NORFOLK
A simmering neighborhood dispute boiled over into a brawl at Granby High School on Thursday, resulting in 15 arrests - including 12 female students - and the cancellation of homecoming festivities today, but not the football game.
It took some two dozen police and school security personnel to quell various fights, some using pepper or chemical spray, said Master Police Officer Chris Amos, a department spokesman. He and a school division spokeswoman said no injuries were reported, and Amos said no weapons were found.
"There's nothing that indicates this has to do with gangs," Amos said.
Jennifer Francis, schools spokeswoman, said in e-mails that school officials had been trying to mediate in-house a growing disagreement that some students had been having outside of school for the past week or two. Francis said she didn't know what the disagreement was about.
Shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday, two girls "were involved in a conflict" during lunch, Francis said. Security staff separated them and called parents to pick up the girls. While in the school's foyer with their parents, the girls began fighting, Francis said.
Other scuffles broke out, soon involving 20 students and at least one parent. Administrators locked down the school and called police. The first arriving officers asked for backup, which included K-9 and anti-gang units, Amos said.
At least one officer and some security personnel sprayed students to help subdue them, Amos said.
Later Thursday, juvenile criminal petitions charging disorderly conduct in a school were being prepared against 14 students - 12 girls and two boys, Amos said.
The 14 were suspended pending further administrative action, Francis said.
One parent was being charged with assaulting a juvenile, Amos said.
As a precaution against further related incidents, school administrators cance led today's homecoming pep rally and dance. The game against Wilson was to go on as scheduled.
Matthew Bowers, (757) 222-3893, matthew.bowers@pilotonline.com
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Seems obvious
The administration called their parents to come get their kids. The fight started with the parents present. A parent even participated. And people want to blame the school? Don't be so quick to assume gangs, people. I have seen teen fights start over stuffed animals and people smacking their lips. Even you folks stuck in the 70's can think back and remember that fights often start over petty matter.s
Granby fight
Adults have to quit trying to lowering themselves to the kids level by being their buddys. The adults and teachers have to remember their in charge and there are rules to be followed. You do the crime you do the time no if ands or butts. Too much kumbaya attitude it needs to stop and get back to reality.
61
Wonder how many of those children who have never caused any problems and are great students were arrested? How many are getting 61's? Somehow I suspect they are connected....and oh, aren't gangs usually neighborhood based? Who's BSing who here? The School administration is trying to tell me that over a dozen female students get involved in a fight and it's not gang related. Who were the school admin "negotiating with" if it wasn't an "organized group"? This is getting so confusing....
Make Girls pugilism a varsity sport.
It's all Jerry Springer's fault.
My children are long
My children are long graduated but I am curious, is there no longer ISS in the schools? When one of my boys got into trouble at school, I marched him into the vice principal's office and requested ISS for him. I also told them that I would gladly sign a waiver if they wanted him to spend the time in ISS cleaning toilets or something. Of course, they told me that they couldn't do that :) . However, my son knew that I was dead serious about the inappropriateness of his behavior...and I didn't care that he didn't start the fight either. Sadly, if parents aren't on board with teachers and administrators, everyone loses, especially the children. And at the risk of stirring the MacMall issue again, just reading some of the ranting from parents about their children's "right to hang at the mall", it's no wonder they behave as they do in school...they want all of the rights and none of the responsibilities. What a rude awakening real life is going to be.
Who What When Where How and WHYYYYYYYYY
WHY did this happen?
Am I remembering correctly?
Didn't a teacher get punched by a student last year at Granby High School? Didn't the parent of that student lie and say it was one of her other children that actually punched the teacher? If I am remembering correctly, the parent was dropping off the kid and the teacher honked the horn of her car - the student came to the teacher's car window and punched her (?)...It all starts at home. People should be required to be licensed to have children - only after they've completed mandatory parent training should they get their license and then are required to take refresher courses throughout the child's life until the child becomes an adult. No license- no kid. We have to stop popping kids out like a pez dispenser and leave them to society to raise them properly. Just feeding, clothing and housing them isn't enough - you have to teach them how to behave appropriately - but the parents haven't been taught how to behave appropriately so how can they teach their kid?
license idea
I loved your idea about being licensed to have children. There are way too many young people especially, that pop children out left and right for a variety of reasons. I liked the idea that people should have a license but I can't fathom how that could be controlled. I think parenthood education should be much more enforced for every young child, so they know what life is really like. There should be a mandatory semester course in reality instead of a lot of useless information that will never be used when people get out of school. Most kids probably don't get any of the "real facts of life" from home and that is why the world is as we know it. I am a person raising someone else's child because they couldn't do it without neglecting the basic needs of this child. Too bad there are many more parents like this one, and where did they learn it?
I think it was '06 or '07
It was a couple of years ago, actually...I wonder what ever happened in that case?
I agree with you completely - it makes no sense that we require licenses to drive, own guns, practice law or medicine or accounting, or even handle food at the local Mickey D's, but any fool with working reproductive organs can have kids. You don't even have to raise them, because the schools and the government and TV will do it for you until it's time to hand them over to the correctional system.
Granby's comet has crashed
My how the reputation of Granby has fallen. I can remember a time when there was pride in attending Granby and envy among other Norfolk high school students that didn't go there !!!!
Don't blame it on the neighborhood.
I grew up in the Park Place area and I attended Maury High School. I came from a single-parent home, I am a college graduate, married, and have one small child. To blame this fight on the neighborhood or to say that it is because kids from a certain neighborhood attend the school is ignorant. Everyone who lives in a certain neighborhood, votes a certain way, or may need public assistance to make it, does not go around starting fights and that is definately not the definition of "ghetto"! Actually you cannot blame it on the neighborhood that a student is "bussed" in from because all of Norfolk's high schools offer out of district busses because each school has a special curriculum that focuses on a certain type of diploma. For example, Maury offers a nursing program so if you live in Ocean View, you can attend Maury for nursing. All of the students do not attend for that reason but some do. It is truely sad that some people think that if they move somewhere else or they allow their children to attend a different school that things are going to be any better. Norfolk may be an urban city but unless you are planning on moving to a farm or living in a bubble, you cannot run away
Fights in school
Parents should bear the responsibility of students in these schools. Singapore has a solution for proper dicipline that actually works - a few lashes with a cane results in an attitude adjustment. If there is a second fight, perhaps the parents should bear the brunt. Oh, is this to harsh??
Not too harsh at all
When I was in high school in the late 70’s, the principal and asst. principal had paddles. In most cases a student was warned once about inappropriate behaviour. After that, it was to the office to the principal’s office where you were given a choice: 3 whacks or a call to your parents (which in my case was worse!). It took maybe two trips in my first year of high school to realize what I was doing was wrong and I changed my ways. No harmful after-effects, either emotionally or physically.
This is the problem with some kids today – they know there is little if any punishment for their acts. They also know their parent(s) will go to bat for them no matter how guilty they are. “Not my kid!”.
Dicipline? That's a BAD word!
Back in the day, if we acted up in school, we were whacked on the hand with a ruler! In front of the class. If we we caught chewing gum in class (a no no according to school policy) a second time, it was stuck on our nose and we had to stand in the hall. If it was REALLY a bad offense (fighting in school) first we were expelled for 2 days, then we had to come into school on Saturdays for ISS. That sucked.
Now-a-days we wouldn't want to hurt thier self esteem now, would we? It might make them feel bad. Or is it child abuse now? Sheesh...and they wonder why kids do what ever the heck they want to without worrying about the consequences. The school doesn't like to expell them, because the parents call up screaming about them being home alone. Schools have turned into one big daycare center for all age groups.
This Is BS
First to commenter "djnva" read the article the football game isn't cancelled. The participants in the fighting should all be expelled, too many second chances given these days. That's a problem nowadays everyone wants a second chance instead of taking responsibility for their actions. Parents are supposed to teach their children responsibility so that when they reach high school they don't do this silly stuff. You're there to learn, not just subjects taught, but how to be responsible and not act like 5 yr olds.
I never said the game was
I never said the game was cancelled, I was responding to some posters that said it should be.
and on Cornell West
I happened to see Cornel West once on TV, when he was shown a clip of a young black male ranting on about his "oppressors" in evil ol' racist America, etc etc, & Dr. West, in laughing amazement, replied, "To me, that kid is speaking Martian." Dr. West himself recognized that evil ol' racist America somehow provided him entree to a stellar education and a 6-figure income.
Point: Obama is correct in his view that we should go to a longer school day & year round schools. Since we're warehousing kids anyway, we should do so during the hours that their parents are (hopefully) at work. This would keep unsupervised kids off the streets, & if parents no longer had to pay for afterschool daycare, think of the money then freed up for discretionary spending-- a shot in the arm for our current consumer-based economy. And sure, let's then increase teachers annual pay,but for a full 12 months of work-- not the 9 they currently work.
Who Is In Control Here?
The teachers fear the principals.
The principals fear the superintendent.
The superintendent fears the school board.
The school board fears the parents.
The parents fear the kids (and their enablers Child Protective Services).
The kids fear...NONE OF THE ABOVE!
Oh really?
What, is this a chain letter you read on line? It's a trite summary of relationships that are far more complex. Part of the problem w/ our youth is a gross misunderstanding of how complex it is to run a school. There are about 2000 students at Granby, and probably 5 administrators. How many 2000 person ships docked at Norfolk Naval Base only have 5 officers? Think before you reduce a school to jibberish like this.
More details please
First of all, I would like to know ...what started the fight? Second, ....what neighborhood are we talking about? Who is the teacher involved? What is the name of the parent accused? What is the name of the officer who sprayed pepper gas? The story lacks details and leaves a lot to assume. Are the names of these adults protected somehow?
This is a system wide problem at NPS that has been progressive for at least the last 25 years. I do not see a reason to cancel the Homecoming event unless this fight is related. Again, this is not clear in the story.
I find Cornell West to be accurate when he talks about the 3 pillars for success. It starts at home. First, the parents need to be more involved even though it may conflict with the work schedule. Second, there has to be a system wide method by the school administration to provide an environment that not only provides a safe place to learn but offers many more opportunities for success such as bringing in successful individuals from the local community to share their knowledge and experiences. And finally, the teachers have to find a way to enjoy teaching again allowing them to exceed the Standards of Learning. Right now, not ma