The acceptant and diverse atmosphere of Rangeview allows for open-minded discussions and welcomed dissent, a culture that has given rise to differing opinions concerning the decision in the Ferguson shooting case, and with Rangeview students up in arms on social media, the district felt extra security was needed, appointing an extra police officer to secure the school yesterday.
Students are vocal about their opinions, many disagreeing with the grand jury’s decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson.
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“That cop should have gone to jail,” says sophomore Ethan Demetri.
Others, such as sophomore Sarah Manzanares, whose father is a policeman, believe that the jury was just in its verdict.
“I just don’t think that [students] can blame cops for what’s going on,” says Manzanares. “It’s both sides, and they just don’t see both sides.”
Carly Merril agrees with this sentiment; to Merril, race does not matter in crime, and she wonders why the case is so important to others.
The case has been portrayed as an embodiment of the racial tension that exists within both Ferguson and the United States as a whole. Dean Terry Anderson asserts that Rangeview students are unaware of true racial tension, as they have not experienced it. According to Anderson, the majority of students are uninformed as far as the actual case and what it stands for.
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“I haven’t looked deep enough to make a legal analysis of the situation,” says Anderson, “but I know as far as the tension at Rangeview high school, I think most of our kids are oblivious to what happened on the news last night.”
Rangeview voices have been amongst the heated debate concerning the decision and police brutality as a whole, but within the school these arguments have remained peaceful.
For more information on the case go to www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=
