Don't be a fool and die for your country. Let the other sonofabitch die for his.
-- General George S. Patton
May 10, 2005
Zero Tolerance Or Zero Compassion?
COLUMBUS, Ga. May 6, 2005 — 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."
Parham said the teen's suspension was based on his reaction to the teacher's request. He said the teen used profanity when taken to the office.
"Kevin got defiant and disorderly," Parham said. "When a kid becomes out of control like that they can either be arrested or suspended for 10 days. Now being that his mother is in Iraq, we're not trying to cause her any undue hardship; he was suspended for 10 days."
On the Net:
Ok, so my take on all of this. First, I agree with Acidman
You simply DO NOT resort to profanity and defiance in such a situation if you want to get your way.
However, I also agree with Mama that:
I'm a big fan of discipline in the schools. I also believe that there is no such thing as "One Size Fits All" when it comes to dealing with kids.
There is no 'one size fits all' for people in general, especially children. And even more so there is no 'one size fits all' for life’s situations.
I blame the teacher for escalating this situation to the point that the child had to become belligerent to defend his right to talk to his mother in Iraq. Like many troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in all of the other horrible places on this planet that we as members of the military find ourselves, most of the time talking to loved ones is difficult and in some cases it is borderline impossible.
I have been all over the globe and have friends currently in Iraq, more often than not at many locations people are very limited in their ability to call home if at all. This woman likely made her one lone morale call for the month to her son at the only time possible.
If this kid was truly belligerent suspend him per school policy, but a little vacation without pay for the teacher is justified as well.
Support the troops and their families’ people; they do the job that you can't!
Hat tip to the Blog Mama for the story.
lagleRock Out!
I read both Mama and Acidman entries with regard to this incident.I have to agree with both parties in part.I must say, this situation was one big SNAFU.How can we ever expect to teach our children to love and respect this great nation,as well as our brave defenders,while subjecting them to bullshit like this?I agree that the student must maintain his decorum but who was the adult here?In any instance where an adult is dealing with a minor,the adult must keep the situation from escalating.If this situation gets out of control,it is clearly the adult who should accept responsibility.If,based on the students actions,suspension is in order I can accept that.At the same time,this teacher should be punished for their part in the disturbance.This is clearly a case of negligence on the teachers part.
Posted by: PappaSlagle at May 10, 2005 03:11 PMOnly one question ...
What kind of mother calls her kid during school hours?
RWR
Posted by: RightWingRocker at May 10, 2005 03:40 PMRWR,If this is the only time that his Mother could call,it was a good kind of Mother that called during school hours.Perhaps,you have never served in the military.Quite often when a GI is deployed to an hostile arena,the opportunities to phone home are few and far between.Also,there is the factor of being in different time zones.
The fact that his Mother is in Iraq,serving our country,should merit some special consideration.Perhaps,if she and others like her weren't fighting to preserve freedom,it would be an non issue.If not for that fact,we quite possibly would not be free to go to school and become educated.
I can do nothing more than SALUTE this brave and patriotic lady.
May God bless both her and her son.
I've been following this one a little bit. Hard to blame the teacher for enforcing the rules. Could it have been handled differently? Maybe, if the teacher knew the student and knew about the mother's deployment. Barring that we've got a teacher dealing with a kid refusing to follow the rules.
If the kid had said something like, 'Here, talk to my mom,' and given the phone to the teacher it might have gone differently, but the kid had to worry about the teacher just hanging up and confiscating the phone.
It's unfortunate, but the teacher played it the only way it could've been played while being fair to all students.
It's hard for people who have never been in that situation to fully comprehend the importance of a phone call. For the last two and a half years I have carried my phone with me everywhere (bathroom, job interviews, funerals) because when Jimmy gets a chance to call, I have to be there or it might be quite a while before I get a chance to talk to him again.
At one point, it had been a couple of weeks since last hearing from him and while I was in a job interview, he called. The rest of the world ceased to exist and I took the call (mushy talk and all). I tried to explain to the interviewer, to no avail. He told me my behavior was incredibly unprofessional. I lost my temper and explained to him that it was costing Jimmy $5/min. to make that call from a satellite phone and it was the only way I would know he was safe.
It just got uglier from there and I didn't get the job. I can really feel for the kid. I have been known to swear at people when they tried to interfere with my phone calls from Jimmy too.
Posted by: Joan at May 19, 2005 12:38 PM