By The TimesLEdger
The students at St. Anastasia School in Douglaston had the opportunity last to spend some special moments last week with one of the most courageous men that this city has ever known. The message that he shared with the seventh- and eighth-grade children has value for anyone who will listen.
In 1986 Police Officer Steven McDonald was shot three times by a 13-year-old kid in Central Park. The shots fired by Shavod “Buddha” Jones shattered the young police officer's spine. The doctors did not expect him to live. Today he is paralyzed from the neck down and, barring a miracle, he will live the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair with a respirator to help him breath.
At the time of the shooting, Steven's wife, Patty, was pregnant with their child, Connor. Together this family has been through hell and back. The world would forgive the McDonald's if they hated Shavod Jones with every breath they breath. But that has not been the case.
From his hospital bed, Steven offered forgiveness and friendship to this troubled young boy. Steven wrote to Shavod and offered to help him when he got out of prison. Steven, who was made a detective by Mayor Giuliani, looked forward to the day when Shavod might travel with him to preach the message of forgiveness and reconciliation. Sadly that did not happen. Shortly after he was released, Shavod died in a motorcycle accident.
But Steven, with the support of his wife Patty, remains a man on a mission. When he speaks about forgiveness, it is nearly impossible not to listen. The words do not come easy. Even with the respirator, he struggles for every breath. His message of nonviolence and forgiveness has resonated throughout America and throughout the world.
The administrators at St. Anastasia's School deserve credit for having the wisdom to invite Det. McDonald to their school.
Editorial: Get a grip, Walter
It appears that a Flushing community activist is attempting to exploit an unfortunate incident at Bowne High School for his own political purpose. Walter Kowsh, the president of the Cedar Grove Civic Association claimed at a meeting that the arrest of a student carrying a loaded gun at the school is proof that the school poses a serious threat to the surrounding neighborhood.
This is a bunch of malarkey coming from an eccentric who wants to close the high school and once proposed building a fence around his Cedar Grove community. Where are the crime stats to show that the students at Bowne pose any kind of serious threat? They don't exist. Like most communities throughout the city, crime is down in the 109th Precinct.
The school insists that this was an isolated incident. Just one kid with problems. The principal of Bowne argues that there is no need for metal detectors at the school and the gun was not an indicator of gang violence.
Others at the meeting claimed that senior citizens are afraid of the Bowne students. That's probably true for most high schools in the city. If the problem is more than a few isolated incidents, then the precinct should increase patrols in the area at times when the students are arriving or going home.
But Kowsh and Co. should not get away with tarnishing the reputation of the great majority of students who attend Bowne High School. Next time he gets on his soapbox, someone should tell Kowsh to take a few deep breaths and try to get a grip. Or maybe they should put a wall around Cedar Grove to keep Kowsh in.
