[box_light]We’re all hearing the tragic news about the student who attacked an on-campus police officer at Roosevelt High School with a baseball bat. The officer fell to the ground and then shot the student, who died at the site. It is sad on both sides, the family who lost a son, and the police officer who tried to protect himself. The kNOw youth team also had many thoughts as they tried to process and understand the incident for themselves, fully aware that such occurrences could happen anywhere, even in their own schools.[/box_light]
Gracie, 16
Many stories, even more rumors, was it one or two bullets? Don’t have a concrete answer yet but all I’m left with is a 17 year old sophomore dead, and an officer in the hospital. Everyone is talking about “OMG, did you hear what happened at Roosevelt?” Me just looking at them and saying “yes” even though I had other things on my mind. Just trying to get the story straight in my head, thinking was killing him the only way from such a big family that maybe he felt neglected, like no one cared about him or something? I still have no answers and the media has not given me any concrete information. Their stories are always changing. But now all I can think about is if my safety on campus is assured since anyone can go off at any time, which is scary if you think about it.
Jesse, 16
It makes me curious that something of this caliber would take place on the same day that we remember the Virginia Tech school massacre. One thing I concluded out of the many stories I heard was that the officer did what he could do to protect himself. Maybe the family was some way, somehow involved with gang violence. Maybe there was a lack of love in his life, which may have involved home, school, and the streets. It seems like the student had this planned out well.
Parents, having enough security guards and police on a school campus doesn’t make it safe. House training and love will keep America safe. Probably there was a lack of love in his life. Him being in a family of eleven children, maybe he felt neglected. Before we go trying to save children in other countries, let’s save our children. We’ve gone so far overseas that we’ve began to neglect the needs of our children. Let’s show love to one another. That’s the only solution besides church! If you can’t find love, the doors of the church are always open.
The only reason I feel safe at school is because when I step foot on my school campus, I am praying “Lord, cover my campus with your blood. Let no evil come on this campus, in Jesus’s name.” I am rooted in the word. “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.” Isaiah 54:17
[divider]Angelina, 15
I don’t know much about the Roosevelt shooting incident, but it’s scary. It made me think about all my peers and other students that go to my high school. I wondered what if this incident happened at Edison, what would I do? I wouldn’t have a clue. I would probably run into the office or a classroom…It’s scary because it’s possible for anyone to flip out and go crazy like that. I’ve been thinking about this ever since the Virginia Tech incident. I try to prevent stuff like this from happening at Edison by saying “hi” or talking to my peers that seem lonely, depressed, or just a bit down. I’m scared of people that surround me at school because I don’t know what they are capable of doing and their feelings, or what they are going through. I wouldn’t know what to do if a scary situation like that happened.
Now back on the Roosevelt issue, the first time I heard about it, the first thing that came to mind was “Why didn’t the officer taze him instead of shooting him down.” I don’t really know all the facts behind the incident, but it’s a sad loss for both. I feel sad for the officer and for the youth that died.
[divider]Marcus, 18
My feeling about the Roosevelt shooting incident is that the school structure is faulty all the way around. The students don’t have an outlet for all they may be overwhelmed with in life. Also, it will be hard to justify the attack on the police officer by saying that the student used anti-depressants and has a mental disability, which causes him difficulty in learning and to worry excessively. A bat meant the student was ready to engage in the act of taking the officer’s life. That may have taken place if the officer didn’t choose to act in the manner that he did.
Arena, 16
I remember going home and going to my laptop to turn it on. When my laptop finally turned on and loaded, I signed onto my Myspace account. I had New Comments. I clicked the link and read what my friends said and replied. Then I scrolled the page and read another comment, but this one caught my attention. The comment read “Did you hear about what happened at Roosevelt?” I replied, “no” and my friend replied, “a cop was attacked and he shot back at the attacker.” I then clicked on the home link and noticed a bulletin announcement that a friend of mine, who attends Roosevelt High School, posted. She said very little about the shooting, but she talked about how the kids who were locked down in the school acted very disrespectfully during the whole situation.
At the bottom of her bulletin posting, there was a link to KSEE 24’s website. I clicked the link so I could read more about what happened. An on-campus officer was attacked by a student who was depressed. The student used a bat to attack the officer, not just any bat, but a modified bat. I remember thinking, wow! That’s crazy.
Today my friends and I spent most of first period hovering over the Fresno Bee. The Roosevelt shooting made the front page. All my friends had something to say about the whole issue. Some were like “How did he get a bat?” “Why did the officer have to shoot?” “Why didn’t the cop use a taser gun? Did he have taser gun?” “Did anyone even know the boy had a bat at school? Did anyone even notice?” “Do on-campus police have guns, weapons?” “How did the student know how to modify the bat?” “Why did some students react the way they did?” “Where are campus assistants, security, the Vice Principal, or Principal? Why didn’t they help sooner?” “What has happened to youth today?”
Some questions I found the answers to myself; however, the question that still troubles me is “what was the motive behind all this?”
[divider]Kevis, 17
I remember when I was at school this boy fell and hit his head against the curb and was knocked unconscious. And the officer didn’t know what to do. He kept the boy in his original position which was on his stomach. I had to scream out “get him off his stomach” for him to do it. But dealing with an unconscious person is very scary if you don’t know what you’re doing.
A mad student, 16
When I first heard about the situation at Roosevelt, I was kind of numb to it. But as I started to hear more details about it, it made me think deeper. My thought is that if I were a police officer and I was hit point blank in the back of my head, I think my first reaction would be “someone is trying to kill me.” Then I would use the first thing that I know would defend me. I believe that’s what the police officer did, so I don’t blame him at all. The boy’s family had to know that their son was on medication, and needed attention because of it. So they should have told the school about his situation, maybe they did, but still. Because he was a danger to other students, and himself, and now look what happened.
Laqusha, 20
In my opinion, the cop was using self defense. According to media reports, the student was waiting to hit him. Before we judge the situation, be real with yourself and put yourself in the cop’s situation. What would you have done? Seriously!
On another note, someone should have been informed about the kid’s situation. Has something like this happened before, or is this the first time the kid has flipped out on someone?
Lastly, my thoughts on the roots of the problem is that there are a lot of kids who are depressed and are going through a hard time. What I want to know is who is taking the time to sit down and really talk to our youth? We need adults, parents, teachers, counselors to ask themselves, am I doing my job? Am I really being there for these young people in education and emotionally? These school systems are too structured, which have pushed teachers into being just about the paycheck and not about our youth and their futures!!!
Oh yeah, we also need to be aware of our surroundings, friends, peers, everything! Because let’s just face it, this world isn’t safe and it’s getting worse and worse, but I am not afraid because I believe my faith is my shield.
[divider]Jaleesa, 18
I believe that the boy who got shot at Roosevelt had a lot of mental issues. If he was feeling depressed (which he was), something in his life obviously triggered it. I, personally, don’t think there were enough caring and responsible people in his life to actually sit down with him, ask what was wrong, and help him resolve what was making him depressed. I think teenagers need more people who help solve a problem, not just listen to it.
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
