September 20
...serving up your daily dish.
One youth was injured and five people were arrested in a melee yesterday on the green in Bloomfield that took place shortly after school let out. Bloomfield police captain Michael Behre said about a dozen people were involved in the 3:11 pm incident, which may have been a continuation of a dispute over the weekend in Orange.
The people involved included Bloomfielders and out-of-towners. Some were adults and some were youths. Behre said the fight began when some Bloomfield High School students, apparently headed to Bloomfield Center after school, were confronted by another group.
The incident was not nearly as large as a riot that broke out after school in Bloomfield last spring.
Behre said that the person injured, an 18-year-old who is not a Bloomfield High student, had a cut on his head after falling to the ground. There was no evidence that any weapons were involved, he added.
Because a cell phone was stolen during the incident, the five arrested were charged with robbery as well as aggravated assault. The brawl occured on the green, near the corner of Broad and Liberty.
Teens don't always exercise good judgement under the best of circumstances, take some who are prone to acting out anyway and lock them up in 100 degree classrooms, and this is what happens. As we may remember, last year's melee was blamed on the heat by at least one teacher who was interviewed but not named in the Bloomfield newspaper.
But... watch! "They" will say this is not a "school related incident" because it happened after dismissal. It's their M.O.
Posted by: yea it's me | Sep 20, 2005 9:54:52 AM
Everytime some Bloomfield fight is posted, parents come out of the woodwork to start lining up the excuses why their poor children were pushed to the edge and simply unable to control their anger. Poor kids. My parents, conversely, always assumed I was in the wrong. I guess those days are gone.
Posted by: bloomfield_is_really_crazy | Sep 20, 2005 10:17:41 AM
a result of the liberal agenda that created the 'victimization' syndrome. it's never anyone's fault anymore...it's always some one else who is to blame.
Do I sound bitter about the failures of the liberal policies that I embraced as a young idealistic kennedy liberal growing up in Mass? Your damn right
Posted by: John L | Sep 20, 2005 10:23:10 AM
I'm not making excuses for anyone, and certainly not my own kids, one of which was in bed with a fever and the other was at work at the time of this brawl. I am saying that when you place people in brutal conditions, some are going to lose it.
Posted by: yea it's meyea it's me | Sep 20, 2005 10:28:26 AM
"Everytime some Bloomfield fight is posted, parents come out of the woodwork to start lining up the excuses why their poor children were pushed to the edge and simply unable to control their anger. "
I disagree. While parents may use incidents like this to vent about other issues, they consistently support strict punishment for offenders. Example: a senior 'prank' went way too far last year, and parents were unanimous in their call for severe punishment for the offenders.
Posted by: MadBrian | Sep 20, 2005 10:30:00 AM
The melee was
a) a direct result of conservative policies to screw the poor and pass tax cuts for the rich and cut back on funding for air conditioners in public schools.
b) a direct result of liberal policies to absolve individuals of responsibility for their actions and promulgate a moral relativism particularly in regard to air conditioning maintenance.
Choose one.
Posted by: walleroo | Sep 20, 2005 10:37:06 AM
[The melee] "may have been a continuation of a dispute over the weekend in Orange."
Who said what, about whose weekend in Orange?!
Posted by: Gonzo Journalist | Sep 20, 2005 10:43:15 AM
Lets not go over board. Bloomfield has always been a tough school. It was like that when my father went there and when I went there. Fist fights happened every so often. Some good old discipline is the prescription for stuff like this.
Find out who was involved, notify there parents, suspended them (ISP for those that went to Bloomfield High), and do detention. If there is a real problem, call a cop, social survices, and send them to military school.
Posted by: lasermike026 | Sep 20, 2005 11:00:36 AM
It's too hot at Bloomfield H.S.? Well, keep your child home if you think it's too hot. I agree that it's always much hotter inside these schools than outside, and I have kept my elementary age kids home when it's been, in my opinion, too hot to be there. These are high school kids - even if mom and dad are at work during the day, I would think this age group would be old enough to stay home alone once in a while. Instead of complaining about the heat (which isn't going to be rectified immidiately anyway), why not use your parental judgement and keep your kid home?
Posted by: too hot? | Sep 20, 2005 11:48:22 AM
I live in Bloomfield and I say its time to home school.
The board of education can't do anything right - if they offered a free 4 years at Yale parents would say but its not Harvard.
A new building is going up, complete with a new cafeteria (which the students report is beautiful) and now they want to let the kids out on the town for lunch.
There were rumors about half days until construction was complete for the kid’s comfort - but parents went nuts over that, but now they are going nuts over it being too hot for the kids to be in school. (btw all schools have that problem in spring/fall its not just a Bloomfield issue)
The other issue is the windows can't be opened - and if we got them open the complaints would be now its too noisy for the kids to hear over the construction.
Last year there was a dress code debate that would have made Middle East factions blush, yet teen girls wander town with printed words on their fannies - (apparently that’s "freedom" not "inappropriate") Another note on this topic - I have several grown men friends who don't want me to point this issue out least the girls stop being the eye candy around town. Last time I tried to tell them what pigs I thought they were we passed a girl with "Juicy" on her tush - that ended my argument.
Now they are going to be all about student safety - until the next football game when parents and students will be illegally crossing jfk and climbing over the traffic barrier causing cars doing to speed limit to slam on their brakes.
Sorry if I seem harsh, but if none of the shoes fit don't wear them.
Posted by: hrhppg | Sep 20, 2005 12:53:18 PM
For those who contend that it is hot in all schools in September, be aware that the Bloomfield Board of Health has registered temperatures of 90+ degrees in some BHS classrooms. With no windows and no ventilation, that goes beyond uncomfortable and into unhealthy.
Posted by: MadBrian | Sep 20, 2005 1:06:43 PM
I just want to say that with all the problems they're facing, I think the BHS teachers have been great. My kids are very happy with all their teachers this year, and while the kids sweat their butts off for 45 minutes at a clip in a particular airless classroom, the teachers have to spend all day in those room. They could be real SOBs and stage walk outs and sick outs to avenge the poor physical condition of the school, but they have remained professional and caring towards our kids. Thank you.
For the ones who so easily dismiss the heat at BHS, until you or one of yours spend time in a class room that registers over 95 degrees because there is no ventilation and the windows are sealed shut, you're not qualified to discuss the matter.
Solution to the whole problem would have been to do the construction at the end of the school day - an 8 hour daily shift of 2:30-10:30 pm. No fumes in the classrooms, no dirt in the classrooms, no noise in the classrooms.
Posted by: yeaitsme | Sep 20, 2005 1:14:32 PM
90 deg classrooms are awful--and par for the course. Public schools all over are chronically underfunded. To take just one example, average teachers should be getting $100k. But who's going to pay for it? Not us.
Posted by: walleroo | Sep 20, 2005 2:31:08 PM
Buncha wimps, if you ask me.
Too hot, indeed. At least their lives haven't been interrupted by a hurricane or worse yet, a stint in the armed services.
Posted by: Loupgarou33 | Sep 20, 2005 3:07:08 PM
Relative suffering. Oh, yeah, that really settles it, Loupy.
Walleroo, it may be par for the course, but, if no one ever complains about these things, no change will come. I'd love to see Bloomfield parents, students, and teachers stage a huge protest/rally against the conditions at that school.
But you're right about the money, especially in these times. It's pitiful how misery just keeps getting displaced from one area to another while claims of progress are made.
Posted by: Chris | Sep 20, 2005 4:51:27 PM
