1 Arrested, Several Suspended In Cross Fights

What ever happened to engaging in fisticuffs at 3:00pm in the school field? That seemed like a pretty effective system that ended the conflict, didn't get anyone in trouble and didn't give another reason for people to have irrational fears about the city's public schools.
Newly arriving German and Irish immigrants were bullied by generationally well-established Americans in the workplace, in public and in schools. The booming industrial manufacturing economy of the 19th century, however, allowed the Irish to quickly move up in status and become accepted into American society. The Italians and Russian Jews were the next group bullied, but they too were eventually accepted into main stream society due to continued economic growth and opportunity made available to undereducated and unskilled workers. Unfortunately, these opportunities evaporated or moved by the time Puerto Ricans and southern blacks were moving to northeastern urban areas like New Haven. Essentially, these groups have been contained in certain neighborhoods and left to fend for themselves with nothing more than some misguided subsidies and meaningless political rhetoric (both positive and negative) from people who were lucky enough to be born into a family that is stable enough to benefit from our highly skilled and highly educated recent domestic economy. These groups have been socially and culturally festering for 6+ decades in inner cities so it's entirely possible that these kids just don't care, which can be reflected in the illogical behavior in Cross this week. To make matters worse, the economic prospects for these kids are worse than what their parents experience back in 1990; the poverty rate has grown since then.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs174.snc3/20155_1226207810425_1085910074_30557053_6365722_n.jpg
This graph partially eludes to the ability of places to keep a reputation long after the realities contradict this reputation. We still experience this today with talk of crime like it is 1991 with 21,000 serious incidents a year, when in reality we now average about 8,500 serious incidents a year.

I also don't mean to imply that deindustrialization was a calculated attack against certain groups of people, it was something that had begun as early as 1910, when industrialism essentially peaked in New Haven. We do need to recognize this failure and correct it; we actually should have realized and corrected this many decades ago. Instead we opted to throw money at poor folks in the form of welfare, food stamps, section 8 housing, etc. I think it's safe to say this hasn't worked. We've also tried to help people get back on their feet after drug addictions or prison stints by providing reduced or free housing (this is not a new practice) supported with medical help. This has also not worked. Next, it seems we went after the children by trying to address "failing schools" (this also is not a new idea). This has mostly been a failure, all we've done is created magnet schools to distribute children across the city through use of an expressive and unnecessary private busing system. Immediately after their implementation, magnets were pretty successful, but that has now changed. Enter: charter schools, the next band-aid! We'll make a whole bunch of tiny schools that give extra special attention to students in an incredibly cost and space inefficient way! Perhaps school reform with do something, but I very much doubt it. I'm throwing my chips in with neighborhood reform that aims to rediscover the purpose of our neighborhoods as being places with employment, housing, commerce, schools, recreation and civic assembly space for all people of all incomes to live. Once we understand the true purpose of neighborhoods, we can begin to develop ways of restoring them through various public works projects, home-owners programs, education and ad campaigns, etc. It's entirely possible that this won't work, and "neighborhood reform" will just be another thing on the list of ideas that just don't work. 6 decades is a long time to have so many generations of people without economic, family or social stability.

Jonathan,

I fully agree with your appraisal of the situation in New Haven Schools: many communities do not support their children. However, that fact does not let Wilbur Cross High School off the hook. The place is chaotic because of mismanagement. It is not a safe place for children. Please come visit the school, observe the operation, and report to us how you think the 8 principals should spend their time to create a functional school.

Would you be surprised to discover teachers have very little voice is the operation of this school?

positive youth development prevents fights like these. kids need schools with meaning and purpose.

www.refresheverything.com/scholarsgotonyc

vote for this project and help new haven kids experience art and history outside of the regular classroom.

a concerned teacher,
I graduated from Cross in 2007. When I went to school there, students would pull the fire alarm multiple times a month when they wanted to fight. The administrators cracked down on this and became quite good at figuring out who pulled the alarm by looking at the surveillance cameras. There were still several fights a year, which now took place within the school. I think it's fine to fight, whether it be over something important or over something as stupid as shoelaces, so long as the fight is fair and is done after school.
Teachers should essentially be running the schools, they for the most part know what they're doing and administrators should really only do administrative work, not trying to police the school. When we've gotten to the level where we are trying to determine how to better reach troubled students, how to prevent fights and anything other than teach the material we've already lost. The solutions come from outside of the schools in the homes of students and in their neighborhoods.