May 30, 2006
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Dianne brings up a good point about the suspensions and the high school I went to saying, "since it's a PRIVATE school it can do what it wants."
I agree that it can set standards and rules as a private institution that a public one ought to avoid doing. My concern is over the outcome - even if a private school can suspend students for things outside of the classroom, the question is should they take the liberty? As an example, one of my classmates back in her/my sophomore year began exotic dancing, something she was never disciplined for in any way. Most people didn't know about it. Today, though, had she blogged about it, she would most certainly be suspended or expelled. To me, there's a breakdown of the law - the police or social services should be catching that kind of thing because it's clearly illegal before turning 18.
The real concern is whether suspending or expelling would help someone who obviously is in great pain and is truly seeking out attention and affection in the wrong avenues. Kids have had messed up and hurting childhoods since Abel was killed by Cain. Now blogs and profiles can be printed and passed around a school board meeting like never before. In my mind, this steps up the responsibility of people who can make a difference to take the action and help instead of simply flushing the person and problem out of the bowl.
Punishment is for those that can self-correct. Rehabilitation is for those who are so lost that the North arrow needs to be installed in their internal compasses. And punishment is a great responsibility - just because an authority or board of authority knows about something does not mean it gives them the right to punish or a position to have a positive effect by punishing.
Your thoughts!
Comments (8)
I'm with you, Nick, but I would make my point very clear: it is flatly wrong for any school authority to discipline enrolled students for things they say away from the jurisdiction of the school, which ends at school property. The government has no right to enforce any sense of decency, families and parents ought to be doing such things, unless these students are blogging while on campus. Public or private, it is immoral and unethical behavior and those who engage in such fascist manner ought be held more accountable than a student who uses profanity on myspace.
Arthur Holmes again rings loud and clear...
haha. i like your thoughts-they're fun.
well concerning your old exotic dancer friend, i think the fact that she didn't mention it to mostly anyone (except for maybe you lol), means that no one then ever really knew. i'm just stating the obvious. but if she did blog it on her xanga or myspace, of course she would most certainly get suspended or expelled. the reason being that blogging allows anyone to read what you have to say, whether it be your next door neighbor, the president, or in this case the school board. so the fact that these students put there drinking parties out there in the open did endanger them and further provide the school with the opportunity to "flush them out of their toilet" haha.
ah yes, the question of whether or not it was a good idea. In my opinion, (which i did voice to many of the teachers) I don't think it was a very consistent punishment. Take for instance two senior students last year (however they were over 18) smoked on choir trip. They weren't allowed to go on their senior trip, however they were allowed to graduate and they had to serve many dententions. Or years ago, when that "one guy" (i think you know who i'm talking about) had sex with another girl in the school van. i would have to say that's alot worse than what these boys did. the school's excuse was "well we had to draw the line somewhere." so i guess this year they decided that it would be best to start there.
I don't necessarily agree with the course of action that they took, BUT apparently there are still many details that we are not aware of.
The outcome?? Two of the three boys have totally turned around their lives. One of them was really into porno, he was big on vulgar language, drinking etc etc, and because of all this he's completely turned around. I've honestly never seen such a change and I honestly thought all of this would backfire.As for the second boy who has changed, he wasn't as bad as the first one, but they both apologized to the school and their class. it's amazing to have seen such a radical change in them. But as for the third boy, he's still the same old guy that he's always been, or so I hear.
So i leave you with this question...if they would have just suspended the boys or took no action at all and left it up to the state, do you honestly think that these boys would have changed? The choice was the easy way (which guarantees a little percentage of change) or taking a chance and going the hard way.
But hey- i think it's amazing that they get their diplomas still. Plus they got a couple weeks off a school. lol
<3 dianne
sorry i wrote alot!
Brent (bsirvio) and I still shake our heads. Why is the school taking responsibility for what these kids are doing at home? Or during their personal lives? A school van is absolutely the school's responsibility, but at home, the parents are the responsible parties.
I hope they turned things around, but it's too early to say. It's not too early to say that the school was overreaching - as Brent so clearly says.
Blogging changes some dynamics, and I think we all have to stay in our respective positions and focus on our jobs. *poking parents*
i've been going back and forth in this whole thing the whole time it's been going on - it's such an interesting thing to think about and try to decide what i think. It's a hard thing, and I feel bad for the administration that really had their hands tied because of the school board really having the ultimate decision. I don't know if you knew that they are receiving their diplomas though. Originally they were just expelled, so they weren't getting anything, but now they are at least getting their diplomas, which I think is good because they earned them.
A private school can do whatever they want within the law. It's their right.
A good friend of mine wrote in a journal - pre blog days. She wrote down her fantasies about her sexuality. She was still a virgin, but she wrote very explicit things she claimed she was doing with a twenty-something year old man. Her mother found her journal. She walked home from school one day to find all of her belongings and clothes thrown outside the house. Her mother kicked her out at the age of fifteen. She ended up living in a laundry mat until the twenty-something year old took her to his home. She lived with him, took drugs, and barely survived. It took her years to come out of her malaise.
People shouldn't believe everything they read. After Columbine, Marilyn Mason became an easy target for the media. One reporter asked him what he would say to the trench coat mofia if they were still alive. Mason replied, "I wouldn't say anything. I would listen to them."
Wisdom is a funny thing. It's no respecter of persons.
Of course I might be a bit bias since I graduated high school from a fundamentalist christian school - their motto is still burned in my brain.
I stand by my initial statement that what students do outside of school shouldn't be the school's business, but it's true that private schools have the right to make it their business if they choose.
My experience of discipline at private Christian schools, however, is that it is selective and inconsistent and that it serves the school's PR image first and foremost-- i.e. students who might embarass the school are expelled regardless of the flagrance of their offenses.
"...[I]t's true that private schools have the right to make it their business if they choose."
"A private school can do whatever they want within the law. It's their right."
These two statements make legality, not ethical or moral propriety, the high watermark of uprightness, and then that standard is only defined by administrators or those who pass laws. There is no overarching ethical code, no sense of super-morality and thus such an administrative body can be held exempt from rules they establish and ethical accountability. This is how tyranny on scales small (North Central University) and grand (US Congress) gets its foothold.
And what then do we say of common sense? That it is arbitrary next to the whim and whimsy of bureaucrats and pandering politicians of all sorts? It is not the right of any organization to do whatever it wants within the letter of the law. It is the responsibility of humans to operate with wisdom, not to get away with punishing high school bloggers for using profanity.
Perhaps this is why Christian schools and colleges ought not to exist, because they've always operated with control and conditioning in mind. Americans tend to owe ourselves too many rights.
I'm just excited that you posted twice in two days.
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