13 responses so far ↓

• 

  marin // March 1, 2008 at 9:56 pm

  i am a student at the obryant and would like our story to be told my email is dallasakacinco@aol.com please reply to this all the students want to tell the real story

• 

  eric sullivan // March 1, 2008 at 11:37 pm

  As a student who was a part of the protest, I would like to be the voice of the youth.
  Many of the news reports portray us as a mob of teenagers who did not want to be punished for loitering in the hallways. This is not the case. We never complained when we got detention for being late. The fact that there are consequences is not our complaint. Previously, teachers would punish students who came to their class late, normally with detention proportional to the amount of time the student was late. This policy makes no distinction between students who are thirty seconds late because they had to get books from their locker through crowds and students who stopped for conversation for ten minutes. Everyone, including students five steps from their class, and even students with hall passes, was sent to the auditorium for twenty minutes. I should not be punished because I had to choose between losing two minutes of class by getting my books, and wasting the remaining fifty-three because I did not have them. The administration should be able to come up with a solution that is not worse than the problem.

  Thank you for actually considering our position and reasoning, instead of labeling us as lazy and ignorant

• 

  student from OB // March 2, 2008 at 2:36 am

  To Megan Woolhouse:

  Let me start by saying, “Mr.Stembridge is a good principal.” But like always, people become concern and too carried-away by frightening shootings in universities. I am a senior at the school and I had participated in the protest. Many students and I were furious by the claims you had published today in your article. Would “bias” be a right word for this? How much of it is actually true? This is why I am writing this letter to you and the other news stations.

  Refer to article: “200 protest tardiness penalty” by Megan Hoolhouse, March 01, 2008

  Their late policy is as follow: Immediately after the late-bell rang, even though students are just feets away from their class room were stopped and sent to the auditoium for a 15 minute writing on“how to get to class on time”. The admins called this “sweeping”, which conducted at the end of 2nd and 5th period. “Are we like trash? that sweeping to get rid of?”, one of the student commented on the policy. Many teachers were annoyed as well, and are netural to this protest collectively held by students from all grades.

  “protested a crackdown on tardiness yesterday by blocking doors and hallways and preventing hundreds of other students from getting to class on time” (Megan)

  Was is really the protester that blocked the hallway? The one hallway and the only main stairwell that 1300 students stream through each period? Hundreds of students were on their way to the auditorium for the protest and simply had filled up the hallways.

  “The headmaster put the school in safe mode,” said Jonathan Palumbo, a spokesman for the Boston school system. “Any issue going on in the hallway needs to be addressed quickly.”

  Is it really that students that are in danger? Who got hurt? The protest was peaceful with no violence, though a student was hit by the door when a admin opened it with such force. At the second to the last periods, there was another planned protest. The Admins were just overwhelmed by the respond to their acute actions of the tardy policy that they called it a “containment lockdown”. For the extra information, this containment drill was set up against intruders such as gunmen. They had used it to stop students from the protest.

  “Officials said two fights had broken out at the school earlier this year.”

  I believe this sentence is missing a few words,“before and after school”. We are teenagers, and arugments are always present. If people hold back their anger all the time, it could been even worest.

  “bringing them to the auditorium and requiring them to write “a reflection” on why they were late.”(Megan)

  “It’s not time for discussion!” the literal words spoken by a Admin. Students whom were caught by the policy were given a folder that “classifies” them. As of the reflection note, it was on “ways to get to class on time” not the“why” that students wanted to speak out.

  “More than 200 blocked hallway and classroom doors, causing the entire student body to be late for class.”(Megan)

  This sentence is just rediculous. From “200 students protested” into “200 students blocked the hallways”? It shows just how bias is this article.

  “Palumbo backed Stembridge’s actions. “Apparently they’re upset with a reinforced policy,” Palumbo said. “They did this, as opposed to taking a more healthy approach to voicing their displeasure.”

  Students had told the admins and teachers their feelings towards the late policy. However, with no response and contiune rule, students were gathered to bring up the issue. Moreover, the “Admins” are rarely present. When we ask to see the admins, the office respond, “Oh they are in a meeting now”, or “sorry, they are not in today”.

  The aftermath of the protest were surely astonishing. The senior and junior advisors said they will no longer assistance their students. Thus, all school activities are canceled as of Friday (eg. Prom, Graduation, Clubs, ect.). This had become an esculated problem, and will continue be for the up coming week.

  Sincerely,

  Annoymus

• 

  student of JDOB // March 2, 2008 at 3:00 am

  Thank you Cara Lisa Powers for understanding the situation in a youth’s point of view. It has come to a day in age when students are now speaking up for what they view as fair and the tardy policy is not fair. Even students who are not late still view the policy as unfair. If the administration does not want to hear our opinion one by one they are going to have to hear us out as a group. ALSO students are getting searched which is crossing the line (invasion of privacy) STUDENTS WILL NOT BE IGNORED ANY LONGER WE WANT TO VOICE OUR OPINION AND WE SHOULD BE HEARD!

• 

  O'Bryant Senior // March 2, 2008 at 3:37 pm

  Dear Ms. Woolhouse,
  I am a Senior at the O’Bryant. I am writing to inform you that some of the information in your article was inaccurate. Your article stated that, “More than 200 blocked hallway and classroom doors, causing the entire student body to be late for class.” I walked through the hallway where the protest took place and I still got to my class on time. Although that is a main hallway, and it was dangerously overcrowded, there is only one possible classroom door that could have been blocked and most students were able to get to class on time. I believe that your description of the tardy policy did not paint a clear picture. You said that Mr. Stembridge was “bringing them to the auditorium and requiring them to write “a reflection” on why they were late.” Most of the time Mr Stembridge is nowhere to be found in the building, it is mostly members of the administration who “sweep” students into the auditorium. You also failed to mention the fact that students are sent to their class twenty minutes late, when lessons are well underway and an announcement reporting their return to class interrupts the entire school. Some students have even been unfairly swept when they had a hallpass.
  I feel that your inaccurate details and emition of information does not fairly depict the students at the O’Bryant. Please think about the negative way you are portraying all of us students and tell the whole story about what is gain on. -
  Thank you for your time.

• 

  Anonymous // March 2, 2008 at 5:12 pm

  Hey, first of all I want to start with, why write an article with only the Administration side of the story? In my opinion the article should have both the Admin and the student’s side of the story. I feel as though the students side of the story or opinion does not matter, because accordingly “The Administration has more power” and are the only ones that should have a voice.
  Referring to “200 protest tardiness penalty” article I was upset reading it. To me it made the students seem like they were wrong, or bad about the protest. First of all, we were not harming anybody. There was no violence involved at all; it was just a peaceful protest. If I could remember correctly there was no one was harmed.
  The reason for this protest was because of the New Tardy Policy. Most students in the school do not agree with. According to this policy, as soon as the bell rings the students should be in the classroom, and if not they would be taken to the auditorium. A student could be four steps from the classroom when the bell rings and they will be taken to the auditorium. Even students who have pass are being taken to the auditorium. When we are at the auditorium according to the Admin we are not allowed to ask question or DISCUSS ANYTHING. Some students have to travel from the science building to the middle school building, that is a long way:; and as hard as they try to get there on time they are always late. They should be at least able to consider some students who have to travel a long way.
  There are so many reasons why the students are mad about this new policy. One is THE ADMIN DID NOT TELL THE TEACHERS ABOUT THIS POLICY. Most of the teachers did not know what was going on, they were really confused. When the policy first started the teachers were wondering what happened to most of the students. To be honest most of the teachers did not even agree with this policy. Another reason we are upset about this policy is people who are late to class THEY ARE GOING TO START SEARCING US, OUR BAGS OUR LOCKERS. I want to know what the reason is for this. They are treating us like we are criminals. In most of my classrooms I feel like I am in a jail cell because I cannot even look out the windows. Also keeping us on lockdown. I had to use the restroom really bad and I was not allowed to until school was over, my teacher offered me to use a trash can. I was not going to urinate in no trash can. Also students are upset about this policy because; THEY SENT A LETTER HOME DAYS AFTER THEY STARTED THIS POLICY, AND EXCLUDED SOME INFORMATION FROM THIS LETTER. Example they left out the part where they were going to be searching students. I DISAGREE WITH THEM NOT WARNING US ABOUT THIS POLICY, AND NOT TELLING US THEY WERE GOING TO START DOING THIS. THEY ARE TRYING TO KEEP US FROM BEING LATE TO CLASS YET, WHEN THEY PUT STUDENT IN THE AUDITORIUM THEY ARE LIKE 20 MIN OR MORE LATE TO CLASS. I think they should have thought of a better policy for keeping students from being late to class.
  I do agree that we were a little on the wrong side of the way we decided to protest. I think we should have organized ourselves more and write a letter and sign a petition, instead of being late to class. We just wanted to be heard.

  Sincerely,
  Anonymous

• 

  Spizz // March 2, 2008 at 7:52 pm

  peace to Cara for responding so eloquently!
  It a great that you are raising awareness about this issue, which has been a oppressive trend for way too many years.

  the STUDENTS are really have some brilliant minds & i’m glad they banded together.

  As BPS alumna, this issue hits home as the penalty, has harshly affected my learning experience and that my younger brother who actually attended O’Bryant missed a ton of learning because of it. He would go to the music room and play drums until the next class.

  While I do not condone ongoing tardy behavior, I understand the pros and the cons to the policy.

  I was constantly late at Latin Academy and think that the student protest was long over due and the REASONS behind the tardy behavior need to be address.

  There should be a forum for students to voice their concerns about the articles and about next steps.

  Anonymous did a great analysis of the article and the students who participated need to be commended for exerting their concerns in a passionate and healthy way; as it their right.

  great lessons are to be learned from this protest.

  i am glad that students stayed in school, because my answer as a youth was to walk-out daily, disrupt learning, or just not go to school at all and that does not help one to grow mentally.

  peace, love & continued success!
  spizz, a sista in the struggle

  all power to the students!

  p.s. i too advocate for as many of the 200 students involved and their parents to contact the globe and email megan directly about her lack of objectivity and bring awareness from a solution oriented perspective.

  the policy needs to be defined, the pros and cons addressed and analysis as to who it affects and why needs to be included in further discussions.

• 

  Jamelia // March 2, 2008 at 9:14 pm

  I have only on thing to clarify in thiis response to the statement that Megan Woolhouse had previously said “More than 200 blocked hallway and classroom doors, causing the entire student body to be late for class.” During the protest the “entire” student body was in no way shape or form caused to be late to class. The majority if not all of the students who were there were there by choice. 200 is no where close to our entire student body and there are way more students in the hallways during bells than there were on the day of the protest so what makes this situation so dangerous?

• 

  O'Bryant Student Body // March 2, 2008 at 9:48 pm

  We the Student Body of the John D. O’Bryant cannot help but notice that there have been many newspaper articles regarding the “protest” which took place on Friday and the administrations response to these protests. We also cannot help but notice that these articles are quite bias. Nowhere in any of these articles does it mention that the current tardy policy that the O’Bryant administration are calling “sweeps” are anything but friendly to the student body. The student body recognizes and understands that tardiness is in no way conducive to learning. The protest was not in anyway held to fight for the right to be tardy. The protest was done in the hopes that the O’Bryant administration would maybe finally give us some answers.
  Some faculty members have said that “This is a School not a democracy”. This statement contradicts the words of Mr. Joel Stembridge headmaster and head of administration at the John D. O’Bryant who has referred to the school as “the O’Bryant community” a number of times. The word community suggests that this is a school where students and faculty stand side by side, working together to make our school great. This word certainly does not suggest that this is a school where any policy can be instated without as much as an explanation to the student body. This word does not suggest that when an explanation is asked for the threat of suspension and even worse expulsion would be hurled out in order to silent the students. This word does not suggest that students would ever have to protest just to get an answer. This word does however suggest that a level of respect is had for both parties however it is clear that this level of respect for the student body as vanished.
  Perhaps Friday’s protest was not the best method to deal with the situation however are these sweeps the best method to deal with the tardy issue. Is it really better to make a student who might have been perhaps two maybe three minuets late for class and make those student fifteen or twenty minuets late? Is it really more effective to have a student miss valuable class time writing a reflection when they could be getting the education they attend school to get in the first place? Is it even realistic to imagine that some students will be late if they are leaving the fourth floor to go to the first floor? This is not to say that some students are not late because they are neglectful and spend too much time at their lockers or chatting with friends. All that we ask for is a better method to deal with the tardiness. Perhaps more faculty members can be patrolling outside of their class rooms. Or if these “sweeps” are to remain in effect at least some level of respect can be shown to students. For example if a student does have a hall pass then by no means is that student still made to go into the auditorium. It is understood that appropriate punishment for those who participated in the protest will take place, however what is not understood is why the senior prom and graduation has been cancelled. Using the senior class as an exemplar to the lower classes is in no way fair to the class of ’08. Our class has worked extremely hard to ensure that these events will be memorable. It cannot be forgotten that last school year the class of ’08 was not in good shape. We started with no advisor and no money for neither prom nor graduation. To begrudge us something that we worked so hard for is simply not fair.
  It is time that the John. D. O’Bryant starts acting like the exam school that we all know it is and to do that faculty and students will have to work together. To work together the level of trust that has been lost will have to be regained. The student body is ready to take the necessary steps; we leave it up to the administration.

• 

  Kristen Lartey // March 2, 2008 at 9:48 pm

  I am overjoyed to see that other students feel strongly enough to write Ms. Woolhouse to try to get her to interview us and get our voices heard on the protest that WE participated in. We are not ignorant, we attend an exam school. Would we not have reason for our protest? What does the administration gain from threatening us with searches and treating us like prisoners overall? Surely not our respect! What do they gain from cancelling prom and graduation for the seniors who did not organize this protest? Nothing but resentment for the rest of the school year. I, for one can say that if ANY of our activities are cancelled because of this protest, my parents will personally have a meeting with the administration. No frivolous tardy policy is worth me not walking across the stage to receive my diploma or being rejected from my first choice college because of a suspension on my record in my senior year.

• 

  M. // March 3, 2008 at 3:05 pm

  The John O’Bryant High School’s policy of dealing with tardiness may not be the best way to deal with this situation, but this kind of disruptive civil disobedience that blocks up already-overcrowded school hallways isn’t the best way to deal with it either. Also, the school’s administration made a great mistake in not telling the teachers, which also contributed a great deal to this mess.

  The best solution is for the schools’s administration and teachers to work together with the students and find out why there’s such a high rate of tardiness. There are times when tardiness is inevitable; late buses or unusually long delays on public transportation,; the list could go on.

  I remember back in high school, when kids were late to homeroom, or to any class, they’d get a detention, and if we needed to use the restrooms, we had to make a point of using them before classtime. I also remember being tardy one day because our electricity had gone out during the wee hours of the morning due to some extremely cold winter weather, thus all the clocks in the house failed to work, and I ended up missing my bus. My parents drove me to school, we explained what was going on, I was put on the absentee list as “excused tardiness”, and not given a detention.

• 

  Dan // March 3, 2008 at 8:26 pm

  I am a student who did not take part in the protest. I took no sides, as I always make it to class on time. If I’m able to do that everyday, then others should be able to do the same. However, I also believe that there should be a better way to punish students for being late. The way of bringing this to the administrator’s attention was not by crowding the foyer, blocking all the exits, and making other students late to class. First of all, it was completely unsafe. If I may point out the infamous Station nightclub fire, in which everyone headed for the front door, quickly blocking it off and crushing others. Secondly, there were better ways to go about this. A petition for example. The students claim that the administrators won’t listen to them. But I’ve heard from many class officers that they never once went to the administrators, as a group, and wished to talk with them. Thirdly, there have been some comparisons of the “rounding” up of students to the Holocaust. That is when whatever support I would’ve given them, if any, disappeared. This is not the Holocaust. Unless you have six million people being prosecuted because of their beliefs, you should not even mention this in the same sentence as the Holocaust.

  The bad side of all of this is that nothing has changed and that we have many self-righteous students walking around, patting themselves on the back, thinking they accomplished something, when all they did was stage a sensationalistic safety violation. Kent State, Martin Luther King, and Gandhi have nothing on you, yo.

• 

  Senior // June 23, 2008 at 4:45 pm

  I participated in the protest and did so becasue of the rediculous over-reaction by our ‘head-master’ Joel Stembridge. This “leader” of our “community” is nothing short of pathetic and underqualified for his position. He knows nothing of student relations and frankly, is so seldomly in school that it would be impossible to meet with him in order to handle our situation in a “more healthy” way anyway. For the amount of money our parents and the community pay to this school, we deserve someone who is more attentive, capable and frankly less creapy.

Leave a Comment