Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: DREDIOCK on May 07, 2005, 09:00:31 AM
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Student Suspended Over Call From Mom in Iraq
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COLUMBUS, Ga. (May 7) - A high school student was suspended for 10 days for refusing to end a mobile phone call with his mother, a soldier serving in Iraq, school officials said.
The 10-day suspension was issued because Kevin Francois was "defiant and disorderly'' and was imposed in lieu of an arrest, Spencer High School assistant principal Alfred Parham said.
The confrontation Wednesday began after the 17-year-old junior got a call at lunchtime from his mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, who left in January for a one-year tour with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion.
Mobile phones are allowed on campus but may not be used during school hours. When a teacher told him to hang up, he refused. He said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom.''
Parham said the teen's suspension was based on his reaction to the teacher's request. He said the teen used profanity when taken to the office.
"Kevin got defiant and disorderly,'' Parham said. "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.''
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i'd sue the school for..something...
then i'd egg the principals house...then i'd pee in his coffeee...
that's all i'd do though....
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Personally I find it kinda amusing how the media spun the story with the title.
Though Im not saying he was right to do it Im not sure I would have reacted much differently
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I think some teachers and administrators need to be send to a war zone for educational purposes for, oh, say three months. And if they use a phone to call home, extend their stay for another three months. Send them during the summer and the first 3 months they won't be missed on the class schedule.
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Really, 10 days? Where I went to school more than 8 days missed was automatic failure for that quarter..and all over the fact that his mom, on deployment in Iraq called and he didn't want to hang up on her..come on..it doesn't even sound like he was too disrespectful...just agitated that they were giving him a hard time. F that school and it's administrators for not being very understanding.
My cut on this...the anit-war, anti anything Bush movement which has infected the teaching profession is just taking another jab at those who are serving or have loved ones serving as a way to get their point across. F 'em all.
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Originally posted by ASTAC
My cut on this...the anit-war, anti anything Bush movement which has infected the teaching profession is just taking another jab at those who are serving or have loved ones serving as a way to get their point across. F 'em all.
I think you're a little off the mark. If the student was respectful to the teachers and explained that this call was special circumstances, he may have gotten a better reaction then when he started kicking and screaming.
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Originally posted by ASTAC
My cut on this...the anit-war, anti anything Bush movement which has infected the teaching profession is just taking another jab at those who are serving or have loved ones serving as a way to get their point across. F 'em all.
Obviously, you do not have any kids in high school.
My children's high school also seem to have a major hardon over cellular phones. I've also noticed that they rarely make an exception for anything if a student breaks some rule.
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Originally posted by ASTAC
My cut on this...the anit-war, anti anything Bush movement which has infected the teaching profession is just taking another jab at those who are serving or have loved ones serving as a way to get their point across. F 'em all.
Really..do you think I really think like this? Just pokin' some fun...
Really don't know what to think of all this except that 10 days seems excessive.
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Originally posted by ASTAC
My cut on this...the anit-war, anti anything Bush movement which has infected the teaching profession is just taking another jab at those who are serving or have loved ones serving as a way to get their point across. F 'em all.
Nowhere in the article did it state or even imply the teacher(s) knew the student was on the phone with his Mom in Iraq... but, then again, if you look hard enough I'm sure you can blame the Liburls for just about anything in any thread....you're proof of that.
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Originally posted by Sandman
Obviously, you do not have any kids in high school.
My children's high school also seem to have a major hardon over cellular phones. I've also noticed that they rarely make an exception for anything if a student breaks some rule.
I bet coach Bell can get some real justice out there lol.
-Sik
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I wonder how many times the teacher heard that old "It's my Mom in Iraq" excuse.
:cool:
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Originally posted by Airhead
Nowhere in the article did it state or even imply the teacher(s) knew the student was on the phone with his Mom in Iraq...
When a teacher told him to hang up, he refused. He said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom.''
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The nickname for the local junior high around here is Stalag Luft 17.
These little power hungry dweebs have no common sense.
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I can see it both ways. If I were that kid, I wouldn't have given up the phone either. Apparently the teacher took it from him, which would get him fired in Maryland.
Places (specifically schools) have rules for a reason. What is the reason? What is the alternative to having rules that are clearly delineated and not-bendable/breakable depending on "circumstances"?
Since I'm sure all of you are smarter than me, you can come up with the answer to that on your own.
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Originally posted by Sandman
Obviously, you do not have any kids in high school.
My children's high school also seem to have a major hardon over cellular phones. I've also noticed that they rarely make an exception for anything if a student breaks some rule.
Very true, In my high school, as in every high school, theres the one kid who always gets beat up. (Sorry not me guys Im not pale enough anymore.) Well this kid gets beat up daily, he dosnt fight back, and he gets detentions and suspensions for it, because of the schools zero tolerance policy on violence.
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It sounds like the suspension wasn't for the phone call but his reaction later on. I wouldn't really base much on the "sound bite" from the press on this. FWIW a later news release said a very significant number of students have parents on deployment right now.
Here is a quote out of the article that suggests it wasn't the phone call that got him suspended.
Quote: Parham said the teen's suspension was based on his reaction to the teacher's request. He said the teen used profanity when taken to the office.
"Kevin got defiant and disorderly,'' Parham said. "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.'' Endquote.
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But would you have reacted differently?
Alot would depend on how the teacher was being but I doubt very much I would have been willing to hang up either no matter what the teacher had to say about it.
Teacher may have been being an A-Hole about it him/herself.
Whats not mentioned is that the teacher might have said or did to possably cause the kid to act that way.
I know I myself had one case where I myself told a teacher that if found him outside of school I was going to open up a can of butt whoop on him in a very serious way.
20+ years later now and in hindisght looking back at the incident and t6he circumstances surrounding it. I'd do it all over again exactly the same way.
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The article I read said he was not suspended for talking on the phone but was suspended for getting offensive and threatening to the teacher who told him to hang up.
Of course I might get a little offensive too if the teachers weren't being reasonable. I think it would be reasonable to make an exception in this case due to the circumstances. Not letting a kid talk to his mom whome he hasn't seen in months would be more detrimental to him than allowing him to break with school policy.
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http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=150069
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If the school would have let him continue his call because he said, “This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom.'', by the end of the week every kid in the school would be on their phone whenever they wanted, also claiming: “This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom.''
Regardless of the kid’s reason for being upset, he threw a fit.
Also, it’s important to understand the school’s demographics;
Spencer High School
General Information
Total Enrollment: 1,070
Free-Lunch Students: 357
Reduced-Price Lunch Students: 116
Ave. Completion Rate: 57%
http://www.school-stats.com/GA/MUSCOGEE/SPENCER_HIGH_SCHOOL.html
eskimo
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If his mother acts so defiant, getting the liberal media pity-train under circumstances that she may feel unjust, unfair, or whatever treatment in Iraq, her fellow soldiers may die.
Punch the little **** in the head for acting like a punk after the fact, suspend him for 10 days, and tell him to grow a pair.
End of a lame story.
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As I said in the other thread... Conservatives should be all in favor of the teacher and the punishment. Zero Tolerance was YOUR bright idea.
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Originally posted by rpm
As I said in the other thread... Conservatives should be all in favor of the teacher and the punishment. Zero Tolerance was YOUR bright idea.
do you think 10 days suspension for a student geting unruley towards a teacher is to harsh a punisment?
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Why yes I do. Seems the school does as well.
CNN) -- A Columbus, Georgia, student will return to class Monday after spending three days at home for an incident that began when his mother, a soldier serving in Iraq, called his cell phone while he was at school.
Kevin Francois was initially suspended for 10 days for what Spencer High School officials said was his use of profanity after a teacher interrupted a cell phone conversation he was having with his mother.
Her name is Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, The Associated Press reported.
The suspension gained national attention Friday, prompting a flood of e-mails to school officials. By Friday afternoon, they told Francois his 10-day suspension would be shortened to the three already served.
"All I want to do is just go back to school," Francois said.
Muscogee County School District Superintendent John Phillips Jr. said Friday the suspension was not because of the phone call, but the result of Francois' reaction to the teacher interrupting it.
"The suspension was really incidental to the telephone, it was the behavior of the student, using profanity, screaming at the teacher," Phillips said.
"He became very belligerent and very threatening to her" when she asked him to turn over the phone, Phillips said.
"He said he was 17 years old and he would do what he wanted to do," Phillips told CNN-affiliate WTVM.
The teacher took him to the principal's office, where "he became very unruly and out of control," said Phillips. "It was escalating to a point where they were getting ready to call security."
Francois disputed the school's version of the story.
"I was just talking to them and they wouldn't listen to me about talking to my mom," he said. "I didn't curse at them."
Francois received the call from his mother, who left for duty in Iraq in January, during a lunch break.
Phillips said Francois did not tell the teacher he was talking to his mother in Iraq.
"I'm sure if she was aware of that, she would have acted much differently in dealing with the matter," Phillips said.
Phillips said the school, which is located near Fort Benning, often arranges for students to receive calls from parents who are deployed. More than 3,700 students in the district come from military families.
Francois lives with an aunt while his mother is deployed, the superintendent said.
The student knew it was against school policy to use a cell phone on school grounds, he added.
"We try to protect instructional time. We try to make sure the environment in the school is appropriate," Phillips said. "The young man knows what the rules and regulations are."
They should have put him in alternative classes, not give him a vacation.
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being close to Ft Benning it does sound like the school overeacted but the kids behavior didn't help one bit. He threw a fit and he's lucky they are letting him back in so early. He was still in the wrong no matter what the circumstances "I'm 17 I'll do what I want" doesnt cut it.
Well good for him and the school.
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Teacher says he didn't tell her the call was from his mom in iraq. So he shoulda cooled his jets and explained. My guess is he went ape-****. Another overplayed media story that makes teachers look bad when they are just not being respected. My parents wouldn't give a rat's bellybutton if they were over in Iraq, if I cussed out a teacher or school administrator, I would be counting the days till they got home cause that would have been my ass.
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The real question is where's dad?
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Originally posted by FUNKED1
The real question is where's dad?
An another article said his dad had died several years ago, thats where he is.
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Was his lunch hour right? I'd tell the teacher to *** off too.
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He should have been imediatly excused from class to talk to his mom.
The guy is 17 years old has'nt seen his mom in 4 months and Iraq is lit up worse then ever right now.
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Originally posted by YUCCA
Was his lunch hour right? I'd tell the teacher to *** off too.
i'd say okay, tell my mom to phone back in 2 minutes, walk outside and continue the call.
these sorts of stories make me realize just how incredibly lax the rules are where i am, teachers and students routinely do stuff that anywhere else would have them suspended in a second.
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Originally posted by YUCCA
Was his lunch hour right? I'd tell the teacher to *** off too.
even during lunch hour the school is still responsible for the student.
He should have been imediatly excused from class to talk to his mom.
The guy is 17 years old has'nt seen his mom in 4 months and Iraq is lit up worse then ever right now.
he should have asked politly and I bet they would have. The school serves alot of Ft Benning students and probably deals with this quite often.
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Originally posted by Gunslinger
even during lunch hour the school is still responsible for the student.
he should have asked politly and I bet they would have. The school serves alot of Ft Benning students and probably deals with this quite often.
If the news reports are correct and this was my kid, then she would never talk to a teacher that way again.
I support the school on this one. Parents want schools to have some discipline but as soon as they provide it the parents get upset.
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"we never kicked bobby out for talking to his mom on the phone, we kicked bobby out for the justified indignation he showed to the anal application of our stupid rule.
The same day we kicked out bobby for talking to his mom, 20 bullies whent unpunished and 200 cheated on school work that went un punished. "
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Originally posted by Pongo
"we never kicked bobby out for talking to his mom on the phone, we kicked bobby out for the justified indignation he showed to the anal application of our stupid rule.
The same day we kicked out bobby for talking to his mom, 20 bullies whent unpunished and 200 cheated on school work that went un punished. "
yea we should allow students to be offensive and threaten teachers even when they MIGHT be justified even though he could have asked and been polite about it and maybe he would have gotten his phone call during SCHOOL hours.
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Wait a minute, isn't this an example of the school actually enforcing discipline? Yet the 'hard-men' contingent here want special treatment...
I think some teachers and administrators need to be send to a war zone for educational purposes for, oh, say three months.
Some also might say, that teaching in some modern schools is akin to being in something approaching a warzone.
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The whole situation didn't have to happen in the first place. The teacher did the right thing, though I woulda been pissed too at the time.
Can't the calls be routed through the office?
Les
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Why isn't mummy at home in the kitchen where she belongs.
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:)
Where is daddy in afghanistan ??
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Originally posted by rpm
As I said in the other thread... Conservatives should be all in favor of the teacher and the punishment. Zero Tolerance was YOUR bright idea.
^^^
More lies coming from rpm...what a surprise!
Yet just as the early zero tolerance drug programs in the community were being phased out, the concept was beginning to catch on in the public schools. In late 1989 school districts in Orange County, California, and Louisville, Kentucky, promulgated zero tolerance policies that called for expulsion for possession of drugs or participation in gang-related activity. In New York, Donald Batista, superintendent of the Yonkers public schools, proposed a sweeping zero tolerance program as a way of taking action against students who caused school disruption. With its restricted school access, ban on hats, immediate suspension for any school disruption, and increased use of law enforcement, the program contained many of the elements that have come to characterize zero tolerance approaches in the past decade.
By 1993 zero tolerance policies were being adopted by school boards across the country, often broadened to include not only drugs and weapons but also tobacco-related offenses and school disruption. In 1994 the federal government stepped in to mandate the policy nationally when President Clinton signed the Gun-Free Schools Act into law.1 This law mandates an expulsion of one calendar year for possession of a weapon and referral of students who violate the law to the criminal or juvenile justice system. It also provides that the one-year expulsions may be modified by the "chief administrative officer" of each local school district on a case-by-case basis.
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"In 1994 the federal government stepped in to mandate the policy nationally when President Clinton signed the Gun-Free Schools Act into law.1 This law mandates an expulsion of one calendar year for possession of a weapon and referral of students who violate the law to the criminal or juvenile justice system."
And suspending kids and putting them into the criminal justice system for bringing a gun to school is a bad thing because......?