What Would YOU Do?

Posted by Vulnadia on Sep 29, 2009 at 09:44 AM This truly saddens me... This morning, Bregon was up at the crack o dawn,AGAIN! I'm tellin you guys, he LOVES this school, and his attitude and the way he handles everything has changed soo much. This time last year, I had to drag him out of bed daily...it was always a fight it seemed. But now he is up and ready to go. He is happy and loves it. He truly looks forward to school each day...work or not...which is amazing! This is why we came to be pulling into the Magnet parking lot at 7:58am (we were super early 'cause it doesnt start til 8:30.) I watched as a group of kids (who I had watched come out of their houses and get together and start their walk to I suppose Stoner Hill as it's only 2 blocks or so away uphill and it would be much too late for elementary school kids to be bus catching.) But they were walking to school or so it appeared and I was worried (pulling into the school lot) because they were soo late for elementary school. I used to HATE to be late and they quite obviously weren't going to make it on time. We pulled into the b ack parking lot. Remember, drop off takes a while for Bregon due to his 2 bags (one fencing gear , the other backpack)... But, as I pulled out of the school lot, those same kids had stopped halfway up the street. Ttwo of the boys had taken off their belts had had commenced to beating this little girl in the backpack as hard as they could with them. She was just standing there, letting them do it, staring off in to space. I don't know if she could feel it or what the deal was. I am guessing she couldn't really feel much and thankfully so, because of her bags, but STILL! Why would a bunch of elementary school aged kids be doing this? There were about 7 of them...these were what appeared to be the older of the bunch too...and they all just watched each other, even the little girl, getting hit as if it were quite commonplace. I soo wanted to offer them a ride so they would be on time...so they would stop...I have a mommievan afterall.. I wanted to use it as an exuse to pull over and make those little boys stop beating that little girl... But then how would that look? Do I become the child molester in the white van cliche? My intentions are good, but still in this day and age it would be taken wrong most likely...ESPECIALLY in the here and now...what if? But these kids needed to be at school already...the bell would ring any minute for their class to start. This is the practical side of me speaking, yet there they were, all of them standing out on the street, probably about 10 minutes away from school on short little legs if they huffed it...but they werent even trying to be punctual... AND they were beating one of the kids, 2 on one...and she just stood there and took it...she let them do it. And to think that they would rather stop and do this than anything else...why? What does this mean? What do YOU think it means? Seriously, is this truly a sign of the times? What do you do? Do I honk at them to try and get them to stop? These are CHILDREN, human beings, not dogs or some animal standing in the middle of the street in the way of oncoming traffic risking getting run over. So should I have pulled over and given them all a piece of my mind? To what avail? Should I have offerred them a ride the few blocks it would take to get them to school which is what the mommie in me wanted to do to begin with... But in this day and age I really truly cannot do that...even though the mommie inside me wanted me to be able to DO SOMETHING, anything...they should be in school, they shouldn't be beating anyone, hurtful or not physically, mentally, that little girl should not be standing there allowing this...why doesn't she run? Why don't the other kids say or do anything to help her? I this indicative of what society has come to? Why can't I stop and do something? What are the risks to me? Will they see me as help or as danger? If they were my kids and someone stopped what would they do in this same situation? (even though I like to think my kids wouldn't be in this same situation, it could happen if it is happening before my eyes.) It is NOT the 1950's anymore, and that statement that holds its weight in soo much more than anything I can safely say here on this site without getting myself into more hot water than it's worth...but truly, there are many issues on many levels that put me smack dab BACK in that time period in spite of my wanting to help. Sadly I wasn't in a neighborhood where I can feel comfortable doing what I know should be my options as a parent, a citizen who cares...who truly cares about these children and what they are doing, where they should be...but truth be told I don't know these kids...I don't know their parents, their teachers...What if my actions are found to be wrong? Found wanting? or even illegal in some sense? Take for example, the other day, crossing Centenary at Olive by the Circle K just after the light, a child jay-walked and stopped in my lane of traffic...my light was green and had been for a while and I was going the speed limit... He stopped in my lane and put his hand out to try & stop me (think HALT) like he had to have seen someone do...cops do it in traffic stops sometimes...but he, A CHILD did it and I was almost too close to stop...I nearly hit him, I almost did. It was scary as can be...scarier still, that I actually recognized him...it was a child I know from the Renzi Center... THIS I could do something about BECAUSE I know him...not well, but I do know for a fact that one of his teachers at Renzi gives him a ride home sometimes and can talk to his parents about this behavior and how he almost became my hood ornament no matter how inadvertant the accident was/would have been. I could change this or so I hoped before something bad really did happen to this boy. So forgive me, I jumped on my cell and called my friend, his teacher and told him what happened so that when he got to Renzi, he could be pulled aside and talked to about street safety. Hopefully when his mom or dad or whomever came to pick him up, or when he was dropped off, they would know, be made awares and care... Because if it happened to me, it will happen again...and somebody saw it, somebody recognized their child and cared enough to say something...maybe just maybe something could change... But that child, THAT was a child I know (not well, but I had options)...these kids are kids i don't know...would their parents care? Do their teachers? I care but what do I do? What can I do? These children and their obvious lack of caring about punctuality leads me to believe that there will be no punishment or anything much said once they do get to school late. It's ashamed because maybe, maybe if someone in a position to make a difference (without risk of being labeled as stranger danger or being reduced to having to treat them much in the same situation one might treat an errant animal in the street to keep it from being smushed...) If these people cared without giving up on them, maybe there would be a difference...am I giving up? Did I do the right thing? Back to the new school plan...would keeping these kids in a school they are hesitant to attend in the first place willingly, help the situation that I witnessed today? I seriously doubt it...if the school had an atmosphere similar to the one my own child attends, maybe it could make a difference, but over all the schools locally do NOT share that atmosphere. I know this school that these children had to be headed towards doesn't because once upon a time, my own child went there. This was back when it was magnet-like school or supposed to be functioning as one and he was 4 & 5... We quickly found out that things had changed and we went elsewhere... Sure there are some teachers who really do care...One such teacher who took good care of my eldest actually teaches at Renzi now... She and Bregon had a little reunion when he started there a few years back...& it was great to be able to let her know the good she had done all those years ago. We let her know how she had given him a love of science that would help him through some not-so-great moments later on and keep him inspired with hopes that it gets better 'til he got more challenging teachers... But do these kids have that? Will extending the school hour really make a difference? Because it is these children that the program is aimed at helping. But if the schools are already failing them in some respects, how can we expect them to get better by lengthening the day if no other changes are met?? I still worry about those kids and what became of them...They should have been at school at the time they were beating the other child. They shouldn't have been beating her to begin with...it wasn't even a true fight, either... That little girl just stood there letting them do it while everyone else just stood and watched... Sadly, I had to basically do the same...society here just doesn't make it safe for me to stop and help anymore...the risks are too great. Out of respect for humanity, should I have honked at them like an animal in the street? Should I have risked stranger danger offenses and tried, offered them a ride to redirect their attention and get them to stop beating that little girl? What would you have done? the neighborhood being what it is, and adults actually residing IN the neighborhood being on the street in transit is actually what kept me from being able to do much of anything... the adults didnt move a muscle,deviate from their path or even look at them-they ignored it... so i if i had made a move in any direction, how would it have been received?? would i be putting my own life & that of my kids in danger trying to help a situation that i found awful & in the wrong & would those around me treat it as my trying to help, or would they see me as a threat? so many good intentions end up turning bad in situations just like this- where they only playing? were they serious? i can never know some say i should have called the school, but i cant be sure that is where they were headed...all i know is that it is the nearest public elementary school for anyone that age to be walking at that specific time... some would have stopped-a friend of mine in houston has her cps badge/credentials to back her up should any act be questioned by anyone...but i myself do not... so i still just do not know ~mimi