average story rating is 4.51.

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