Suspended for possession

[Mini D]

...of skittles. A candy deal went bad:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/13/skittles.suspension.ap/index.html

I am in awe of the prowess of the education system and it's concern for children at all costs.

[Charon]

Well, this bright young many just learned a good lesson that in life -- you'll often be under the dominion of morons. Life is not always fair, and often doesn't make sense and people don't much care if it does or not, because them's the rules and I get off work in two hours.

Charon

[Mini D]

Actually, the lesson is much bigger than what the kid learned.

Candy was banned. A rule created for completely arbitrary non-legal reasons.
Kids start dealing candy.
A school is willing to trash a kid's transcript because he was in possession of candy.

I dunno, but the more I read the more fascinating this one became. Should a school be soooo concerned about a child's welfare that they ban him from absolutely everything they deem harmfull? I'm all for following the rules, but am somewhat miffed at the reasoning behind this and the reaction to it.

I think back to the movie "Christmas Story" and the scene where the kids all have the fake teeth. The teacher confiscates them and puts them in the drawer with all the other crap she's confiscated from them over the year. Whomever caught this individual buying candy had a perfect opportunity to score some skittles but opted to pursue a much more damaging course of action.

[SkyRock]

Well, this bright young many just learned a good lesson that in life -- you'll often be under the dominion of morons. Life is not always fair, and often doesn't make sense and people don't much care if it does or not, because them's the rules and I get off work in two hours.

Charon

Very well said Charon, many morons all agreeing on a topic still doesn't make the topic right!

[SkyRock]

Actually, the lesson is much bigger than what the kid learned.

Candy was banned. A rule created for completely arbitrary non-legal reasons.
Kids start dealing candy.
A school is willing to trash a kid's transcript because he was in possession of candy.

I dunno, but the more I read the more fascinating this one became. Should a school be soooo concerned about a child's welfare that they ban him from absolutely everything they deem harmfull? I'm all for following the rules, but am somewhat miffed at the reasoning behind this and the reaction to it.

It's kind of like the big stink about video games.  Some(grand theft auto), I agree are completely useless and quite harmful, yet others have been proven to educate, and even improve physical skills.  Some day, video games will be the best teachers we have.(In the Matrix movie, they just downloaded knowlege)Now I'm not willing to go that far, but in the future, the best way to learn something will be to interact with it virtually, then test in reality.

[Mini D]

We had rules against eating in class when I was in high school. Anyone caught had to throw away what they were eating. I do not recall a single suspension over it the whole time I was in school. This is akin to jail time for a speeding ticket.

[LePaul]

Maybe its this huge a penalty is what it takes for a kid to realize breaking the rules have consequences?  I don't know.  We have a pretty soft generation and it seems to take some extreme measures to make things sink in at times.

[Mini D]

Social behavior should be dictated on a more social level and less on an administrative level. I think you need to take a deeper look at exactly what this is telling children.

[NUKE]

I remember when I was in high school, a bunch of kids started selling candy bars and stuff to make extra money. I think they got the idea from the "official" school candy selling drives.

Anyway, it got kind of out of hand.

[trax1]

Theres no way to justify possible ruining the rest of this kids life over buying a bag of Skittles.  If they had stuck with the punishment he was given it could have been very harmful to his chances of getting into a good college, because for one he would have a suspension on his record, and secondly he was removed from his position of class vice president.

When I was in high school on each floor during the passing period a teacher would be standing in the hallway selling candy.

[Hornet33]

Wat ever happened to COMMON SENSE????  The priciple of that schools needs to have his butt dragged out behind the gym and the crap knocked out of him.

News flash.....kids eat candy. Oh it's against the rules to have candy in school, well take it away from him and be done with it.

I swear if some teacher or principle ever tried something like that with my kids I'll have their arse.

[rpm]

This is what happens when you create prohibition.

Skittles is the new gateway drug.

[NUKE]

This is what happens when you create prohibition.

Skittles is the new gateway drug.

thats what happens when a law is passed.

[SkyRock]

Maybe its this huge a penalty is what it takes for a kid to realize breaking the rules have consequences?  I don't know.  We have a pretty soft generation and it seems to take some extreme measures to make things sink in at times.

consequences?  3 day suspension over a bag of skittles?  On one hand, I understand the policy, but a 3 day suspension is a level 3 offence or higher in our district. Give the kid a choice between 3 licks or one day of in-school suspension.

[lasersailor184]

Maybe its this huge a penalty is what it takes for a kid to realize breaking the rules have consequences?  I don't know.  We have a pretty soft generation and it seems to take some extreme measures to make things sink in at times.

Screw that.  Again you attach morality to legality.  Rarely are they one and the same.