Every rule has to admit that there are situations that are exceptions. Such exceptions often are tacit rather than written down. Shouldn’t common sense have let there be one here?
A high school student was suspended for 10 days for refusing to end a mobile phone call with his mother, a soldier serving in Iraq, school officials said.The 10-day suspension was issued because Kevin Francois was "defiant and disorderly" and was imposed in lieu of an arrest, Spencer High School assistant principal Alfred Parham said.
The confrontation Wednesday began after the 17-year-old junior got a call at lunchtime from his mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, who left in January for a one-year tour with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion.
Mobile phones are allowed on campus but may not be used during school hours.
When a teacher told him to hang up, he refused. He said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom."
The word “Iraq” would have led me to turn a blind eye – and I would have been supported by every administrator on my campus. We all banded together a couple of years ago to look out for one of our boys when his mom, dad, and older brother all deployed at the same time. I know for a fact that he had the home and cell phone numbers of at least a half dozen teachers in his wallet, as well as personal email addresses. He had "walk-in" privileges at the principal's office, something that we teachers don't have. I somehow doubt that Kevin has been afforded any such consideration, despite the fact that his mother is his only living parent.
What I'm saying is that I wish this school had shown a bit more concern about this student's psychological and emotional well-being.
But then again, I may be biased.
After all, my dad was a Navy officer who we once figured was gone for six of my first 12 years, including multiple tours in Vietnam, so I can really identify with this boy.
Other takes on this story -- Michelle Malkin, Zero Intelligence, Outside The Beltway, Cam Edwards.
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Comments on I Would Have Turned A Blind Eye
I agreed with that -- the kid should have the right to confer with his mother -- after all, she's in Iraq!
Shame on the school.
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|| Posted by Me is the Ridor, May 7, 2005 04:45 AM ||The odd thing is that it is in Columbus, Georgia -- the city surrounded by the Army Bases. Go figure.
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|| Posted by Me is the Ridor, May 7, 2005 05:56 PM ||Of course everyone is going to sympathize with a student who is separated from his mother who is serving in Iraq. That's human compassion.
But what other rules should we "turn a blind eye to?" If we judge that other rules and laws are inappropriate, should we automatically disregard them? Can each of us determine which rules we will adhere to and which we will be blind to? How is this going to work?
|| Posted by , May 8, 2005 10:14 PM ||a citizen
I look at what one of my principals once told me -- "Yes, the rules are there, but you do have some discretion in how you enforce them."
At my school, the strict "by the book" version of the rule is that we are to confiscate the phone and turn it in at the office. It will only be returned after a parent comes in to pick it up and pays a fine of $15.00. But we always have the option of issuing a warning if offenses are non-violent and non-disruptive, so unless the kid is on the phone during class (or skipping out to the john to make/receive a call), most of us exercise common sense if a kid has it sticking out of a pocket or forgets to take it off the belt.
In this case given the circumstances, nothing more than a warning would have been appropriate.
|| Posted by Rhymes With Right, May 8, 2005 10:34 PM ||However, what puzzle me is this by CNN via Michelle Malkin's link:
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Phillips said the school, which is located near Fort Benning, often arranges for students to receive calls from parents who are deployed. More than 3,700 students in the district come from military families.
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And this was during his lunch hour, too. Or did the student/mother not make this sort of arrangement in the first place? But with the mother's mail to the principal, it certainly doesn't sound like there was an arrangement done.
|| Posted by mcconnell, May 8, 2005 11:34 PM ||Post a comment