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Stabbed at School by Classmate

La Plata, Charles County - 10/15/2007

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By Staff Writer Heather Bartlett

Tuesday afternoon Tracey Wise’s daughter, a 15-year-old sophomore at La Plata High School, came directly home after dismissal instead of attending cheerleading practice. Mrs. Wise was immediately suspicious that something was wrong. Her daughter normally loves cheerleading practice.

When the mother began to question her daughter, the teenager broke down in tears. A classmate had stabbed her with what turned out to be a large tapestry needle. The girl lifted her shirt on the side to reveal a small puncture wound, angry-red and slightly swollen.

The teen told her mother that she had been leaning in the doorway of a classroom talking to a teacher when she felt a sharp pain. She yelled out and blamed a friend standing near-by. That boy didn’t do it and identified the person who had, to both Wise and the teacher. He also explained that the perpetrator had taken off running down the hall. The young Wise found out later that another friend had also been stabbed.

In class together a little later, Wise asked her attacker what the girl had used to poke her. The girl presented a very large sewing-style needle. However, it didn’t look like any sewing needle Wise had ever seen.

“She pulled it out of her purse, it was a huge needle,” Wise told The Bay Net. “I told her, I can’t believe you stabbed me with that.”

Tracey Wise said she waited until 8 p.m. that evening for the school to contact her about the incident. When it became apparent that no communication from either La Plata High School or Charles County Public Schools administration, she then phoned a friend in the Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) who helped her get in touch with the appropriate CCSO contact for her concerns.

“The only people who have been any help in all of this [are] Officer Callaway and Officer Kaylor,” Tracey Wise told The Bay Net.

According to Tracey Wise, her daughter stayed home Wednesday to take pain medication, ice the wound and recuperate emotionally. Her daughter returned to school on Thursday, but again came home immediately after school without attending her extra-curricular activities.

The girl told her mother she felt threatened by the student who stabbed her with the tapestry needle. The daughter said the girl gave her threatening looks all day, and made teeth-sucking sounds when she walked by.

On Friday, she stayed home from school again; both for fear of retaliation, and to receive the battery of vaccination shots at the pediatrician. A puncture wound like hers is more serious than her mother knew. Tracey Wise told The Bay Net that her daughter’s physician is angry with her for waiting two days before bringing her in for shots.

“I didn’t even realize it was so urgent,” she explained. “I just didn’t know.”

Because the needle broke the skin, and because the Wises don’t know how many people were stabbed with it, she needs a series of preventative vaccinations including tetanus and hepatitis shots. The doctor also told the daughter that she must take HIV tests for at least the next year. HIV can incubate for up to 9 years before a person develops symptoms of the virus. Tracey Wise stated that this was the most upsetting to her daughter considering her straight-edge lifestyle devoid of sex and drugs. During a phone interview the younger Wise told The Bay Net about her anxiety over the HIV testing.

“I seriously think I cried over it for about five hours,” she admitted. “It never crossed my mind [that] I could get AIDS. I didn’t see how it’s fair. I’m a virgin and now I have to get tested for a sexually transmitted disease.”

Trying to Get Answers from CCPS

Because no one from La Plata High School had called her on the day of the incident, on the following morning Mrs. Wise tried to reach La Plata school administrators to talk with them about the stabbing. When she wasn’t able to reach them, she began calling CCPS administrators, also without success. None of the people she called returned her calls that whole school day.

“The next morning when I called – I just opened the phone book and started calling everybody and everybody was in meetings. I mean, six hours in meetings? Come on!” exclaimed Tracey Wise.

She told The Bay Net that, initially, she had not wanted to cause too much trouble for the young lady who had injured her daughter.

“I think education is important and I don’t want her life ruined and to have a juvenile record," she said, “but I think they are all laughing in my face.”

She explained that the stabber’s continued harassment of the daughter and what she considers lack of school concern, action, or any kind of mediation, made her feel as though she had no choice but to file a police report.

She asserts that none of the contact she had with the school or CCPS concerning the stabbing was initiated by CCPS. Tracey Wise was further upset when she heard from other students that the perpetrator had only received a one hour after-school suspension possibly because she’s an honor student.

If the account the Wises' received of the attacker’s punishment is accurate, it is in stark contrast to that of former Milton Somers Middle School student, Tim Hapner who was expelled for three weeks after he accidentally brought a Boy Scout pocketknife to school last May. He kept it closed, pocketed and to himself all day; but when it fell out on the way home, surrendered it to his bus driver without incident. Tim Hapner was expelled for the remainder of the school year despite very good grades, an award-winning behavior record and glowing comments from teachers about his behavior and attitude.

The CCPS Student Code of Conduct is quite clear on its weapons policies. It states:

In the event that a common object, designed for innocent purpose, is used as a weapon or threatened to be used as a weapon by a student against another individual, the object would fulfill the definition of a weapon and the appropriate procedure would be followed. (Sec. G.1., p. 13)
The Board of Education views the possession and/or usse of a weapon as a serious example of gross misconduct and is grounds for immediate suspension to the Superintendent with a recommendation for expulsion from school. The parents are notified and police are contacted. (Sec. G.3., p. 13)

Kristen Timko, Media Relations Officer of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office told The Bay Net that the officer who took the complaint investigated the assault. He discovered that the girl assaulted two students by poking them with potentially the same large sewing needle. That student will be charged with assault as a juvenile.

CCPS Deputy Superintendent Ronald Cunningham told The Bay Net that there was not a lot he could answer directly about circumstances surrounding the stabbing, but that, “Appropriate discipline has been administered”. What “appropriate discipline” amounted to he said he couldn’t divulge.

When asked if there were any other reported stabbings, Cunningham told The Bay Net, “Not that I’m aware of”. Later in the conversation he clarified that CCPS is aware of two students who had been jabbed with the needle.

The younger Wise told The Bay Net that the girl showed her the needle in 6th period. When her mother finally spoke to the school, she asked them why the weapon wasn’t taken from the attacker.

“If you know a student has a weapon, do you just stop looking if you don’t find it in the trash can?” Tracey Wise said.

A phone call to Garth Bowling, the principal of La Plata High School was not returned.

Health Concerns

Wise is very concerned that, because she hadn’t received communication from the school about her daughter being stabbed, there are other parents who are also in the dark. She worries that they are neither aware of the potential health risks to their children nor that those children need shots and testing, too.

According to Deputy Superintendent Cunningham, all of the involved parents had been notified. Since the school knew of no other incidents with the attacker and her needle, they did not see the need to send out letters to all the parents informing them of potential health concerns.

According to the Wises, La Plata HS students are aware of more stabbing incidents involving that needle. They’re not, however, very comfortable talking about it more specifically or informing the parents that this might have happened to their child.

“I don’t know why they don’t at least have a morning announcement about it, or try to find out if more students were poked by this needle,” Tracey Wise 's daughter lamented. “Her doctor told me that if any of the kids had communicable diseases that the likelihood of her getting one or more was pretty good.”

~*~*~

Staff Writer, Anna Dailey contributed to this article.

Heather Bartlett is TheBayNet.com’s Waldorf and Arts Correspondent. In her other life, she’s an artist, co-creator of the political group blog Charles County Café. To contact her about this article, Waldorf issues or Arts events comment below or email bartlett@thebaynet.com.
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Comment On This Story!

Brandigirlpa	10/15/2007 at 11:03 AM
stabbed by a classmate.
I actually know the victim. She is my sister's niece. I can't believe that this happened to her. I think that it is sad that despite her choices now she has to go through testing for diseases She shouldn't have to worry about. I'm outraged to know that the high school that I attended didn't do anything. Tracey Wise deserved a return phone call. She is a parent who trusts her daughter's safety to the school. While they can't control everything, parents deserve some answers. The school board should have been in constant contact with her throughout the whole ordeal. It's their job and if they can't handle the responsibilities that go with it then maybe they should find someone who can. I'm outraged that this happened!!
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llnewtll	10/15/2007 at 11:14 AM
Learning Institution?
La Plata High is a learning institution? My children are 12 and 13 years old, and they are about to go to high school. Needless to say they will NOT be attending this school. I guess I have to start saving money to send them to Private school or better yet, I guess we will have to move. First off, not to mention its a WEAPON that was used on school property, but the disease aspect of the whole thing. Hepatitis and AIDS!! Are you kidding? As a parent, we love our children and for the way this whole incident was treated, we as parents should be OUTRAGED. I for one will be sending a letter to the board of education.
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Justin	10/15/2007 at 11:47 AM
Reply to llnewtll: yeah
Stuff like that doesn't happen at private schools.

somdcontyguy	10/15/2007 at 12:03 PM
1 hr suspension?
I have grown up in the area and have lived here all my life and have never heard of anything like this. I mean come on, one hr of suspension ... an honor student doing this ... even though she is an honor student doesn't mean she shouldn't get the same punishment as the other children. I guess TV and video gaming has had some kind of influence here. Back to the topic this girl should be relocated to some sort of home schooling where she can stab her family instead of innocent people. I feel for Tracy Wise and her daughter and her family.
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X-Fusion	10/15/2007 at 1:25 PM
Say hello to second-degree assault!
And if she isn't charged with that, the CCPS is just a tad to lenient. § 3-203. Assault in the second degree A person may not commit an assault. (b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, a person who violates subsection (a) of this section is guilty of the misdemeanor of assault in the second degree and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $2,500 or both. (c)(1) In this subsection, "physical injury" means any impairment of physical condition, excluding minor injuries. (2) A person may not intentionally cause physical injury to another if the person knows or has reason to know that the other is a law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of the officer's official duties. (3) A person who violates paragraph (2) of this subsection is guilty of the felony of assault in the second degree and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $5,000 or both.
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somdgirl1965	10/15/2007 at 5:09 PM
Reply to X-Fusion: This is a good time for parents to unite
I mean that. It is a good time for parents to unite and go to the school or the board. This could be life threating. What if this poor girl contacts a std because of this and the attacker does not get punished? I know one thing, my next call would be to channel 9 news.

HeatherB	10/15/2007 at 1:38 PM
Clarification
I want to clarify that some of this information was relayed to me through Ms. Wise and some of it was relayed to her through her daughter and students. It is very difficult for confirmation of events from officials when it is school related since the information in the student's file is confidential. Therefore the school would not divulge the nature of the discipline of the student to Ms. Wise. Other than other students telling her, she had no way of finding out what the school was going to do about this incident.
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HeatherB	10/15/2007 at 1:50 PM
Also
I don't know if the girl is some kind of major threat - all we know about is this incident. She could just be a kid who let her impulses get the better of her and otherwise is a good kid. Wise didn't even want to make a big deal of it. It was the lack of information, contact and action and what she felt as a belittling of her concerns that escalated this situaton. The issue I think is the way it was handled by admin did not validate the Ms. Wise's concerns. I think this is mostly a lesson of finding ways of handling things very diplomatically and empathetically when something like this happens. My daughter was threatened by a girl on Myspace last year who went to her school. The VP talked to both of them, phoned me immediatly, they told me they contacted her parents and the girl apologized and the two girls talked about it a bit. I think the most important thing they did though was explain to the girl the gravity of what she'd done and that it wasn't just against school rules to physically threaten people. It all calmed down and ended. The ignoring of Ms. Wise made it worse and made her more upset. Perhaps the girl who did the stabbing didn't realize the seriousness of what she'd done. Maybe if somebody sat her down and told her how serious physical assault is and how she owes the Wise girl and apology - then perhaps she would have been less inclined to be angry at the Wise girl and more thankful that no charges were pressed. Also, Ms. Wise's concerns extended to the other students who were rumored to have been poked with this needle. Especially after the doctor told her all of the shots and tests she needed. If the girl's family wanted to make a statment they could contact Anna Dailey at Annadailey@thebaynet.com.
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Latisha	10/15/2007 at 1:58 PM
What is happening to Charles County?
I moved from Prince Georges County to get away from all this violence and now its hit me here in La Plata. I have a girl that attends La Plata. If she was stabbed by somebody and the school board handled it this way, or the lack there of, I would personally go up in there and raise serious hell. My daughter got one day suspension for texting on her cell phone in class. So, I guess its ok to go around stabbing multiple kids just as long as your not using your cell phone? You cant be doing this in todays world, with all the diseases and such. Charles County is going DOWNHILL>
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jdman	10/16/2007 at 7:27 AM
Reply to Latisha: Whats Happening?
This incident is just an example of what's happening to the entire society of the USA. No values, broken homes, bad parents/no parent/or single parent only homes. Lack of respect for people. People growing up not caring about nothing except for what they can get. But we have become a country of people who what to be sensitive and not hurt no ones feelings. Our out of controlled growth has brought CC this new progressive society and it aint good. So thank our so called leaders full pushing this progressive agenda.

Latisha	10/15/2007 at 2:03 PM
What is happening to Charles County?
I moved from Prince Georges County to get away from all this violence and now its hit me here in La Plata. I have a girl that attends La Plata. If she was stabbed by somebody and the school board handled it this way, or the lack there of, I would personally go up in there and raise serious hell. My daughter got one day suspension for texting on her cell phone in class. So, I guess its ok to go around stabbing multiple kids just as long as your not using your cell phone? You can't be doing this in today's world, with all the diseases and such. Charles County is going DOWNHILL>
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smoothop	1/2/2009 at 12:18 AM
Reply to Latisha: They aren't going downhill.
They are going to hell in a handbasket. It's no wonder they can't get decent teachers to hang around for the second year in this county. Get these administrators to get their sorry rear ends into the classrooms and see how well they can control these thugs. They are a bunch of pussys. They will send teachers into these battlezones and BS their "strategies" all day, but yet, they won't act as leaders and show the teachers how to handle these thugs in these classrooms. How in the world would we have won world war II if we had these spineless leaders, leading our men into battle? Yes, these are battlezones where spineless administrators leave the new teachers to hang out to dry in these thug-filled "classrooms".

Aluanu97	10/15/2007 at 2:46 PM
Stabbed??? In School
Let me just say that my daughter is a student as well as a very good friend with this child ..and I can tell you that this mother has given this school to many chances to contact her or even show support to this child as the VICTIM in this malicious attack. School is a place I would think that our children could feel safe, not anymore. Its not acceptable to take weapons of any sort to school EVEN if you get good grades..see how stupid that concept sounds!!Do what the POLICES AND PROCEDURES book says EXPEL this other student at the very least. I will end with this.. You can take a cell phone away when a student is taking a pic of friends and call it disrupting the class....but not action is taken by the school when a child gets stabbed ..and Yes I think all of the parents of LPHS should have been notified of this attack....We need to talk to our children too.
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poster	10/15/2007 at 2:48 PM
Unbelievable...
The girl who did this obviously INTENDED to harm someone. I'm sorry but that qualifies as a stabbing to me. A friends son and another student unintentionally "vandalized" (as the school said, they broke something due to horseplay) and got 2 days each suspension, a police report and had to pay damages. They reported what they did and offered to pay damages immediately. The school said "policy" was to file a police report so now they have a mark on their records - overkill in my opinion. This is clearly way worse and she only gets an hour of suspension?!?!?!? Those kids deserved an hour this girl needs expulsion! It may have been a judgement error on her part as she's young but please, she cannot be trusted to not harm another. Her parents should have to find another means of education for her, good student or not.
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poster	10/15/2007 at 2:49 PM
Unbelievable...
The girl who did this obviously INTENDED to harm someone. I'm sorry but that qualifies as a stabbing to me. A friends son and another student unintentionally "vandalized" (as the school said, they broke something due to horseplay) and got 2 days each suspension, a police report and had to pay damages. They reported what they did and offered to pay damages immediately. The school said "policy" was to file a police report so now they have a mark on their records - overkill in my opinion. This is clearly way worse and she only gets an hour of suspension?!?!?!? Those kids deserved an hour this girl needs expulsion! It may have been a judgment error on her part as she's young but please, she cannot be trusted to not harm another. Her parents should have to find another means of education for her, good student or not.
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PhillyBaby	10/15/2007 at 2:51 PM
Scared of being called out.
I also know the victim. She is quite a special young lady and does not deserve this type of treatment. I know that with everything going on in society these days, with the Jena 6 and Katrina and all, people are afraid of being called out for discrimintation. Well, I have to put my two cents in here and say that as someone who is other than white, I'd like for the administration to ask themselves are they so afraid to be called out for discrimination that they fail to do the right thing? It's a tough call sometimes, when we have to punish someone for doing something wrong, especially when they are a good person otherwise, but why should the victim have to suffer for it. The CCPS is so busy trying to pass the buck that they are adding to the problem. No one, including the deputy superintendant wants to touch this one. Kids already have a hard time trusting the powers that be and then for those same people in positions of power to desert the children that we place in their charge, what are we supposed to do? This was not handled properly at all and the CCPS needs to re-evaluate their structure.
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Brandigirlpa	10/15/2007 at 6:24 PM
outraged.
It's because of things like this that many parents feel the need to enroll their children into online schools. I think its a strange and sad world we live in. It's actually kind of scary to know that now kids are attacking each other.Why would an honor student act out this way? Where are the parents? What happened to active parenting? Now we just shove our kids infront of the t.v? No thankyou! I have a little girl she just started kindergarten and this kind of stuff scares me. I Just wonder where were her parents because I know I would have never pulled any crap like this growing up. I think that we can only blame the school for not return calls and for giving a ridiculious punishment. I think that blame also needs to be put on the parents.What is going on here!! We need to start putting the focus back on our children. After all it's our job a parents to raise our kids to be respectable adults but I think alot of parents got sidetracked along the way. They started letting games and media raise their kids. The job you do only reflects the time and effort you put in.!!
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Netgear	10/15/2007 at 8:17 PM
Blame Game
Good Evening I could not see myself passing up the opportunity to comment on this story. What caught my eye was the word stabbing. Great Headline! When I hear the word stabbing on the news, I think of a knife. Mrs. Wise places fault on the school system for her having to wait for a phone call. Why did Mrs. Wise wait two days before taking her daughter to a doctor? I thought she was STABBED? Please correct me if I am wrong, but as a Social Worker, I am not allowed to provide the name(s) of a minor to a third party without parent consent. Was parental consent granted prior Tim Harper's name to be published? I sincerely feel bad for all the victims, even the "attacker" along with their families. However, people are placing blame on the school. Do we have all the facts or are people going by what students say? If individuals are going by what students say, that's the problem.
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annadailey	10/16/2007 at 10:48 AM
Reply to Netgear: Credit where credit is due...
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (Click For Link) defines "stab" as "1 : to wound or pierce by the thrust of a pointed weapon". Therefore, the word appropriately describes the aggressor's behavior. The summary beside the title openly names the weapon in question. Our use of the word also fits Mrs. Wise's understanding of the injury AFTER speaking with the family pediatrician. Both writer & editor for this article have children in the Charles County public schools. Their school nurses notify us of all major or minor injuries. We felt it lay justly within the realm of expectation that at least a school nurse call home about this injury, particularly since the incident occurred in the presence of a teacher. Because the injury occurred at the hand of another student, one could also expect a call from the principal or at least the vice principal for the child's grade, like one would receive if the children had been involved in a fight. Follow this article's embedded link to the Hapner Family's article which ran last June. The Bay Net does not use the names of juveniles without consent of their parents. For that reason, if you noticed, we withheld the name of the aggressor. We can, however, refer to articles in our archives because permission has already been granted. As per industry standard, Ms Bartlett diligently confirmed with authorities as many of the details, which the Wise Family reported, as possible. Those details not officially confirmed, but which were relevant to the Wise Family's experience are stated in language indicating unconfirmed status. In response to other reader comments, the photo appearing with this article was not staged to exaggerate the size of the needle in question. The needles appear as arranged on the shelf at the Waldorf JoAnn Fabric. In fact, for the benefit of our readers unfamiliar with needlework, "quilting needles" are often larger than a general hand-sewing needle; they are designed to pass through more layers of fabric and batting than is usual for sewing.

X-Fusion	10/16/2007 at 10:49 AM
Reply to Netgear: Did you read?
She didn't think it was that serious until the doctor told her she has to take HIV tests for the next year. And yes, it was a stabbing. Let me give you a quick definition of a stabbing: Anything that goes through an object or person resulting in malformation; aka stabbing an individual and creating a mark or hole. Either way you look at it, it's a stabbing. As far as placing blame on the school and school system, why not? What did they do to rectify the problem? Nothing and nothing that we know of as of yet. It's been almost a week later and nothing has still been done.

Justin	10/16/2007 at 12:28 PM
Reply to Netgear: Why?
Why do you "sincerely feel bad" for the attacker? I know she's just a High School student, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out its probably not a good idea to go around poking people with a needle.

somdgirl1965	10/16/2007 at 11:10 PM
Reply to Netgear: Stabbing does not mean only a knife
Look it up in the dictionary. What is the big deal on this? The Bay Net seems to be backstepping on this story a bit. And what type of ethics is it for the author of this story to go over to somd.com and lash out at concerned citizens? Now I am beginning to wonder how much was left out in this story and how much may have been embellished? So what's the real deal? And why did Heather feel the need to take a trip over to somd.com???

annadailey	10/17/2007 at 9:21 AM
Reply to Netgear: welcome somdgirl1965
Welcome somdgirl1965. Our official word on the story is in the article above. It has not altered. One would hope that any concerned Southern Maryland citizen no matter what her profession would be welcome to express her thoughts on any on-line news forum discussing Southern Maryland topics.

HeatherB	10/15/2007 at 9:19 PM
Suspension Clarification
Again - just to clarify - we were unable to obtain the exact disciplinary action from the school. The 1 hour after school in school suspension (what we used to call detention in my day!) was what they learned from non-school admin/employee sources in the school. However, if the girl was in school on Thursday when the Wise girl returned, it indicates to me it was no more than a 1 day suspension AT MOST.
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wchardy	10/17/2007 at 11:21 AM
"...And that's exactly the issue here"
The "real deal" here, as somdgirl1965 seemed eager to question desparagingly, is the lack of communication from official channels at the school and the system. There should be no doubt as to what was done in this situation, why, and how it will be handled if any further incidents occur. The first person Ms. Wise should have heard about the incident from was an official at the school. LPHS and CCPS dropped the ball, plain and simple. Sadly, it seems symptomatic of a board that makes noncommunication a prefered policy -- the complete opposite approach to the proactive one any school system should take. As a side note, I viewed the exchange at Southern Maryland Online (somd.com) and found nothing I would characterize as "lashing out" by Ms. Bartlett. She only seemed concerned to clarify what was meant in the article, and explain any necessary limitations in her statements.
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buckeyebilly	10/19/2007 at 10:41 AM
Come-on-people
First of all Brandigirlpa your comment about a school you attended and the relation to you should have no bearing on this matter what so ever. Be very careful when you are so eager to put the blame on the parents. You have a small child that is in kindergarten and as she gets older and more independent and some day maybe she does something dumb, we'll all gladly blame you for it. I agree that more attention needs to be on our children but rest assured they, like us have a mind of their own and all we can really do is teach them right from wrong and HOPE they follow the rules. Ilnewtll; Good luck with the whole private school thing. There is many reason they called "Private" and one of them is so when your little precious does something dumb the money you pay for them to attend is also used to "sweep-it-under-the-rug" because they cannot afford incidents to tarnish their "good name". Nothing against private schools but they have their problems as well and acting like they are the answer just makes you sound a little out of the loop if you will. As far as the weapon thing it could just as easily been a pencil so I guess that means we are all carrying a "POTENTIAL" weapon on us at any given time. Letter to school board is a good start and I hope you have great success with that. Justin: your reply to brandigirl is just ridiculous, stuff like this happens everywhere and in all walks of life. Maybe it hasn't happened yet at your school (hopefully it wont) but it easily could. I could go on and on with most of your replies but what a waste of time when there any many issues to consider here. Most of them have been covered but I have yet to figure out if any of the "victims" did anything to provoke the stabber? Granted stabbing someone should not be what you first think of if someone calls you a name but the reality of it is name calling is minor in comparison to what takes place in most of our school systems today. There have been incidents where stabbing someone was purely a means of self defense. It doesn't sound like the case here but just be aware that there are no "blanket' rules that work in every situation. It is understandable that everyone is upset/outraged and I am grateful it did not happen to my daughter however, there are some key elements that need to looked at here. * First of all the Police need to be involved to investigate and report the findings. This is not a play-ground scuffle. * Second the school should be eager to get to the bottom of this (LPHS and CCPS) and notify ALL parents who have a child affected by an incident of this nature. * Finally the guilty party needs to be punished/prosecuted just as the law that was broken dictates. Then if there are any civil suites to be filed then so be it, at least the school system and the police have done what WE PAY THEM TO DO! Use them. As far as the school board goes, I have yet to be impressed with the school board anywhere in the State of Maryland. Good luck with that one. Maybe we need a completely re-vamped system, one that doesn't take into consideration the hurt feelings your precious child has because he/she is FORCED to follow the rules. Conclusion: After reading some of the post here today it really is no mystery to me as to why we are where we are today with situations like this. Parent's should be involved but can't be held accountable or blamed if they are involved and their child does something dumb. Not just kids, but people are going to do just about anything they feel they can get away with and that just seems to be human nature (in today's world anyway). Our children need us but not as a friend, they need a parent and that always includes "tough-love". God bless you all.
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Justin	10/19/2007 at 2:48 PM
Reply to buckeyebilly: Thanks
Buckeye- I was being sarcastic but thanks for explaining that to everyone, of course it can happen anywhere.

HeatherB	10/19/2007 at 5:16 PM
Reply to buckeyebilly: Provoked?
As far as I can tell from this side of the story, the girl did not provoke the other girl. Even if she had done something "provoking" I don't think she can claim self-defense when the girl was jabbed/stabbed in the BACK with her front AWAY from the girl. And YES the whole school should have been notified about this incident just in case anybody else was poked/stabbed/flesh broken with that needle. My main concern is the apparent lack of response/concern/lack of empathy reported to me by Mrs. Wise from the school admin.

smoothop	11/4/2007 at 9:45 PM
Reply to buckeyebilly: The value of the blogs
I am very grateful for these blogs, as the school system throws up brick walls and is determine NOT to allow the free flow of information. Pregnant women and nearly blind women are being attacked and beaten by middle school thugs IN SCHOOL. The administration claims that they "handle it". I bet you didn't read about either of those situations in the newspaper. With the "electronic dispensing" of information about our children, the school system hopes that there is no need for a parent to go visit a school, observe teachers and classrooms. Trust me, they don't want you in the schools. With that being said, we need to keep reporting what's going on in the schools via these blogsites. Good luck to the lady with her child being stabbed in school. If a kid stuck my child with a needle, knife, whatever, I would try to have the administration punished, and would raise hell until they cried uncle. Don't let up. Keep applying pressure at the top.

TatiM	11/30/2007 at 11:44 AM
Reply to Stabbed at School by Classmate
How come when somone gets stabbed in La Plata High School it's kept hush hush, but when a stabbing occurs at Great Mills High School it's on the front page of the local papers?
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smoothop	1/2/2009 at 12:12 AM
Reply to TatiM: stabbing at LaPlata
You can thank Barf Bowling for the shenanigans that happened at LaPlata. It's good they shipped that turkey out of that school, but for the unfortunate families of St. Mary's County schools. They need to fire these incompetent has-beens and quit passing them off to ruin other schools.

smoothop	1/2/2009 at 12:24 AM
To anyone who has a child accosted!
Do not!!!! rely on any "administrators" to "take care of situations" in these schools. Go right to the police and the newspaper and file an assault report. This is the only way that you'll be taken seriously. It's no wonder these bums try like hell to keep the parents out of the schools, only allowing them to observe for two "45 minutes" one per quarter.
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Stabbed at School by Classmate