I am extremely disturbed that we have been failing our precious children…We have not been heeding the warnings for some time …
Due in part to the many gun related incidents, especially in our schools, due to divisiveness in our Country…
We have a President who cares, but there are those who have been elected in Congress who impede his efforts…
We can now be characterized as a gun violent society…
And now groups on college campuses are reacting with anger and violence ... against those that are Jewish...due to their ill informed beliefs in the origins of the Iseraeli/Hamas Conflict...
Perhaps, our schools with the necessary funding would be able to provide teachers the critical resources to instill the necessary knowledge to provide our children a strong educational experience…
And more importantly…
Parents and Community be the with that Love and Guidance that will give our precious children a better understanding of Empathetic Values…
Doc on school shooter’s parents reveals how prosecutors built case – ABC News
By Doc Louallen April 20, 2024, 6:10 AM
On Nov. 30, 2021, a 15-year-old boy killed four students and injured seven others in a shooting spree at Oxford High School in Michigan. He pleaded guilty to all 24 charges against him and was sentenced to life in prison.
Just three days after the shooting, Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald made the historic decision to charge the shooter’s parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, with involuntary manslaughter. The Crumbleys are the first parents ever to be charged, then convicted, in the United States for a mass shooting committed by their child.
In a new hourlong documentary premiering April 18 on Hulu, “Sins of the Parents: The Crumbley Trials,” ABC News Studios offers exclusive behind-the-scenes access as the prosecution builds their case over a two-year period.
In this Feb. 8, 2022, file photo, Jennifer Crumbley, left, and James Crumbley, right, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, a teenager accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., appear in court for a preliminary examination on involuntary manslaughter charges in Rochester Hills, Mich. Paul Sancya/AP, FILE
“I know we have a legal duty as parents to protect other people from dangerous kids,” McDonald says in the documentary.
“This is about parents who largely ignored their son, neglected…his cries for help. And then bought him a gun,” said chief assistant prosecutor David Williams.
The shooter’s journal entries revealed that he blamed his parents for his mental decline, stating that they didn’t listen or get him a therapist. During the trials, evidence showed how the Crumbleys were engaged with their son’s interest in guns.
While investigating Ethan’s parents, McDonald and her team uncovered a text message sent by Jennifer Crumbley to her son. The text read, “LOL, I’m not mad. You have to learn how not to get caught.” Jennifer Crumbley did not appear to be angry with him after learning that he had been researching bullets in class.
Testifying in her own defense, Jennifer Crumbley said, “You know, as a parent, you spend your whole life trying to protect your child from other dangers. You never would think you have to protect your child from harming somebody else.”
James Crumbley’s defense attorney, Mariell Lehman, warned that the prosecution’s argument could set a dangerous precedent, blurring the line between parent and criminal.
“I think that if somebody is made out to be a bad parent, then…their behavior can be contorted into criminal behavior,” Lehman says. “I think that James Crumbley was…made out to be someone that he’s not.”
A jailhouse phone call with James Crumbley is one of several which the prosecution has said were threatening against the Oakland County prosecutor.
“When I get out of here, I am f—— on a rampage, Karen. Yes, Karen McDonald, your a– is going down and you better be f—— scared.”
Crumbley’s defense attorney characterized those remarks as venting, noting that some statements were from years before the trial began.
The Crumbleys were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 10-15 years in prison.
After the trial, Judge Cheryl Matthews said the Crumbleys showed a lack of concern toward guns and glorified their possession and use.
Second-grade teacher Barbara Zimmer goes over phonics to her students at Bay Crest Elementary School on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Tampa. School districts across Florida are reassessing how many teachers they can afford after federal pandemic relief funds dry up. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times
#FloridaTeacher🍎 Retiring in 2015… 38 years teacher in Alachua Co. Starting in Palatka Putnam Co.1972… traveling 90 miles a day just to teach… We had a surplus of teachers and HOPE… My Heart Breaks for our Teachers… Children …
We must vote… #TakeBackFL #BidenHarris4More 🌊🌀💙📚🇺🇲
Thoughts About Children Easter Blessings… Our Precious Children 🐰
Easter Season is an amazing opportunity for our renewal, in starting over…
Especially, this being a Presidential voting year…
We truly can focus on our precious children, and vote to reelect President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Vice President... Their advocacy and strides in making policy...that benefit the lives and future of our precious children...
It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood! #BidenHarris4more
I so believe in giving President Biden and Kamala Harris another four years to continue their work in providing a better opportunity for a better future, for our precious children…
We will be in a stronger place… These are such challenging of times…And their wise, empathetic leadership is what we so need…
#FloridaTeacher🍎 Thank you so for your leadership… So grateful that President Biden is giving us another 4 years to get us through these challenging times..
A roundup of Florida education news from around the state Orange County School Board Member Alicia Farrant joins Gov. Ron DeSantis in Orlando for a news conference discussing book challenges in Florida schools. DeSantis called for reforms to the process, saying “bad actors” have hijacked the system….
The big story: Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida is not banning school books.
He does have a problem, though, with activists he says are advancing a narrative that it’s happening. During a Thursday news conference, DeSantis criticized community residents who “object to every book under the sun,” along with educators who remove numerous titles from circulation and then blame the state law.
Books with graphic sex do not belong in schools, he said. But that doesn’t mean getting rid of classics just because sex is mentioned, DeSantis continued, suggesting that taking such actions is not in students’ best interest.
“If people are abusing the process to try to muddy the waters, then I think we need to have some reforms,” he said.
Floridians who have been filing book challenges, and those who have opposed many of them, said a better written law could help resolve the issue. Read more here.
One Orange County School Board member framed the book challenge debate as a battle between good and evil, Florida Politics reports.
Also at the news conference, DeSantis and education commissioner Manny Diaz blasted a Miami-Dade County school for seeking parent permission to let children attend a Black History Month speech. The issue, Diaz said, was much the same — misinterpretation of state law to perpetuate a false narrative, the Miami Herald reports.
Back when I was teaching ten years ago…The political climate was not as divisive as it is today…
We did have some autonomy…And we did strive for that balance of the mandatory curriculum…And those creative fun activities….
February was one of our favorite months filled with creativity…Teaching Black and Presidential History; with those fun Valentine activities…where creative writing was essential…
Janis Sexton...Teacher...Advocate 