Help us get justice in Teacher Lynching lesson!

We know you all have many more examples of this teacher crossing the line. Please report them here!

File Your Complaint

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If you are a current student, what school do you attend?

What Happened?

• When did it happen? (As best as you can remember) • How were you impacted? • Who else was there with you? (your friends count!) • Where did it happen? (in class? in the hallway?)

Today's Date

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To our Beloved Family and Community,

We want to first thank everyone who has been speaking out, and being active in this process so far. We are outraged that this has happened at a school in our community! This Tuesday we were made aware A.P. Government Teacher Mr. Fred Driscoll went into detailed explanation of how to make and use a noose “the right way”. Driscoll can be heard saying “the knot has to be between the right vertebrae so it snaps your neck and kills you automatically”. This heinous “lesson” was recorded and was heard by many parents, community members, students and faculty of the school. Hearing Youth Voices organized a meeting of organization members, students and parents with New London High School Principal Thompson and Science and Tech Magnet School Director Texidor, and Superintendent Ritchie to voice our justified outrage. The meeting ended with the decision to open an investigation on Fred Driscoll regarding this incident.

We want to share that this is not the first time Driscoll has taught this lesson in this insensitive fashion. In a previous unnerving lesson he has even gone as far as handing out an instructional guide, a how-to for noose-making, referring to lynching as “an art form.” Historically, lynching was used as an extrajudicial means to murder Black people and was undoubtedly the acts of mobs to exercise hate and anti-blackness. In October of this year, a young man of St. Louis and son of a Ferguson, Missouri activist was found hanging from a tree. This is unacceptable then and it is now. Making light of it in a class of predominantly Black and brown students can be seen as nothing less than harmful.

We want him gone! It is imperative this is seen for exactly what it is and acted upon effectively! We know this is not an isolated incident and we need the stories, no matter how old. Going forward we need to continue to share this and reach out so this is not overlooked or underestimated. We need to ensure the safety and comfort of all students in his classroom and in the school. There is no justice or peace in silence.

Signed,
Hearing Youth Voices

What’s gonna be the best way for you to say it?

Come to the Office!

Do you have something to say but want some support? You can come to our office where someone can help you with the whole process so that you are comfortable with sharing and saying what you have to say. Y hasta te podemos ayudar si tienes algo que decir y prefieres decirlo en español!!

Email it!

Does email work best for you and you feel confident that you can draft your complaint? Awesome, well here are some tips to make sure that we have as smooth of a process as possible.

In this process it is important to DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.
When you compose your email you can write your “COMPLAINT” or whatever you feel appropriate on the subject line.
Include the complaint or concern in the body of the email.
Send the email to ritchiec@newlondon.org & thompsont@newlondon.org MAKING SURE TO CC info@hearingyouthvoices.com

Social Media!

Do you have something to say and the best way for you to share with us is going to be through one of our social media platforms? Find us on Facebook or Instagram.

Submit through our website!

The information in the form will be sent directly to Hearing Youth Voices staff. We will forward it to New London High School administration and Superintendent Ritchie.