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MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:06 PM Jan 2019

High School Boys Are Not Generally Noted for Their Good Sense

They often do stupid things, especially in large groups. That's why there are adults accompanying them on field trips like the one to DC to protest against women's rights to control their own reproductive lives. The adults are there to keep the immature boys from doing stupid things.

They didn't seem to be on the job for the Covington Catholic High School boys. Why is that? Where was the adult telling them to "Knock it off, boys!"



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High School Boys Are Not Generally Noted for Their Good Sense (Original Post) MineralMan Jan 2019 OP
Water is also wet Gothmog Jan 2019 #1
I'm guessing those boys model their behavior off what they see those adults doing. bearsfootball516 Jan 2019 #2
I think they are ultimately to blame for what happened. Chemisse Jan 2019 #3
Yup, teenagers in general have very little sense Amishman Jan 2019 #4
I'm not sure about those things. MineralMan Jan 2019 #6
Absolutely!!! get the red out Jan 2019 #13
According to this interview with Nick Sandman, they asked permission and the adults gave it.n Arkansas Granny Jan 2019 #5
Yes, exactly. Behavior in the stands at a game is MineralMan Jan 2019 #7
Their tomahawk chops at Nathan were not game stand cheers. They're the Cov-Cath Colonels. SunSeeker Jan 2019 #10
I agree completely. MineralMan Jan 2019 #12
There is stupid, and then there is evil. There is a difference. SunSeeker Jan 2019 #8
True, of course matt819 Jan 2019 #9
Exactly. nt SunSeeker Jan 2019 #11
The "Indian guy" ?? oberliner Jan 2019 #16
Sheesh. I was describing how those kids might have commented (nt) matt819 Jan 2019 #17
Kinda thought that was incredibly obvious to anyone. LanternWaste Jan 2019 #18
There was an article from the Kentucky Courier on the chaperones octoberlib Jan 2019 #14
It makes you wonder, doesn't it? MineralMan Jan 2019 #15
Well that's a load of BS!!!! LeftInTX Jan 2019 #19

Chemisse

(30,793 posts)
3. I think they are ultimately to blame for what happened.
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:11 PM
Jan 2019

Even adults who are in large groups can turn into mobs, you certainly can't let huge groups of kids wander around without supervision.

Amishman

(5,541 posts)
4. Yup, teenagers in general have very little sense
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:11 PM
Jan 2019

I think the age for many things should be raised to 20 or 21 (smoking, gun ownership, etc)

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
6. I'm not sure about those things.
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:19 PM
Jan 2019

I am sure, though, that adults can help youngsters learn how to behave, by example and by telling them when they're behaving badly. It's sort of their responsibility to do that. From what I've seen of the behavior of those particular Catholic School boys, they are not receiving that kind of instruction from responsible adults.

For example, I would probably never suggest that teenage boys are good candidates to protest contraception and abortion. Why they were taken to DC for that "March for Life" really makes little sense to me. It's generally not a concern that they consider most of the time, unless a girlfriend is worried about a missed period or something.

The boys were way out of their element, and were acting stupid in an even stranger situation than a pro-life march. So, they acted stupidly, because nobody told them how they should act. Nobody herded them away from that small group of strange people with strange ideas. Nobody led them to where the bus was supposed to pick them up and told them to "Settle down, boys!"

A lot of blame should go to the adults who were there to supervise them. If even Freshman boys were on that trip, the supervision needed to be constant and alert. What happened never should have happened at all, with proper supervision. The boys are at fault, too, of course, but adults should have moved them away from that situation right away.

Arkansas Granny

(31,483 posts)
5. According to this interview with Nick Sandman, they asked permission and the adults gave it.n
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:17 PM
Jan 2019
Because we were being loudly attacked and taunted in public, a student in our group asked one of our teacher chaperones for permission to begin our school spirit chants to counter the hateful things that were being shouted at our group. The chants are commonly used at sporting events. They are all positive in nature and sound like what you would hear at any high school. Our chaperone gave us permission to use our school chants. We would not have done that without obtaining permission from the adults in charge of our group.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/20/us/covington-kentucky-student-statement/index.html


If this is the case, it's no wonder these kids did stupid things. It's pretty obvious that no one has bothered to teach them proper behavior.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
7. Yes, exactly. Behavior in the stands at a game is
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:20 PM
Jan 2019

different in many ways from behavior that is OK in a public square. Those boys appear not to have been taught the difference.

SunSeeker

(51,378 posts)
10. Their tomahawk chops at Nathan were not game stand cheers. They're the Cov-Cath Colonels.
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:31 PM
Jan 2019

They're not the Cov-Cath Braves. They don't do tomahawk chops at games. Rebel yells maybe, but not tomahawk chops and war whoops. Yelling "Build the wall!" at Nathan are not game stand cheers.

SunSeeker

(51,378 posts)
8. There is stupid, and then there is evil. There is a difference.
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:22 PM
Jan 2019

These kids were being evil.

They surrounded a Native elder, did tomahawk chops and jeered as one of them stood sneering within inches of the elder's face.

Sure, unsupervised teens do stupid things like swallow Tide pods and toilet paper people's houses. But you have to have hate instilled in you to do what these boys did.

The chaperones did not stop what they were doing because they were fine with it. The chaperones were evil too.

matt819

(10,749 posts)
9. True, of course
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:23 PM
Jan 2019

Where were the chaperones? The boys were engaging in behavior endorsed by the chaperones. They didn't see the need to do anything.

What is a bit more disturbing is the kid's account of what transpired. He - and the school, and the community - had an opportunity to set things straight in a productive way. Basically along the lines of shit happens. We misunderstood the Indian guy, the Indian guy misunderstood us. We were disrespectful of our elders and we're sorry. We'd like to sit down with Mr. Phillips and talk things out. Heck, maybe we'll even ask those black guys to join us.

But no. They had to dig in, thanks to what is most likely a RW-leaning PR company. (I have no idea that this is the case, but no responsible PR person would take the approach these people did.) The problem, then, goes deeper and deeper. By digging in, entrenching them and their views into their collective psyches, we have a generation of kids graduating from this school who will be even more hateful, more racist, more bigoted than they might otherwise have been. They might have begun to undo the images of blackface and white power symbols. But no. The kids, their parents, the Diocese, and the PR firm have done everything in their powers to reinforce hate and racism.

Am I disgusted? Sure. Angry? Well, I have other things to be angry about. Surprised? No. It's kind of like that guy who murdered his fiance in Colorado. I had hoped that he was innocent. But, no. It's almost always the spouse/partner. And so it way there. People who wear MAGA hats are what they seem to be. So, no surprise.

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
18. Kinda thought that was incredibly obvious to anyone.
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 02:08 PM
Jan 2019

As an editor once instructed me "do your best to write downwards, to the lowest common denominator."

I think she was on to something.

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
14. There was an article from the Kentucky Courier on the chaperones
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:47 PM
Jan 2019

and they said there wasn't anything they could do. They were probably too busy participating.

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