12.15.2009

This is bad...

I know that bad people will do bad things, but this kind of thing is going to make it harder for pottery classes in schools in the future.

12 Year old Girl assaulted with Pottery Tool
 Matt McKinney 



Asheboro, NC -- Sheriff's deputies are investigating the assault of a 12-year-old middle school girl on a bus Tuesday afternoon.
Investigators say 18-year-old Jeremy Johnson, a student at Southwestern Randolph High School, had taken a pottery tool from the school without the teacher's knowledge.
Witnesses say that during an argument the suspect threw the tool at the 12-year-old striking her in the lip. The victim's father, Darrell Sanders, spoke only to WFMY News 2 about the incident.
"She had the pottery tool sticking through her upper lip through the bone down through the roof of her mouth," he said.
Randolph County Schools Spokesperson Dremia Meier said the school bus driver did not respond properly.
"We have specific policies in place. Any bus driver should call 911 immediately in any emergency. In this case that did not happen," she said.
Sanders said, "When she let my daughter off the school bus with a knife in her face, not knowing if anybody was home, that was the ultimate straw there."
The driver has been placed on administrative leave pending the school district's internal investigation.
Footage from a school bus camera is being used in the Randolph County Sheriff's Office's investigation.

Sanders and his wife took their daughter to Randolph Hospital where she had to receive stitches in the damaged area.  She was keep overnight for observation and is recovering at home.
Johnson is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and is being held at the Randolph County Jail under $100,000 bond. 
Randolph County school officials say he has been suspended.


If you are a school teacher, keep an eye on your tools... sheesh.

I have to admit that I am shocked that this kid was only suspended and not out right expelled.  The video story almost completely focuses on the bus driver, who admittedly did not follow protocol, and not on how this little thug need to be put on an ice flow.  Sheeseh, the girl was 12 and this punk is 18. Tell me that he does not have a future in and out of prison.

2 comments:

-Rob, Simple Circle Studios said...

Sad indeed. And especially unfortunate (for those who may want to teach pottery, anyway) that it happened with a pottery tool. What is that going to do to ceramics programs in high schools if pottery tools are suddenly considered deadly weapons?
It is really just a sign of where this country is headed, though. I work at a high school and the way students behave towards each other and towards adults is astonishing. A complete lack of respect for other people.

Lori Buff said...

This is very bad. I was thinking about the focus on the bus driver while reading it. Much less focus on the thug. Sadly, someone will think the solution is to remove pottery classes from the school rather than remove thugs from the school. He's 18, it's aggravated assault, he should do some time.