This is just me whining....
Find a Conversation
| Fri, 02-09-2007 - 2:20pm |
WARNING!!! WAY LONG!---Do not read unles you are really, really bored, becuase I am simply whining and crying over no big deal really. I just needed to get it out, KWIM?? :)
I swear, our school has to be the most detention-happy school I have ever seen. Poor ds15 has had more than his share of them.
Just in the last, what, 2 weeks, ds15 has had 3 or 4 detentions. The next one he gets should throw him into ISS for 1 or 2 days (I forget how many) OR 15 extra days detention. Because ds15 *needs* classroom time (to help with his LD) he will elect to take the 15 extra detentions. The 1st semester alone, he had ummmmm, 18-20 detentions. Something like that. And we are reaching that point again this semester. And we are only 1 month into the semester. ~~~~heavy sigh~~~~
I'm not saying he never deserves it. Gosh, I'm sure some he has brought on himself. And, naturally, I only hear 1 side of the story and I know him well enough he is going to tell it in a way that takes the blame completely off him. I know this. So I tell him to serve the detentions and go on. Not anything *I* can do. Trust me, I've already gone head-to-head with this school once and pretty much "won", but ds15 will pay the price for that for the rest of his time here.
Here's a list of his last 3 crimes (as told by him)--
1. Members of his freshman basketball team were practicing (with coach's permission but not supervised *by* coach) in the gym after 3:00 pm. School is offically over at 3:30 but high school lets out at 3 if you are passing all courses. Otherwise 3-3:30 is tutoring. HS principal said they were not to be in the gym after school hours and gave all 6 boys detention.
2. Sideburns past the bottom of the earlobe. He came home and told me that one. I looked and overall, they were MAYBE 1/16" past the lobe and was mostly stragglers where his electric shaver didn't do a good job.
3. Had his cap on sideways. At least that's what I got out of it. This happened yesterday and he was plenty upset. When he's that upset, it takes me a day or two to get a full story out of him. Apparently, ds15 is walking down hall, girl snatches it off head then puts it back on sideways. Ds15 is straightening it when 2 teachers walk by and hear him say "don't do that. I don't want to get another detention" Both teachers stopped ds15 and (from what I can gather) decided it would be great fun to give him detention. Apparently, he had one teacher take one cap from him for some infraction of rules I guess. I don't know. So, from what I gather, he has "lost" one cap and was on his way to losing another. They cited that as the reason for detention. ok. Whatever.
Like I said, I'm not saying he didn't break any rules. I know he did. Yes, his sideburns were a little long. Shoot, 90% of the kids in his grade don't even *have* facial hair, much less sideburns. Ds15 has to shave *every* day. OK. So he got a little sloppy. Would a comment/warning not accomplished the same thing? Or, if not, then by all means, give detention. And the cap thing...well, nowhere in the dress codes, etc. does it say anything about wearing your cap backwards or sideways. It does state that anything that could be possibly associated with gangs is forbidden. Ok, so maybe that falls under that heading. But please....consider the circumstances and the kid. Ok, well, maybe not the kid. That's probably why they hammer him with all this. Because of who he is. :(
Ok. Whine over. I feel better. Thanks. :)

Pages
Is this your son with the LD?
Yep, this is the one with the LD. He's ADD-inattentive type (but that's become almost a non-issue anymore) and he has dyslexia. He learns much better by hearing what all goes on in class because his reading/retention is very poor. That's why, when given a choice of ISS or detention, he will choose detention. Detention is served from 7:30 to 8:00 am so truly, the only one the school is "punishing" by giving detention are the parents. And believe you me, I have been "punished" enough! LOL
I don't get the cap thing either. I don't think they are allowed to wear them in the actual classroom (which, to me, is just common courtesy, but I too am from the old school) but there shouldn't be any problems in the hall. I know the coaches will give up-and-downs to any kid in sports that is caught wearing his cap backwards. I'm not sure of the reasoning behind that except that it could be construed as gang-related. (insert eyroll). Ds15 *always* wears his cap backwards. And he has done plenty of up-and-downs for coach. :) As for what happened in the hallway, I'm still not clear on just exactly what transpired. All I know is ds15 was really um-(TOS violation?) um...ticked.
Sadly, I can almost guarantee if it had been another kid, nothing would have been said.
I can't stand hearing this stuff! I'm vol. coordinator for a reading tutoring center, and we use an Orton-Gillingham approach to tutor our students. Three of our 18 volunteer students (2nd/3rd graders) have been suspended, 2X each, over the past few months. They missed a total of 8 days of school each, so far. These kids are the ones who can least afford to be missing school, and it's the zero-tolerance policies that make it so easy for staff to suspend them. (Kids weren't suspended like this 8 years ago.) When I talk to their parents, they feel helpless. When I talk to the teachers, they feel overwhelmed and that they do not have time to fight these battles with administration--they, too, believe it's wrong to suspend the students. It is always outside the classroom, or when there is a substitute teacher, that the inappropriate behavior occurs, because some staff members do not know how to handle these kids. In the classroom, the teachers tell me, they know how to handle the kids and warn them when they see and impending outlash. And one-on-one with the children, we have no problems with their behavior.
There needs to be some sort of behavior plan in place and a safe place for these kids to go; and ALL staff members need to know about it. (One poster hear mentioned that in another thread about a week ago, and it sounds like it's working well with her oversight.)
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM
Pages