Lockdown!

Rambler's high school, Woodrow Wilson in the D of C is in the news! From last week's Washington Post.

"When students return from spring break March 31, they will be confined to eating lunch in their classrooms instead of being able to sit with friends anywhere on the sprawling campus. Three additional security officers will be on duty, for a total of 10."

According to the paper, a rash of violence, including the arrests of 13 students in the past week has led to the lockdown. Apparently, the problems stem from the recent addition of some 18 year-old ninth graders who have "behavioral" issues. Yeah, I'd say if you are 18 and in the ninth grade, you probably have some issues.

I'm not sure what the breakdown of Wilson is in terms of race these days. When I went there, it was about 70% black, 20% Latino and Asian and 10% white. Now this how I recall it, I can't claim how accurate that is, but it feels right. I doubt it has changed much since then.

The thing with Wilson was that while it is a D.C. public school, it is also in one of the better neighborhoods of the District so it was relatively stable. By relatively stable, I mean there were only a few outbursts of random inner-city violence every few months. Now it has metal detectors, the works.

The white population at Wilson can't be thrilled with these new developments. The white kids never ate in the cafeteria anyway, choosing instead to eat outside in the "horseshoe" part of the campus or in the armory in the winter. Now everyone will be stuck in the class. Wonder if they'll make them rest their heads on their desks after they're done eating.

This is, of course, a non-solution to a real problem. According to the article (citing statistics from the school system), Wilson has "four students from the Oak Hill youth detention facility, 12 from the city's detention center on Mount Olivet Road NE and 11 from a program for suspended students." And we're surprised there has been violence?

I don't have a real solution. I do know that throwing problem students into already overcrowded schools won't work. And I'm sad to see my high school go from a struggling public school with a good heart to downright dangerous (cue Welcome Back Kotter theme here).

Go Tigers!