OHS officials address recent unrest on Owatonna

OWATONNA — Parents exiting the Owatonna High School Auditorium Tuesday following a meeting with school administrators said the tension in the room during the meeting had been obvious.

School district officials had issued an invitation to the meeting to the parents of high school students last week in an attempt both to quell rumors that were running rampant in the school and the community and to outline what steps the district is taking in the aftermath of events at the school last week.

“We will not be taking time to discuss how we will solve the issues leading up to the events of last week,” said OHS Principal Don Johnson. “We will be doing that in meetings in the coming weeks.”

Tension in the school began to escalate following a fight that broke out on school grounds on Nov. 16 between a group of Somali students and a group of white students – a fight that ended with one of the students being hospitalized. The hostility may have initially arisen after one of the white students wrote a paper for an English class that was offensive to the Somali population of the school.

At least a half dozen students have been suspended from school because of their involvement in the incident, Owatonna School Superintendent Dr. Tom Tapper told the parents at Tuesday’s meeting. Tapper declined to give much detail about what disciplinary actions were taken, citing data privacy laws.

The tension is the school following the fight, coupled with concerns over a bomb threat at the same time, prompted an increased presence at the school by Owatonna Police officers and stricter security measures, including bag searches.

Johnson told Tuesday’s crowd that authorities had not found any connection between the fight and the bomb threat.

“To our knowledge, the two events weren’t related,” Johnson said.

However, the two events helped raise concern for student safety and led to many students being kept home from school for safety concerns. On Thursday, 221 students – more than 10 percent of the student population – were absent. Of that number, 151 reported the absence was out of concern for safety.

Johnson said rumors circulated through text messages and social networking sites that there had been a school lockdown, fights after school, a shooting in Morehouse Park, and that a gun was found on campus. All, he said, were untrue.

“We want to rebuild the confidence our community has historically had in our schools,” said Tapper.

During a question-and-answer session with Tapper and Johnson, reactions from those in attendance ranged from support of the school administration for how it has handled the situation to hostility for what some said were vague answers or outright lies by school administrators.

At one point, a parent of one of the children involved in the Nov. 16 fight stormed out of the room, only to return a moment later to shout at the administration, “Why don’t you tell the truth?”

But there were those in attendance who called for more understanding within the community.

Habiba Haru said the issue is one of respect and a community which needs to come together.

“We can have our differences. You don’t have to like what I wear but respect me,” Haru said. “I would love for you to be a Christian sister or brother. Freedom of speech doesn’t have to hurt somebody’s feelings.”

Haru said Tapper has handled the situation well. She said students need to be taught to be tolerant at home as well as in public.

Her comments were met with a round of applause.

Tensions also were heightened when questions of the perceived unequal treatment of students and separation of church and state arose.

Rumors have circulated Somali students have a room in the school dedicated to prayer.

“They do not have a room, and we do provide time for them to pray,” Tapper said.

Tapper said the rumor and questions are good examples of questions administration will be addressing in the coming weeks with both the community and students.

“We’re not going to solve that issue at this meeting, but I think it’s a good place to start,” Tapper said.

He reminded those in attendance the upcoming season is one celebrated by Christians which also finds its way into the schools.

A woman who identified herself only as a 2009 OHS graduate and member of the Somali community said discussions will need to work both ways. She said recent news reports have vilified OHS’s Somali students and leaders need to help them also feel like they are a part of the student body.

Tapper said the next steps will be in the direction of healing, both at the school and within the community.

Rooms where students can report threats and discuss issues will be available at the high school. The district will also employ resources both internally and from outside the district to review the situation and recommend the best steps moving forward.

Wendy Reuer can be reached at 444-1565.

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Member Opinions: By: wally10kg21 on 11/24/09 FIRST!! By: Bush on 11/25/09 I am a student at OJHS and on tuesdays all the christian students go to churge during school while some of us with diferent religions stay behind and do nothing.I just wanna say if somali students praying in school is problem lets cancel Tuesdays at OJHS. please its only fair. By: wally10kg21 on 11/25/09 Bush- Number 1. Owatonna non-somoli students don't get class off when somoli students go pray and 2. If you don't want to have class when catholic students go to R.E. then don't go! By: Bush on 11/25/09 Hay WALLY!!When the somali students pray the school goes on but when the white student pray EVERTHING comes to a stop.I want to learn I dont want to wait for them. By: Bush on 11/25/09 We sit around waiting for them and that is not fair. atleast the somali student dont make me wait. By: wally10kg21 on 11/25/09 Why would you want to cancel a full school day then when the "christian students go to churge"? I thought you wanted to learn? By: commoncitizen on 11/25/09 Wally - sounds to me like Bush is making a point, not a proposal. We all have our personal convictions, religious or otherwise. The trick to a good working society is to respect each others convictions, while trying to protect everyone's rights. By: TaxPayer on 11/25/09 Maybe . . . Bush could use the down time to learn to spell. By: atlascollapsed on 11/25/09 “We will not be taking time to discuss how we will solve the issues leading up to the events of last week,” said OHS Principal Don Johnson. “We will be doing that in meetings in the coming weeks.” Handy dandy political speak translator says: We really dont know how we can solve this, but with a student sent to the hospital our number one priority is covering our back sides legally because I'm pretty sure we're going to get sued. We'll be meeting with the districts lawyers to figure out what we can and cannot say over the next few weeks. Hopefully you will all forget about this by christmas and hopefully by then we can have our collective butts covered. Maybe we can all chip in and buy them a magic 8-ball so they can answer the really tough questions. By: secretsquirrel on 11/25/09 The issues of parity are simple enough: One set of standards, one set of rules, one attendance policy, same level of enforcement for all etc. The issues race and culture are a bit more complex because resolving them will require a hell of a lot of honesty, integrity and guts. One of my favorite Americans to quote is Ben Franklin: "All cats are gray in the dark." - Ben Franklin. If we turned out the lights on this issue, what would be left? Would people feel the same? "If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed." - again, Ben Franklin. I think the OPP should be commended for having the courage and foresight to run with this story and allow posters such tremendous latitude in their opinions. Jeff: A poster suggested shutting these comments down at one point, considering this forum to be fanning the flames. You wisely chose to keep the dialogue running. Thanks for that as everyone can see this develop and evolve into some level of constructive discourse. Even the largest fire eventually burns itself out. By: secretsquirrel on 11/25/09 Good morning AC. By: atlascollapsed on 11/25/09 Magic 8-ball says - Morning? yes, good? still up for debate. By: Grickle on 11/25/09 Bush, I think that is a great point! Think about how this would be treated if the roles were reversed! The christian kids would be in "study hall" while the somali kids are in R.E., there would be outrage. So take a step back and see there are concessions made for both sides. By: ss_observing on 11/25/09 Grickle - find a different pot to stir. If the RE that is being referred to is the same as the past, it's for the Catholic students (maybe Lutherans, also), it's been going on FOREVER and, there hasn't been ANY outrage. And, for those doing nothing back at the school, maybe you should sign up for another class and skip the study hall option. By: MayMay on 11/25/09 I am a student at OHS. I was at the board meeting monday, and at the meeting lastnight on tuesday nov. 24th. In my opinion, the school did nothing but run around the questions and didnt wanna give answers because they know they are in the wrong despite what they say. Because of what i saw, i dont feel safe anymore at the school. To add to it. i talked to a fried just a few seconds ago and she said there were NO bag checks at the school today. Wow...does the school have that much common sense? Honestly what will it take for the school to get it through their heads that there is a deep issue here, and covering it up is NOT gonna help. Mark my words, the schools ignorance, will probably have another student end up in the hospital or worse and i feel sorry for the next family that has to go through this crap By: MayMay on 11/25/09 I wonder how much it will take to knock johnson and tapper off their pedistal By: ss_observing on 11/25/09 PS - more importantly, they left the school to practice their religion. The issue at hand is "while at school" are the rules being adhered to fairly and equitably? And, from my perspective, at this point, do they even make sense? By: MayMay on 11/25/09 Oh, and for the prayer room issue, there kinda is one. its located under the steps over in c-section. i myself have actually witnessed somalis praying there. To me, letting somalis pray but not letting wiccans, christians or w/e other religion pray as well, is just wrong. There is racial inequality we all know it even as the students we know it. But the school does not listen because they hail to nothing but the almighty dollar By: CarpenterFan6 on 11/25/09 I think most posters could use a spelling class, but I digress. :) By: stormchaser28 on 11/25/09 A certain big computer company in Rochester has special rooms where Muslims can pray, they also had special bathrooms too - it seems there are a lot of concessions made for Muslims but not as many made for other religions. By: shellbell on 11/25/09 I want to clarify the discussion on RE at the OJHS. I have a student there and he does attend RE. Starting this year RE does not take place during the school day. Students must be to the church they go to for RE at 7:30 am and then must report to the school by approx. 8:10. If they are late they are counted as tardy. There are no excuses. As for only catholics attending Re, that is false. We do not attend a catholic church By: kadrmas21 on 11/25/09 Carpenter, this is a blog, not English class. Yes, this meeting was a joke. Tapper told a bald faced lie to that audience when he said there was not a prayer room for Somali's when it is very obvious there is one. To be honest, I could care less about the Somali's praying, my concern on this issue has never been about Somali's or anyone else praying in and of itself. The concern I have is how Christian students would be treated differently if they did this very same thing. It is the double standard that concerns me. It seems that Christian students have to leave the building if they wanted to pray. I can guarantee you they would not be allowed to do it in the building during school hours out in the open like that and I do not really care what anyone says about that. I just know it would not be allowed to happen without some atheist or someone else complaining about it. Tom Tapper and Don Johnson danced around those questions and talked a lot but based on the content of this article said very little. Basically at this point it seems to me they care more about covering their rear ends legally than anything else. Tapper falls back on the old 'data privacy laws' crap, something he probably knows little to nothing about, like most things. Tapper knows it is not a question of IF the Owatonna School District will get sued but a question of WHEN? Enough is enough. The double standards and the certain exceptions being made for certain groups of people but not others needs to stop. Again, this is not about Somali or white, not about Muslim or Christian. At least to me it is not about that. What it is about is the blatant double standards that are going on here and how it is unacceptable. It seems the rules and the exceptions to the rules only apply to certain groups of people but not others. That is simply not acceptable. By: donghua on 11/25/09 "So long as there are tests to pass, there will be prayers in school." Amen By: tireman43 on 11/25/09 Thank you shellbell. You said it before me. They have changed the RE program this year. Also, as kadrmas21 said, this and ALL blogs are not spelling class. Get over it. As for the posts today. Thanks to everyone for having their heads together. I appreciate reading them all today. I was not able to be there last night so thanks for the opinions. By: TheHelp on 11/25/09 Wow. Brothers and sisters, equality is what we should strive for, every time. I can't believe the amount of hate that is being fueled, even through this forum. Why is this community not teaching our youth acceptance or, at very, very least, tolerance? Are they a product of the way the general community feels? If adults, the school, the parents and the peers are planting and fueling negative ideas (and falsities at that,) the only product that Owatonna schools will end with is very unsuccessful and unfounded and hatred-ridden young adults. By: Drew on 11/25/09 Bush, if you listen very closely, you can hear all of the tiny violins playing for you. By: Bush on 11/25/09 I think RE should be canceled at OJHS becuase I dont want to wait around for those students. By: Bush on 11/25/09 I think RE should be canceled at OJHS becuase I dont want to wait around for those students. By: Bush on 11/25/09 I think the Somali community does not know about RE I wonder what would happen if they find out.... If you are yelling and 10 minute prayer lets cancel RE. By: alittlebitofsugar on 11/25/09 Bush, you mentioned earlier that you are a student at OJHS. Do you have computer access at school, or are you not being truthful about being a student? By: tonnatownie on 11/25/09 Bush - When i was in junior high I didn't go to RE and I'm white. I used my study time productively to do homework and work on things for school. I enjoyed the time without actual class to get things done and be with my friends who were still at the junior high. By: sport1 on 11/25/09 I have seen the religious problem in this community for years. It is more than just muslim or christian. Heck the christians don't get along. I have been involved with youth sports where it is said the catholic kids are getting helped out and parents are upset about what fields are getting used by what teams when. Questions of the gym time St Mary's kids get vs the Jr high kids. I am sorry it is about special treatment for some and not about equality. Some feel they have more rights than others to School space, gym space, park space, or whatever. Separation of CHURCH and STATE was a governing concern not a disassociation of each other. After all atheism is a set of beliefs as well. Why should we practice that in government? Prayer belongs to the individual as does education. Allow the options to pray by everyone of their own accord in school or not, but make it equal! If the Muslims want a school where prayer is allowed to follow their specific religion, create a Muslim school like the Catholic school. Same goes for Lutheran or any other denomination. School is for education, churches are for prayer. It is a lack of respect of anyone that is at the core here. The administration is who needs to stand forth and set the example of respect of each with equal treatment of all. Would there have been a paper had the kids involved not "felt" a favoritism? Would the kids not have responded if this was not a "feeling of harrassment" by the other group? I doubt either yet both occured. Place responsibility with the correct parties and don't miss anyone! The paper writer, the retaliators, and the admin! By: alittlebitofsugar on 11/25/09 I do not disagree with your premise sport1. However you point out a problem as you see it but no solution. I am not picking on you, I just see no solution offered. 1. If the right to leave class for religious reasons is allowed by Federal law, do you want the school district to violate Federal law? Solution: contact Tim Walz or Klobuchar and ask them to get the law changed. 2. If the time missed in class is an issue what resolution do you seek. The Muslim student is being impacted by not being present when material is presented. If my child or your child is being held up in covering material then it affects us. As I mentioned in my post on a related article yesterday, where is the Christian child being impacted on following the tenets of their faith. I am sure that their are Christian children praying at school today that they do well on their tests. I believe that a majority of the Christian churches in Owatonna would be happy if more of their members simply attended services every Sunday. The only argument that I think could reasonably be made (believe it or not)is by the schools themselves. On one hand they are bound by law to allow this accomodation, yet are being evaluated primarily on student testing scores. It would be reasonable to assume that this impacts those scores. By: Bush on 11/25/09 HAY alittlebitofsugar!!! I siad A FORMER OJHS student. This is not about me ok. This is about you guys being unfair. LIke I said RE vs. 10 praying. By: ksanh68 on 11/25/09 sport1, don't try to drag atheism into the religious bickering on this thread. If atheism is just another form of faith, then not carrying a rabbit's foot is just another superstition. Atheism has no ritual, guilt or malice. It can't be a religion. By: Bush on 11/25/09 Think about how this would be treated if the roles were reversed! The christian kids would be in "study hall" while the somali kids are in R.E., there would be outrage By: Bush on 11/25/09 Think about how this would be treated if the roles were reversed! The christian kids would be in "study hall" while the somali kids are in R.E., there would be outrage By: alittlebitofsugar on 11/25/09 No it is Bush. You mention you were an OJHS student, and since I was up late last night noticed that you were making posts to this blog around 12:45 in the morning when you were jousting with wally10kg21 (some since removed). Then you are making posts during the school day. Just did not seem in the timeframe that a Junior High student would be posting. You can do what you wish, but I give more latitude to someone who says they are a student in presenting their point of view. If you are not a student, then do not identify yourself as one. By: alittlebitofsugar on 11/25/09 Bush look at the 2nd entry on this blog I am a student at OJHS and on tuesdays all the christian students go to churge during school while some of us with diferent religions stay behind and do nothing.I just wanna say if somali students praying in school is problem lets cancel Tuesdays at OJHS. please its only fair. By: shellbell on 11/25/09 Bush, Are you reading all of the posts? Nobody at the OJHS is in a study hall while the other students go to RE. RE is now done at 7:30 am on Tuesday mornings. School starts at 8:15 am. All kids must be in school and at their assigned seat at that time. By: Drew on 11/25/09 Again, hay is for horses. Tool. By: Bush on 11/25/09 IT is only fair By: Laura on 11/25/09 Who said that Christans can't pray in school? The Muslim kids pray 24/7 , so you can do it too! the school as not said u can't not, and besides since when is it a problem to pray when it is not harming us. plus i thought it was about the fight? By: TheHelp on 11/25/09 Bush, you're really sticking your foot in your mouth. Seriously--contradictions everywhere. Has someone told you that you can't pray during school? It sounds like RE isn't even interfering with school. I'm failing to see a problem here, aside from perhaps some skewed perceptions, biases and a lack of respect for anyone. By: Jeremy on 11/25/09 I don't get a few things here. I agree its not black or white, muslim or christian. Its about fair treatment for everyone. If a kid wants wear a hat let em. or if they want to pray let them pray why not? They most likely they aren't fighting if they are praying. I think we all black, white,christian,and muslim need to remember where we live. U.SA. land of the free, and many young people have died so we would have the right to live with the wonderful freedoms we have. We all should stand proud for the flag , and for the nation it stands for. I think political correctness has run us into this mess. I wish I had an answer? Merry Christmas By: valkyrie on 11/25/09 The problem with fair treatment for everyone is that everyone isn't the same. Subjectively, yes, everyone is a human and worthy of the same basic decent treatment, but objectively, different people have different needs. Christian students are absolutely permitted to pray during the school day, and I knew of many teachers during my time at OHS who would have been happy to offer up their empty classroom to a student who just needed a quiet space to be alone. The thing is, in the Christian traditions that I'm aware of, there are no requirements to pray at certain times and in certain ways. That's not the case in Islam, in which adherents are supposed to pray, facing Mecca, five times per day, including noon and early afternoon, which obviously fall during the school day. To practice their religion, these students need particular privileges, which include a private place to pray. Christians do not require this specific an accommodation, so they aren't granted it. While Christian students may feel this is unfair, it's probably important to point out that, for example, Christians can expect to have off school for the holidays they celebrate, which is not true for Muslims, or for other minority religious groups including Jews. Christians can expect, in general, that foods that are appropriate in their religion will be served each day in the lunch room. That is to say, in general, the system is already structured to accommodate Christians. Just because it is shifting to ALSO accommodate other students does not make it unfair to those whom it formerly privileged in total. My point is that we need to recognize that "equal treatment" is not the appropriate paradigm with which to approach this issue. We must treat different cases differently. When we say "equal treatment," we usually mean "treat everyone like you would treat a Christian," and that will result in unfair treatment of Muslim students, effectively prohibiting them from practicing vital elements of their faith. By: SportsMom on 11/25/09 My understanding of the letter that was written was to express his opinion of students not being treated fairly and equally. I believe that the praying was just one example, not the only one. Why is it that we have the school forum and the VERY next day, my kids tell me that the Somali boys were wearing bandanas in school today. What part of this whole incident does the school administration not understand?? Yes, wearing a hat or bandana in the big scheme of life is not a big deal. However, there is a boy in the hospital because he voiced his opinion that if the Somali boys can wear a stupid hat or bandana, then everyone should be allowed to. This is not rocket science! It is the little things that build into big things. Why not start fixing the little and stupid things and maybe the more important issues will be become easier to fix. Enforce the rules, equally and fairly, for everyone. This is such an insignificant thing, but it is one of things that led us to where we are today. The school administration needs to open their eyes and ears and start paying attention. By: bornintheusa on 11/25/09 HELLO IM BORN..AN AMERICAN CHRISTIAN ,THE MOTHER OF A CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY SON AND THE PROUD WIFE OF AN EGYPTIAN MUSLIM..MAY I PUT MY 2 CENTS IN? MY HUSBAND WAS SICKENED WHEN HE ARRIVED IN MINNESOTA TO C OUR CHRISTIAN SCHOOL CHILDREN WERE TREATED DIFFERNTLY THEN MUSLIM CHILDREN..WE BOTH FEEL ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS SHOULD BE TREATING ALL CHILDREN THE SAME..WE BOTH FEEL THEY HAVE TAKEN GOD OUTTA OUR SCHOOLS AND THIS IS ALOT OF THE PROBLEMS WE R HAVING TODAY..I CANT IMAGINE IF I WERE IN SCHOOL TODAY AND NOT ALLOWED TO GO TO RELEASE TIME WEEKLY DURING SCHOOL OR I COULDNT PRPAY AROUND A FLAG POLE..IM SURE IF U ASKED ANY MUSLIM CHILD THEY WOULD AGREE..EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO PRAY..MANY MUSLIMS COVER THEIR HEADS FOR A REASON...IN FACT MANY CHRISTIANS YRS AGO DID THE SAME.. BOTH SIDES HERE HAVE A ISSUE..BUT YOUR COMMUNITY HAS A BIGGER ISSUE AND YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT ALSO... By: wolfman on 11/25/09 I went to the meeting last night at the school, and I really didn't get much out of what Dr.Tapper and Principal Johnson said. It's much of the same that has been said all along, a lot of nothing. Now it was said it was a group of Samali's and a group of white kids. I thought it was only one or two white kids. Which was it?? I also don't understand why we have to change things in this country which by the way has worked out for a long long time, for a few who in my mind can't change to the way things are done in the US? If you don't like the way things are done, go home. I get tired of hearing how bad it is here for them. It,s bad all the way around, but you should not get "special privilages." I was a student at OHS during the 60's and since I have been in Owatonna all these years, this has never happened, until the Somalis came to America. We had little one on one fights, but we never had a group of people beat someone. If that would of happened, we would of handled the situation, and it would have been done. I'm sorry to say this, but if you don't like the heat in the kitchen, get out. I should not have to change just because of you. By: Geneva_Queen on 11/25/09 Just as I expected. School officials dance around topics so they won't give a straight answer. Typical political BS if you ask me. Then respond to individuals by saying: "I’ll get an answer for you". That way they can give different answers to people individually, and change their answers at the same time. Much easier to tell us what we want to hear, but one at a time. They know trying to argue with a large group will get them into hot water!! I agree with a previous post. This is their way of ignoring the problem and hope those who complain simply get frustrated and go away. I was unable to make it to the meeting, but I would have stood up and called Tapper a LIAR in front of everyone. Also, just wondering if there's a relation between the inventor of the flushable toilet "Sir Thomas Crapper"... and Tom Tapper of the school board. Seems they both have a common interest in being full of CRAP. By: Geneva_Queen on 11/25/09 wolfman, I agree. I remember when there were refugees from Vietnam joining our schools and community in the 70's. They LEARNED English and learned our ways. They said the pledge of Allegiance, they celebrated our Holidays. They didn't complain one bit. The USA was a drastic improvement from their homeland. Now the Somolis come here, think they can treat everyone here like crap, think they can use the Constitution to their advantage, grab girls butts in school, be rude to people in public parks (Manthey), and calling white people "Crackers". Yet they stand back and wonder why the community won't accept them, and call us racists at the same time. They’re just as bad outside of school as they are at school. I watched a Somoli get bounced out of a local bar for being rude and spitting on the floor. He had NO reason to be that way, but felt he had the right to do what he wanted. To the Somolis, how about treating people with RESPECT for once?!?! By: Jeremy on 11/25/09 Geneva queen wrote"To the Somolis, how about treating people with RESPECT for once?!?!" Blanket statements like this just fuel rage, all Somoli people are not bad. I work with a few that are thankful for the life they have. They are very respectful and hard working, I have enjoyed coffee with them outside of work also. That said I know there are bad apples in every race or culture. lets be human here, we all have feelings. By: bornintheusa on 11/25/09 Jeremy..Bravo to u...There are good and bad in all nations..Owatonna hasnt seen its first school fight , nor i assume the last..im sure there have been many..Funny how some turn the cheek when it is white and white..We must b reminded they r refugees , we blew up their country..they did not ask to come here..The world.Maybe in 20 yrs they will have became more accustomed to our culture..Im not seeing any comments about other cultures in owatonna..how about press one for english and press 2 for spanish? maybe alittle respect towards other religions and cultures may help//MAYBE TEACHING OUR CHILD TO RESPECT OTHERS. By: FEIDO on 11/25/09 O.K JR. Bush with the big mouth and little stick.All this smack talk about R.E.,is it held in school? Is there a special area? Does it happen 5 times a day? I'd play a sad song for your poor left out want to be like everyone elses soul on my violin but with your immature demeanor,Iam sure you will start crying. I used to attend R.E. when I was at O.H.S.,I know it is held off campus.I know it is once a week. Perhaps that is just what the Samoli culture should do also.Seperate Mosque and state.Be released once a week for relgious studies.And JR.Bush,you can stay behind and clean the restrooms,I heard the sinks are awfully dirty now days. By: bornintheusa on 11/25/09 OUCH................. By: lightfighter on 11/25/09 I believe Sportsmom said it best. Set rules and standards and then enforce and stick to them. People are too PC. Follow common rules and don't be afraid to enforce it on a white kid or a minority kid alike. This is the problem. Set a standard for everyone. Problem solved. By: tireman43 on 11/25/09 That is correct lightfighter and SportsMom. But all the PCers will chime in very soon and spout their rhetoric. I hear them coming. As for -bornintheusa- How many people are you. It seems you may have multiple personalities. I just re-read both posts and it seems like a different person in both. By: Drew on 11/25/09 Well said Wolfman. By: alittlebitofsugar on 11/25/09 So you were at the Monday meeting? Did you take any notes? By: NoteTaker on 11/25/09 Tapper looked a bit gaunt at the Monday meeting. Is he well? But I digress.... Anyway, what a sorry bunch of "leaders." Actually, Tapper never looked better, what with his mouth shut and looking to Wallace for assurance ("How am I doing, Mommy Dearest?"). Too bad Johnson wasn't there; he and Tapper could've held each other closely as they were berated by the justifiably-enraged parents. Meanwhile, School Board Chairman Teri "I Feel Your Pain" Wallace was demonstrating her agility as she breathlessly dashed between her dual roles as, on the one hand, the caring, sympathetic and concerned mother and then, on the other hand, the outraged, determined and focused School Board Chairman with a "can do" attitude! (She can even leap tall buildings in a single bound!) Then there's the rest of the board members, most of whom we're probably busily calculating how much longer it'd be before they could exit to change their underwear. Oh yeah...they're an awesome group. By: alittlebitofsugar on 11/25/09 Notetaker you seem to have this figured out so scientifically. Maybe you should take the leap and put yourself "out there" and run for public office? Sounds like the only requirement is to have an extra pair of underwear. By: NoteTaker on 11/25/09 alittlebitofsugar...where to start? "Notetaker you seem to have this figured out so scientifically." Agreed. "Maybe you should take the leap and put yourself "out there" and run for public office?" Maybe. "Sounds like the only requirement is to have an extra pair of underwear." That and an apparent disregard for following the rules. By: Bush on 11/25/09 I think some white people are angry becuase somali people have better cars than they do.I think we are used to seeing poor black people. By: bornintheusa on 11/26/09 O TIREDMAN...,PLEASE REFRAIN FROM TRYING TO MOCK OTHERS..NOT MY PROBLEM IF U HAVE ISSUES READING.. By: Bush on 11/26/09 Owatonna white people can hate whoever they want, but I’m sure somali people are not losing sleep over this. I personally find this town boring. By: raven on 11/26/09 I think people should really think about what they are saying before posting comments that are so idiotic and straight up stupid. When did people become so stuck on themselves? You can not hate a whole community of people just because a few may have put a sour taste in your mouth. Change is something that is going to happen and, yes, Somali's coming to this community is a change. They are not going anywhere so instead of complaining about it why not find a solution to the problem? How many people in this community have even tried to get to know thier culture? Maybe it would help you understand why they do some of the things they do. I certainly do not agree with what has happened in the High School recently, both sides are equally responsible. Therefore, both sides need to help the situation for it to be resolved. Racist remarks are not going to fix the problem, so keep them to yourselves. Find something more constructive to say. By: alittlebitofsugar on 11/26/09 Notetaker, just to let you know my post was somewhat of a cryptic 20 questions. Was waiting for a key piece of information you provided in one of your posts. Just wanted to put a face with the moniker and now I have it figured out. Disappointed. Expected more. You should be ashamed of how you USED the incident at the high school in your posts on this site and the TOPIX site. Happy Turkey Day. (pun intended) Right on Raven. By: NoteTaker on 11/26/09 (Must be that my first wife has FINALLY tracked me down. UGH!) Who it is?! What took you so long...dear? Sooooo, did you bring the kids with you? Now c'mon over here and give me just alittlebitofsugar! Oh...and Happy Thanksgiving everyone! By: Drew on 11/26/09 Raven, both sides equally responsible? Really? If they were equally responsible, the incident would have been four on four. If the roles were reversed, this would be national news and Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be camping out at the high school. By: bewildered on 11/26/09 I have to agree with bornintheusa. Alot of this stems from how these children are being taught about diversity from their PARENTS. Number 1 an English paper was written for class, did the teacher realize it had potential for some racist unrest? Number 2 why was it allowed on the website? Number 3 is the complete story being told of what happened that day in the lunchroom? Really? Would a "group" of Somalis really just start pounding on 4 whites just because? I have a hard time believing this, maybe there were some words being tossed back and forth between the groups. Lets all grow up. Seriously, a grown woman storming out of a meeting just to come back and yell at the administration? Where is your respect? And all of the words being said right here by some people, don't you think those would start a revolution too? Guess what, we are all different, as someone stated, the somalis didn't ask to come here WE bombed their country. I ask this of parents - what exactly are you teaching your kids? It's not up to the teachers to teach them everything, get off your dead butts and teach respect - DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE DONE TO YOU. Figure it out and to those 4 students - grow up and maybe you need to tell some truth as well. By: SportsMom on 11/26/09 bewildered - respect is a two-way street. I have taught my kids to treat everyone with respect and it is then up to those to keep it. And just so you know, the "grown woman" who stormed out of the meeting and yelled at the administration was the boy who is in the hospitals mother. She has reasons to be upset. Diversity and tolerance needs to be taught to everyone's children, not just white children. You seem a little judgemental when you seem to have so many questions about what actually happened. What are you teaching your kids? It is o.k. to place blame on the "4 students" when you weren't there and don't know what happened any more than anyone else? I'm sure there were other places for them to go other than to the "country that bombed them". Everyone has choices in life, including the Somalis. By: Jesus_isKing on 11/26/09 Bush: YOU HAVE BEEN BUSTED! Remember the students go off campus to have the freedom to study their faith. Thank God that He does not hear prayer only on selected times of the day! God is available 24/7. The RE students cannot study their faith at school, like the Somolians can apparently. Are you saying the White students can pray in school openly? These youth make an extra effort to attend and learn their beliefs. Are you really waiting for them? For what?Don't you understand they are not/cannot use the schools for their belief and study? What is the big deal if the Somalis find out about RE? They should follow the same example, go early to their place of worship and then go to school. They are not running the show for RE. On another note. Do you really think the Somolians don't WANT to be here? I don't agree with the statement: "They didn't ask to come here.." Really? They are dying to get here, honestly. They would rather be here than in a country in turmoil and poverty. Come on...we did not force them to come here. We are providing all kinds of better quality of life. So the woman who stormed out of the meeting was the injured boy's Mom-I don't blame her. Are the guys that beat him up paying his hospital bill? Doing anything to help him heal? Apologizing for what they did? Is the injured boy apologizing? Wow how did it get to this? Someone mentioned boys are wearing a bandana? Sounds like a gang, unless their hair is so filthy they are embarrassed to show their heads! By: Drew on 11/27/09 Bewildered, That may be the most clueless post I have ever read on these message boards. After this comment, I am speechless. By: bewildered on 11/28/09 Dear SportsMom- There is a saying "You reap what you sow" with that being said maybe the parents need to rethink how they are "teaching" their children respect. In every race there are "good" and "bad" with that in mind you can't judge a race by a few "bad" and if the shoe were on the other foot and it was a Somalian writing that essay about white kids would that make it better? Would there even be an issue right now? I have heard the term "Hate Crime" in regards to this issue and again if the shoe were on the other foot would it be considered a Hate Crime then? Maybe the crime started when the article was written to begin with and the teacher chose to ignore it. Maybe you should take a step down off your pedestal and look in the mirror those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Just so you know, I am very proud of the way I raised my kids - thanks for asking. Hope you have a Happy Holiday season and remember what it is all about. By: BIGMAMA on 11/28/09 The opinions of students start at the home teaching by parents or there lack of. Sportsmom needs to re-think her lily-white ways and accept the 21st century where everyone is equal. I agree that the school district needs to be more aware of tensions and be pro-active rather than take a wait and see what happens attitude. By: secretsquirrel on 11/28/09 I suppose that the parents of every kid that sneaks off to smoke a reefer are drug addicts... after all, where else would the kids learn such behaviors and attitudes about their health if not from their omnipotent parents? Again, these are not small children. They are young adults. The people who continually insist on blaming parents for their kids stupid mistakes, choices and attitudes are the ones creating the problem by giving the kids room to wiggle out of responsible decisions. Knock off the weeping Wilma attitude and hold the kids accountable. ALL of the kids. Then, as adults, demonstrate how to resolve the matter in an adult way. Look at the issue of parity. If change is warranted, make the necessary changes. If it is not warranted, leave it alone and move on. I am not excusing the beatdown. Nor am I viewing the opinion writer as utterly innocent. I guess I look at it this way: If I walk into a north Minneapolis bar wearing a T-shirt that proclaims: "I hate blacks" it would be reasonable to expect that some people in that bar are going to be upset. If all I did was express myself in a non violent way, could it be taken that I am merely exercising right to freedom of expression? Sure. And since I have that right, I should reasonably expect that the guys in that bar are going to understand that..... aren't they? When the twenty odd guys beat my butt to a bloody pulp does it mean they committed a crime? Sure. Does it change the outcome? No. I am still laying there all beat to crap. Is that because they are thugs or because I did something stupid? OR, could it be both? The point is that there may be a lot of justification/rationalization for what each did but the choices made on both sides were stupid and the results very predictable. By: SportsMom on 11/30/09 "accept the 21st century where everyone is equal". BIGMAMA - You are right, everyone is equal. It is time that everyone accepts that, including the school district. There shouldn't be separate rules for different people. That is one of the issues that started this whole mess at the school. By: Jesus_isKing on 11/30/09 Did you watch channel 20 to hear the parents and students comment on this? There are reruns if you want to watch. It was a good thing for many to voice what they wanted.
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