Posted on 05/06/2005 10:15:14 AM PDT by jmaroneps37
Mother's call gets son in hot water
BY ANGELIQUE SOENARIE Staff Writer
Kevin Francois gave up his lunch break to talk to his mother, but it ended up costing him the rest of the school year.
Francois, a junior at Spencer High School in Columbus, was suspended for disorderly conduct Wednesday after he was told to give up his cell phone at lunch while talking to his mother who is deployed in Iraq, he said.
His mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, left in January for a one-year tour and serves with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.
"This is our first time separated like this," said Francois, 17, on Thursday.
Bates came to Fort Benning with her son from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga. She enrolled him at Spencer in August. Since her deployment overseas, Francois, whose father was killed when he was 5 years old, lives with a guardian who has five children in Columbus.
The incident happened when Francois received a call from his mother at 12:30 p.m., which he said was his lunch break. Francois said he went outside the school building to get a better reception when his mother called. A teacher who saw Francois on his phone told him to get off the phone. But he didn't.
According to the Muscogee County School District Board of Education's policy, students are allowed to have cell phones in school, but cannot use them during school hours.
"They are really allowed to have those cell phones so that after band or after chorus or after the debate and practices are over they have to coordinate with the parents," said Alfred Parham, assistant principal at Spencer. "They're not supposed to use them for conversating back and forth during school because if they were allowed to do that, they could be text messaging each other for test questions."
Francois said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom."
Francois said the teacher tried to take the phone, causing it to hang up.
The student said he then went with the teacher to the school's office where he surrendered his phone. His mother called again at 12:37 p.m. and left a message scolding her son about hanging up and telling him to answer the phone when she calls.
Control issue
Parham said the teen's suspension was based on his reaction when he was asked to give up the cell phone and told about the school's cell phone policy.
"Kevin got defiant and disorderly with Mr. Turner and another assistant principal," Parham said Thursday. "He got defiant with me. He refused to leave Mr. Turner's office. 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."
Wendall Turner is another assistant principal at Spencer.
Parham said the student used profanity when he was taken into the office. He said he tried to work out something with the student. But Francois said he was too frustrated he couldn't answer the phone when his mother called him the second time.
"I even asked Kevin, 'You know we can try to work something out to where if your mother wants to call you she can call you at the school,'" Parham said. "So we've tried to work with Kevin and we're going to continue to try to work with Kevin and his mother and his relatives. In the course of good order and discipline, we have to abide by our policy."
Francois admitted he was partially at fault for his behavior but said he should have been allowed to talk to his mother.
"I was mad at the time, but I feel now maybe I should've went about it differently," he said. "Maybe I should've just waited outside to pick up the phone. But I don't I feel I should've changed any of my actions. I feel I was right by not hanging up the phone."
For Francois, he said he gets to hear from his mother once a month, and phone calls vary depending on when she can use the phone in Iraq. Francois said his mother calls as late as 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. and tries to catch him during hours he's awake. He said the phone call Wednesday was the first time she called him while he was at school.
Francois, who said he's been struggling with his grades in school, wants to go back to school and finish the rest of his year. He fears he may have pay for summer school because of his punishment.
"My grades had been low, but I was bringing them up. My grades were coming back up. On one of my report cards I had like a 'F' in one of my classes, but I brought it back up to a low 'C.' This just brought me all the way down."
© 2005 Ledger-Enquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.ledgerenquirer.com
Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to try communicate with a family member overseas? With the time difference and the little opportunity she would have to call, it is the main issue here. He can't call her. She has to call him and doesn't get much choice on when it will be. Often times, it requires standing in line waiting for a phone at weird times. Not to mention the number of times you wait and then the phone lines die, or the person you wanted to talk to wasn't able to talk. I can totally understand his frustration - and hers. Her being over there IS THE POINT.
Violence in schools happens all the f***ing time and it gets worse by the day, helped along by the marxist system that runs the schools. Bullies used to be annoying, now they are a threat. Teachers and staff only care about their paycheck and leftist propaganda and it is the innocent that takes the punishment.
Rules hardly matter when your loved one, risking her life gets her chance to talk to you. Considering that she could die at any moment, all other considerations are secondary.
It is especially bad here on the left coast, especially here in Communist Washinton. Infact My parents pulled me out at 6th grade and homeschooled me.
Now, just so you understand, I don't think this situation was handled properly. The teacher could have made an exception, given that he was talking to his mother who was serving in Iraq. There are exceptions to every rule. I don't blame him for being upset. However, if he did use profanity and did show disrespect for the teacher or administration, then it's hard to argue that a school should allow that to happen without consequences. It would have been better if they had chosen to handle it a different way. They should have and could have handled it in a different way. The thing is that we hear these stories and we (that includes me) form an opinion on what should have and should not have been done, when we don't really know all the details. We don't know all the details because we are getting the story from a third party. Did this kid have a history of behavioral problems? Had he used his cell phone at any time before in an improper way? Without knowing the full history of the student, we are speculating. It is so easy for us (me too) to automatically criticize the school. I think it is best to let the student, the school, and the parent (or current guardian) work this out.
OK, let's consider this scenario. Suppose a minor child who is a licensed driver is speeding. The police turn on the blue lights and pull behind him. They get on the loudspeaker and say, "Pull over." The mother, who is in the car says, "A ticket will increase my insurance on you. Floor it." Now, whose authority should the boy listen to? The mother's? Or the state's?
When a student is on the campus under the daily temporary guardianship of the school, then the student is bound to submit to the authority of the school. This includes following directives issued by faculty and administration. The alternative for the parent is to homeschool the child. Once that child is placed under the supervision of the school, the parent is granting the school the authority to direct his or her child from the time they set foot on campus until the time they leave for the day. You may argue the merits of public education, but these are the facts. Now, let me be clear that the school could have and most likely should have handled the situation in a different manner. However, there has to be consequences for using profanity and showing disrespect for authority. There are in the real world. School is preparation for the real world.
If you are on the job, and receive a call, and your employer has a clear policy about cell phone use, then you must follow your employer's directives when asked to end the call. The employer can be in the wrong. This may cause you to seek employment elsewhere. Maybe they should make an exception. Maybe they are dead wrong. Responding with profanity is not the way to handle it, in school or in the real world.
That is completely over the top.
I abridged my original response, which had addressed this - apparently my error.
Obviously the kid IN class would be violating the rule. It is also rather easy to tell the difference between text-messaging, and talking on the phone. As far as the issue of what he could do at lunch, he could as well sit at the lunch table and TELL everyone at the table what had been on the test.
Yes, and I wouldn't have given up the phone either if it was my mother and she was in Iraq. In fact, the teacher in this case was at fault. Knowing the student was speaking to his mother who was in Iraq....the teacher should have used COMMON SENSE and let him complete the call without interference. If a rule was broken it wasn't done intentionally given the circumstances and it could have been worked out AFTER. It wasn't around the corner for God's sakes!
I have to take the side of the student on this one. If it wasn't for soldiers and military like this fellas mom, the teacher in question wouldn't be in a FREE country to ack like a pompous A_S!!!
God bless this boy's mom and all our military in harms way protecting us all...even those who don't have a clue!!!
As many negative stories that have come out of Columbus, Ohio lately (Mifflin, Michael Coleman's drunk aid, loopy history profs at OSU ...), contrary to the heading, this is another Columbus. Maybe Georgia.
Thanks. Now I'll be able to make simple diagram trees.
I guess some of the things at that website require a greater knowledge of grammar than I have--the terms, "Objective complement" and "appositive," for instance. If it weren't for my studying French, I doubt I'd understand as much as I did.
Thank goodness everyone is interested in specializing in something different! Otherwise, we'd all be science nerds, speaking agrammatical jargon! (If "agrammatical" is a word!)
If this Mr. Turner had just taken one minute to listen to this kid instead of trying to be a zero tolerance idiot, then I would be willing to bet that this kid doesn't go postal. The Problem with all this zero tolerance crap is that teachers and administrators are more willing to consult the almighty book of rules than to just talk to kids. By the way, Mom in Iraq is the the whole issue here. I teach at a school with a no cell phone policy, but that is one rule I would gladly break for any of my students to get an opportunity to talk to a parent in a combat zone (and we have a few). As a matter of fact, I would defend that kids right to talk as long as he needed to. The kid needed to talk to him mom not get suspended for doing so.
Thanks.
I think this one will always be contentious, as to what really went down.
Oh, and hope y'all win! It's a great day for it, that's for sure.
Good for them!
The kid's dad is dead so he has no father, the mother decided to the Army and is now stationed overseas, the boy is being raised by a "guardian" with 5 kids..........this situation goes much deeper than a wrestling match over a phone and phone call.
Leni
It's an arcane topic, but one that I've found helpful innumerable times . . . and yes, "agrammatical" is a word!
I teach, and have two students (brothers) with a father in Iraq. They carry a cell phone at all times for when he calls. They don't use it otherwise. Mom has disappeared. Dad was allowed home for a month to arrange care for them and their two siblings. We have a "no cell phone use in school" policy. We also know the situation and know they need their dad. What do we do if one their cell phones rings? Let them go out in the hall and talk, that's what. Do any of the other kids complain they can't use their cell phones? No.
Secondly, if a kid was using a cell phone to receive text messages in any of my classes, I'd know it. Teachers aren't up and active with their students if they don't know those things. Using cell phones for cheating only works if the teacher isn't on the ball. Besides, they can use computers with text messaging. Why use the cell phone?
It sounds like you may be guilty of using common sense and compassion. Thats great.
This is about a teacher who chose to assault a student under the following circumstances.
1. Teacher witnesses student on phone during lunch time
2. Teacher asks student to terminate call
3. Student informs teacher that he is on the phone with his mother in Iraq
Teacher has choices.
1. Allow student to finish call and then steer him in the proper direction regarding how to handle future calls.
2. Try to take the phone away immediately.
The teacher in this case couldn't control herself. She wanted the instant gratification of making the student stop NOW NOW NOW.
How would you react, as the student?
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