Fight at CCHS exposes problems
Published: November 18, 2009
Updated: November 18, 2009
On Nov. 12 there was a very ugly fight at Culpeper County High School that my daughter unfortunately witnessed. Normally that wouldn’t be too bad of an earthshattering thing, but the fight was particularly brutal and involved several girls attacking another girl. The even more disturbing part was that other girls were standing around with their phones videotaping this event.
My daughter went for help, and as a result is being threatened with the same type of violence.
What kind of kids (thugs) are we raising? Has violence become so mainstream that simply taping it for submission to YouTube seems to be appropriate or the “thing to do”? This is not a very good example of kids in the county.
As a result of this incident, we have decided to pull our daughter from Culpeper schools in order to ensure her safety and provide for her education. So we are paying Culpeper County taxes and are completely unhappy with everything about Culpeper County.
When are things going to improve? There have been multiple incidents at the high school; how can the kids even concentrate to learn? Isn’t that what they are supposed to be there for? I only hope that one day when these kids involved in this incident look back, they will realize how pathetic and cowardly their actions really were.
It’s time we stopped letting this kind of violence go on. There needs to be better security, and kids who show this kind of aggression need to be weeded out, maybe placed in a special school, or juvie. When kids no longer feel safe at school, immediate action should be taken.
Carla Cunningham
Amissville
Editor’s note: Culpeper County Public Schools did not issue a press release on this incident, but Russell Houck, CCPS director of administrative services, said “appropriate measures have been taken” and no weapons were involved.
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Just look at all the attention this incident has caused, we are still worked up about that fight….I just had to come back and add some more imput into this. I graduated in 71 at CCHS and I will wholeheartedly defend the school and the teachers that are there now. When I go there to pick up my child even to this day I have a good feeling and it brings back alot of good memories to me. My child is thriving there, has good grades and lots of friends and is very active in shool activities. To be very honest I have heard more bad situations that have occurred at Eastern View than at CCHS. The most important thing as a parent that we can do is take time to listen to our children when they are talking to you, stop doing whatever you are doing and sit down and spend time and talk to them. Communication is the most wonderful and important tool we have as a parent, by building a good relationship and trust between our children, they will carry that trait on with dealing with their friends and their teachers. I am always happy when my child comes to me and tells me about their day at school. Always build up their confidence and I think they can only succeed in school. Let this incident go, maybe we have all learned something from this, let’s use all this energy toward our children, stop pointing fingers and blaming someone else. What’s done is done…...
“But the S.B didn’t like it so they bully the man that was running it in to closing it down”.
How did they do that?
There was a web site call Saveourculpeperschool.org it was a great site for parents. But the S.B didn’t like it so they bully the man that was running it in to closing it down. BRING IT BACK
I have been fortunate to have 2 children attend CCHS and a third next year. The past 2 years have been wonderful at CCHS. My children say that the atmosphere is completely changed since the schools split and confrontations are almost non exsistent. All schools have problems and when I was in school many years ago we had our share. Yes, your tax dollars are paying for school however, tuition at private school pays to keep those disruptive kids in those schools. Public schools can take action and do. (Infact when I attended private schools, more went on there than at public school. That is why my children attend public school) Kids need to learn boundaries but it has to start at home. The teachers and administrators at CCHS do an incredible job everyday. Remember, they are teachers but we expect them to be nurses, counselors, parents , advisors, and police officiers all for little pay. I am proud my children attend CCHS.
For those who wish to confirm these numbers go to:
https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/
and click on the school district and school.
OK lets go to the Internet, specifically the DOE website and the incidents of “Disorderly or Disruptive Behavior Offenses” as reported by the CCHS to the State Dept. of Education. In 2006-7 the figure was 1,092. 2007-8 it was 538, and 2008-9 it was 152. Of course those first two years were before Eastern View. The first year for EV was 2008-9 and they had 218 incidents.
Last year offenses against students at EV were 22, offenses against staff 9, and offenses against other persons- 68.
The corresponding figure for cchs was 9, 6, 36.
Now of course whether a particular incident warrants inclusion in these figures is subjective and probably varies from school to school. But keep in mind that these factor into NLCB adequate yearly progress and (yes, I know it is a stupid measure) one incident can make the difference between whether or not a school achieves AYP. So you can see that there is a disincentive to report every single incident.
My youngest has been at CCHS for four years and has never seen a fight, so maybe there really aren’t as many fights as we are hearing.
I do think the administration is too soft on the troublemakers. Why is the police not called?
Carlac, I am glad you wrote this.
From what I see of many, not all, parents, you are en pointe. I dread middle school. There’s plenty of drama in elementary school, and both middle schools appear to have enormous discipline problems. Teachers are supposed to teach. Administration is supposed to back the teachers up. Admin seems, from what I hear anyway, to be afraid of the parents. What a message.
I’m surprised at the 5 days. Lunch detention seems to be the standard discipline, which is, of course, a joke. Best wishes.
I just want to clear up a few things. I am a CCHS alumni, graduated class of 88. So did my husband. We have lived in Culpeper County most of our lives. I am not blaming the teachers, and as a matter of fact I think we have great teachers in Culpeper and have had many great teachers in the past. They do a great job for the most part and I respect them enourmously as they are putting up with this on a daily basis. I blame the parents of these children. They aren’t taught the respect or manners they need at home. They don’t respect themselves, each other, or anyone else. They also don’t care too much about their education. That is the main reason I pulled my child. The amount of drama, fights, and utter chaos at CCHS this year has been overwhelming. Someone wrote that they had heard there were 3 fights that day, I too heard the same thing. On the same day my husband called to speak with the principal, no one was available because they were attempting to break up another fight. She cannot concentrate long enough to learn. I am in the process of getting her into a private school. My reason for targeting the administration is because I believe the punishment given for this fight is not enough. The person who started the fight got 5 days suspension. Why not expulsion? A slap on the wrist is not enough to phase kids who think they can do this and don’t have the kind of parents at home that will instill good values into them. When I was in school, we weren’t only concerned about getting in trouble with administration, but what kind of trouble we would get in once we got home. I also believe that there are bad kids that come from good homes, but that ratio is probably very small. Bottom line is that the chaos interfered with my daughters education and my family’s life and I did not see any other way to resolve the situation but a clean break with a system in disarray.
Yes, the fight was completely unnecessary, however, this is not the norm at CCHS. Please remember that the vast majority of CCHS students are GREAT kids. You can’t lump the entire student body or school into one box because of a very few “bad apples”. “Bad apples” can be found everywhere: public schools, private schools, home schooled students, at your work, in the grocery store. etc. There are things that none of us want our children to have to deal with, but that’s life.
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