26 February 2008

Gangs of armed men terrorise Calwell High

| KevinPepper
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Canberra Times is reporting more trouble at Calwell High:

Violence Erupts at Calwell

Gangs of armed young men terrorising the school… Kids being beaten up walking home.. strangers coming into the school to cause trouble and start fights. Cars full of baseball bat weilding thugs circling the school.
WTF is going on at Calwell High and why can’t anything be done? Are things really as bad as reported or is it just a media beat up? The place is starting to sound like Western Sydney. Surely it can’t be that bad. What’s next, the Calwell Heights riots ala Macquarie Fields riots style?

[ED: ABC Online is also covering this with Andrew Barr saying that Calwell is safe.]

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I remember a couple of times where groups of gangs turned up @ Chisholm high, in 89. It was a total shock to me. I remember thinking what a bunch of wankers haven’t they got anything better to do, apparently they did. Having there own bunch of delinquent’s to take over the family business (ie being wankers etc)

One thing that seems to be a bit of a change from our old school days… noticed a lot of cars hanging around colleges, ie: Dickson. Turns out they are the ex students .. drop outs usually who – despite choosing to leave – can’t let go ?
Of course they ar not “subject to school rules and discipline” so kinda catch up on old scores and pick up on their old hores. )changed to make it rhyme).

Deadmandrinking12:11 pm 02 Mar 08

Northside represent!

(some changes to make it rhyme a bit)

Out on bail fresh outta jail, Belconnen dreamin
Soon as I stepped on the scene, I’m hearin hoochies screamin
Fiendin for money and alcohol
the life of a west side playa where cowards die and its all ball
Only in Belco where we riot not rally to live and die
In L.A. we wearin Chucks not Ballies (that’s right)
Dressed in Locs and khaki suits and ride is what we do
Flossin but have caution we collide with other crews
Famous cause we program worldwide
Let’em recognize from Charnwood to Kaleen
Bumpin and grindin like a slow jam, it’s west side
So you know the row won’t bow down to no man
Say what you say
But give me that bomb beat down low.
Let me serenade the streets of Belco.
From Kippax to Florey
The Emu Ridge and back down
Belco is where they put they mack down

But in all seriousness – this kind of sh-t has been going on for ages, which is why the Canberra Times has only just figured it out. All those tough younger siblings of common thugs need to back their claims up sometimes, don’t they?

I hope Mr. Barr remembers this as next year starts the negotiations for teaching wages. Perhaps he’d like to stand guard?

Apparently WA teachers are on strike now for a 20% increase and your Govt held out for over a year for a mere 12% for ACT teachers – and we accepted their curriculum.

Ah baseball bats and assaults, yes that’s where the BIG money is….

Barr hiding under his puillow? If he had his face in his pillow that would be a private school.

Ahh Calwell… You are a crazy mistress who refused to be tamed… and how i miss you.

Is Barr hiding under his pillow, or something???

la mente torbida, well that must have been in the 80’s because it’s all changed now.

Staff are leaving and the main reason is idiots at the helm making decisions without acknowledging the impact it would have at the chalkface.

neanderthalsis, when I was at Campbell High (as a student), we had a police officer attached to the school. It was a ‘new’ policy but by the middle of the 90’s, he was gone. It’s a shame because it did work.

sepi, there are 17 Govt high schools and I think 5 police 🙂

I’d say there are more schools than police in Canberra.

ACT Policiing’s “Its Our Community Too” may not extend to Calwell High students and their families, possibly being seen as “the opposition”…

neanderthalsis10:34 am 28 Feb 08

Many state high schools in QLD, especially those that have a bit of a “reputation”, have a police officer actually based in the school. Along with the usual breaking up fights and preventing armed thugs from coming on school grounds they have a pastoral care role too. They do a bit of counselling, give talks to classes, assist in the learner driver programs etc.

I don’t know whether the AFP in a moment of madness and community spirit would consider such a move.

la mente torbida9:55 am 28 Feb 08

@nyssa76
I don’t necessarily disagree with your sentiments, however I don’t believe:
a) “it’s always stupid brown nosers that get promoted” … I’ve known a number of damn good teachers get promoted over the years;
b) “those who do their job well are treated as scum and usually are forced out of teaching” … again, a sweeping generalisation as I’ve known many good teachers that stay in the profession because of their committment to education.

la mente torbida, I have issues when people don’t do their jobs properly and staff or students are injured/harassed etc. Besides, I was responding to a post by BerraBoy.

Now, if you see that as a waste of time, more power to you.

Those who are in the job usually have a better insight into the machinations than those outside it.

To say the school is “safe” when it is clearly not only shows inept behaviour and plain stupidity.

Ahh too many kiddies watching ‘underbelly’ it seems.

Back in my day (OMG, I’m saying that) it was fisticuffs…..now the cops are finding firearms in a vehicle that a youth detention escapee was found in.

Weak people need weapons….and gangs.

All I need is broad shoulders and a backbone

la mente torbida12:14 pm 27 Feb 08

So do a lot of educators in the system…nyssa76’s previous posts on the subject just seem a little subjective…

La mente – as somebody thats in the industry, I have a general expectation that Nyssa would know a little bit about it.

la mente torbida11:44 am 27 Feb 08

nyssa76 – you really have some some issues with education

Mike, it’s because saying it happened at a school sells.

BerraBoy, it’s always the brown nosers who do stupid things who are promoted.

Those who do their job well are treated as scum and usually are forced out of teaching by poor decisions and incompetant leadership.

This is happening all over Canberra. The place is turning to shit

green_frogs_go_pop4:50 pm 26 Feb 08

Ah. That explains, how every 5 minutes this morning, there was a cop car driving down casey cresent.
(at 7:30 in the morning through!!)

But guh! I’m so glad i left calwell before it went shit…ter!!

I wnet out with a teacher from Calwell High for a few years. She had no issue giving glsses of champagne to girls in her year 7 and 8 netball team. This despite me hearing one parent ask if there was going to be alcohol at this end of season party, I asked her what the hell she thought she was doing and her response was “well they’re not going to tell their parents are they”. I ended up dumping her after finding out she was screwing her boss, also a teacher. She’s now a headmistress in the ACT system. And they wonder why Calwell High is in trouble. Go figure…

Damn Gee, I have the sudden urge to bust out some old-skool gangsta rap……..y’all

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy3:15 pm 26 Feb 08

I am a nightmare walking
Psychopath talking
If you come from Calwell it’s you I’ll be stalking
Come to ya school
Make ya look like a fool
When I empty the clip from my automatic tool

Now try saying that five times fast!

Why is it that Calwell High gets slagged off?
From what I have read of the alleged assaults , it wasnt Calwell High students doing it. It was randoms and it just happened at the school.

Its like saying that someone that got mugged on the street is thug because a thug mugged him..

There was a riot by some Year 10 students a couple of years back. Couple of kids set a bin alight, others were trashing a couple of rooms, throwing chairs and some windows were broken. The teachers were told over the PA to lock the doors to rooms to keep the Year 10s out. For those in the school community, who know staff (in my case) or know people who go there, the place has a definate reputation.

Straight outta Calwell, crazy motherfracker named Ice Cube
From the gang called Boganz With Attitudes
When I’m called off, I got a sawed off
Squeeze the trigger, and bodies are hauled off

Mike Crowther10:02 am 26 Feb 08

I’m buggered as to why this is being treated as an ‘education issue’. It is a Police issue. Who is better equiped to handle this situation? The Education minister or the Police Minis…..ahhh forget it.

Poor bloody kids.

It’s okay, the cops sent a police car to drive round a few times. There’s a picture in today’s Times. Problem solved…where would we be without Mr Barr?

But Barr also said there was no plan to shut down schools.

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