John Bowne High School Class of 1969
John Bowne today
John Bowne High School now has a web page!
An email from a recent student (2004-5):
i am a freshman at Bowne and the school is going crazy!!!
people have been getting jumped for their cell phones.
some kid asks for the time and while the person they asked reaches for
their cell phone to check the time, they get it taken away and if you
ask for it back, they jump you
Principal Frank McQuail is trying his best to solve this situation, but
it seems that Bowne has never been as bad as it is now and it's hard for
him to handle this situation
I wanted to ask you, as an alumni, if Bowne was ever with such a bad situation
the reason why this is the way it is, it's for the simple fact that they
are begininng to throw all of the bad students from other high schools
to Bowne.
Please Respond Soon, Sincerely,
Agriculture Freshman
--
Response from a Bowne '69 classmate, 12/05:
i just read about the student who had his phone snatched while giving someone the time......what happened to the wrist watch ???? he should have seen that coming....guess this new breed isn't as street smart as we were in '69..........walk the halls alone and you're asking for trouble....strength in numbers.....did the thief get away with it ???....granted we didn't have cell phones, but we did have wallets and pocketbooks to protect....when something of this nature occured "the hill" boys would take care of it........do you recall them ????....
to the student.....don't pull out your cell phone to give the time.....get yourself a $5 watch, carry enough money to get you thru the day......if you have something to show off, leave it at home.........it's a dog eat dog world and you just got your first taste of it...sorry if i seem insensitive but i feel for you....i'm sure you'll be ready next time.......
dennis maineri, sunrise florida...........954-572-4873
My response to original message:
Thanks for writing. I have been talking with a fellow alum from '69 who is now teaching at Bowne, and she's been telling me how bad the Bowne student culture has gotten. She has been trying to get the Safety Committee to wake up and prevent some of the sorts of attack you're describing... but when you've got students who did not learn enough basic skills in grade school to be able to work at a high school level, you're going to see a lot of frustration, and an escalating spiral of problems. If kids have no satisfaction in their classes, they have to find something else that makes them feel important - and I guess this does it for them.
It was a good school when we were students. As I recall, I seemed to be surrounded mostly by middle-class kids from upwardly mobile homes. On the other hand, it was not perfect, even then -- I remember a day when I stupidly put my wallet down while making a phone call. Of course, there were kids I didn't know standing next to me - and when I reached for it, the wallet was gone. And another time, walking to school -- a kid asked me for my watch. But when I told her I woudn't give it to her, she just walked away.
I was a bit of an innocent - a transfer student from up-state - so I expected danger and violence in Big Bad New York City. But it was nothing like what I hear is going on now.
My friend says there are good students, and good teachers, at Bowne. I hope there are enough kids like you in the public schools, who can understand that school does not have to be a battlefield, and who can find a way to help make things better. My generation has been trying to hold back the tide -- but things are getting worse.
Marion Leeds Carroll
How Bowne students rise to the next grade: |
 (from
The Family Circus) |
site
maintained by
Marion Leeds Carroll
bowne@leedscarroll.com
last updated 12/13/13