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so did the Teacher Take the Phone?? like in touching the kid
and taking it out of his hand???

Lightning Bolt wrote:I can live with that

of course, we never got to the name-calling that SO livens up these debates!!

ragtopW wrote:so did the Teacher Take the Phone?? like in touching the kid
and taking it out of his hand???

The teacher tried to grab the phone from him, ending the call, Kevin said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/ ... 2879c.html

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:

ragtopW wrote:so did the Teacher Take the Phone?? like in touching the kid
and taking it out of his hand???

The teacher tried to grab the phone from him, ending the call, Kevin said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/ ... 2879c.html

that swearing and all complaint may be covering for assault
if he touched the kid and took the phone away.......

I hope the mom comes back from Iraq soon and kicks that teachers ass

First, I absolutely think the kid should have been allowed to finish his conversation. It was most definitely a special circumstance.

But the way I see it the kid was breaking the rules before his mom ever called. In order for him to answer the phone, it had to be on. The school doesn't allow cell phones during school hours. If you intentionally break the rules, you should be prepared for the consequences.

If it was my kid would I tell him to leave his phone on? Yeah, probably. Who knows when a soldier will be able to get to a phone. But again, I'd have arrangements made ahead of time or deal with the consequences.

Was the punishment too harsh? Based on what I've read and heard, yes. But I don't think we've heard the real story. The media uses the angle that will sell the most ad space. The school is doing damage control. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Maybe the kid had his phone on (and on vibrate, not ringing) because his mom said to expect a call? We have no way of knowing. Surely she can figure out the time difference and would know when he's on lunch also.

What's so wrong about having a cell phone turned on, as long as it's on vibrate, during lunch? It's lunch for God's sake....compared to fights and kids doing drugs behind the bleachers, this issue seems rather ridiculous.

Update on this story:

He is going back to school today. After the national attention, the school board changed the suspension from 10 to 3 days.

ParrotheadGator wrote:What's so wrong about having a cell phone turned on, as long as it's on vibrate, during lunch? It's lunch for God's sake....compared to fights and kids doing drugs behind the bleachers, this issue seems rather ridiculous.

What's wrong about it is that it violates a school policy. Is the policy wrong? Maybe. In that case the parents should petition the school board to have the policy changed. In the mean time, it's still against the rules to have a phone on during school hours, lunch or not.

Like I said, if it was my kid I'd probably tell him to leave his phone on all the time since alot of times soldiers have to call now or not all all. But, while I'd hope exceptions would be made, I'd still be be prepared to accept the consequences. (and it'd be worth it to talk to my kid from Iraq.)

school now putting the spin that the kid was swearing and rude to teacher
sounds like CYA to me.

ragtopW wrote:school now putting the spin that the kid was swearing and rude to teacher
sounds like CYA to me.

you know, if a teacher snatched a phone out of my hand while I was talking to my mother in Iraq, which is probably the only time that week or month I would get to talk to her, I would cuss too. Not saying he did. But I would find it hard not too.

pair8head wrote:

LIPH wrote:Contrarian that I am, I have to ask - if the school didn't allow cell phones during school hours and his mother knew the rule, why didn't she call after hours?

Time difference messed her up?

nah, when you are oversees you are very aware of what time it is "back home"

*flame suit on*
they portray this story as if this was thew 1st call the kid got since January..
Rules are rules & if we teach kids that we can choose to break rules whenever it is convenient & they can just call the ACLU if they don't get their way then don't complain about "kids today"

magnus wrote:

ParrotheadGator wrote:What's so wrong about having a cell phone turned on, as long as it's on vibrate, during lunch? It's lunch for God's sake....compared to fights and kids doing drugs behind the bleachers, this issue seems rather ridiculous.

What's wrong about it is that it violates a school policy. Is the policy wrong? Maybe. In that case the parents should petition the school board to have the policy changed. In the mean time, it's still against the rules to have a phone on during school hours, lunch or not.

Like I said, if it was my kid I'd probably tell him to leave his phone on all the time since alot of times soldiers have to call now or not all all. But, while I'd hope exceptions would be made, I'd still be be prepared to accept the consequences. (and it'd be worth it to talk to my kid from Iraq.)

I am referring to the policy in general. It's wrong and should be amended.

If we are going to talk about school policy, then I feel that any zero tolerance policy is foolish in the sense that it leaves no room for execptions. For example, if you have a zero tolerance policy for weapons and someone brings a fingernail clipper or a policy on drugs and a kid brings an asprin, then they are automaticly punished for things that are not wrong. Now if someone brings an AK-47 to school then yes they should be punsihed accordingly. These zero tolerance policies are school administration covering their own rears and saves them from having to make a decision case by case.

magnus wrote:

ParrotheadGator wrote:What's so wrong about having a cell phone turned on, as long as it's on vibrate, during lunch? It's lunch for God's sake....compared to fights and kids doing drugs behind the bleachers, this issue seems rather ridiculous.

What's wrong about it is that it violates a school policy. Is the policy wrong? Maybe. In that case the parents should petition the school board to have the policy changed. In the mean time, it's still against the rules to have a phone on during school hours, lunch or not.

Like I said, if it was my kid I'd probably tell him to leave his phone on all the time since alot of times soldiers have to call now or not all all. But, while I'd hope exceptions would be made, I'd still be be prepared to accept the consequences. (and it'd be worth it to talk to my kid from Iraq.)

I am afraid I must agree here, as I posted in the other thread on this. I have been warned about having my phone on within my school buikding, and students are not allowed to have cell phones on-that is the policy.

I do think the punishment was excessive, but the student did violate policy, and then was less than cooperative when confronted about it. If the student was expecting a call from his mother, he should have gone to school authorities, explained the situation, and asked for an exeption to the policy, in advance.

ejr wrote:but the student did violate policy, and then was less than cooperative when confronted about it. If the student was expecting a call from his mother, he should have gone to school authorities, explained the situation, and asked for an exeption to the policy, in advance.

exactly!

so if the kid was expecting the call it was premeditated,
if not they were breaking policy regardless..

LaTda wrote:

ejr wrote:but the student did violate policy, and then was less than cooperative when confronted about it. If the student was expecting a call from his mother, he should have gone to school authorities, explained the situation, and asked for an exeption to the policy, in advance.

exactly!

so if the kid was expecting the call it was premeditated,
if not they were breaking policy regardless..

but I am sure that he didn't know if or when he would get the call. This is a school that serves an US Army base. They should be more relaxed for kids whose parents are serving in a hostile enviornment. For a teacher to take a phone away from a kid who had explained that he was on the phone with his mother and only living parent is wrong. The teacher should have looked in his or her own heart and had a little sympathy.

How many parents tell their children "keep your phone on, in case I need to call you" any time that child is out of arm's reach?

It's quite possible that the boy's mother told him that she'd try to call whenever possible. I'd bet money that the Army didn't tell the mother that she'd be able to place phone calls whenever she wanted. Would the administration have granted an exception to this policy for the entire year? Doubtful.

Neither the mother or the son had complete control over what time that call would happen.

There's a huge difference in a parent calling from a war zone on the other side of the planet and a parent calling from the other side of town just to chat.

Most teachers and administrators do a great job. This sounds like an isolated case where a teacher felt the need to exert his/her authority, then the administration hid behind a zero-tolerance policy instead of exercising some judgement and a little decency.

UAHparrothead wrote:If we are going to talk about school policy, then I feel that any zero tolerance policy is foolish in the sense that it leaves no room for execptions. For example, if you have a zero tolerance policy for weapons and someone brings a fingernail clipper or a policy on drugs and a kid brings an asprin, then they are automaticly punished for things that are not wrong. Now if someone brings an AK-47 to school then yes they should be punsihed accordingly. These zero tolerance policies are school administration covering their own rears and saves them from having to make a decision case by case.

True. The zero tolerance policy is a crock. Kids really have gotten expelled for bringing a freakin aspirin to school. How ridiculuous is that? Kids can just as easily get weed as a damn aspirin..if they're going to abuse a drug, it's not that one.

But that's the good ol' liberals for ya. Trying to protect everybody from a virtually non existent threat

Let me see here In one article it clearly states students may have cell phones but not on.

Currently in our district cell phones are not allowed in school.

This particular student was clearly on his lunch break and not in class.

IF the school board as it claims had or has such a policy on allowing parents in such a situation to call their children....(in such a large military community or elsewhere) then the policy should be presented and known at the beginning of the school year. Such policy should be well known and documented.

IF there was cursing or foul language used seems to be moot at this time............after all IF IT WAS YOUR MOTHER what lengths would you go to? I know what I would do......you have your own decision to make on it.


Let me see if I understand this, we want kids to be healthy and to attend school... the school wants parents to be active particpents in the child's school and life.

The school decides to give the child 10 days out of school... The school then decide to shorten it to 3 days...like they are doing him a favor.

As a veteran and son and grandson of a veteran, and a large family of veterans I know EXACTLY what I would tell the school and that particular teacher.... and I am quite sure I cannot print it here but I would probably end up in jail and somebody would be in the hospital.

As for cell phones being banned in schools to stop drug dealing,cheating on tests.etc......ok..........but lets be realistic, could another Columbine type or simialiar situation happen and were it to happen., would you not want to know your child was safe or could call for help? Let's face it,.. BEFORE Columbine happened....how many people thought it could or was going to happen?? What about 11 Sept. How many thought that could or would happen?

The Zero Tolerance Policy is nothing more than Political Correctness in action and scheer idiocy! A little boy was suspended because he had a tiny plastic pistol. Clearly not a weapon or threat to anyone. Kids have been suspended for aspirin as well. A kid was suspended for drawing pictures of soldiers killing terrs. His dad was in the Army or a Marine and stationed in Afghanistan. I forget which now. JESUS CHRIST PEOPLE........ what would they do to Stephen King if he was in highschool in this day any and age?

Kids with a weapon or NRA slogans on t-shirts, have been made to turn the shirt inside out and wear it or sent home. How many kids have been sent home because they had swords on their shits? How about cars or trucks on their shirt? Anyone care to argue/ debate which kill more people every day and every year?

If your parent was a fighter pilot and brought you a t-shirt with the Sqaudron logo and one of the birds on it, would they allow that in school?

I know I got off topic but the main thing is. WHY WASN'T THE STUDENT NOTIFIED of the policy of deployed parents calling them? IF they were going to punish him why not an in school detention? IF the school was so understanding the best thing would be to keep the kid IN school. This particular school sounds like it really cares about it's students and their well being! Yeah Right!

No doubt, we do not know the whole truth, but that school and that particular teacher certainly earned a blackeye and fat lip to say the least, if not a broken hand,fingers,or arm.