It was bound to happen...

A couple days ago a student brought a gun to school with him. He had only been enrolled for four days. On the way home, from one of those days, he was harassed by a couple of "Vato Thugs" who wanted his jewelry and shoes. He brought the gun, a loaded 9mm without safety lock on, to school for protection. By second hour the temptation to keep quiet was too much for him. He had to share. Luckily, our school is filled with students who are on their last chances and don't want anyone to screw that up. Snitches. One student slipped a note to the teacher, she called the school leaders and the police officers who work on our campus. He was quietly removed from class and then escorted off the premise shortly after his father picked him up. Dad said nothing to the school leader or the police officer while he was in the office.

I'm actually quite surprised that something like this hasn't occured before now, especially with the populations I work with. Homeless kids, ex-gang members, current gang members, druggies, legals, and illegals tend not to lend themselves to quiet, traditional school environments. This situation was handled appropriately and quickly. There was never any reason to alert the students who didn't already know or other teachers. We were told at the end of the morning sessions (around 1:30). It's par for course but still a bit disturbing.