{"id":540602,"date":"2023-01-18T22:58:58","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T19:58:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/anger-grows-in-virginia-city-where-first-grader-shot-teacher\/"},"modified":"2023-01-18T22:58:58","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T19:58:58","slug":"anger-grows-in-virginia-city-where-first-grader-shot-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/anger-grows-in-virginia-city-where-first-grader-shot-teacher\/","title":{"rendered":"#Anger grows in Virginia city where first-grader shot teacher"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3be5a4d0280\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3be5a4d0280\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/anger-grows-in-virginia-city-where-first-grader-shot-teacher\/#Anger_grows_in_Virginia_city_where_first-grader_shot_teacher\" >Anger grows in Virginia city where first-grader shot teacher<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Anger_grows_in_Virginia_city_where_first-grader_shot_teacher\"><\/span>Anger grows in Virginia city where first-grader shot teacher<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>NEWPORT <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NEWS<\/a>, Va. (AP) \u2014 When a 6-year-old <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/newport-news-virginia-88dfe91f65173cbbd198a8816a21b5be\" data-ylk=\"slk:shot and wounded his first-grade teacher\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">shot and wounded his first-grade teacher<\/a> in this shipbuilding city near Virginia\u2019s coast, the community reacted with collective shock.<\/p>\n<p>But the sentiment percolated over 12 days into rage from parents and particularly from teachers, with many lambasting school administrators Tuesday night for what they called a misguided emphasis on attendance and other education statistics over the safety of children and staff.<\/p>\n<p>During a three-hour school board meeting dedicated solely to public comment, Newport News teachers and parents said students who assaulted classmates and staff were routinely allowed to stay in the classroom with few consequences. They said the shooting of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/teaching-education-newport-news-virginia-2db4662a6d9f711c5bcd27b6142570a8\" data-ylk=\"slk:Abigail Zwerner\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Abigail Zwerner<\/a> could have been prevented if not for a toxic environment in which teachers&#8217; concerns are systemically ignored.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery day in every one of our schools, teachers, students and other staff members are being hurt,\u201d high school librarian Nicole Cooke told the board. \u201cEvery day, they\u2019re hit. They\u2019re bitten. They\u2019re beaten. And they\u2019re allowed to stay so that our numbers look good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Addressing superintendent George Parker, Cooke said: \u201cIf Abigail had been respected, she wouldn&#8217;t be in the hospital right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The shooting occurred on Jan. 6 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/teaching-newport-news-education-25cebfde17e46abc435c205210a7073d\" data-ylk=\"slk:as Zwerner taught her first-grade class at Richneck Elementary\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">as Zwerner taught her first-grade class at Richneck Elementary<\/a>. There was no warning and no struggle before the 6-year-old pointed the gun at his teacher and fired one round, police said.<\/p>\n<p>The bullet pierced Zwerner\u2019s hand and struck her chest. The 25-year-old hustled her students out of the classroom before being rushed to the hospital.<\/p>\n<p>Newport News police said the 6-year-old&#8217;s mother legally purchased the gun but that it was unclear how her son gained access to it. A Virginia law prohibits leaving a loaded gun where it is accessible to a child under 14, a misdemeanor crime punishable with a maximum one-year prison sentence and $2,500 fine. No charges have been brought against the mother so far.<\/p>\n<p>Community reaction shifted into anger late last week after the superintendent revealed that Richneck administrators had learned the child may have had a weapon in his possession before the shooting. But a search did not find the 9mm handgun <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/teaching-education-virginia-newport-news-943c4b0ec79c5c7a7c0ebd6acd2f04ec\" data-ylk=\"slk:despite staff looking through his bag\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">despite staff looking through his bag<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Zwerner&#8217;s shooting was \u201ccompletely preventable \u2014 if the red flags had been taken seriously and proper procedures clearly communicated and followed,&#8221; Amber Thomas, a former school psychologist in Newport News, told the board.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas left the school system early in 2022 after working there for a decade. In an interview with The Associated Press, she recalled a time when a \u201cteacher was assaulted by a student \u2014 and that student faced no disciplinary action at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were situations in which the administrators walked away from things that were h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening,\u201d said Thomas, who served three elementary schools at a time, although not Richneck. \u201cA school counselor and I were often called to intervene with explosive behaviors. And the administrator would see what was going on and turn around and walk the other way and never assist or do anything to follow up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cindy Connell, a middle school teacher who also addressed the board, told the AP that the school system\u2019s leadership is too afraid of angering parents and too focused on limiting discipline such as suspensions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that our administrators are under an intense pressure to make everything appear better than it is in reality,\u201d Connell said. \u201cAnd that approach, over the course of a number of years, has put us where we are today.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Connell said there\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> fear over the public\u2019s response to doing something like searching a 6-year-old for a weapon \u2014 and a weapon not being found. There are also concerns that pulling kids with serious behavioral problems out of the classroom will imperil a school\u2019s accreditation.<\/p>\n<p>The shooting by a first-grader was not a shock to Connell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have teacher friends who have been hit by kindergarteners, kicked by kindergarteners, punched by kindergarteners, stabbed with pencils by kindergarteners,\u201d she said. \u201cSo the only difference is that this child had access to a weapon at home. So, if you put those two things together, I\u2019m not surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michelle Price, a spokeswoman for the school board, did not im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely respond to an email from The Associated Press asking for comment on the various criticisms expressed Tuesday night.<\/p>\n<p>Newport News is a racially diverse city of about 185,000 people \u2014 about 45% white and 41% Black \u2014 that sits along the James River near the Chesapeake Bay. It&#8217;s probably best known for its sprawling shipyard, which builds the nation\u2019s aircraft carriers and other U.S. Navy vessels.<\/p>\n<p>About 15% of the population lives in poverty, according to U.S. Census data. More than 400 of the nearly 1,000 incidents of violent crime in the city in 2021 involved a handgun or firearm, according to FBI statistics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGun violence has become a constant for our students,\u201d William Fenker, an eighth-grade <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a> teacher, told the board. \u201cIt has been a salient issue in our community for some time now &#8230; Gun violence has even made its way into our schools.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Newport News schools endured two other shootings in the 17 months before Zwerner was struck by a bullet at Richneck Elementary.<\/p>\n<p>In September 2021, two 17-year-old students were wounded when a 15-year-old boy fired shots in a crowded high school hallway after he had a fight with one of the students.<\/p>\n<p>Two months after that shooting, an 18-year-old student fatally shot a 17-year-old in the parking lot of a different high school after a football <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>. Police said the teens exchanged \u201cgestures\u201d in the gym before an altercation broke out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur students do not wonder if there will be another school shooting,\u201d Fenker told the board. \u201cThey wonder when and where the next shooting will be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last week, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/education-school-safety-teaching-newport-news-virginia-07c0979141666c852923aff75421a0f1?taid=63bfc53b9635a400014f3cb8&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter\" data-ylk=\"slk:the school board announced that 90 walk-through metal detectors\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">the school board announced that 90 walk-through metal detectors<\/a> would be placed in schools across Newport News, starting with the elementary school where Zwerner was shot.<\/p>\n<p>But that failed to satisfy many parents at Tuesday night&#8217;s board meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Doug Marmon, who has two children in school and two others who have graduated, called for the removal of the school system&#8217;s executive leadership \u201cfor their failure of imagination of what could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marmon suggested the placement of two security officers at each elementary school. He also wants the school system to change how it addresses student behavior, which he said has \u201cproven ineffective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudents need to held accountable for their actions, regardless of age or circumstances \u2014 not transferred to another school or placed in a different classroom,\u201d he said. \u201cEquality in our schools should not include the suffering of the majority for the lack of discipline for the few.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another parent, David Wilson, said the problem starts with at home. But he also questioned the impact of removing children who misbehave from the classroom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can do what everybody wants to do \u2014 we can start suspending more kids, sending them home,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you just prevented a school shooting but you just caused a 7-Eleven shooting,\u201d he said. \u201cYou didn&#8217;t solve the issue. You shifted the issue from one thing to another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/news\/anger-grows-virginia-city-where-195809849.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anger grows in Virginia city where first-grader shot teacher NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) \u2014 When a 6-year-old shot and wounded his first-grade teacher in this shipbuilding city near Virginia\u2019s coast, the community reacted with collective shock. But the sentiment percolated over 12 days into rage from parents and particularly from teachers, with many lambasting school&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":540603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/lgTS4048CAhJRbPrURrORg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04MDA-\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/ap.org\/b04f53fd4c4f9d6dbd2b3651fbbc906d","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-540602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}