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There is no allegation that they drank at the game, but showed up drunk. But even if they brought alcohol with them, once you recognize that a student is behaving erratically you deal with THAT student.
They are not. They are punishing the students not responsible for the behavior the same as those who are.
When one kid cheats on a test and gets caught, do you punish the whole class?
The principal was at this game as it is the single biggest event the school does the entire year. But even if she was not, there is always an administrator in charge at every football game and every basketball game.
The behavior was observed obviously, so why wasn't it dealt with at the time?
Under the philosophy you are in favor of, punish all for the wrong of one, when you do catch a drunk driver you don't just suspend their drivers license, but the license of everyone else on the road with them as well.
The offenders were observed, that is how the principal was able to make the characterizations she did. Why didn't she and her staff deal with the issue then at there?
How is it not true that all the kids are being punished? A dance for all the kids has been cancelled because of the actions of a few. They are not enacting new rules, the rules already exist as well as laws. Now that rules and laws have been broken they are not punishing the guilty ones for their actions, but letting them skate on the far more serious consequences (arrest, suspension, expulsion) and non-participants in the bad behavior suffer the same as them.
And you think that is okay? That the park bans alcohol because a few might abuse it? That is another example of authority punishing the many. There are already laws on the books against public intoxication. So instead of arresting and punishing the few, you think it is okay to punish the law abiding as well?
A school isn't the military. The military has their own reasons and purposes for their discipline. But if you think Basic Training is the same now as it once was, then you haven't been around it for a very long time.
What it does is tells the community that this administrator is inadequate to deal with the challenges of her job. She doesn't have the backbone to deal with and confront individuals, but is content to hide in her office and send out videos and emails.
Indeed.
You're making an awfully lot of assumptions from one newspaper article.
I have no problem with her "kill'em all" method of punishment. Kids came in drunk. And ifthey just arrested those kids I guarantee at the homecoming there would be other kids drunk. So now nobody gets to have fun because of the few. I doubt they (the drunk kids) will be as well received come next school day.
The arrest would have been the start of the consequences for their actions. If they were found to have been under the influence then they would have been suspended from school and forced to attend a different high school in the district under the "Zero Tolerance" program.
I guarantee if they had arrested, suspended and transferred the drunk students that no one would have come to homecoming drunk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unsettomati
I actually followed the story a bit. Some of the kids were so intoxicated they were taken to hospitals by ambulance.
The one kid who was arrested was from Newport Harbor High School and he has been suspended from school, apparently he knows how to deal with misbehaving students. Maybe he can put on a seminar for Kathy.
There was one student "hospitalized" but there was no explanation for what or even which high school they attended.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unsettomati
It's not the schools job to be the parent. As a parent I would want to know WHERE they obtained the alcohol.
Actually it is. When students are at school or school functions the school serves as in loco parentis. It is up to the school to single out the individuals, deal with their behavior according to their rules and then deal with the parents.
I agree with Unsettomati. I would reiterate some of the points s/he made, but the main point is that imo, the principal SHOULD have sent the message that the actions of those who were under the influence and/or rowdy were TOTALLY unacceptable and would not be tolerated. And, yes, it is not too early for kids to learn that the actions of a "few" CAN negatively affect the majority.
Also, how can any ONE person control the actions of a lot of people unless she called in some kind of extra security -- would you suggest that she enlist some kind of police in riot gear?
No, in my opinion, the blame rests solely with the rowdy students -- and probably with many (but certainly not all) of those students' parents, as well.
So punish everyone because a few broke the rules? Shall we try that in society as well?
This method has been used successfully in school settings for a long time, because it works. A school is not democratic. When the actions of a few cause all the kids to be punished, it works double whammy, because it causes the miscreants to be ostracized, and it acts as a deterrent.
Underage drinking at a school event? Arrest or otherwise punish the guilty students... and let the prom continue. The senior prom is a goal the students work towards for 13 years. They've earned that prom and the lifetime memories that go with it. I'm in my sixties, and I still remember attending the senior prom with my heart throb.
The principal is a fool for misusing her power and authority. I hope she comes to her senses.
Underage drinking at a school event? Arrest or otherwise punish the guilty students... and let the prom continue. The senior prom is a goal the students work towards for 13 years. They've earned that prom and the lifetime memories that go with it. I'm in my sixties, and I still remember attending the senior prom with my heart throb.
The principal is a fool for misusing her power and authority. I hope she comes to her senses.
It was the homecoming dance, not the prom -- and personally, I didn't even know what a homecoming dance was until I was 13 or 14 (and I didn't know what a prom was until I was about 11). And, of course, most kids have three or four homecoming dances they could attend, so it is not a once-in-a-lifetime event.
The best way to settle this is to have the school security officer or the event police go up into the stands and cuff and haul off the drunkest\highest 2-3 kids that were acting crazy. Then you can just deal with those parents but most likely they won't say anything because their kid is just so busted and they have legal issues as it is.
Then you do it the next game if it happens again.
Eventually word gets around that you don't show up at the games blasted or you get arrested and suspended.
If they do it more than once then expel them.
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