Student suspended over cell call from mom in Iraq

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

I think it's a horrible lesson to say that it's okay to break rules because they are inconvenient. I see way too many parents do this, encourage their children to ignore rules for very selfish reasons. Is it any wonder the kid had no respect for the teacher if his mom is showing him that the rules don't apply to him?

No, I think the lesson here is that sometimes, for good, intelligent reasons, exceptions have to be made to certain rules. This case is extreme and, sometimes in those situations, the hard and fast rules of everyday life need to be altered. I think that is an excellent message to send to kids - you need to make intelligent decisions in extreme situations.

Personally, if I was that kid, I would say rules be damned. Talking to my parent is far more important that a blanket rules that shouldn't apply here. Suspension is an easy price to pay for talking to my deployed Mother who probably has a hard time making a call in the first place.

[Name]

yeah, I'd have to go with the "this is the last time I may be able to talk to my mother again" road on this one.....sure it could be the same for any one of us at any time, however, the odds are stacked strongly in this families favor for that to be more a reality. War sucks, and they don't give to many chances to make a phone call often when in a forward position. So I feel for this kid, and his mother, its a messed up situation.

[Morrigoon]

School administrators have one aim: to maintain order.

Making exceptions, or allowing personal phone calls upsets and threatens that order. I understand where they're coming from, but in that kids position, I'd have walked out. Fvck their administrative posteriors, I'd be talking to Mom. Some things are more important than a school administrator getting their panties in a knot over me breaking a rule, and worth the punishment. In this case, that's what he did, he was punished, and it was probably worth every bit of the punishment. But it's still stupid that he had to be punished.

Well, I take that back. Getting punished for the cussing is reasonable. But I'd have cussed too

[sleepyjeff]

Yet the schools are the ones always telling the parents they should be more involved

[DisneyFan25863]

I read somewhere that

a) the kid was at lunch, and the teacher tried to forcibly pry it from his hands, and
b) the kids Dad died 5 years ago, and he's in foster care


If I was at lunch and my mom called me from Iraq, I would have taken it as well. Its not like he was in class or anything.

[wendybeth]

Sorry, GD- not with you on this one. These are unusual times, and no one knows what that kid is going through. His mom is in a combat zone, and he didn't want to hang up on her. Kudos to him- most kids his age don't want to talk to their parents. If he reacted inappropriately, then he can take his punishment, but he likely had reason to react the way he did. (Not saying the school gave him a reason, just that life in general, etc, is probably getting to him). I know the school has to maintain order, but what harm would there have been in letting him finish his conversation?

[MickeyD]

Originally Posted by Prudence

Clearly some people have never learned the utility of the "mommy note." For example, in jr. high we were only allowed to eat during lunch -- no food or drink at any other time of day. I'm slightly hypoglycemic and have to eat small snacks more regularly throughout the day or I get dizzy spells and pass out. A note from mom was all it took for me to be allowed to nibble some crackers and cheese at my locker between classes. In high school, we weren't permitted to use the bathroom at all between classes. I wasn't a big fan of using those bathrooms at ALL anyhow, and I was in honors classes where the teachers assumed that we were responsible and if we said we needed to go then we actually needed to go and weren't fooling around. But I carried a note from mom anyhow. Oh, and a note that I was allowed to have Advil whenever I wanted.

Wow, your schools had some strict rules!



Personally, I'm happy for the kid that he had a chance to talk to his mom.

[wendybeth]

The newspaper today said the school is re-thinking the suspension. The kid admits he swore at the teacher, but only after she grabbed the phone and hung up on his mom. (The teacher says he didn't tell her his mom was on the phone). His mom called back and left a voice-mail scolding him for hanging up on her......

[€uroMeinke]

I think Mother and son should learn how to text message