When considering violence in Milwaukee Public Schools, I find myself recalling a School Board meeting years ago where the discussion centered on rising suspension rates.
One mother demanded that School Board members explain why her 15-year-old African-American son kept getting kicked out of school for misbehaving.
“I can’t do anything with him at home,” she complained.
After the meeting, I interviewed the mother away from the microphones. That’s where she told me why she thought her son kept getting expelled.
“They afraid of him,” she said of the teachers. “He’s 15, but he’s 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds.”
That hammered home for me the fact some “kids” at MPS aren’t really kids at all but are not yet fully developed young people with enough physical strength to intimidate the outnumbered adults.
My latest visit to a Milwaukee public school was just a few weeks ago, during which I observed a mini-meltdown in the hallway by a student who had become enraged at another student.
As he was dragged away, the boy struck a door with his fist, nearly shattering the glass.