School threats: your opinion?
 

Los Angeles schools, New York respond differently to threat - CNN.com

So we have two cities, New York and LA, on opposite sides of America, both getting apparently the very same email threatening attacks against their students. One (LA) takes the threat seriously and shuts down its schools. The other (NY) believes the email to be a hoax and keeps its schools open.

Which do you think acted correctly, or is there any way to decide that?
I personally have never yet heard of an attack by ISIS or their agents which was warned of in advance, though I admit I'm not that au fait with their actions, so I would think it is a hoax. But put in that situation, I guess you would have to put the kids and staff safety first. I'm not sure how I'd react.

What do you guys think?

Coinflip. If schools shutdown every time they received a threat our education system would be even worse than it already is. I think the obvious knee jerk reaction is to say, "shut it down for safety" which makes sense, but you have to draw the line somewhere. It should be a case by case decision based on the intelligence(if any) we have about the threats while keeping in consideration the current state of society(threats directly after 9/11 vs threats during times of "peace").

Yeah, like I say, my main point is that I have never heard of ISIS emailing "We're gonna blow you up" or anything. They seem always to strike without warning so why change tack? They're also into more killing than just spreading panic/discontent/fear, so given a choice between uncertainty and bodycount, I feel they're always going to go for the latter.

Also, the NYPD seemed to think that the threats were very generic and had no keywords or special characteristics that would mark them out as being genuine. Interesting how the two cities reacted though?

Apart from the unlikelihood of people announcing their crimes that TH had mentioned, the fact that this is going down while a lot of students are taking finals makes me side with NY a little more.

I thought it's K-12. No finals for them right now.

You didn't have finals in high school?

He's from New Jersey.

Meanwhile my college has had three armed robberies in the past 12 hours and they sure as hell didn't cancel any finals. The campus emergency alert call system has been blowing up my phone all day.

Homeschool your kids. Problem solved. ;)

But that's what crazy people do.

Universities court homeschooled kids because they are better educated and score higher on tests.

*struggling to believe this statement*

I hear that universities target white kids because black kids statistically score lower on tests as well.

Pretty sure universities court kids who have a combination of test scores, athletics, electives, and other activities, because they're supposed to be more well-rounded. Are your kids Class President or captain of the football team? God I hope not.

This is true. Homeschooled students have a higher average acceptance rate (although studies can be manipulated depending on who gathers the data, so who knows).

But, having been homeschooled all the way through elementary, I will say there are some reeeaall wackos out there who do it (mostly for religious reasons). Then there are the parents who do it because they think they can do better than the public school systems (mine fall into this category).

EDIT: On topic, I'd want my school to cancel classes if they received a threat. We've been shut down due to weapons before, so they probably would. But missing a day of school at the same time as everyone else would just be sweet.

Just because they have a higher acceptance rate doesn't not mean that you are being courted. It merely means that your kind are accepted more.

And how do you know your parents aren't crazy? I'm sure plenty of the children of religious whacko homeschoolers think their parents are sane.

Touche. I'd also be interested to see numbers based on kids who were homeschooled through high school vs. those who were homeschooled only through elementary.

'Cause I'm in the public system now (Grade 10) and I'm learning stuff we covered back in Grade 8. Plus my dad tutored math for students from Queen's University and Canada's most prestigious private schools, and my mom has classroom teaching experience.

This is why we homeschool. My wife and I both hold graduate degrees, and we know we can educate our children better than any public school can. As my wife put it, "All you learn to do in public school is line up and obey."

And socialize.

Sure worked for you. :p:

Yes. People never socialized before the advent of public schools.

I'm a ****ing weirdo, but I shudder to think what I would have been like had I not been thrown to the pimply-faced wolves to grow a thick skin.

I've had, like, seven pimples since I hit puberty. Be jealous of my perfect complexion.

Don't get ahead of yourself, the suffering has only just begun.

Nah, I've got good genes. Neither of my parents had acne.

Yeh I had finals. In like May/June when school was almost over...

Just checked the calendar in my home town and Semester 2 doesn't end until Jan 26, which is around the time midterms would be. Idk, how different schedules are in Cali but you're no where near midterms or finals around here.

No, before public schools kids socialized at work. Education aside you get a lot of life experience going to school.. You're subjected to culture, people with different points of view, bullying, etc. Not sending your child to school for at least a couple of years is a huge disservice, especially if they plan on going to college. And yes I understand there are plenty of extracurricular activities they can do to get similar experiences but it's just not the same.

Have to agree. School is not just knowledge education it's also social education. Eventually those kids become adults and have to deal with the real world. Closeting them during the school years might get them better grades but it's going to make the transition to the real world harder IMO.

Unless, of course, you don't get pimples and you hang out on a forum populated with elder degenerates.

Not to mention that school affords the chances of having innocent teenage exploratory sex much more likely.

*fondly remembering Kathy, Donna, and Michelle*

:rofl:

To be fair, I'm fondly remembering myself as 15-16 too.

I imagine much of that pre-school socialization happened back before kids actually went to school.

Public education is not a panacea. Quite the opposite, actually.

Nor is homeschooling.

Look. I'm not arguing against public schools. Wanna send your kids? Go right ahead. But for me and my family, we homeschool. And our kids are happy, educated, and well socialized. And since there are seven of them, they understand all about learning to play nicely and working through conflict.

Justifying your own decision by demonizing the alternative always raises a red flag for me. I'm sure that you teach your kids just fine.

The great experiment in public education is clearly a failure, but it's your right as a free citizen to continue to participate in the failed system if you wish.

All of the objections I've seen to homeschooling don't apply to my experience.

Anyway, about school shootings/terror: they're terrible, and it doesn't look like schools are going to become safe anytime soon. So you have to ask yourself if it's worth going.

Let me get this straight. You have seven, white, homeschool kids, in Japan. When you say they're socialized, do you mean with kids outside of your household, or just with each other? Cause cracker kids who don't go to school in a country as, at least, mildly xenophobic and demographically undiverse as Japan don't sound like they're exactly going to have a leg up on integrating into society when they turn 18.

Of course with kids outside of my house.

The public school system has done me pretty well so far. I guess you can think of it as a big bogeyman if you prefer that, though. Just remember that a large portion of society isn't qualified to teach, so public schools are a far better option. It's not exactly "simple" when your parents are nitwits.

Before you go on a rant about not telling you how to raise your kids, I'm not demonizing your decision to homeschool. You do whatever the **** you want.

I always do.

What age appropriate social skills are being imparted? Do you have a faux junior high dance?

I'm done hammering. You've got my opinion,

****, just one last shot.

Home schooling is so much more about the helicopter parents, than the poor kids who get stuck in the middle. let them breathe for their own good,

IMO.