Will This Circle Please Be Broken

Yesterday, while in my first period Precalculus class, a young lady asked if she could have a word with me outside in private. She spoke softly, with worry filling her eyes and I knew something was not as it should be. We stepped outside, and she explained to me that there had been a death in her family. With a concerned voice, she informed me that due to this death, she may be at odds with some other students in the school. Apparently her step-grandfather had passed, and there was some confusion as to the actual cause of the man's death. I tried to decipher what I could from the girl, offered to help in any way I could, and we returned back to the class room.

The next period, the same girl came to my door with tears in her eyes. Her boyfriend was in this class, and she came to speak with him. Given the background and situation, I allowed her to speak with her boyfriend, and after a few minutes, he returned back to class. His face showed anger and I could only guess that she had had a run in with another student.

Today during the RIT instructional period (homeroom), there was a large disturbance taking place outside. Because the students were just completely reassigned new teachers for this class, I figured there would be some confusion as to where each student was to be. The commotion outside, however, clearly indicated something more was wrong. One could hear screaming through the window, and when I looked outside, I saw people running. One student yelled, "oh they fightin'", which would be the assumed cause, but nothing was visible from my classroom. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on. There was a general uneasiness in the air, but I knew not why. For a moment I was tempted to run out and see if I could lend a hand, but with a class full of students, and 3 stitches in my toe, I thought I should probably stay and watch after my own flock. Within a few minutes of the bell ringing, there was an announcement over the intercom to lock our doors and not let any students in or out of the classroom. I continued on with class as normal, hoping that my students would remain calm and direct their focus toward my instruction. Luckily they did, and after a few minutes nothing else could be heard outside.

Several periods later, I spoke with the School's resource officer, and was informed of what had happened just a few periods earlier. The girl's situation I had heard about yesterday had unfortunately escalated. The girl in my first period class was attacked by one of my football players, and a kid I would have never guessed could be capable of doing such a thing. It seems the step-grandfather who had passed over the weekend had a history of beating his wife. This step-grandfather was a member of one local family (the football player's), and his wife was a member of another (the girl's). The cause of his death is still up to debate, and the families involved are at odds with one another over it; one claims heart attack, the other suspects murder. Because the community is so small here, the families are big and the loyalties deep. An offensive word or act to one person could offend a whole host of others, so naturally the situation at hand created an explosive and volatile atmosphere.

Until today, the two students involved were friends. After today, though, their lives could be permanently changed. This is a sad sad situation.

A sick irony is that two generations later, there is a young man from one family who is in prison for beating a young woman from another. The reason why? Because of accusations of a man from one family beating a woman from another, two generations earlier.