Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just read a story in the Washington Post (subscription, which is why I don't have a link) about a girl in Florida who broke the schools "PDA" rule for briefly hugging her friend who was having a bad day. She now has to serve detention and will have a permanent mark in her disciplinary record.
How many of you out think this is taking it way too far? I certainly do. It's ridiculous at what schools are doing to kids these days.
I think they need to pass a federal law (so it'd apply to every school in the country) that only the parents can decide if their child can be punished for any kind of rule-breaking. For silly stuff like the above, the parents would say, "heck no" and the school would be able to do nothing, regardless of what rules they have on the book.
It's high time that parents take 100% control of the schools - what their kids are taught, how they're handled by teachers and what rules can be imposed on them.
You gotta love this, which I found in the comments section of that article:
Quote:
Sending the very clear message to the kids that all of the rules are arbitrary and irrational and that authority figures are completely hidebound and incapable of distinguishing between innocent and appropriate actions and actual offensive violations. The rules are so stupid that the best strategy is just not to get caught. Well done.
Yep - these kids will grow up realizing that rules have nothing do with what's right and wrong, and that's it's okay to break them so long as you don't get caught. Hurray for America!
Your solution is so flawed it's almost laughable. When you say, "only the parents," I can only imagine one of two things, either A: the parents of said child, or B: all parents in the school district. A is flawed simply because there would be too many people that would say no punishment just to spite the teachers, or because they feel their special child can do no wrong and the teacher/staff was just overreacting to something small. B is flawed because most parents don't have the time to deal with some sort of voting process every time Billy, Joe, or Jane does something stupid.
In my opinion in cases like this where the rule that was broken doesn't seem fair, or as in this case stupid, the parent of said child should reassure them that they did do the right thing, but sometimes in life even when you do right, there can be and are consequences. After that I probably would try and go get the mark removed if I felt it was unwarranted, and go from there. But to suggest what you have, there's just no viable or reliable way to insure that those who do need it, get their punishments. If you don't like the rules or teachers at your child's school, there is always home school or cyber school, both of which are on the rise, and in some cases are due to reasons like above.
Parents have taken control of the schools. Or at least demanded that discipline policies be redone and toughened with school boards locally and state education agencies complying.
What you're seeing are the results of that. So what's the issue again? Y'all got what you wanted and teachers, or even administrators, who spoke against it were called greedy, incompetent union pigs.
Parents have taken control of the schools. Or at least demanded that discipline policies be redone and toughened with school boards locally and state education agencies complying.
What you're seeing are the results of that. So what's the issue again? Y'all got what you wanted and teachers, or even administrators, who spoke against it were called greedy, incompetent union pigs.
I just don't see how you can say this. It's clear to me that schools are doing what they want, parents be dammed.
And yes, I do think parents should have to spend a lot more time being involved with their schools. Kids are the responsibility of the parents, not the schools.
Stuff like this is why I hope homeschooling becomes the norm someday - no child should have to be treated like this girl was - it's just not right. If I were the school's parents, I'd be raising holy hell with the media (perhaps that's what they're doing, with this story being published in a national paper.)
I just don't see how you can say this. It's clear to me that schools are doing what they want, parents be dammed.
And yes, I do think parents should have to spend a lot more time being involved with their schools. Kids are the responsibility of the parents, not the schools.
Stuff like this is why I hope homeschooling becomes the norm someday - no child should have to be treated like this girl was - it's just not right. If I were the school's parents, I'd be raising holy hell with the media (perhaps that's what they're doing, with this story being published in a national paper.)
Who elects the school boards? Aliens from Omega IV or local parents? You know, the ones that attend the board meetings demanding "something" be done about ______________________.
The hugging piece, by the way, is the reaction to fears of charges claiming sexual harassment.
Who elects the school boards? Aliens from Omega IV or local parents? You know, the ones that attend the board meetings demanding "something" be done about ______________________.
The hugging piece, by the way, is the reaction to fears of charges claiming sexual harassment.
Parents want things to be done about obvious things like sexual harassment, not have insane no-touching rules. And yes, parents need to ride herd on those school members do what they want, and not let them go on some wild power-hungry rule-making spree.
I really think it should be the parent's choice to what punishments, if any, the school is able to give out, on an individual case basis. If it makes life harder for the teachers and administrators - too bad - they can just get another job if they don't like it.
Parents want things to be done about obvious things like sexual harassment, not have insane no-touching rules. And yes, parents need to ride herd on those school members do what they want, and not let them go on some wild power-hungry rule-making spree.
I really think it should be the parent's choice to what punishments, if any, the school is able to give out, on an individual case basis. If it makes life harder for the teachers and administrators - too bad - they can just get another job if they don't like it.
And bingo, there it is. It's somehow the fault of the teachers enforcing rules they had no part in developing or implementing.
And yes, I do think parents should have to spend a lot more time being involved with their schools. Kids are the responsibility of the parents, not the schools.
I can only assume this part was directed at me about me saying how most parents don't have time to deal with every infraction. And I stand by what I said. If you are suggesting that every time a student does something wrong, that all parents in the school district must then cast a vote on if the child should be punished, and/or what said punishment would be, no parent would ever have time to do anything else but vote on kids. Billy didn't do his homework today. Bob scribbled something on the wall in the bathroom. Jane made a remark about Jill that wasn't nice. Joe threw a noodle across the cafeteria at lunch. Beth forgot her library book again and it's 5 days late now. George was late again today, didn't arrive until 3rd period. Jack fell asleep in 3rd period. Stacy slapped Mark in the face. Each with a detailed report of each infraction, and a list of possible punishments or warnings. With how many infractions are done every day, there would be a package at every parent's door step that weighed 15 pounds, every day, or teachers and staff would be incentivized to REALLY start looking the other way unless blood is spilled. Or, you know, we could just let the teachers and staff decide a punishment. Is it flawed? Sure, but it's a hell of a lot less convoluted than what you suggest.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
