Philadelphia, The City of Brotherly Irony

ELEVEN students from Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School were filming an antiviolence video when they were attacked after school Monday by other youths, school district officials said yesterday.

"Hey, I have an idea! Let's get rid of violence by making a video! THAT's what has been missing in this city!"

In a city where certain elements have been encouraged to avoid learning the lessons of the jungle this irony hits the sidewalk faster than pigeon poop falling from the statue of Willie Penn.

"We normally don't have trouble at [Masterman]," said Police Capt. Dennis Wilson. "A group that was looking for trouble ran into them and wanted to fight."

Gee, Captain. What did you think would be the result of revolving door courts that keep dumping troublemakers back into the community would be?

At one time in this nation we locked up kids who beat up other kids. The result was that our kids got an education. Now we don't lock up kids who beat up other kids and our kids are not getting educated. I wonder how we should fix this?

Make a video about it?

Ironically, school officials said, the students from Masterman, 17th and Spring Garden streets, were filming a video about rampant violence in Philadelphia. The video included a skit in which one student shoots another because the shooter mistakenly believes that the other stole his sneakers.

The 11 Masterman students, members of the school's African-American Cultural Committee, were in front of the Community College of Philadelphia, across the street at 17th and Spring Garden, about 4:30 when a larger group from nearby schools approached, Assistant Principal Mary Ann Tancredi said.

The Masterman students reported that their assailants had been looking for someone specific, asking, " 'Is that him? Is that him?' " according to schools spokesman Fernando Gallard.

Although the youths did not find their apparent target, Gallard said, they began attacking several Masterman students, some of whom ran back into the school to escape.

And how many of these "youths" will be jailed?

Arrested were Malique Sherril, 18, a Benjamin Franklin High School student, and two 13-year-old boys who attend Laura Wheeling Waring School. Police said all three would be charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and related charges. All three will be suspended.

SUSPENDED! Oh, the HORROR! Kids who are probably disruptive to class and apparently only go to school in order to cause trouble are going to be SUSPENDED!

How about slapping all of them into a jail until such time that they are ready for prison? What were their prior records? Why do I have a feeling that they could probably find their baby daddy in there?

Malcolm Carrington, 13, of West Oak Lane, said he and his classmates had been taunted by students from other schools while walking to and from the nearby Broad Street Subway.

"They think we're not streetwise," he said. "Sometimes I worry about becoming a victim. That's why we walk in groups."

Great job, Philly mayor and cops. You can burn down a city block to get at a few loud-mouths and eventually will stop a serial killer when the stench of rotting flesh coming from his house gets to be too much for his neighbors but when you are watching the next generation of trouble makers at work you just turn away. Let the few good kids who are at least TRYING to learn (despite being handicapped by liberal falsehoods) are being harassed. And the Philly mayor will sit there with his thumb up his butt and let crime get worse.