Posted on 05/07/2005 7:54:12 AM PDT by Teflonic
The Muscogee County School Board will discuss on Monday changing its cell phone policy.
Friday's addition to the work session agenda was prompted by this week's brouhaha about a Spencer High student being suspended for disorderly conduct after a teacher caught him using his cell phone during school hours without permission, which the policy prohibits. The student was talking with his mother, who is serving in Iraq with Fort Benning's 3rd Brigade.
The Ledger-Enquirer asked board members Friday their opinions about the issue.
Was the situation handled correctly?
"We have a policy that they follow the policy; however, sometimes we have to use discretion in a situation like that. Unfortunately, there seems to have been a lack of communication. It probably would have been better if the child had notified the school that he was expecting a call from his mom. They can't call whenever they want to. Some communication should have been done there." -- Pat Hugley Green, District 1
"It probably was appropriate, but it's very unfortunate it had to escalate to that. People in charge should take the time to find out exactly what's going on. They're trained to be in the position they're in and to deal with children, and sometimes things are cut and dry. Some things need to be responded to with more tolerance." -- John Wells, District 2
"I haven't talked to anyone over at Spencer, and I don't know any of the background on the student, but we sometimes have to use common sense. Sometimes children overreact to certain situations. But sometimes people are provoked, although I'm not sure if that was the case. And sometimes a child has persistent behavior problems and they may have assumed that he was using the phone inappropriately." -- Naomi Buckner, District 4
"The answer is I don't know, because the truth is, I don't really know the details of it... . But based on what I've heard, I would question the judgment in the way it was handled." -- Fife Whiteside, District 5
"I don't know what the situation truly was... . There was a correct way for it all to be handled. Two wrongs don't make a right, so if he then became disrespectful and belligerent, that's a whole separate issue. That warrants the punishment." -- Brenda Storey,District 6
"I want to wait on all the facts, but I have concerns about the special circumstances. This young man's mother is serving our country. That ought to be considered. I know we have policies that must be followed, but we also need to use good judgment." -- Joseph Roberson,District 7
Would you support a policy allowing students to get cell phone calls from deployed parents or guardians during school hours?
"The student should be paged and brought to the office to take the call. Otherwise, someone would have to monitor the cell phone to verify it was the parent in Iraq on the line. We should welcome such calls to the school office." -- Mary Sue Polleys, county-wide, son deployed in Iraq
"I certainly would, but I think that we need to handle that properly. He can't just answer the phone in the middle of class. If he was expecting that call around lunchtime, then the principal needed to have known that... . With all of the daily insurgency going on over there (in Iraq), I don't think anyone wants to pass a moment by to speak to a loved one." -- Pat Hugley Green, District 1
"We don't need a policy. That's already in effect at Spencer. They already let students take a call, as long as they just tell them beforehand. We've got to do everything we can to support our troops, so Spencer is doing the right thing already... . They can do that at other schools, too." -- John Wells, District 2
"Sure. We have to look at that policy. To me, it's common sense for principals to allow that anyway." -- Naomi Buckner, District 4
"I don't know that I would support a policy that allows the student to take a cell phone call... . But what would seem to me to be reasonable would be for us to adopt a policy that the parent can call the school at any time and ask to have the child taken out of class to take the phone call." -- Fife Whiteside, District 5
"Not in the classroom. I think even deployed parents have to be respectful of the educational process. But if the school is aware of it, and they know the parent isn't going to call during class, then that's fine." -- Brenda Storey,District 6
"Yes, I would -- if it did not interfere with class, and if it was manageable. Again, these are special circumstances." -- Joseph Roberson,District 7
He had probably torqued them off so badly by that juncture that they were in no humor to do anything for him. But that's not the point. He flouted the rules and directed vulgarity; perhaps even violence, toward his teachers. That's enough to get him a suspension in my book, even if it turns out that the teacher behaved inappropriately.
Your sarcasm is infantile, relativistic, and completely misplaced. The same "logic" could be applied to an office worker who spits at his supervisor when asked to perform a task he doesn't agree with.
During his once-a-month-and-for-all-he-knows-last call from his sole surviving parent having had his phone wrestled from his hand by some totalitarian thug, a few "give me back my phone you fat f@%&ing cow"s were more than in order.
That's a great guess, especially since I've said as much on a thread in the past 24 hours!
During his once-a-month-and-for-all-he-knows-last call from his sole surviving parent having had his phone wrestled from his hand by some totalitarian thug...
You got that right. But the flip side of this is that a mother was disconnected from talking to her 17 year old son. A son who she presumeably hasn't seen for 4 going on 5 months. A son whose father is dead. A son who is new to the high school, new to the town--a son who attends public school. I worry about my 17 year old son, who I see every day, when he's across town in the public high school, when he's driving, when he's at work, when he's any place other than asleep in his bed. I'm not an obsessive worry-wort, but I like & need the reassurance that he is O.K....and I'm here to tell you that a once-a-month phone call isn't a 'luxury' from her POV. It's a freaking necessity and if these 'administrators' are a little bent out over the kid using a little profanity, just wait til momma gets home. Gutless wonders thought they could get away with the tough guy act since the kid doesn't have a parent around the block and in his corner. I dearly hope that travel arrangements have been made for Mom & that a contingent of brass accompanies her to have a little 'This is how the cow ate the cabbage' discussion with the petty tyrants at Spencer High School. That, and a Million Mom March headed in that direction.
Sarcastic, and brimming with the emotionalism of youth.
The mother doesn't have to call the child during school hours. In fact, most deployed parents and spouses do not call their relatives during school hours.
Maybe that's why the kid was so emotional? Maybe he figured if she was calling that time of day, something must be really really wrong.
Of course, if something is really really wrong, you don't get a call. The car pulls up in your driveway instead.
But, being ex-military, you know that.
So you agree that no one should have resisted at Jonestown?
You two seem to have been watching too many soap operas.
Dang, and I missed the Barf Alert.
I can add more to that. No soldier in a combat zone needs to be hit with a major unresolvable family crisis back home that they cannot address, resolve, or even understand. Each soldier in the combat zone has a single duty to themselves ever hour of every day. They must maintain the highest state of readiness against all possible hostile threats because the lives of their soldiers and their own lives are dependent on that vigilance. This incredibly inept action on the part of the school administration has now given the mother just the kind of an unresolvable domestic issue that can drive a deployed parent crazy with worry. Studies show that in a combat situation a distracted soldier is less likely to respond in a timely manner to a perceived threat, and is thus far more likely to be seriously wounded or killed.
And to top it off, it is Mother's Day weekend and god forbid if something happens to his mom, it could have been his last chance to speak to her.
Simple solution: Kids keep their phones on them as they please but using them in class is a no-no. What's so hard about that? Oh, wait, I know, people over 18 years old have forgotten how to be adults these days and stay in control of the situation.
Yeah you're right. All of these "zero tolerance" school rules are merely the result of laziness and incompetence on the part of the teachers. It takes too much time and judgement to weigh every instance on a case by case basis so they just implement a blanket policy.
This kid needs love and support during such a stressful time in his life. Instead he is looked upon by the faculty as a problem to get rid of.
Jealous?
The last time I watched anything on television was the Royal Wedding, so I guess you were right about the soap opera bit. But seriesly, my kids watch more teevee in school every semester than I've watched in the last nine years. But the really, really worst thing that ever happened to me (in school) was when a college professor, a Ph.D even, made reading a Harlequin Romance a course requirement. I had to stand in the shower for a week.
"Instead he is looked upon by the faculty as a problem to get rid of."
Excatly: "Being a teacher would be great if it weren't for those damned kids!"
I wonder what the discussion would have been had the bays Mother been killed that night...
You don't know that.
This is Columbus, GA. It's Fort Benning. This is the 3rd school year they've been dealing with deployments to Iraq.
Many of the students there have parents or guardians who are deployed to Iraq, and a number of the faculty and staff have spouses and/or children deployed to Iraq. Some of those soldiers are in Iraq for the 2nd or 3rd time, because some of them were in the first Gulf War, and many of them were in the actual battle, which was 2 school years ago.
I would expect that the school is well aware of the military and the needs of military dependents.
We're dealing with minor children here. They're not being expected to "blindly obey," but rather, to comply with a set of policies that have been established to facilitate their safety and ability to receive an education. "Blind obedience" would imply that when told to jump off a cliff, they'd comply without question. That's not what's expected of them here, and furthermore, you know that perfectly well. Your line of argumentation here is precisely what I'd expect from a 17-year-old, not an adult, experienced with the world, who has the best interests of a child at heart.
Given his very poor impulse control, I'm inclined to think that, unfortunately, this young individual will soon find himself in a different kind of trouble with a different kind of authority.
I am not making this up.
The discussion ended with my waiting for him to commit his money to cover the property tax increase.
I'm still waiting.
This was not Jonestown; the school authorities were not Jim Jones; and the minor child was not being told to commit suicide or do any other thing that would have redounded to his bodily harm. I would be ashamed to bring such a feeble line of argumentation to a dispute of this nature.
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