'Idiocy 101'
When I first moved to New York, I lived in a studio across the street from Washington Irving High School. Luckily I was on the 16th Street side, because apparently the charming little tykes have been hurtling stuff out of the sixth-floor windows on the 17th Street side. Yesterday, a stool hit a pregnant woman on the head. Earlier this year it was a chair that smashed into a parked car.

Little hoodlums, huh? Apparently not: "They both appear to be good kids who did something stupid," one cop said to the Daily News regarding the two 15-year-olds facing second-degree assault charges.

School officials are mad at the teacher who forgot to lock the door, but no mention of why there aren't safety screens or something across those windows since this is an ongoing problem. The New York Times ends its story this way:

A teacher at Washington Irving, who did not want to be named for fear of retribution at work, said there were not enough security guards to control students who constantly roam the halls during classes.

"Two months ago teachers were saying, `It's only a matter of time before someone gets killed,' " the teacher said. "The public would be actually astounded if they knew what went on at our school."

Before you go off thinking New York City is a dangerous place, I should point out my mom retired from teaching high school just a few years ago in not-at-all metropolitan Bakersfield. In her last years there, she had kids come to class with guns, she received a death threat in a homework assignment, ("I am going to kill my English teacher,") and another student BA'd the class and when his mother was hauled in for a meeting, she called my mom a "lying bitch" since her little angel would never drop his pants in front of a classroom. Anyone who'd go into teaching now must be nuts.

One more thing ...

When I moved from Union Square, my studio was taken over by my friend Heesun Wee, who coincidentally is turning in the keys to the place today and moving back to California. Since leaving BusinessWeek.com six months ago, she's been unable to find something suitable while she finishes up her novel. The job market really is that bad here. We're seeing her off with drinks tonight at Old Town Bar.
- posted by Amy @ 5/29/2003 12:31:00 PM