Jackson Jambalaya

JPS is pathetic. At the 2:00 minute mark some JPS official tried to minimize the fact that a parent broke out a gun during a fight.

JPS needs to be taken over by the state. These kids deserve better than failing schools and complete lack of control by the administration.

"Kids are gonna fight" - REALLY??? What kind of an attitude is that? Those kids should be expelled.

Many moons ago, if someone got into a fight with Rufus T. Wilmore at Forest Hill, the principal would take the two combatants to the gym, make them put on the boxing gloves, and have them go at it. Many problems were solved and grudges forgotten when the gloves were laced up.

The once proud home of the Rebels.

Mom pulls gun at a public school in area packed with students. Waves it around with finger on the trigger. An absolute miracle that there are no dead kids. Gerald says it was not a security breakdown. Sherwin says (and I quote), "The weapon was not used in a violent manner." Am I missing something here?

KF

As if you know Jackson history....you arent from here and have no clue..

You might preface such comments with the fact that you are not from Jackson lest people might think you are leading them on about your actual personal knowledge of Jackson.

You're funny.

The law does not consider how a gun is being used, whether in a "violent manner" or not - its very presence on educational property by an unauthorized person is a crime.

When can we expect the charges to be filed?

3:33,

As soon as a witness steps forward. I would think that would be never.

Methinks that the gun toting madam was just distraught over the recent cut in funds used to educate her chirens.

Every administrator at that school should be immediately fired. Every administrator at every other high school should be put on notice - a zero-strike policy for your job is effect if this crap happens again.

There have been several instances of guns drawn by students at JPS schools this year, but they are never reported on the news. JPS effectively places a gag order on their employees to prevent them from broadcasting these things, and does their best to cover them up. If a kid brings a gun to school in any other district, it would be on national television. Some house-cleaning is in order in JPS' district office.

some think throwing money at the schools will work...if I were a teacher there id be armed for fear of my life.

I can't see why any of you are surprised at this. This is what the citizens of Jackson want, what they have voted over an over for. It starts at home. Savages

JPS is scared of the federal government, ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center or somebody...they are in a crappy situation where the powers to be in this nation don't understand what it's like in Jackson. JPS administrators don't suspend/expel kids that should be, because of orders from higher ups its believed. They don't get rid of bad students because the federal government will come around asking why so many black kids aren't in school (the school to prison bs...it's home training).

The students without home training see they can get away with stuff, and they think they are above the teachers, but they don't understand ADA, the federal government, etc. Teachers quit writing kids up, because it makes them look bad for some odd reason, it takes their attention away from the students, and most importantly a lot of times nothing really happens.

If JPS students got suspended for everything that would get them suspended in Madison, Rankin, or a private school then possibly half the students would be suspended at time at some schools.

Send them all to be JFP interns because the baronless thinks she is a f%$king expert baroneess.

8:30 It is my understanding that Madison has had to tap the brakes on suspending students (and shipping them thugs to alternative school lest the district face charges of racism).

I wish the entire education system in America would abide by the school motto of Madison Middle School, "Do the right thing."

How discouraging Sierra to be young and fall under Donna's sick pathological journo-share-cropper influence then to reach the conclusion you will, as so many countless before you have, that nothing you write in the Jackson Free Press will ever come remotely close to changing the narrative.

Your alt-Podunk-of-America alt-Podunk award that Donner will honor with a staff meeting frozen yogurt, Instagram pics, multi-color cupcake, .99 cent plaque and strange obtuse wisdom statement from "lover-Publisher Todd" will likely get you another writing job but will never get you heard.

Good luck.

I remember visiting Forest Hill H.S. for a football game once as a youth in the 90s. Seemed like a fun place to be, maybe the chalk pictures students drew in Forest Hill Road (long before the numerous crater-sized potholes) made it seem extra cool and spirit-filled. Nowadays these students probably are drawing chalk outlines and gang signs.

It seems that what is needed is a more comprehensive approach
to what causes violence. Fear, insecurity, and ultimately a sense of injustice and hopelessness set in when people don't see that their dreams can be fulfilled in a community. The entities that should transmit culture and therefore hope -schooling, arts, church, and family- need the support of a just community to help in that very transmission.

Can the school provide more students with the skills, dispositions, experiences, and opportunities for success that will
engender hope and "a sense of accomplishment and opportunity"? Can the church advocate for the futures of the young people and therefore the community over and against the crippling indifference
and classism/racism that seems to ooze out of state leadership? Can we push for artists to have more courage-and media outlets to showcase more courageous artists-to speak truth to power through their art? Can we help produce stronger families by having courageous conversations about family planning, mass
incarceration, empowering sexuality/relationship building/ and romantic love that serve as the very foundation for stronger/more stable family units(which are the building blocks to a stronger community)? Economic development/employment opportunities and the challenge of mass incarceration (especially of young black men) and the lack of academic preparation with young black men must also
be addressed.

I ask all of these questions because the violence and fights at Forrest Hill cannot be laid solely at the feet of JPS administration. Anytime we get frustrated with our schools, we must channel that frustration more productively into a discussion about flourishing
community development, which is where 90% of school challenges start and find their solutions. Also, community development discussions are more robust, inviting, and comprehensive than school policy discussions alone. We can hold more community members/entities accountable when we focus on community development, like the mayor and city council, business leaders, churches, non-profits,
fraternities and sororities, and schools and families.

Immediately, the school must help insure safety and gain the confidence of the community. More policing is a pacifier, not actual engagement and transformation. What can be done to help resolve conflicts (church leaders, community leaders, and school leaders acting as mediators in community dispute proactively, create opportunities for the students to express their concerns creatively and honestly without fear of reprisals,adults need to
listen and learn more, etc.)? Restorative justice programs and democratic classroom structures serve to be very effective in change student behaviors, helping with conflict resolution in schools, and changing school climate. If the community sees that there are options for the future, perhaps then the issues with conflict resolution can be more productively addressed. Also, the city needs to examine gun laws and the proliferation and readily accessible guns in the community. As long as guns are readily available, we will continue to see conflicts escalating to violence where they perhaps wouldn't if a gun wasn't readily accessible.

Surely this mother is licensed and trained in firearms and a card carrying NRA member. She might even be a substitute teacher or teacher's aide.

Surely she simply pulled out the gun because she felt she and/or others were threatened or outnumbered in a threatening situation.

Isn't that what many of you would be assuming if she were white?

If the parent had been white there would have already been marches outside JPS HQ demanding her arrest and the nuclear reactor inside the JFP cave would have melted down.

It is Jackson. Many of the kids would feel naked if they didn't bring their gun to school. Parents picking up their kids need to be armed just to cover the kids until they get in the car.
This is Jackson.

9:07,

Nowhere in that steaming pile of SJW drivel did you mention "Personal Responsibility". We can't have any of that, am I right?

What is a "community dispute"? Is that when black folks ain't gettin' along?

(Yes, I know.. the word "community" was sullied long ago)

This a real good one: "Restorative justice programs and democratic classroom structures serve to be very effective in change student behaviors".

I guess parent(s) are out of the question? Probably so, since when they're in the picture they're in a cell phone snap brandishing a piece. Let me guess; crap 'em out and let somebody else raise 'em? That's pretty much what's being taught, I gather.

And another: "Also, the city needs to examine gun laws and the proliferation and readily accessible guns in the community."

Oh, boy, the anti-gun screed. I'll save it for another time, but until then...

Again - that word "community". I'm not part of the "community". I stay away from the "community". The "community" is not a good thing. The "community" doesn't want anything from me except my tax dollars.


Now, if you'll pardon me, I have to get back to "work". At my "job". "Earning" a "living". Because I have a "responsibility" in the form of a "private enterprise", of which I am the "entrepreneur" that hired "employees" to carry out my "business plan". It's Friday, so the people in my office will get their "paycheck". Must go talk to "payroll" now.

Adios.

9:07 am Few in your audience have any notion of " conflict resolution" beyond elimination of those perceived to be the cause of conflict. So to them, it's a matter of choosing up sides.
Few have ever seen how it works or believe that it can, if not result in a permanent resolution, buy time for a permanent resolution to emerge.
And, most want immediate solutions to problems that took decades, if not centuries, to create and haven't the patience,focus or enough interest to work toward a more permanent resolution that they won't live to see.
And, also, beginning with Spiro and his " effete intellectuals", the campaign to make the ignorant and uneducated feel their collective intuition and limited anecdotal experiences are as valuable as earned expertise and duplicated research has worked. Everyone can feel brilliant.
Don't you love the no brainer " only a few will get this right" posts all over the Internet? You have an IQ lower than 60 if you can't " get it" but you will feel smarter than you are!
Ignorant is in and smart is out! Unfortunately, the political parties and politicians didn't understand that in using strategies that encouraged mob mentality ( aka base and followers) that mobs can be pretty unpredictable and impossible to control. That was much easier than actually be leaders with vision and immediately more lucrative.

Messick,

How do you hold parents more accountable? Fines?, Community service?, Jail time? Would these things help to actually change mindsets, instill more confidence in civic institutions, and create better community development and social transformation? Not really, because parents are accountable now, but without adequate investment and support to empower them to be and do anything different to help them flourish as better parents and citizens. What calls for "personal responsibility" really do is just shame more the vulnerable and disaffected people, not truly call for their engagement in the solutions seeking/social transformation process.

Happy to see you have a private business. I hope you pay the people you employ a living wage, that would go far in helping address some of these challenges.

@10:08 I agree,

Many who chime in on these matters are adverse to research, sound , measured thinking, and data driven decision making in these areas. Mainly their insights are more anecdotal and ideologically driven to really just maintain the social status quo and shame poor people, rather than truly providing opportunities for social mobility (as evidenced by dismal social mobility number born out in numerous research articles on the subject).

May be we will get to the point in some of the local communities where we will be more receptive to innovative and creative thinking in these areas and seek solutions to these challenges, rather than just more affirmation of our own political ideologies and beliefs.

NICE Copy & Paste job, 9:07! Maybe you learned that while getting your master's and doctorate in Education? All you need, now (I'm guessing), is a name change. Then, you can go far in life. Martin Luther's name is taken. But how about 'John Calvin Emperor'? Or maybe 'Oliver Cromwell Khan'? It's all about co-opting the wisdom, righteousness, and power of others.

The 'Reverend', to stick on the front of your new name, can be obtained even more cheaply than your name change. Becoming ordained is a simple as sending money, and waiting for your certificate to arrive in the mail.

After that, as 'Reverend Doctor Oliver Cromwell Khan' you'll be bulletproof, and your inane blather will be perceived as somehow having merit.

Just curious...when did Forest Hill become part of the JPS? I have relatives who attended school there in the 60s and 70s and I remember it being a county school at that time.

Of course, they were the Forest Hill Rebels back then.

1:36 pm Your post is indicative of the thought patterns of the mentality ill.
While I can sort of see how a troubled mind could link Oliver Cromwell and Kublai Khan as they both led armies at some point, how you connected Oliver Cromwell, Martin Luther or John Calvin to 9:07am's post at all is bizarre thinking.
Aside from the fact that most human opinions have some ethical, moral or religious underpinning, you picked extremely odd examples given the content of the post. 9:07am simply recognizes the obvious fact that churches play a rather significant role in the life of our community. 9:07am did not ask you to leave your church and rise up and follow his or her interpretation of Scripture or to take up arms!
It's also bizarre to believe that 9:07am's post is cut and pasted.
For your own sake, please get some professional help.

9:22 rushes in to defend 9:07 since 9:22 is 9:07.

10:25 am I am 9:22 and am not 9:07 and I wasn't defending 9:07 ( who doesn't need my help) but rather expressing concern that 1:36 needs immediate help!

Maybe you are 1:36 as the inability to read what is written seems similar.

9:07, 10:08, and 11:19 brought up good points.

I think Messick did as well. We can not shy away from personal responsibility.

I do think that policy can positively impact collective human nature. We almost destroyed our country by abolishing slavery, but 150+ years later, no one would think it prudent to reinstate slavery.

We are just recently removed from our first attempt at integration. If we truly want to make a great society, it is prudent that we continue to explore this issue and public policy's role in both reforming the individual and society.

@8:41, Jackson annexed that area in 1977, and Forest Hill's first year in JPS was the class of 1978.