Student suspended for answering call from dad in Iraq
Posted: April 14, 2008 06:09 PM
AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) -- A call from a parent stationed in a war zone has landed a Texas high school student in hot water, and his mother is asking the school to ease up on the punishment.
The Copperas Cove High School sophomore received an urgent call from his father and was suspended after taking the call during class.
Master Sgt. Morris Hill is a world away in Iraq, so he had no idea that a simple call from the battlefield to his son, Brandon, would land the 16-year-old in a heap of trouble.
"He called me during class, because that's the only time that he could," said Brandon Hill, suspended for using a cell phone. "I answered the call as I was walking out of class. The teacher followed me out and said, ‘Oh what are you doing?' I said my dad was calling from Iraq, and I know he needs to talk to me."...
...Brandon Hill was sent to the office and suspended for two days for answering his father's call...
...Brandon Hill has returned to school, but he still has the black mark on his record. His mother said she wants it removed and for the school to recognize the special needs of military children.
My take? Schools need to get into the 21st century and teach students HOW to use cell phones and technology. Neither is going anywhere, why not teach cell phone etiquette along with oral and written communication skills?
A simple, "Miss _____, my Dad is calling from Iraq. May I take the call?" may have worked. The article said the student was on his way out of class so maybe this couldn't have occurred.
Although our school policy says phones must be in lockers and turned off during school hours, most students carry their phones and they're turned on.
I could spend my entire day busting kids for cell phones. I have an area in my room that kids know they can go to if they receive a call they need to take. No words are exchanged - they make eye contact with me, somehow motion 'phone', and I nod OK. No disruption to class. Am I breaking school rules? Yep, and I may some day have to justify my actions.
It's surprising to me how many parents and employers call students during school hours. Certainly wouldn't have happened when I was in high school, but times they are a changin'.
Big Phan wrote:My take? Schools need to get into the 21st century and teach students HOW to use cell phones and technology. Neither is going anywhere, why not teach cell phone etiquette along with oral and written communication skills?
A simple, "Miss _____, my Dad is calling from Iraq. May I take the call?" may have worked. The article said the student was on his way out of class so maybe this couldn't have occurred.
Although our school policy says phones must be in lockers and turned off during school hours, most students carry their phones and they're turned on.
I could spend my entire day busting kids for cell phones. I have an area in my room that kids know they can go to if they receive a call they need to take. No words are exchanged - they make eye contact with me, somehow motion 'phone', and I nod OK. No disruption to class. Am I breaking school rules? Yep, and I may some day have to justify my actions.
It's surprising to me how many parents and employers call students during school hours. Certainly wouldn't have happened when I was in high school, but times they are a changin'.
My kids' phones are in their pockets. We have no extenuating circumstances, so I fully expect them to comply with school rules, but there's no time in an emergency to retrieve phones from lockers. God forbid there's an attack in a school and kids/teachers are trapped or hiding, but with phones they can text to police and parents. You're right, schools need to manage cell phones correctly instead of banning them.
Carry on as you know they would want you to do. ~~JB, dedication to Tim Russert
Take your time
Find your passion
Life goes on until it ends
Don’t stop living
Until then
~~Mac McAnally
Not so fast...this student and his Mother KNEW his father would be calling from Iraq.
IMHO, if the Mother had discussed the call with the school and teacher BEFOREHAND; I have no doubt they would have supported the call.
Many school districts do not allow students to receive calls in class.
This student is expecting an apology from the district, when in fact he should be apologizing for not pre-aranging the call with them.
A little courtesy and pre-planning on the part of this family could likely have avoided this whole mess.
Some people never find it, some only pretend
But me, I just want to live happily ever after every now and then.
Find me on: Facebook, Twitter, Blog
I'm not a tremendous fan of cell phones and think they are inappropriate in school during class. However anyone who has a parent or brother or sister in a war zone should be exempt from the cell phone rules for calls from that family member.
Because of the time differences and the inability of the serviceperson to choose "good" times to call, any time they can get to a phone should be a good time.
I know if I had the chance to talk to my family member in Iraq there is not a penalty that school could impose that would stop me from taking that call.
I can't believe they could be so insensitive And to actually suspend him for it. Why didn't they just give him a verbal warning or something that wouldn't go on his record.
Dezdmona wrote:Not so fast...this student and his Mother KNEW his father would be calling from Iraq.
IMHO, if the Mother had discussed the call with the school and teacher BEFOREHAND; I have no doubt they would have supported the call.
Many school districts do not allow students to receive calls in class.
This student is expecting an apology from the district, when in fact he should be apologizing for not pre-aranging the call with them.
A little courtesy and pre-planning on the part of this family could likely have avoided this whole mess.
I can't possibly disagree more strongly. The video clip I saw said they didn't know he when he would call, but that's beside the point. The father cleared it with the Assistant Principal and as far as the family knew, it was okay.
But never mind any of that... This man is in a WAR ZONE. He may have one chance a week to get to a phone and call his son. What's more important, five minutes of class or a call from his father, any one of which might be the last call he receives.
THIS KID NO MORE OWES THAT SCHOOL DISTRICT AN APOLOGY THAN THE MAN IN THE MOON. HIS FATHER IS PROTECTING THEIR FREEDOM EVERY DAY AND HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE A CALL ANYTIME.
Carry on as you know they would want you to do. ~~JB, dedication to Tim Russert
Take your time
Find your passion
Life goes on until it ends
Don’t stop living
Until then
~~Mac McAnally
If I were this young man and I got in trouble for this deed, I would cowboy up and take my licks with pleasure. There are not many times in your life when you can take one for your Dad. He is the one always catching s*** for what you have done. It's about time the tables were turned. This high school hero can face his father on homecoming day in the airport and say, "I got busted, but it was worth it. I love you, Dad."
There is no discipline in the world that can undo that kind of bonding moment.
“Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.”
- Kaiser Welhelm
"The call is a loud wulli-wulli, and there is much twittering at the drinking holes."
If I have to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan and I call my son during the one time I can access a telephone, there better not be a teacher or administrator who decides not to let him take the call or there will be some serious sh*t flying....
Carry on as you know they would want you to do. ~~JB, dedication to Tim Russert
Take your time
Find your passion
Life goes on until it ends
Don’t stop living
Until then
~~Mac McAnally
I understand rules are rules, but c'mon, show some compassion. When I used to work in retail I learned that much of the general public will complain and make a big deal about something because they have nothing better to gain interest or pleasure from in life. Hence why the teacher and administration suspended him. They like to make a big deal and a point out of something, as it long as it satisfies their tastes, because apparently showing a little compassion for a kid whose Dad calls from a war zone is WAY out of the question
He did follow the rules as he knew them. HIS FATHER TALKED TO THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL BEFORE HE LEFT, AND AS FAR AS THE FAMILY UNDERSTOOD, THE SCHOOL HAD OKAY'D HIS TAKING CALLS.
Carry on as you know they would want you to do. ~~JB, dedication to Tim Russert
Take your time
Find your passion
Life goes on until it ends
Don’t stop living
Until then
~~Mac McAnally
I guess there just arent a lot of people around anymore who will care and show compassion for each other...
Rules have their place, but rules are broken all the time, no one can prevent that, I dont care how "by the book" you are. Sometime they are broken for the right and ethical reasons, sometimes not. This was obviously broken for a legit reason, and if the school administration was ethical at all, this wouldnt be an issue.
UpstateNYPH wrote:I guess there just arent a lot of people around anymore who will care and show compassion for each other...
Rules have their place, but rules are broken all the time, no one can prevent that, I dont care how "by the book" you are. Sometime they are broken for the right and ethical reasons, sometimes not. This was obviously broken for a legit reason, and if the school administration was ethical at all, this wouldnt be an issue.
The written word is often crappy at conveying subtle emotion. I'm sitting here a little stunned that anyone would actually advocate keeping a young man from taking a call from his father, who is in a war zone and who he hasn't seen for months and could possibly never see again, simply because of a bureaucratic rule. Stunned. You can't be serious. I don't think you'd feel the same way if you'd ever been deployed and separated from your family.....
Hard to believe that people who have so much compassion for BNers, pets, etc, can't have compassion for this family. Unbelievable.....
<<------ Time for a break from here......
Carry on as you know they would want you to do. ~~JB, dedication to Tim Russert
Take your time
Find your passion
Life goes on until it ends
Don’t stop living
Until then
~~Mac McAnally
I cannot believe this story, Jen. This might be the last time he EVER talks to his Dad.
If I were his mother, I would have marched directly to school and settled this. There would be NO WAY I would stand for my child be suspended for this.
This is absolutely ridiculous. These school administrators should be ashamed.
They probably don't say the Pledge of Allegiance at that school either.
SchoolGirlHeart wrote:The written word is often crappy at conveying subtle emotion. I'm sitting here a little stunned that anyone would actually advocate keeping a young man from taking a call from his father, who is in a war zone and who he hasn't seen for months and could possibly never see again, simply because of a bureaucratic rule. Stunned. You can't be serious. I don't think you'd feel the same way if you'd ever been deployed and separated from your family.....
Hard to believe that people who have so much compassion for BNers, pets, etc, can't have compassion for this family. Unbelievable.....
<<------ Time for a break from here......
I think the preceeding posts were supporting the family by implying the school should have been flexible and more compassionate in this situation. Maybe I'm misinterpreting the posts, though.
this is ridiculous!!! Being in the military stationed at home is one thing.....but being deployed to Irag/Afghanistan is another thing............................ you lose the connection between family & friends.
Ask the principal to switch shoes with his father once.... hope to god he'll realize what the american flag stands for.... and how we are fighting to keep this country FREE.
SchoolGirlHeart wrote:The written word is often crappy at conveying subtle emotion. I'm sitting here a little stunned that anyone would actually advocate keeping a young man from taking a call from his father, who is in a war zone and who he hasn't seen for months and could possibly never see again, simply because of a bureaucratic rule. Stunned. You can't be serious. I don't think you'd feel the same way if you'd ever been deployed and separated from your family.....
Hard to believe that people who have so much compassion for BNers, pets, etc, can't have compassion for this family. Unbelievable.....
<<------ Time for a break from here......
I think the preceeding posts were supporting the family by implying the school should have been flexible and more compassionate in this situation. Maybe I'm misinterpreting the posts, though.
To be fair, most were. It's the ones that weren't that have me
Carry on as you know they would want you to do. ~~JB, dedication to Tim Russert
Take your time
Find your passion
Life goes on until it ends
Don’t stop living
Until then
~~Mac McAnally
And to actually suspend him for it. Why didn't they just give him a verbal warning or something that wouldn't go on his record.
