Tag Archives: high school

US

High school prostitution ring broken up in Florida

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A high school teenager in Florida has been arrested and charged with human trafficking after she allegedly organized a prostitution ring consisting of students from different high schools.

Alexa Nicole De Armas a student at Sarasota High School, was arrested Friday after four students told the administration of Venice High School how De Armas approached them to join the ring.  De Armas, according to the Herald Tribune, used the social media website Facebook to plan and orchestrate the exchanges and meetups.

“Why pimp out old hoes when I have fresh young hoes I can give up for money?” reads one Facebook post between De Armas and a business partner in the operation.  “As long as I’m getting paid I’m trafficking all these (expletive).”

This faceless partner said they would invest $200 to get the business off the ground.  De Armas then set prices between $20-$70 as well as $100 to have sex with a virgin, according to the NY Daily News.  The profits would then be split and the girls would be given 40 percent.

One of the known exchanges reportedly involved a 15-year-old student and a 21-year-old man.

The man, named John  Michael Mosher, has been arrested alongside De Armas.  He reportedly gave De Armas $40 and a bottle of liquor as payment to have sex with the 15-year-old student.

According to WFLA, De Armes planned for the 15-year-old to have sex with Mosher in August, but when the girl and Mosher met, she reportedly no longer wanted to participate.

A police report reads, “She stated she told Mosher she did not want to have sexual intercourse with him to which he disregarded and forcefully held her against the wall of the pool shed building, restricting her movement and ability to flee,” 

Mosher however pushed the girl against a nearby wall, and he forced her to have sex with him.  Mosher is currently being charged with sexual battery on a victim older than 12-years-old.

Students told officers De Armas had setup at least three other deals using Facebook, and more arrests are expected.

Politics, US

Lone shooter in Washington school shooting is reportedly dead

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A shooting at a high school near Seattle early Friday morning has resulted in the death of the shooter, according to Washington state police.

The shooting happened at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, which is in Marysville, a residential area to the north of Seattle.

Marysville Police Commander Rob Lamourex said the shooter was a student who attended Marysville-Pilchuck.

According to the Seattle Times, the shooter turned them gun on himself, resulting in his death.  One other student was reportedly killed during the shooting.

At least five others were injured, including two other students, and one of those injured reportedly is suffering from a head wound.  How serious these injuries are, and whether any of them are life-threatening, has not been disclosed as of yet.

One student, whose name has been withheld, told CNN when the shooting started, students initially thought the noise signaled a fire drill.  This student said when they realized the sounds were gun shoots, they hid in a nearby classroom with other students, all of whom were unharmed.

After police arrived on the scene, they began to evacuate the students and staff safely out of the school and transport them to a nearby church.  Parents were at the church to meet with their children and others.

Heather Parker, who is a mother of a Marysville-Pilchuck senior, said, “I never thought I would be standing here after a school shooting.”

Jery Holston is the father of two students at the school, told reporters, “As a father, this has been my fear since my kids have been in school, that something like this would happen.”

Opinion

Twelve brutally honest lessons I would tell my high school self a decade ago

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NASHVILLE, June 14, 2014– Every now and then I like to share my thoughts. I know, it’s not news, and you didn’t ask. This isn’t one of those “bait and click” articles. To try and keep it genuine, I’m using real names and real life experiences. In my opinion, painting inspiration for teenagers in a cliche five word catch-phrased meme doesn’t actually drive a point home. So, if you’ll excuse me, I think having a platform is a gift, and it should be used as such.

I’m probably not telling anyone that is aged millennial or older anything you don’t already know, but this isn’t for you.

This is for the freaks and geeks making out underneath the football bleachers while the Friday night lights illuminate their smiles. This is for all you dreamers- you future leaders. It’s for the 14-year-old still living in all of us. Are you guys even on Facebook anymore? I guess we’ll find out.

If I could travel back tens years ago and find myself in the halls of Greenbrier High School to deliver twelve lessons, these would be those lessons:

  • 1.) The ugly girls you pick on in 10th grade English will be competing to become Miss Tennessee after you graduate college. Yeah, they’re beauty queens now. Oh, and the junior prom queen you swooned over in the hallways after English class is actually pregnant. She won’t finish the semester. One of those nerds you make fun of just signed a $250k/yr. contract with Google at age 26. By the way, the kid with Trisomy-21 syndrome that you and your friends pick on will pass away before you all graduate. You will always remember the time he made you smile on the bus. On the day you find out he passed away, you will beg for God’s forgiveness in tears. In fact, more than 20 people you went to high school with have died since then. The point? Choose your words and friends carefully.
  • 2.) You’ll get in trouble for vandalism today. Dad will sit you on the porch for ‘a talk’, and you’ll write a letter promising him that you will behave more appropriately. He’ll go on to tell you, “Son, I gave up everything to come to this country so that whenever I had kids their futures would only be limited by their dreams. One day, you could become the president.” You won’t believe him, but ten years later you’ll be invited to give a major speech on the steps of the South Carolina State House in front of hundreds of people. In fact, you’ll travel the country giving similar speeches all before you’re 25th birthday. Dad will then show you the letter you wrote to him ten years ago. He still has it? Of course. Mom and dad are definitely right- always…
  • 3.) …Well, almost always. You’re parents are not perfect, and that’s okay. Even heroes need a day off. And even though they are today’s villain for not letting you go to Kaitlyn George’s Halloween party (she happens to be your girl-next-door crush), you will grow to speak of them as heroes. Even if it takes a decade.
  • 4.) Oh, look… You got in trouble again. So much for that letter to dad. This time you upset mom and dad so much that they will not talk to you for a week. Seriously… They will ignore you for the entire week. In fact, every time mom happens to cross your path in the hallway, she will begin to cry in disappointment. Making your parents cry is one of the most heart-wrenching experiences you will ever face. When your actions have reduced your heroes to tears, you finally learn what it feels like to be a villain, and it will break your heart.
  • 5.) Kaitlyn George who? She was so two years ago. Now you’re with your first love- Claudia. After you two break-up, ending a four year relationship, you both will have grown into a totally different people. It will break your heart (God, will it ever heal!?!). You will spend two weeks on the couch. Mom will call you a pitiful slob. Then, six years later, yet again, you are a totally different person. You look back and cherish the lessons you learned from your relationship with Claudia and laugh about being paralyzed on the couch. PS… Your heart will go on. Just ask Rose Dawson.
  • 6.) Despite what anyone tells you, you are not too young to start. Start what?  Start a business– writing, singing, speaking, creating, believing, campaigning, learning, investing… Just start. If you don’t, someone else will.
  • 7.) Quit talking about about yourself. Talk about the other guy. Lift him up. While you’re at it, humble yourself. You arrogant punk.
  • 8.) You will make life altering mistakes. It’s okay. You’ll soon find out that everyone else will too.
  • 9.) Do not hide from those mistakes. If you do, people will use them against you. Instead, embrace them by marketing them to your advantage.
  • 10.) Nana will try to teach you to play the piano. Do it. Not just to learn the piano, but for the time and memories with one of your greatest fans. In ten years, you’ll regret that you didn’t. Not just for the time and memories but also because chicks dig piano players.
  • 11.) You don’t ‘have to’ go to college. Although beneficial, opting out is no deal-breaker. You’ll spend $100,000 to study at Belmont University. However, while doing something completely unrelated to your chosen major, you will end up making more money than you could in your field of study before you graduate. This doesn’t mean you don’t have to practice your craft, become an educated individual and take big, although calculated, risks. Vision, drive and dedication are the keys to success. Not a piece of paper.
  • 12.) You’ll abandon religion because you think you’re too smart for God. You’re not too smart for God. God is too smart for you. When you are ready, he will prove this to you inside of a Walmart at 2:00 AM. Why Walmart? Because this is God’s country. Also known as, the South.
  • Bonus.) Just as I never listened to lessons from mom and dad, you probably won’t listen to any of this.  That’s completely fine. Trial and error will show you the way. Just keep in mind, I’m not old enough to be your mom or dad, but I am old enough to tell you this… In ten years, when you find yourself laughing for any given reason, you’ll notice you sound just like your mom or dad, and then it will hit you like a ton of bricks: “My God, they were right.” Just giving you a heads up.

Follow Michael Lotfi On Facebook & Twitter.

Politics

Viral Video: Cop goes on rampage against cheering high school students

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GEORGETOWN, Texas, April 23, 2014– Last weekend, only moments after the Vandergrift high school Lady Vipers soccer team won their first ever Texas state championship, cheering teenagers flooded the field to congratulate their team on the hard earned victory.  What should have been a typical sporting event victory lap turned violent once Officer George Bermudez enters the scene. As seen in the video, for no reason at all, Bermudez begins to trip and shove the cheering teenagers.

“After personally watching the videos, the actions of my officer are very concerning to me as well,” said Georgetown Police Chief Wayne Nero.

According to Kxan, The Georgetown Police Department has placed Bermudez on administrative leave and is currently investigating the event.

Follow Michael Lotfi On Facebook & Twitter.

Education, US

VIDEO: High School Senior Slams Common Core

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Common Core was passed by governors and bureaucracies with little accountability or democratic oversight, so it is only as the program nears implementation that its many problems have drawn attention.  Now, more and more people are speaking out against the program.  Students, teachers and parents across the country are voicing their concerns about the program’s lowered standards, potential politicization, and unconstitutionality.

Last week, one of the more noteworthy voices of opposition came from a Knox County student named Ethan Young, who spoke at a local School Board meeting.  In just over five minutes, Young discussed problems with the creation of the Core, its educational standards, and the harmful constraints the program would place on teachers.

“Somewhere our Founding Fathers are turning in their graves — pleading, screaming and trying to say to us that we teach to free minds. We teach to inspire. We teach to equip, the careers will come naturally” said Young.

Though at first glance it would seem the initiative came from states, “in reality it was contrived by an insular group of educational testing executives,” a partnership of the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers and Achieve Inc, a Gates-funded non-profit.  Even the two academic content specialists involved refused to approve the final standards, with one publicly stating that “the standards left students with an empty skill set,” Young explained.  It was neither created democratically nor by educational specialists.

Young’s primary concern, though, came from the national testing requirements.  “Much like No Child Left Behind,” he quipped, “the program promises national testing and a one size fits all education, because hey, it worked really well the first time.”  The standards, designed for an industrial education model, treat both students and educators as little more than numbers.  Tests don’t take into account the interaction at the heart of the teacher student relationship, damage teacher self-esteem, and force teachers to do things which are not beneficial to their students.

“As a student [it’s] like watching your teacher jump through flaming hoops to earn a score.”  Even forgetting all of the ideological problems of common core, treating education as a bureaucratic endeavor rather than a personal one will never work on a practical level.  It won’t engage students or teach them to love learning.  “I mean, why don’t we just manufacture robots instead of students?  They last longer and they always do what they’re told.”

Ethan Young’s concerns echo those expressed online and at PTA and School Board meetings across the country, from liberal strongholds like New York City to more conservative areas like Utah.  Some point to Young’s concerns, and some are put off by sexually explicit texts.  Others are concerned by data mining, or simply its expense.  In fact a growing movement spread via social media would protest Common Core nationwide by declaring November 18 “Don’t Send Your Child to School Day.”

Common Core’s problems range from its creation to its implementation, and cover both ideological and practical issues.  The program went largely unnoticed while it was being created and as states were bribed to adopt it, but with the recent wave of scrutiny a number of states have already dropped or attempted to drop the program.