Several recent incidents have caused tension and conflict between Community and its close neighbor Kerrytown. Community students have been abusing their freedom and taking advantage of the availability to Kerrytown’s stores unfairly. There has been stealing, loitering, sitting without buying, and rude behavior causing upset among the storeowners. Sparrow Market in particular is feeling disrespected. Everyone is feeling the stress, as Sparrow Market employee Andrew Brown said, “If someone’s stressed out on top, then you’re going to be feeling it at the bottom, so it stresses everybody out.”
Community High’s philosophy about student trust is at risk as people neglect to show respect properly. Freshman Tracy Scherdt said, “Its really a matter of respect going both ways. If we respect them they’ll respect us, and right now they don’t have respect for us, ‘cause we haven’t been respecting them.”
Dean Jennifer Hein sets expectations for CHS students year round: spring activities for the 8th graders, opening-day ceremony, forum activities, etc. Students are trusted with many freedoms, and the irresponsible choices and behaviors of students reflect badly not only on themselves, but also the entire school. “We’ve never had to, in the
history of Community High School, hold a class meeting to address behavior. And this is [the school’s]…39th year this year.” said Hein. At meeting Hein and upper classmen talked to the freshmen class about how they should act in Kerrytown.
Community math teacher Ed Kulka said, “I think it goes without saying, we all know how to act in public and it’s just a shame when people can screw that up. I think we make way too many excuses for people…we all know what right and wrong is, and to say we don’t…you shouldn’t be in school here.”
Clearly, this is a very different standard of behavior than is usually seen from Community students. No one really knows why the problems are occurring all of a sudden, but several people have theories. Kulka said, “…I think what happens with certain chemistry in certain people together is that they feed off each other in a very negative way.” Brown had a similar idea, saying “…[when] you’re in school, sometimes especially with other kids…[it] seems like…there’s an energy,” The new, negative ‘chemistry’ combination may be coming from the incoming freshman class, and the school meeting on Thursday the 21st, addressed the 9th grade class.
Not everyone blames the freshmen, however. A 9th grade student, Robert Stephens, said, “…because of the MEAP…the freshmen were released, but the sophomores were released too. So everybody’s just like, ‘Oh, lets just pin it on the freshmen,’ but, there are different people in every grade.” Kulka agrees with this. He said, “I don’t know if it’s all 9th graders, I think we’ve got some 10th graders that are not acting responsibly, I wouldn’t blame it all on 9th graders.”
Still, the freshmen are definitely involved. And no matter who’s at fault, the fact remains that it’s happening, and it shouldn’t be. In an economic recession, the last thing students should do is steal from small businesses. “The economy is worse than it’s ever been. So if you’re a small business owner, you don’t want to have an environment in your store that’s gonna hurt your bottom line. And small business owners are really aware of that…I think that people [business owners] are probably less patient. And they expect that the kids, if they make a decision to attend here,
that they accept…the responsibility that goes along with it,” Hein said.
Also, all of this is happening right next door to the school. Students are messing with the honest people in their own backyard. Brown said, “It’s being really super disrespectful to steal from a small business, and right next to home?” He compared current student behavior to those of previous years. “… there would be like, a good majority of kids that would…rip the guy off a few miles down the road, but they wouldn’t rip the guy off right in their own yard.”
It’s possible that Kerrytown could be closed to students entirely. But Hein hopes that won’t be in the future. She wants to work hard to “identify the individual students that are making it difficult for everybody, and deal with him or her directly. Also by “keeping an eye on the situation,” and “watching…[and] asking storeowners to help us identify students who aren’t doing the right thing,” Hein hopes to have the problem come to a close.
Hein and the Community staff will certainly be working to monitor the situation, but students can help too. Hein recommends to “Talk about what’s expected. Don’t forget this incident. Come up with solutions in forum. How…you can do that [point out bad behavior] and still be a friend to somebody. And if you’re on the receiving end…how can you be mature enough to take the feedback, and handle it responsibly.”
Kulka also has ideas for students looking to help. “…two things. One is to act appropriately when they’re in public. You know, with respect and kindness towards people, [and] not be jerks. Recognizing that that’s not their private property there, that it’s not your right to be in Kerrytown, Kerrytown doesn’t have to let you in there. [Students should] call their friends or call people on their behavior, when they see people doing something stupid.” And as Brown puts it, kids can just do their best to, “…try to reality check your buds.”
In the midst of an economic recession and harder times for everyone, Community students should be representing all this school stands for in supporting the city, it’s people, and it’s resources. Locally owned businesses in particular. This school is known for the freedom students have and the ways students are always giving back to the city. If Community wants to continue being a creative, welcoming, and generous alternative to the bigger high schools, everyone needs to remember to do their job, and respect the city they live in.
