LEWISTON — From her hair salon on Central Avenue, Wendy Pelletier has seen behavior that disturbs her when Lewiston Middle School students are dismissed at 2:15 each afternoon.

Most kids are good, she said, but a few are rude, disrespectful and occasionally fight.

“The language is unbelievable,” she said. “Fights. I’ve had to open my window and break up fights.”

She’s seen boys and girls, black and white, walk down the middle of Central Avenue like punks, disregarding or blocking traffic. “There’s no consideration. They’ll stand there and smirk, be mouthy, and finally move over.”

Lewiston Parks and Recreation Director Maggie Chisholm, whose department is next door to the school, has seen “a small group who don’t have respect for the residents who live here, or those driving vehicles,” she said. “They’re as brazen as can be.”

She’s broken up fights and “unruly activities that happen that I wish would not, because somebody’s going to get hurt.”

On a recent afternoon, a rowdy group of about 20 students gathered in front of the armory.

Two boys started to fight. One boy grew angry. “F— you, and f— your couch!” he yelled. Asked how old they were, one answered, “Old enough to swear!”

Respectful, orderly

While some neighbors worry bad behavior is getting worse, police say the issue is not new. It doesn’t happen every day; it comes and goes in spurts. And it involves a small group.

What is growing is the student population at the city-wide school that houses seventh- and eighth-graders.

Last year, it was 600 students; this year, enrollment is 700, and next year it is expected to be 800.

The bad behavior is not happening during school or on school property.

Even so, Lewiston Middle School Principal Shawn Chabot said he wants “to be good neighbors to people who live around us. We want our students to be respectful, respect property rights and allow people to live peacefully.”

Chabot worries a few students are giving the school a black eye.

“The majority of the kids here, 95 percent, are doing what they’re supposed to be doing: studying, working hard, participating in after-school activities, being good role models,” Chabot said. “We need to focus some of our energy on the five or six percent of the population who need more reinforcement on how to behave appropriately.”

The school, he said, “has a good way about it. This place runs pretty smoothly.”

On this day, the halls were quiet, and in the cafeteria hundreds of orderly students were eating or waiting in line.

Contributing factors

Lewiston police officer Corey Jacques, the school’s resource officer, said most of the problem behavior he deals with happens before and after school.

During those times, he’s outside to keep the peace and move students along. Occasionally, he’s in plain clothes so students won’t recognize him. “Sometimes, it’s quiet. Other times, they’re causing hate and discontent,” he said. When he sees it, “we’ll address it,” he said. “Communication is the biggest thing.”

Part of the problem, Jacques said, is the parents. Most middle school parents are supportive; they even call him when they see something worrisome brewing on their son’s or daughter’s Facebook page.

But a few have shown dreadful parenting behavior. He cited four instances that happened in recent months.

Last week, as school was getting out, he arrested a mother for disorderly conduct. He was talking to her about her son’s behavior.

“She didn’t like my response,” Jacques said. “She insisted that she knew her rights — swearing, swearing, swearing.”

Unable to deal with her, his last resort “was arresting a parent, on school grounds, in front of the kids as school was getting out,” Jacques said.

Another parent was unhappy about an argument his son had with another student. After school, the father told his son to fight the other student. The boy did.

“His son was getting the short end of the fight, so the father got out and held the kid down while junior kicked him a few times. That was last spring,” Jacques said. “I had another parent chasing a kid down the street with a rock.”

If parents display that kind of example, “that’s where they’re learning this from,” he said. “It’s sad.”

Another part of the problem is the school’s size and location.

“The Lewiston Middle School is dead-center in the middle of the neighborhood,” said Lewiston police Sgt. Robert Ullrich. Many large schools are not so close to neighbors. “The Auburn Middle School is … not dumping 300 students out in the neighborhood.”

Ullrich said he went to Brunswick High School, which was in a neighborhood. “I remember kids smoking across the street,” he said. “The neighbors went crazy, saying, ‘These kids are horrible.’”

Another part of the problem is the middle school age. Some seventh- and eighth-graders have grown tall; others haven’t. “It’s the same with their maturity,” Chabot said. “Some have developed; some haven’t. They’re going through dramatic changes. At times, they’re not able to think clearly of the consequences of their actions.”

They’re testing the limits, Assistant Principal Scott Walker said. “We’ve all done things at that age we wish we wouldn’t have done. Making mistakes is part of the learning process.”

They need to be held accountable for their mistakes, Chabot said, “but they’re kids.”

And when students leave school, they’re often unsupervised, Walker said. “Their parents are working. They’re roaming the streets. It’s part of our society.”

Police can’t baby-sit all of them, Walker said. “So who is responsible for them?”

‘Everyone needs to care’

Key to reducing bad behavior is communication, officials said.

“St. Mary’s (Regional Medical Center) called last year about students going to their Dunkin’ Donuts and not acting appropriately. (Walker) dealt with it,” Chabot said. “If we know it’s going on, we will deal with it.”

They urged school neighbors and the community to say something if they see something, to point out to students that their behavior isn’t right. The more adults speak to the kids on the streets, the clearer the message, Chabot said. “People need to care.”

He, Walker and Jacques want to know if youths are misbehaving near school grounds.

Parents have to teach their children the right messages, including parental behavior.

“Talk with your kids. Don’t let them get away” with bad behavior, Walker said.

Correct them when they make mistakes. Speak to them about their language, about respect, taking care of property. “Those are things kids have to be taught and re-taught,” he said.

Police said it’s critical that parents monitor what their children are doing on their cell phones or on Facebook.

“If you’re not following what your kid is doing on Facebook, you’re in trouble,” Ullrich said. If they’re using bad or threatening language on Facebook, “that needs to be addressed. That’s how they’re talking when you’re not in front of them.”

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

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