Beer, Bombast and the Winter of our Discontent - Reader comments at The New York Sun

Recent Blog Posts

Reader comment on:
Students Stage Walkout At Bronx Science

Submitted by Fredric Schorr, Jan 22, 2008 10:31

There are, in a sense, two kinds of students at Bronx Science. Most are so intellectually committed and emotionally solid that they have to make themselves shut their books and come up for air to smell the roses. In fact, their honesty and work ethic carry them through way beyond graduation day, into college, often into postgraduate work, and then out into the world at large. They have fond memories of high school, and they are forever busy making new memories. Their teachers remember them, respect them, even adore them, and often the feelings are mutual. And as they mature, they grasp, almost intuitively, that the issues at Science that seemed at the time worth rallying around were born of a)adolescents yearning to feel a widening sense of empowerment and b)teachers and administrators who really tried to take care of the kids and the institution.

Then there is the other kind of student, the one who did well on entrance exams, long before any sense of real responsibility and conceptual rigor set in, who may, in fact, still be searching for those elements long after they walk down the aisle at graduation. THEIR stories almost always involve posturing, defiance of authority for its own sake, ad hoc alliances with others who feel safe only when part of a mass movement, a rowdy little mob or a fairly anonymous sea of chronic complainers. No situation is ever of their own creation, and the world just doesn't appreciate them for the dazzling brilliance within that forever seeks to become more than a potential. They ALWAYS find time to be manipulated by demogogues, hidden agendas and the discontented. They find time in every 24 hour cycle to blog on, blog off, trade angry E-mails as if they were futures and dollar stocks at closing time on Wall Street. What they cannot do, tragically, is maintain a context or truly think for themselves. So -- when a chronically malcontented, yet fairly "popular" facultly member plays the student body like a harp, fires off yet some more overripe spitballs at a principal who actually thinks cutting classes is not a social entitlement, the discontented respond, as if they just saw the Batman logo shining in the night sky. Another chance to vent! to demonize! to posture! to rant! to even join in alliance by showing outrage for the day when Valerie Reidy, as teacher, confiscated their beer, which they happily brought to class!

Such people really need to get a life. All their personal little "issues", glued together into a black hole, cannot stand up against the rational student majority, the bulk of the faculty who don't use students to cover their own professional sins, or a principal who truly loves the school, the children who come through the doors and the idea of excellence. Those who will not allow themselves to be used, simply won't be. Those who will be used are the same ones who cannot stop using others -- and sending electronic S.O.S. signals in search of those just like them. The writer Alan Drury was correct: in the end, it is always a struggle between those who have principals against those who have none.

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.

Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
By no means was Stanley Blumenstein a great principal, but every time I go back and every time I read... [MORE]	Sad alum	Jan 27, 2008 12:09
As a recent graduate, I was at Bronx Science before and after Reidy's entrance, and I have to say that... [MORE]	2004 graduate	Jan 23, 2008 23:43
Mr. Schorr's comments are illustrative of the problems we face at Bronx Science. There is constant judging of kids, constant... [MORE]	current parent	Jan 22, 2008 21:40
There are, in a sense, two kinds of students at Bronx Science. Most are so intellectually committed and emotionally...	Fredric Schorr	Jan 22, 2008 10:31
For you to honestly say this about the students at bronx science in incredible. We are all bright articulate individuals... [MORE]	current student	Jan 30, 2008 17:43
Whether or not the pretext of a teacher's firing was true, the real cause of this was, as the aricle... [MORE]	Deposed Presdent	Jan 19, 2008 11:51
remember how much everyone liked science when blumenstein was principal? i wish you kids could have known the bronx science... [MORE]	'03	Jan 18, 2008 11:39
Keep in mind this all could have been avoided if former Chancellor Harold Levy had not strong-armed William Stark away... [MORE]	Class of 2004	Jan 18, 2008 02:10
im glad the walk out finally happened, i rmbr students were talking about doing it back then, but i guess... [MORE]	class of 04	Jan 18, 2008 00:42
As the originator of the "No Quack" campaign against Ms. Reidy in 2005 I take issue with her claiming she... [MORE]	Dr Bob Drake	Jan 17, 2008 16:02
In must concur with Dr. Drake. Although I was never taught by him, in my time at Science, I was... [MORE]	04 Science Grad	Jan 18, 2008 13:37
but she is a horrible principal who has ruined everything that was unique or fun about Bronx Science.She has pushed... [MORE]	ext. 155	Jan 17, 2008 14:41
"Dr." Reidy...HA! In 1983, I had her for bio. Because of a shift in some class and schedules for others,... [MORE]	Former Student from 1983	Jan 17, 2008 13:05
I've kept in touch with students at Bronx Science for the past 5 or 6 years, and I've been hearing... [MORE]	an alumnus	Jan 17, 2008 12:02
I graduated from Bronx Science in 2002. I am now an English Teacher in Washington, DC. I can understand the... [MORE]	Ms. V	Jan 17, 2008 11:48
As a recent graduate of Bronx Science who was not an anti-Reidy extremist, I think I can testify to both... [MORE]	yet another former student	Jan 17, 2008 10:36
Essentially what we were protesting were the unfair policies and regulations that have been placed upon us in the past... [MORE]	current student	Jan 16, 2008 22:32
I am currently a freshman of Bronx Science. I was there of the protest since I just happened to have... [MORE]	Student (Current Freshman)	Jan 17, 2008 22:51
I was a senior the year she became principal. The school used to be a lax environment where students were... [MORE]	another former student	Jan 16, 2008 20:57
The rally STARTED as a protest against the perceived firing of a teacher but many more people showed up to... [MORE]	A-3	Jan 16, 2008 18:51
The last few years has seen a "push" by the Department of Education" to make principals true managers of their... [MORE]	Ronald Stolfi	Jan 16, 2008 15:13
Ronald, As an alumni, I would think that a principal of a great institution with its proud history demands "outstanding" leader... [MORE]	Myong Jin Kim '82	Jan 17, 2008 11:49
I find it curious that 'competent' management would result in disengagement of staff and an uproar by the student body.... [MORE]	Eli Beckerman	Jan 17, 2008 12:35
From the moment she was an interim principal the students and faculty have been completely dissatisfied by her. There were... [MORE]	former student	Jan 16, 2008 10:35

Reader comment on:Students Stage Walkout At Bronx Science

Other reader comments on this article

Comment on Students Stage Walkout At Bronx Science

Reader comment on:
Students Stage Walkout At Bronx Science