1 00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:09,640 this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon 3 00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:12,519 to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,760 want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:18,719 my daily show prep with all of the links, become 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,320 a patron. Go to Thepete calendarshow dot com. Make sure 7 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,640 you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free, 8 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,199 write to your smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you 9 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,600 so much for your support. Email is Pete at thepeteclendershow 10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,600 dot com and you can hit me up on Twitter 11 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,920 that is at Pete Calender and that's spelled ka l 12 00:00:39,399 --> 00:00:44,960 I n E R. I do have some messages regarding 13 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,079 last hour. We just spoke with Kevin Canty. He is 14 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:54,200 the former chief deputy. I always got to make sure I 15 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,039 don't say deputy chief, because that's it. Those are different agencies. 16 00:00:57,159 --> 00:01:03,920 Chief deputy for the Mecklamberg County Sheriff, Gary McFadden or 17 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,239 as I call him, Gary not my fault McFadden, the 18 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:13,120 hero victim of every tale. And you know, and I 19 00:01:13,159 --> 00:01:18,519 told Kevin Canty this last hour and just when I 20 00:01:18,599 --> 00:01:21,560 was walking him out to the door, I said, I 21 00:01:21,599 --> 00:01:24,560 don't know the sheriff, So this is just what it 22 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:30,920 looks like to me from the outside. And I hear 23 00:01:31,239 --> 00:01:34,359 McFadden do interviews, and I read his stuff, and I've 24 00:01:34,359 --> 00:01:36,799 seen him in front of the County Commission. And then 25 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,439 I see the news stories about problems in the jail, 26 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:43,680 and I see people leaving and getting fired, and saw 27 00:01:43,719 --> 00:01:50,680 the complaints during the sheriff's election two years ago. So 28 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,959 all I can do is look from the outside and 29 00:01:54,159 --> 00:02:00,000 draw conclusions. Not that I am, you know, specifically bound 30 00:02:00,239 --> 00:02:04,159 to or wed to any of these ideas initially, just 31 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,280 because I don't know the man. I've never met the man, 32 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,680 and all I can base it off of, just like 33 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,719 anybody else in Mecklamburg County that doesn't know him or 34 00:02:14,759 --> 00:02:18,039 hasn't met him, doesn't have any kind of a, you know, 35 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,479 personal relationship with the guy. All we can do is 36 00:02:22,319 --> 00:02:26,479 assess from the outside. And from the outside, it looks 37 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:32,639 like he is a raging, malignant, narcissistic sociopath. That's what 38 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,280 it looks like. And look, maybe there is a perfectly 39 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:44,159 reasonable explanation for that, namely, probably that he is that's 40 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:49,000 probably the character. I don't know what else I don't 41 00:02:49,039 --> 00:02:52,520 know another conclusion I could come to. I've played the 42 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,639 audio clips. Look, he has appeared. I give it, and 43 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:01,400 I've always given the sheriff credit for going on Brett 44 00:03:01,479 --> 00:03:05,840 Jensen's show. Brett does the show every weekday seven until 45 00:03:05,879 --> 00:03:08,240 eight pm. Here Breaking with Brett Jensen, and he has 46 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,439 gone on Bret Jensen's show. He has taken phone calls 47 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:16,960 I have then, I think in almost after every appearance, 48 00:03:17,159 --> 00:03:21,599 because I listen to the episode, I pull some sound 49 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:26,560 bites out of the episode, and every single time I 50 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:31,000 hear him, he does nothing to a leave my concerns 51 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,280 that he is in fact the things that I think 52 00:03:33,319 --> 00:03:35,280 he is. In fact, every time he gets up there 53 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:40,080 and talks, he makes things worse for me. He makes 54 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:46,319 it worse. And so I can't imagine what it must 55 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,360 be like for a lot of the staff that still 56 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,680 work at the Sheriff's office that are trying just to 57 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,199 get to retirement. Right, They've put in twenty years or whatever, 58 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:00,159 and they're just trying to make it to retirement, and 59 00:04:00,199 --> 00:04:03,960 so they're putting up with this toxic work environment, which 60 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:08,520 despite what the sheriff has said, because it's never his fault, 61 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,639 that's why I call him that sheriff not my fault, McFadden, 62 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,960 because every single thing that goes wrong at the sheriff's 63 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,079 office since he took over, it's never his fault. It's 64 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:24,120 six years later and he's still blaming past sheriffs for everything, 65 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:31,639 almost everything. So I don't I don't know how these 66 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:33,680 people that are still working they're putting up with this 67 00:04:33,759 --> 00:04:39,000 stuff except fear right. They don't want to be They 68 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,959 don't want to get fired, they don't want to lose 69 00:04:40,959 --> 00:04:43,079 their pension, they don't want to get blackballed. If they 70 00:04:43,079 --> 00:04:46,759 do get fired, right, if McFadden kicks them out, then 71 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:48,279 does that mean they're going to have a hard time 72 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:56,439 going to another agency? I get it. And that's why 73 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,319 you know it's you know, God puts people. I think 74 00:04:59,319 --> 00:05:01,439 Sheriff mcfatt I hadn't talked about this when he said 75 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,879 he was just like Jesus basically, I'm not kidding about 76 00:05:04,879 --> 00:05:07,199 Hang on a second, I'm not kidding about that. People 77 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:12,079 think that, uh, let's see here, I haven't. Yeah here 78 00:05:12,079 --> 00:05:15,800 it is. God sent me here for a reason. And 79 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,759 if I'm the sacrificial lamb to upset the word racism 80 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,600 in America, so be it. God gave up his only son. 81 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:30,839 There you go, he's like Jesus. So maybe God put 82 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:37,040 Kevin Canty at the Sheriff's office, because here's a guy 83 00:05:37,079 --> 00:05:42,800 who's got the resume, right, he's got the experience, he's 84 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:44,879 got what seems to be and I've just met him 85 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,480 today for the first time. Seems to have the disposition 86 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:52,839 and the character. But also he's got the length of service. 87 00:05:53,399 --> 00:06:01,160 He is sort of inoculated because he's already retired. He's 88 00:06:01,199 --> 00:06:05,920 done his time, he's gotten his retirement, and so that's 89 00:06:05,959 --> 00:06:09,120 not a threat for him any longer. And he knows 90 00:06:09,199 --> 00:06:12,319 the way these things are supposed to be run. He 91 00:06:12,399 --> 00:06:16,800 knows the way these agencies are supposed to operate. And 92 00:06:16,879 --> 00:06:18,720 the thing that has also struck me and I keep 93 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:23,600 referring to it as maladministration instead of just mismanagement, although 94 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:26,120 truth be told, he's probably guilty of that as well. 95 00:06:27,759 --> 00:06:33,040 The mismanagement by Sheriff Macfadden, I would submit rises to 96 00:06:33,079 --> 00:06:36,839 the level of maladministration. And there's a reason why I 97 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,439 use that word. It's because if you go to the 98 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:45,720 where is it here the North Carolina General Statute, willful 99 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:54,360 conduct sorry, wilful misconduct or maladministration in office. That is 100 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,759 item number two in the list of causes for which 101 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:05,639 a sheriff may be removed from office by the judge 102 00:07:05,639 --> 00:07:14,160 of the Superior Court. I'm not sure. I'm not sure 103 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:20,839 what more it takes inside the court system, inside the 104 00:07:20,879 --> 00:07:28,160 district attorney's office. I'm not sure what else it takes. 105 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,800 I don't know what else you need to hear. I 106 00:07:33,839 --> 00:07:36,480 don't know how many other people need to get fired. 107 00:07:36,959 --> 00:07:40,399 I don't know how many more inmates need to die. 108 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,399 I don't know. All I can do is just keep 109 00:07:43,439 --> 00:07:50,120 saying this is obviously not just a perception from the outside. 110 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:55,480 This is obviously something going on inside the sheriff's office. 111 00:07:55,839 --> 00:08:00,519 Somebody who has the authority to do something needs to 112 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:06,519 start doing it. We heard and look whatever you think about, 113 00:08:07,759 --> 00:08:11,920 you know, Donald Trump and the the attacks against Trump. 114 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,879 And Kevin Knty has an opinion on Donald Trump, and 115 00:08:16,959 --> 00:08:18,959 Kevin Canty said, if I was ever in a position 116 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:23,920 like that, you know I would I would stop somebody, Democratic, Republican, 117 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:26,639 I would do better. Right, We all like to think 118 00:08:26,639 --> 00:08:29,120 that we would do that same thing. He did that 119 00:08:29,399 --> 00:08:34,879 like he held to his word on that, he held 120 00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:38,799 to his principle on that, and that's not a small thing. 121 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:47,320 I don't believe the assertion, the allegation coming from I 122 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:52,519 can only believe is McFadden that that Kevin Canty said 123 00:08:52,519 --> 00:08:55,120 about this entire plan so he could run for sheriff. 124 00:08:55,399 --> 00:08:57,399 He doesn't strike me as that kind of a person. 125 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,799 His background as an undercover narc agent seems to also 126 00:09:01,919 --> 00:09:07,120 belie that. But I don't know. But I said this 127 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,840 initially too. Even if that were true, which I at 128 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,039 this point do not believe that to be true. But 129 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:19,639 even if it were true, McFadden pursued him and McFadden 130 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:24,840 offered him the job two different jobs actually, And even 131 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:29,360 if somehow or another, Kevin Candy were able to manipulate 132 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:34,320 McFadden into doing this to hiring him on also, he 133 00:09:34,399 --> 00:09:39,399 could get him out and he could take over. Even 134 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:45,200 if all that were case, it doesn't excuse McFadden. It 135 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:49,440 doesn't to me. They're unrelated. They are really, they are 136 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:58,080 unrelated issues. McFadden maladministration in office. It seems very very 137 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,879 clear to me. I think it's pretty clear to a 138 00:10:02,039 --> 00:10:05,120 lot of people that are in the orbit of the 139 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:07,919 Mecklenburg County Sheriff's office. I think there are a lot 140 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:12,159 of people that know this and they're afraid. They're afraid 141 00:10:12,159 --> 00:10:15,799 of the political repercussions. They're afraid of alienating certain voters, 142 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:20,720 they're afraid of whatever. But they're afraid. And I would 143 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:22,919 just say, there are a lot of people out here 144 00:10:22,919 --> 00:10:25,919 that will back you. They will support you if you 145 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:30,480 do the right thing. I think a lot of people 146 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:34,159 in America are in Mecklenburg County and Charlotte. I think 147 00:10:34,159 --> 00:10:38,240 a lot of people are yearning for somebody with the 148 00:10:38,279 --> 00:10:41,559 intestinal fortitude and the principles to stand up and say 149 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,440 this is wrong, We're stopping it. 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Here's a message from the Hellyon, 169 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,200 who says great stuff here in this interview that sheriff 170 00:11:56,240 --> 00:12:02,399 has got to go. And this is from Russ, who says, 171 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,159 I have now heard a few long form interviews with 172 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:09,480 Sheriff McFadden on Jensen's show and the one you just 173 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:12,480 wrapped up with Kevin Canty. Only one of those men 174 00:12:12,919 --> 00:12:18,759 seems reasonable and connected to the truth. I'm assuming he's 175 00:12:18,799 --> 00:12:25,480 talking about Canty being the reasonable one. Mark says Pete, 176 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,240 I'm pretty sure you're not going to see anything like 177 00:12:27,279 --> 00:12:29,440 what you want to see happen in the Democrat run 178 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:34,039 city like Charlotte Well, I don't know. All I can 179 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:41,399 do is pointed out and hopefully encourage other people to 180 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:47,200 report what they have seen and what they've experienced. Otherwise 181 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:49,960 you end up with this, which is from an email 182 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,919 from Tony who says, come on, Pete, you don't know 183 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:59,480 Knty any better than the sheriff. Not true. How can 184 00:12:59,519 --> 00:13:03,159 you believe him? We didn't learn any facts today, just 185 00:13:03,279 --> 00:13:12,120 one man's opinion. It means nothing, means nothing, So Denial 186 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:17,919 ain't just a river in Egypt. As I said, I 187 00:13:17,919 --> 00:13:22,120 have never spoken with nor met the sheriff. I have 188 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:27,320 now spoken with and met Kevin Knty, So I do 189 00:13:27,399 --> 00:13:31,639 actually know Kevin Knty better than I know the sheriff 190 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:37,159 because spoiler, that was not my first conversation with him. 191 00:13:37,799 --> 00:13:40,799 In order to line up the interview, we spoke before 192 00:13:41,279 --> 00:13:44,440 and then during the breaks we speak, and we have 193 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:46,440 very long breaks here, and so I was I got 194 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,000 a lot. I got almost as much time off air 195 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,399 with Kevin as I had on air with him. So 196 00:13:52,639 --> 00:13:54,519 I do know him, I think a little bit better 197 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:56,360 than the sheriff because the only thing I know of 198 00:13:56,399 --> 00:13:59,559 the sheriff is what I've seen and what I have heard, 199 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,240 and is in interviews in public appearances, and none of 200 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:08,080 those have been impressive. None of those have led me 201 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:13,080 to any other conclusion than what I have drawn, And 202 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,320 Kevin Canty strikes me as a completely different type of 203 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,960 person than Gary McFadden. All Right, hey, real quick, if 204 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:23,320 you would like to get your product or service in 205 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:26,440 front of about ten thousand people multiple times a day, 206 00:14:26,679 --> 00:14:30,000 send me an email at Pete at the Peteclendarshow dot 207 00:14:30,039 --> 00:14:33,440 com and ask me about advertising. It's super affordable, it's 208 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,600 baked into this podcast forever, and podcasts have a higher 209 00:14:36,639 --> 00:14:39,399 conversion rate than other social media platforms, making it the 210 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,000 best bang for your buck. Send me a message Pete 211 00:14:42,039 --> 00:14:44,919 at Thepetecalnarshow dot com and I can show you how 212 00:14:44,919 --> 00:14:47,320 it works. Run the numbers with you again. That's Pete 213 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:52,440 at the Petecalnarshow dot com. One of the other things 214 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:58,600 Kevin was talking about was the use of iPads at 215 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:03,960 the detentions at the jail. That apparently inmates get iPads. 216 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:05,600 Did you know this? I was unaware of that they 217 00:15:05,679 --> 00:15:11,240 get iPads even after they've engaged in bad behavior. They 218 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:17,000 don't lose the iPads and so like when some of 219 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,840 the detention officers get assaulted, they are then accused by 220 00:15:21,919 --> 00:15:27,120 McFadden of like doing something to lead to their own assault, like, well, 221 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,679 like what did you do to get shanked? Like that's 222 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:37,679 the response? What? Yeah? And then they don't lose their 223 00:15:37,679 --> 00:15:41,679 iPad privileges, which I think is probably bad for morale, 224 00:15:42,639 --> 00:15:45,720 probably why they don't have all of the you know, 225 00:15:45,759 --> 00:15:48,399 the full staff. But as I understand it, Gary's got 226 00:15:48,399 --> 00:15:52,080 the great idea. McFadden's got the great idea to swallow 227 00:15:52,159 --> 00:15:57,639 up the what caberis County Juvenile Detention facility or something 228 00:15:57,679 --> 00:16:02,279 and make them all Mecklenburg employee. Yes, because everybody wants 229 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,240 to come work for the guy who uses racial slurs 230 00:16:05,279 --> 00:16:10,879 and treats his comstat meetings as public floggings. But anyway, 231 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,879 the use of technology not just in the prisons, but 232 00:16:14,919 --> 00:16:20,600 also in the K twelve government schools, which I guess 233 00:16:20,639 --> 00:16:23,559 is kind of the same thing. That's the no I 234 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:29,120 kid I kid schools. There was actually a big write 235 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,840 up in the New York Times how student phones and 236 00:16:32,879 --> 00:16:38,919 social media are fueling fights in schools, very very lengthy 237 00:16:38,919 --> 00:16:44,559 story and some of the highlights here they say, across 238 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,679 the United States, technology centered on cell phones in the 239 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:52,240 form of text messages, videos, and social media, has increasingly 240 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:59,399 fueled and sometimes intensified campus brawls, disrupting schools and derailing learning. 241 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:06,720 School fight videos then often spark news cycles of student cyberbullying, 242 00:17:07,519 --> 00:17:12,720 verbal aggression, and violence. I am reminded of the criticism 243 00:17:12,759 --> 00:17:16,640 of homeschooling. How is your kid going to get socialized 244 00:17:17,559 --> 00:17:20,000 if they don't go to public schools? I don't know. 245 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,960 How are they not going to get shanked? Right? These 246 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,160 are life's lessons that we need to teach the children. 247 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:30,359 A New York Times review of more than four hundred 248 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:34,319 fight videos from schools in California, Georgia, Texas, and a 249 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:41,079 dozen other states, along with interviews with three dozen school leaders, teachers, 250 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:46,119 police officers, pupils, parents, and researchers, found a pattern of 251 00:17:46,279 --> 00:17:51,079 middle and high school students exploiting phones and social media 252 00:17:51,519 --> 00:17:59,200 to arrange, provoke, capture, and spread footage of brutal beatings 253 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:03,640 among their peace years. In several cases, students later died 254 00:18:04,079 --> 00:18:11,799 from the injuries. Technology has increasingly fostered and amplified every 255 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:17,480 stage of this aggression. The arguments often begin with student 256 00:18:17,759 --> 00:18:27,279 cyber bullying, even perceived online disrespect among friends right, you're 257 00:18:27,319 --> 00:18:32,440 in a group chat and you use the wrong emoji, 258 00:18:33,039 --> 00:18:36,400 or you say something that's misinterpreted, which is very easy 259 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,440 to do because like today's kids they speak in like 260 00:18:39,599 --> 00:18:43,000 single letters. It's very weird, like we are reverting back 261 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:49,039 to hieroglyphics. So this then will prompt in person squabbles 262 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:54,680 during school, and then classmates start filming and that puts 263 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,839 pressure on the students that are quarreling. The squabbling students, 264 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,960 That puts pressure on them to duke it out. Students 265 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,920 then share the videos, they comment on the videos. That then, 266 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:12,559 of course further humiliates the victims, you know, the ones 267 00:19:12,559 --> 00:19:16,000 who lost or the ones who didn't you know, show 268 00:19:16,079 --> 00:19:20,960 out correctly or whatever the slang is, and that then 269 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:27,799 triggers more fights. In some cases, the violent cycle has 270 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:33,720 overwhelmed schools. Some districts now face lawsuits for negligence from parents, 271 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:39,440 and other schools are seeing an exodus of teachers. No, 272 00:19:39,519 --> 00:19:43,680 I thought that's about pay only. Wait, what are you 273 00:19:43,759 --> 00:19:49,079 saying that working conditions might be a factor in whether 274 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,960 or not somebody wants to stay on as a teacher. 275 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,680 That would wow, that would be amazing to learn if 276 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,759 that's true. If that is true. Man, that adds a 277 00:19:58,759 --> 00:20:03,720 whole different dynamic to the teacher retention argument, right, because 278 00:20:04,319 --> 00:20:06,839 I've been reliably informed that it is simply a matter 279 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:11,640 of Dallas, show me the money, and that's it. Now. 280 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:15,440 Of course, not working conditions is a huge part of it, 281 00:20:15,799 --> 00:20:19,680 you know, discipline, just like this general heading of discipline 282 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,400 that if you've got teachers that are going into brawl 283 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:26,640 zones every single day, that's not why they wanted to 284 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:31,720 become a teacher. Dozens of districts have sued social media firms, 285 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,039 saying that the platforms are addictive. They've got features there 286 00:20:35,079 --> 00:20:39,319 that cause compulsive student use that disrupts learning and burdens 287 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:45,200 the school resources. Yeah, here's the thing, even if even 288 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:49,759 if the lawsuit has merit, even if you prove this 289 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:53,559 to be the case, and even if the schools win 290 00:20:53,960 --> 00:21:01,440 the lawsuits, what do you get money for? What what 291 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:06,319 are you going to do with that? Pay teachers more money? Obviously, 292 00:21:06,319 --> 00:21:09,440 that's the answer to everything. No, I kid, No, we 293 00:21:09,759 --> 00:21:16,359 would put in programs and counselors, maybe maybe a school 294 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:19,720 resource officer maybe depending on the jurisdiction and whether or 295 00:21:19,759 --> 00:21:24,440 not they hate police officers. But like we'll we'll just 296 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,160 throw more money at them. We'll win these lawsuits. We'll 297 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:30,920 get Facebook to give us a couple million dollars per school, 298 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,200 and then you know, we'll we'll set up some violence 299 00:21:35,279 --> 00:21:42,880 interruption program or something teach kids Think again. Remember that campaign? 300 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,359 Whatever happened to that campaign? That was the big campaign. Huge, 301 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:49,680 It was massive, big campaign in the Charlotte area Think Again, 302 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:57,319 which was designed to tell people don't commit gun crimes. 303 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:01,880 I think, especially if you are if you're a convicted 304 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:05,759 felon or something. I know you're thinking about committing a 305 00:22:05,759 --> 00:22:09,920 gun crime. But think again. I don't know if they 306 00:22:10,039 --> 00:22:13,440 measured that success like that was what my big question 307 00:22:13,519 --> 00:22:16,720 on the campaign was about how are you tracking success? 308 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,160 So I guess it was a success because we never 309 00:22:20,279 --> 00:22:24,880 heard anything else about it. Anyway. Students have used social 310 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,559 networks to plan and incite school violence since the two thousands. 311 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,480 Over the past decade, higher quality phone cameras and new 312 00:22:33,519 --> 00:22:38,480 social media features like Instagram, Live and reels, that's the 313 00:22:38,599 --> 00:22:41,519 I think those are the Facebook ones, right, Reels is Facebook. 314 00:22:41,519 --> 00:22:48,839 I think these have helped spur teenagers to mass produce 315 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:54,480 live stream and share videos, including their fight clips. In fact, 316 00:22:55,119 --> 00:23:01,039 there are dedicated fight video accounts that have popped up 317 00:23:01,039 --> 00:23:04,559 on Instagram and TikTok, and they used names or initials 318 00:23:04,599 --> 00:23:10,240 of high schools and middle schools. During the pandemic, many 319 00:23:10,279 --> 00:23:16,240 students became more reliant on messaging and social apps and 320 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:22,279 less comfortable with real life interactions. See this is what 321 00:23:22,319 --> 00:23:24,640 I mean when I say what's on the other side 322 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,279 of the ledger? When we are doing an accounting of 323 00:23:27,319 --> 00:23:31,039 the COVID response, This goes on the other side of 324 00:23:31,039 --> 00:23:37,720 the ledger, folks, unintended consequences, right ramifications of the decisions. 325 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:42,319 You didn't get everything right in the response. It is 326 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:46,319 imperative that we haven't accounting for what we got wrong. 327 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:50,359 And by we, I mean political leaders that made these 328 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:56,559 decisions and then mandated them on us. School closures for 329 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:00,440 this kind of thing should never be entertained ever again. 330 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:07,160 I have not seen my good friend raise farewell speech. 331 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,079 Roy Cooper gave his farewell speech. I think he started 332 00:24:12,079 --> 00:24:15,720 it at like eleven thirty, so I did not have 333 00:24:16,079 --> 00:24:18,519 time to watch it. But I do intend to watch it, 334 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:23,839 so you don't have to. You're welcome. So we'll cover 335 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:29,000 that tomorrow because I didn't have time to do it obviously, 336 00:24:29,319 --> 00:24:32,359 before the program started. We were getting ready for the 337 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,960 interview with Kevin Canty, so didn't have time to watch 338 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:42,880 it as it was occurring. Here's a message from Mama tutored. 339 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:50,279 My husband's sister was a teacher and just left the 340 00:24:50,319 --> 00:24:53,839 profession last year. When we asked her why she was 341 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,000 a teacher for over twenty years. When we asked her 342 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:01,000 why she left, she said her number one reason students 343 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,759 with cell phones. It was impossible to enforce. Students refused 344 00:25:05,799 --> 00:25:09,640 to comply. Parent interference kept them in the classrooms and 345 00:25:09,759 --> 00:25:13,640 grades went down because of it, which affected her performance reviews. 346 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:15,920 She could put up with a lot of things over 347 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,079 the year, but this has been the worst, causing her 348 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:24,880 to leave altogether. That is not the first time I 349 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:30,400 have heard that similar experience. New York Times with this 350 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,920 big write up talking about the pandemic but also the 351 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:40,359 technology that during the pandemic, kids became detached, They relied 352 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,880 on social media more, they were less comfortable with real 353 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:49,480 life interactions, principles and teachers said. Some students also developed 354 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:54,599 difficulties controlling their emotions, a mental health issue that psychologists 355 00:25:54,680 --> 00:26:00,519 call emotional dysregulation, or as I call it, acting like 356 00:26:00,559 --> 00:26:04,640 a jerk. In twenty twenty one, as many districts reopened 357 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:09,960 for in person learning, some schools saw increases in student fights, aggression, 358 00:26:10,519 --> 00:26:16,160 and cyber bullying. Educators and police social media say that 359 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:23,599 social media influencers and TV newscasts often broadcast school fight videos, 360 00:26:24,279 --> 00:26:29,200 distressing students and causing further chaos. This is another part 361 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:35,119 of the problem. And I recognize that as a radio guy, 362 00:26:35,559 --> 00:26:38,720 I don't have to make this decision. I don't have 363 00:26:38,839 --> 00:26:42,920 to worry about putting up a video image to tell 364 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:48,720 the story about the school fight. But I can tell 365 00:26:48,759 --> 00:26:51,680 you that I don't share those videos. When I see 366 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,799 them on social media, I try to scroll right past them. 367 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:57,960 I try not to watch them. I don't want them 368 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,519 to get any kind of engagement data from me on 369 00:27:01,559 --> 00:27:05,359 those types of videos, and it seems like that's all 370 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:09,240 I'm getting. And you know, now, the companies are like, 371 00:27:09,279 --> 00:27:13,599 we totally take this stuff down. We don't allow that 372 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,000 crap on our platforms, and of course we all know 373 00:27:17,079 --> 00:27:22,000 that's not true. It's on the platforms. Chris Heggerty, the 374 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:24,640 school board chair at the Wake County Public School System 375 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,519 in Carrie, North Carolina, said in November twenty twenty three, 376 00:27:28,839 --> 00:27:31,920 said students recording a fight in a high school gym 377 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:39,240 blocked administrators from intervening. Two boys were stabbed, one aged fifteen, died. 378 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:45,640 A video of that brawl was posted on Twitter. Several 379 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:53,160 months later, it got six hundred and sixty thousand views. 380 00:27:54,039 --> 00:28:00,759 In April, they filed Wake County filed a lawsuit accusing Instagram, TikTok, 381 00:28:00,799 --> 00:28:05,000 and other platforms of negligence and interfering with school operations. 382 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:08,839 TikTok said that it forbids the promotion of violence and 383 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:13,279 proactively removes content showing violent activities, as well as anything 384 00:28:13,319 --> 00:28:17,720 equating jijinping to Winnie the Pooh. Snapchat said it prohibits 385 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:23,000 graphic violence and proactively removes accounts that post violent content, 386 00:28:23,799 --> 00:28:27,039 including Winnie the Pooh means Meta, which no, I'm kidding, 387 00:28:27,039 --> 00:28:30,160 that's Snapchat. They're not owned by China. Meta owned by Zuckerberg, 388 00:28:30,519 --> 00:28:34,480 which owns Instagram. Said the platform does not allow bullying, 389 00:28:34,519 --> 00:28:38,680 and removed content depicting physical bullying. They took down six 390 00:28:39,319 --> 00:28:45,519 school fight accounts last month after they were flagged by 391 00:28:45,559 --> 00:28:48,160 The New York Times for this story, So they look 392 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:49,839 they're totally on it. I don't know what you guys, 393 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,759 are worried about. Jonathan says, Lincoln County is about to 394 00:28:53,759 --> 00:28:57,119 implement a cell phone ban at public schools, and I'm 395 00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:59,359 all for Look, that's one of the ways you could 396 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,640 go here. You could ban the cell phones in the schools. 397 00:29:02,279 --> 00:29:08,079 Another way to go mandatory boxing classes. Right, if these 398 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,440 kids are going to be fighting all the time, we 399 00:29:10,559 --> 00:29:12,759 might as well teach them all how to fight and 400 00:29:12,799 --> 00:29:16,160 how to defend themselves. I think it's only fair. All right, 401 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,519 that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much 402 00:29:18,559 --> 00:29:20,599 for listening. I could not do the show without your 403 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,400 support and the support of the businesses that advertise on 404 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,240 the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too 405 00:29:26,279 --> 00:29:27,960 and tell them you heard it here. You can also 406 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,559 become a patron at my Patreon page or go to 407 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,440 thepetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, 408 00:29:34,519 --> 00:29:38,319 and don't break anything while I'm gone.