A kid has a razor in his car and he gets banned from driving?

Plantman - the 10 day suspension I can understand. Expelling? Now what the hell is that going to do? What good can come from expelling a kid from his high school for something as lame as pot possesion?

Do you guys live in the USA or is this the Gulag?

It's so far beyond ridiculous. Sniffer dogs searching schools? I'm just glad I live somewhere sane. Heck, if "they" had searched my high school locker, I'd be in an asylum now no doubt. I had butterfly knives (no intent to actually ever use it, it was just cool to have), occasional bottle of rum, occasional stash of pot, etc. Let's not forget some of the diary notes I had written when dark thoughts were in my mind. What teen hasn't thought about suicide?



My $0.02 is that is sounds like you've got a pretty normal teenager who will likely grow up into a normal, productive adult. He got unlucky and got busted. He used bad judgement.

HOLD ON! STOP THE PRESS!

"TEENAGER USES BAD JUDGEMENT"

Quite the headline.

It's a crappy situation and I do feel bad for you for having to go and kiss butt at the school. However, were it me, some of my anger would be at the same school and system, for putting too tight a noose in the wrong place. Just my opinion, I'm trying to make you feel better about it, not sure if I'm succeeding.

Anyway, good luck.

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Chris
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"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Reminds me of an old episode of Star Trek in which the Enterprise visits a Utopian planet full of scantily clad, sex-starved hotties. Then they discover the "Utopian" culture has one punishment for any and all crimes, no matter how trite -- death.

So this begs the question - is it a crime in this utopian society to shag a scantily clad, sex-starved hottie?

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Chris
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1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

No problem there! Just don't break a window or trample someone's lawn.

Here's the problem, IF that teenager slashes another with the razor, what then? In the days of old, it was "Boys will be boys". Today, the issue is "Why didn't you do something before my little Johnny got slashed. I will see you in court." Today, if my kid calls yours a fag and he hangs himself, will you say "Oh well" or will you be calling your lawyer to sue me for not stopping it earlier before it happened? You probably grew up in a different ear where lawsuits aren't as prevalent as they are today. You drown yourself in my pool by coming onto my property uninvited and it is my fault for not fencing up my pool???

No, YOU (the US Citizen) told them to put that tight a noose. With the lawsuits and the juries siding with the little guy, etc, etc. Hell, when I tried buying 100 McRib sandwiches from Mc Ds, they refused to sell it to me unless they cooked it first. In fact, most places didn't want to get involved once they knew I wanted to freeze them for later use. Why? Liabilities or their fear of it. Why did the place I got it from have to check with HQ and finally have to cook it? Liabilities. Bottom line is everyone is terrified that you will sue their pants off and hold them liable. Just like the school system. Don't like it? Tough. That is what you told them to do and now it involves your kid you don't like it? Sound like do it anywhere but NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard).

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Here's another kid facing the very same punishment as Plantman Jr. It's a wacky world!

Well, being that Zeus is from Canada, he doesn't have to suffer precisely what we do here. There is still some intelligence present north of the border, and, therefore, his opinion is quite valid. I wish we were more like them.

Ah, for the good old days when common sense prevailed over "zero-tolerance" policies. Zero-tolerance = no independent thought required.

Sometimes I really wonder how the administration of some of these schools can be this stupid. I thought you needed a Master's degree to be an administrator of a school? Does the degree come with the requirement that you lose all common sense that you may have had?

I have zero respect for people that are this blind to what is really happening in society. It's a sad state of affairs that they are allowed to be in managerial positions.

A rubber band.................can you think of anything more ridiculous???

No, I probably grew up around the same time as you. Like Brain stated, I'm from Canada and yes, things are still a little more tolerant up here, though I worry it may not last. I'm well aware of the apparent American zealousness for the lawsuit. Why settle something between two adults with a conversation when two lawyers can battle it out and take all your money?

I don't think a teen slashing another teen with a razor blade would ever qualify as "boys will be boys" nor do I think one teen calling another a "fag" would make a teen hang himself. This is just fear propaganda.

It seems more and more like the US is becoming a victim of its own fear-mongering media propaganda. A kid has a knife. He's got to be a serial killer waiting to happen. A kid has some pot. He's a dangerous, unstable drug fiend on the border of suicide. We need to have police, metal detectors and drug dogs in high schools at all times. Zero tolerance. Kids will be expelled should they make a mistake.

This doesn't sound very rational to me. Nor does it sound effective. Unless your ultimate goal is alienation and rebellion.

Level 4 offence? Is this DEFCON or a high school?

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1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

""It's ridiculous, it's a rubber band," Rojas said."

The zero tolerance is disturbing yes... but, then, so is this. Your damned kid is shooting ("throwing?" -- which is it?) rubber bands at the teacher. He gets busted, and rather than scold him for it, you defend him. THAT'S sad. Face the music -- your kid screwed up. However mild the offense, it was his doing... at least have the decency to preface your protests with "he was wrong, but..." By publicly belittling the school, she teaches her son a bad lesson.

Sheesh... when the teacher sent notes home with me, all hell reigned down on me. My parents NEVER sided with me if the theacher said I did something wrong. My best friend is a HS teacher and tells me there is no end to the "my kid would never do that/my child says she didn't do this and woulnd't lie to me" mentality. That's a shame.

Anyway, yeah, it's silly that the kid is being suspended for shooting a rubber band. But what if there's more to the story? What if the kid is a chronic pain in the ass? What is this episode teaching him? Only that he can beat the system and make a mockery of the school system. If that is the case, I feel sorry for the teacher and administrators at that school. Theirs are not jobs I'd want! Someone was right to point out that litigation has helped to make zero-tolerance policies necessary. What a shame...


Oh well... it's a mess from either angle!

Chris

EDIT -- I guess this complaint assumes that the kid shot the rubber band at the teacher... he claims he tossed it. If the latter is true, the kid got screwed... if the former is true, which the school's comments (the "it could have hit her in the eye") seem to indicate, then I stand by my comments. Just want to be clear!

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lol...your edit negates my reply. Cheers,
C.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
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1977 280E - sold
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"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Plantman, djugurba has made many good points. I teach behavior disordered children and most are there because of overly permissive parents or parents who were just too lazy to raise their kids or parents who were too wrapped up in their own lives for their children to come first. I am not saying that you are any of these, I don't know you and certainly don't want to make a judgement call.
Aklim also makes good points. A drug use kit can be purchased at any drug store - they may not be out on the shelves. Ask someone that works there. If they don't carry them they will be able to tell you where to find one.
As far as suicide threats go - I treat any threat as valid. Usually when a child threatens suicide they are immediately taken to the emergency room and admitted for observation. If he is serious then he will get help. If not then at least he will have to suffer the consequences of having to stay in hospital for at least 48 hours with strict observation. Either way - he gets the point.
It is easier now to do something about this than it is to wait. As I tell many parents - it is a lot easier to deal with an out-of-control 3 year old than an out-of-control 13 year old. Same scenario with your son. It is easier to deal with him when he is 16 or 17 and you have some say so than when he is 20 (and don't anyone lecture me about "he's an adult at 20". Your child is always your child and it is just as hard to watch them make a mistake at 35 than at 15).
TAKE HIS DRIVING PRIVELAGES AWAY IMMEDIATELY - AND HIS KEYS!! It is also easier to keep him under your thumb when he is not mobile. Make him earn this privelage back - and don't make it easy for him. Spy on him if you have to - and don't anyone lecture me about privacy - there is not a person here who didn't sneak around about something when they were an adolescent.
Do what you have to do to get him back on track - even if it means missing sleep on your part. My parents camped out at the doors one time when my sister threatened to run away. They put alarms on her windows so she could not sneak out - you get the point. Do not make it easy on him at all!! I know this sounds harsh - but do you think he was thinking of you when he did what he did? He sure is not making it easy on his parents - and be sure and remind him of this.
Sorry for the ranting and raving! This is a subject that really strikes chords in my heart.

The point is that IMHO even if the kid did shoot a rubber band at a teacher, that isn't worthy of expulsion from school. It's a silly (OK -- even stupid) prank. He may have been facing jail time had it been (gasp!) a spitball or heaven forbid a paper airplane. These are kids. If they had nothing to learn they wouldn't need to be in school. I certainly did worse than shoot rubber bands in class, and I never even received a suspension, let alone a permanent expulsion. I don't know -- maybe this kid had a long record of being a problem and this was the last straw -- I hope that's the case...

Blame it on the jury. They are the ones that have the "Side with the little guy first" mentality. Actually, the intelligence is here. You see, Lets say I sue for 2 million dollars, the insurance company will raise the rates for the entity being sued, in turn they pass the cost onto me. By the time it gets to me, it might raise my cost by say $100 a year. Big deal. At the end of it, I am still way ahead. My hit is distributed to everyone and is therefore less for me. Makes good business sense to me.

We don't have to suffer it either. We told them to do it so now we have to pay for it. What's wrong with that? The people have spoken and got what they wanted. Someone to be totally responsible for their child. Now you don't like the side effects? Well, you can't have everything.

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