Deja Vu

I woke up yesterday morning to WEMU reporting that a young woman had been stabbed outside of Ypsilanti High School. And then I come to find out from this annarbor.com article that a young woman's "boyfriend" lured her to a remote location after she told him she might be pregnant, and left her for dead. It's a good thing that some people still walk outside in the cold weather.It appears that this woman will survive.

And now, I've been blogging long enough (though not really all that long) that this reminds me of last year's death of Huron High School student Anna Marie List.

In March of 2009 I wrote this piece about Dating Violence. There is help in town, you know. Safe House Center's number  is 734-995-5444. Ozone House's 24-hour line (for teens) is 734-662-2222.

Domestic violence organizations talk about power and control, and the "wheel" below is modified for teens, but based on the work of a domestic violence organization in Duluth, MN. If you know of a relationship that seems to involve a lot of tension around power and control, you can call the Safe House Center hotline for advice on how to intervene.

It Gets Better: Dan and Terry

Have you seen the "It Gets Better" Campaign? It's an anti-bullying, anti-suicide campaign, with LGBT Adults, describing why and how life got better the day they left high school. You can find more at youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject.

It does make me wonder: does high school have to suck if you are different? What difference can a kind administration make?

This one is from Dan and Terry (and I think they started the project). Dan is better known as Dan Savage of Savage Love. Who, by the way, is talking for FREE at EMU Oct. 13, 7 p.m., Grand Ballroom, Student Center.

Skyline "Hate Crime" Incident, Ypsilanti Death: 11 Things I Want To Know

A female, Muslim, Iraqi refugee is attacked by a group of mostly boys, reportedly African-American, and needs stitches and a hospital visit. Was it a hate crime, as defined? Was it a neighborhood fight? Was it bullying, unrelated to the girl's national origin or religion or gender? I don't know. The kids are from the same neighborhood, and there may be a back story. I'm sure there is a history. . . I believe in innocence until proven guilty, so I am not proclaiming anyone's guilt.

But--hate crime or not--it is definitely going to be perceived that way by the Muslim and refugee communities.

Things I Want To Know

1. I asked my daughter today whether anything had been said to the students. Any mention of the incident? Any discussion of prejudice? Any offers of crisis support for kids who might themselves feel nervous about being picked on because of who they are?
NOT. ONE. WORD. From the administration, that is. For the kids, of course it was the talk of the town. Which seems really, really odd. And I want to know--WHY DIDN'T THE ADMINISTRATION SHARE ANY INFORMATION WITH SKYLINE STUDENTS?!!

2. Did the incident in question take place only after the kids got off the bus, or did it start on the bus and continue afterwards?

3. How is the school district working with the students who witnessed the incident?

4. Is the transportation department reviewing its policies, and are any parents or students helping with that review?

5. In a letter home to Skyline parents (a useless letter, I might add, in that it said virtually nothing), parents are told the district has completed an investigation and taken appropriate action. Who have they investigated? What kinds of actions have been taken? And why should we believe the actions have been "appropriate?"

6. If the FBI decides it is a hate crime, how will the district deal with that?

7. If the FBI decides it is not a hate crime, how will the district deal with the perception (which I believe will persist) that it is a hate crime.

8. My daughter reports that only a handful of kids at Skyline wear a hijab (head scarf). How is the district planning on being more welcoming to Muslim kids? (I hope to have more of my thoughts on this by the end of the weekend.)

And a couple of thoughts about the shooting death of a 17-year-old in Ypsilanti.
Whereas the Skyline incident prompted many many comments on annarbor.com, the death of a 17-year-old in a shooting on the south side of Ypsilanti drew very few. I want to know:

9. Was the 17-year-old a high school student, or had he (I think it was a he) dropped out?

10. Why does the death get fewer comments than the attack which results in stitches?

For both incidents, I want to know:

11. What can we do to teach kids that violence is not the way to solve problems?

School to Prison Pipeline

There's no doubt that this presentation will be thought-provoking.
Monday, June 8th, 6-9 p.m., Unitarian-Universalist Congregation, 4001 Ann Arbor-Saline Road

The ACLU of Michigan Washtenaw Branch will hold its annual Jerome Strong Awards with special guests
Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn who will speak about
Juvenile Justice and the School-to-Prison Pipeline.
In addition, the Jerome Strong Civil Liberties Award will be presented to Representative Alma Wheeler Smith, the Community Leadership Award will be presented to Derrick Jackson and Rosemary Sarri will receive the Civil Liberties Champion Award.RESERVE YOUR SEAT TODAY! Admission is free for ACLU members. http://action.aclumich.org/jeromestrong2009Non-members: Join online or at the door and your admission is free. Admission is $20/individual, $30/couple, $5/students. Join or register for this event at http://action.aclumich.org/jeromestrong2009Read more about Bill Ayers & Bernadine Dohrn at http://action.aclumich.org/jeromestrong2009

Dating Violence

Worth listening to: NPR's On Point show discusses dating violence. A lot seemed applicable to the Anna Maria List and Kisha French cases. Listen to it here.

Kudos to Huron High for having an In Loving Memory section on the front page of their web site. Here is the link to the Anna Maria List In Loving Memory piece, including memorial donation information. I couldn't find the notice about Kisha French on the Ann Arbor Open web site, but donations for her daughter Jayla are being accepted by the AAOCC (PTO-equivalent at Ann Arbor Open), write it to AAOCC, French Family Fund in the liner note.


Need help regarding dating violence? Help is available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.

SafeHouse Center (734)995-5444
Ozone House (for teens, all kinds of issues) (734)662-2222