Friday, March 12, 2010

The Over exaggerated Locker Room Incident by steph doyle

It was 2nd period at Matheson Jr. High School in Magna Utah. Ms. Doyle was preparing for her class while the dancers were getting dressed in the locker room. As she does every day, Ms. Doyle takes a stroll through the locker room... checking for graffiti and sluffing students, and to tell her girls to hurry to class. As she approaches the door a small 7th grade student runs out with a friend, "there's fighting in there" then continues to run away. Ms. Doyle storms in yelling "HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Scattering feet is all you can hear, no voices and no other noises. It's eerily silent. She sees her three students, roughed up, blochy red skin and eyes, and a mix of terror and anger in their expressions. One girl is on her phone with her mom, blood on her hand from a scratch and hair a mess.

"What happened?"

"They jumped Citali, Ms. Doyle! We weren't just going to sit there... we had to help... three on one... we had to protect her...self defense..." She rambled on and on. Ms. Doyle nodded, of course you had to help. She would too if it had been her friends, though she does not condone fighting.

"Who was it?"

"We don't know them... I swear!"

Ms. Doyle makes sure everyone is okay and walks into the hallway, the other girls fled minutes ago and could be anywhere. It doesn't help that they don't know who they are, but someone does and she would find them. Just then, two little 7th graders walk by nervously. Ms. Doyle looks at them and the little blonde one bursts out with, "Our teacher said we had to change that's why we were in the locker room we had to change our teacher said we had to so we did..." "Okay," Doyle says flatly, "did you see anything? What happened?"

"we don't know, but a girl in our class recorded it on her phone."

"who?"

"Kimberly... or Michelle... one of the twins" and the girls continue to discuss which twin is in their class as Ms. Doyle heads to the gym, ignoring them.

Ms. Doyle walks in the other gym and sees Michelle hunched over with a friend. Ms. Doyle assumes she must be showing off her little video. She quietly sneaks up behind them and says, "I'll take that please" Michelle, not knowing that Ms. Doyle knows what is on the phone, swears under her breath and hands over the phone (thinking she'll get it back at the end of the day).

Kelley and Doyle watch the video. It looked like it came straight out of a movie. One girl walking around the corner, three little girls jump on her, throwing fists like gangsters do in the movies. Then her friends each take one. Hair flying, blocks, punches, and bodies being thrown into the walls. It was a little frightning to see, though there was no blood - whew.

Ms. Doyle walks a shakey, teary eyed Michelle to the office with the phone and has Coach Kelley take the 3 girls from my class up to see Officer Lee. They head down to the gym and pick up the other girls... tiny 7th graders.

(None of them are here today, so I don't know how it was handled. I had a "quiz" in my classes - What should you do when you see something in the locker room? - I chewed them out about not coming to get me and that if it happened again, I would charge each of them with accessory to the assault. I can be mean, and I was mean.

There you go. Sorry, no Ms. Doyle on YouTube).


4 comments:

dastew said...

Good for you. Being mean is exactly right. Not to mention that the girl swore at you under her breath. Oh that would not have gone over well. I think I should have been an educator...I really would have enjoyed putting the fear of God into the kids.

Sarah said...

That is just sad all around. It must be an ever growing challenge to be a teacher - hats off to you Steph.

The Crock-O-Doyle's said...

Hey, I found your blog! YOu are my hero! I love/hate teenagers.

The Crock-O-Doyle's said...

I found your blog steph! You are my hero. I personally Love/Hate teenagers. They are jacked up