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These are the smartest public school kids in the state?!?

We. Are. Fucked.

Boston.com
Boston Latin officials seek to quash 'vampire' rumors
March 26, 2009 09:55 AM
By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A school administrator wants to set the record straight: There are no vampires at Boston Latin.

The headmaster of the prestigious exam school took the unusual step today of sending a notice to faculty, students, and parents saying that "rumors involving 'vampires'" had begun spreading through the building Wednesday, causing disruption and anxiety for a number of students.

Lynne Mooney Teta asked everyone's help in calming the school community down.

"I seek your cooperation in redirecting your energy toward the learning objectives of the day. Please do not sensationalize or discuss these rumors," she said.

She also said she was concerned that some students' safety might be jeopardized because of the rumors, and asked students to report if any student is being harassed.

"At no time was anyone's safety in jeopardy," she said.

The notice, which was addressed to faculty and students and forwarded to parents, did not say exactly what the rumors were. Teta's office referred questions to a Boston schools spokeswoman, who didn't immediately have a comment.

"Seriously?" said Melissa Duggan.

Officer Eddy Chrispin, a Boston Police spokesman, said police went to the school Wednesday after hearing that some students were spreading rumors there were vampires in the school.

"I'm not sure whether [the supposed vampires] were among the student body or whether they were inhabiting the old corners and crevices of the building," he said.

"We did go over there and speak to some of the students and quelled the rumors that were going and kind of told them the effect those rumors could have on the rest of the student population," he said.

Teen interest in vampires has surged in recent months with the release of "Twilight,'' the first movie from a popular Stephanie Meyer book series. Last weekend, "Twilight'' sleepover parties were held in many U.S. cities coinciding with the DVD release of the movie, starring teen heartthrob Robert Pattinson.

The prestigious Boston public school was founded in 1635, and its students have included Ben Franklin, Sam Adams, John Hancock, Louis Farrakhan, Sumner Redstone, and Nat Hentoff.
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They are a total embarassment. I graduated last year and I have seen some of these 9th graders. They are gangster wannabes. That grade is utter crap. I heard that the headmaster rounded them up one time because they were very rude during a public declamation and told them they were the worst class to grace BLS. It is sad really. After the class of '08, the classes start to get worse. The class of '12 is a group of thugs. A good way to cut the budget and eliminate troublesome kids is to raise the standards of the test and accept fewer students. How some of these kids made it is beyond me. They brought nothing but shame and tainted the school's prestigious reputation.
 
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The article is also misleading. Here's what "really" happened. I put quotations because of the fact that most rumors pointed to this story.

A female clique at BLS headed by a girl that actually had mental issues started dressing and acting like vampires. They requested that blinds be drawn during homeroom and one of them had tardy detention everyday because she refused to "rise with the sun" to get to school on time. They started cutting themselves and then started to drink each other's blood. Apparently, the leader tried to bite a girl during lunch. The victim was sent to the nurse's office while the police was called in. They arrested the girl. Afterward, the girl's boyfriend threatened to shoot up the school because of this incident. Fearing this, on Thursday, which is today, there are bag searches.

The rest is a cover up. This is why students were anxious because they thought a school shooting might happen, not because they thought vampires exist. Regardless, shame on the perpetrators. I hope they are expelled. They take up valuable space for more deserving students.
 
That's a much better story.

I was honestly afraid that there were 16 year olds at BLS afraid of vampires.

Fear of being bitten by a mentally ill person is much more rational.

Edit: Now that I think about, I'm really annoyed with Boston.com. If true, that is actually a pretty serious story. If they couldn't get any official verification they should of held off on reporting it rather than passing it off as a 'wacky news' story.
If this turns into real story, they are going to look really foolish. The budget cuts are killing the Globe.

Hey Beton, my brother was class of '89.
 
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^ Ask him if he remembers the unpopular boy who drank and smoked a lot.
 
Hmm.. an update on the vampire story:

A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said a group of girls at the school had been bullying at least one other student who like to dress in the style known as "Goth."

The official said the girls began spreading a rumor that the student was a would-be vampire, who had cut someone's neck and sucked their blood.

When Boston police went to the school Wednesday for an unrelated matter, that only fueled the rumor as students began speculating that the so-called "vampire" was being arrested.

The headmaster's notice, which was addressed to faculty and students and forwarded to parents, did not say exactly what the rumors were. Teta's office referred questions to a Boston schools spokesman.

Chris Horan, a spokesman for the Boston Public Schools, would not confirm reports of bullying.

"My understanding is [Teta] got reports that the teenage rumor mill ... was getting out of hand and she wanted to help the teachers and students and families put an end to it and get back to the business of teaching and learning," Horan said.
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Link
I still say Boston.com ran with this way too quickly.
 
"These are the smartest public school kids in the state?!?"

Don't worry politicians and the Teachers' Union will continue to find ways to spend more on education every year while actually diminishing the quality. A little tomfoolery with the testing regime and abstraction of standards will result in a lovely set of manipulated statistics which will disguise any perceptible decline in quality to the casual observer or lazy reporter. So what if the children don't know geography, math, science, history, civics, can't read, write, or speak properly, they all get a diploma which certifies they do!

Remember that the teachers with seniority are willing to screw over hundreds of their comrades, who will be laid off with the current budget woes, and the students who require that number of teachers, to get a pay raise. The public schools' mission isn't to educate students, it is to provide well compensated jobs to the chosen few. Monopolies always wind up being bloated non customer oriented messes irregardless if they are publicly or privately owned.
 
Lurker said:
"These are the smartest public school kids in the state?!?"

Don't worry politicians and the Teachers' Union will continue to find ways to spend more on education every year while actually diminishing the quality. A little tomfoolery with the testing regime and abstraction of standards will result in a lovely set of manipulated statistics which will disguise any perceptible decline in quality to the casual observer or lazy reporter. So what if the children don't know geography, math, science, history, civics, can't read, write, or speak properly, they all get a diploma which certifies they do!

Remember that the teachers with seniority are willing to screw over hundreds of their comrades, who will be laid off with the current budget woes, and the students who require that number of teachers, to get a pay raise. The public schools' mission isn't to educate students, it is to provide well compensated jobs to the chosen few. Monopolies always wind up being bloated non customer oriented messes irregardless if they are publicly or privately owned.
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Partially correct. I've seen the changes in BLS since I recently attended there. It seems to me each class gets worse and worse and I have to say it is the media that is the cause of this. Many of the kids that seem to do worse in school or get in trouble the most frequently are the wangsta types, those who wish to be a gangsta. The media today (ie music and tv) portrays these acts as cool and hip. These kids are disruptive in class. When I entered BLS, it was a no nonsense school. Now the school has become to lenient on these kids.
 
The "full' story:
Boston Globe - March 27, 2009
Vampire rumors spur alert at Boston Latin - on bullying

By Megan Woolhouse and Maria Cramer, Globe Staff | March 27, 2009

Boston Latin School headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta issued a notice to parents and students yesterday quashing rumors of vampires at the school. An odd move for the head of a historic elite preparatory school, but Teta and Boston public school officials declined to elaborate on what triggered the unusual message.

They did, however, adamantly offer assurances that no one at the school has been hurt, arrested - or bitten.

"The headmaster believes that the outrageous rumors had reached a point where she had to say something to families to ensure that all students felt safe and respected," said Chris Horan, School Department spokesman.

While the episode sounds like something out of "Twilight," last year's hit film about a high school girl who falls in love with a vampire, it may be closer to the movie "Mean Girls."

Two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the incident said a group of girls at the school had been bullying at least one other student who likes to dress in Goth-style, a vampirish look popularized by musician Marilyn Manson. The officials said the girls began spreading a rumor that the student was a vampire who had cut someone's neck and sucked the blood.

When Boston police went to the school Wednesday on an unrelated matter, their presence fueled yet another rumor: that a vampire was being arrested, according to one of the law enforcement sources.

Several students and parents of students said police officers were posted at the school's main entrance Wednesday but it was unclear why.

Eddy Chrispin, Boston Police Department spokesman, said police spoke with several students at the school Wednesday "to quell the rumor" of vampires.

"The whole thing kind of took on a life of its own," Chrispin said.

The officers determined that the situation was an internal school matter.

Horan said in reference to the rumors that when you've got "an $800 million budget and 212 layoffs, this is not really a priority."

Teta issued her notice to parents in an e-mail sent yesterday at 8 a.m.

"It has come to my attention that rumors involving 'vampires' began spreading through the building yesterday," it said.

"I am very concerned that the safety of certain students may be jeopardized as targets of rumors and speculation," she wrote. "Please alert any adult in the building if you feel that any student is being harassed or targeted."

Teta denied requests for an interview yesterday, referring all questions to the School Department spokesman. But the memo appeared to raise new questions and rounds of speculation.

One student who contacted the Globe said a male student, rumored to be a werewolf, had threatened on Facebook to bring a gun to school because he was being harassed. Other students at the school yesterday said they had heard that a student had been bitten.

John Maguire, who was picking up his 13-year-old at the school yesterday afternoon, said he didn't know there was an issue about vampire rumors until his son told him yesterday. He said he laughed it off.

"C'mon, a vampire in the school? Don't you think that's a little woo-hoo?" he said, pointing to his head.

Yet images of vampires are common in books, television programs, and movies, from "Twilight," the book series by Stephenie Meyer, to HBO's "True Blood." Susanne Toomajian, president of the Massachusetts School Psychologists Association, said middle school students might be drawn to romanticized vampire images in films like "Twilight" because they depict an outsider who finds love. But the issue is more about acceptance.

That's something "that early adolescents struggle with," she said. "The vampire themes are really ancillary to other themes of fitting in."

Students leaving Boston Latin yesterday said rumors about students claiming to be vampires, or more specifically "half-vampires," have been circulating for months. Several said two or three female students at the school carry umbrellas in all weather to avoid exposure to the sun.

Myles Friedman, a junior, said that after police appeared at the school yesterday, the rumor mill kicked into full gear. "I've never heard any rumor spread so fast."

Some at the school yesterday said they believed a student had been bitten. No one had heard about a problem with bullying.

Seventeen-year-old Davis Murphy said he heard that some students claiming to be half-vampires were draining their blood to make their skin paler or had claimed they could fly.

"No one bullies them," he said, laughing. "We just want to know why they're vampires."

Victoria Browne, a senior, said many of the rumors are so outrageous they make older students laugh.

" heard people were biting people, but that vampires only bite the willing," she said with a smile.

Browne, who has been involved with the school's antibullying campaign, said she had not heard any reports of bullying.

In recent years, public schools have attempted to crack down on bullying because of its link to teen depression and suicide. Boston Latin has taken steps to make sure all students feel comfortable, she said.

"There's no bullying here," Browne said. "It's just that everybody is really weirded out."

Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com. Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.
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So, to sum up: Some kids like to pretend they are vampires or werewolves or whatever. They get picked on for doing so. One threatens to bring a gun to school.
 
Justin7 said:
So, to sum up: Some kids like to pretend they are vampires or werewolves or whatever.
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Seems like it. Maybe. They may just dress 'goth'. Everythingthing else is rumor

Justin7 said:
They get picked on for doing so.
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Maybe. Conflicting reports.

Justin7 said:
One threatens to bring a gun to school.
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Rumor.

So to sum up: We have no idea what is really going on inside BLS and neither does the Globe.
 
Fair enough, statler, though unless there is more too it, I think this is all pretty typical high school stuff. Kids get carried away. Vampire Romanticism (for lack of a better term) is big right now, and even a gun threat, which I feel should be treated as a very serious matter, usually turns out to be not serious at all. If this were any other school it would be non-news (which it probably should be anyway).
 
And now for something completely different....

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