While Joe’s mom was reading him the riot act over the phone
And here we have another aspect of the problem. Too many parents ... particularly mothers ... simply cannot fathom, utterly deny, bitterly reject ... the very IDEA that Little Suzy or Little Johnny is anything other than a perfect angel and the smartest kid in the class. Especially when Little Suzy or Little Johnny is a sub-normal troublemaker.
I don't understand your point in the slightest.
Personally. I believe that the biggest short term problem in our schools is a lack of student discipline, which can very quickly lead to the destruction of the learning environment. And I say that as someone who has guest-taught in inner city schools. More suspensions and expulsions are desperately needed.
That being said, I have no idea why exactly what the kids in this story did that led to them being locked in a pitch black boiler room matters in the slightest.