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Post by Vince524 on Jun 21, 2017 11:59:27 GMT -5
Story here.
And here.
Some parents are saying punishments doled out following a senior prank at Hoosick Falls High School are too harsh. Students had to admit their wrongdoing and perform community service, but now some are having their place in National Honor Society taken away.
The school says they are trying to restore relationships between students and faculty. Parents say the school is being unnecessarily punitive, and taking away years of work because of a prank.
It all started June 5th. Hoosick Falls High School seniors entered through an unlocked door at the high school around 11:30 that night. They filled balloons with glitter and left them in the hallway, put silly string on a security camera, and tuna fish in some vents. Two days later, the senior class was gathered into the school’s auditorium.
“[The school] told [students] they wouldn’t be able to walk [at graduation] if they didn’t sign a form in the auditorium, that they were locked in the auditorium,” said Jessica Myers, whose daughter is a senior at Hoosick Falls. “[Students] were told if they left they would be arrested and if they didn’t sign [the form], they would be arrested and not walk.” So first, the declaimer. I know the mother of one of the kids. She's a good kid. Worked hard to be a national Honor Student.
2nd off, senior pranks are a tradition around these parts, and this one was fairly tame. No property damage, just some clean up. The kids were told that they had to sign a confession, apologize to the school board, perform community service and write 2 essays (After classes have ended) to avoid punishment of no graduation, and other ramifications. After they did all of that, they were told they still might not be allowed to walk on stage and their national honor society which they've earned over 4 years would be taken away.
The parents had to go down to the school board and complain, and the mother I know, believes it wouldn't have been reversed if not for the media showing up.
“They were told the consequences, we were told the consequences, and now the consequences are changing and getting worse,” said Kristy Burdick, whose daughter is also a senior at Hoosick Falls. Some students came home Thursday with a letter from the faculty council saying they were being dismissed from the National Honor Society.
My daughters, upon fear of death at the hands of their mother, were told to avoid the senior prank, and they both graduated with NHS, as did my Foster. (But we can't claim credit there.)
I believe the senior prank that did take place involved breaking into the principles car and leaving it full of chickens. Live ones.
no punishments there, but that might be because the chickens were too traumatized to identify the culprits.
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Post by markesq on Jun 22, 2017 14:15:07 GMT -5
Oh, man, pranks. I was at boarding school in England and in the penultimate semester, the night before the school-wide, end of term fancy dinner, a friend and I snuck into the cafeteria and took ALL of the silverware. Hid it that night under bushes. Next day it was all anyone could talk about -- would the dinner be canceled? Did we have to eat with our hands? Even the headmaster addressed it at assembly, said the culprits needed to bring it back before dinner or the cops would be called.
We didn't. He didn't call the cops.
And we got caught that night putting it all back. The next day, we were sent to the HM and were expecting a dose of the cane. He looked at us and said, "I suppose you think that was funny?" I squeaked out, "Yes, sir, we did." He roared with laughter and said, "Well, it was!"
Our punishment was to spend a week behind the serving counter the next semester dishing out food to our schoolmates, who then learned we'd pulled the prank. No punishment at all.
So you can guess where I stand.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2017 15:10:21 GMT -5
I think the level of punishment Mark's school doled out was appropriate. Or something like have them do some cleaning (like, of the mess they made!) or yardwork or painting around the school.
I don't mind the bit of community service. But threatening to arrest them or keeping them from participating in graduation is excessive when no real harm was done.
My dad was an extremely popular high school teacher (being Mr. W's daughter was actually a social boon rather than a demerit), and had an excellent sense of humor. Every year, some of his kids played an April fool's day joke on him. A perennial favorite was to move his desk into the men's room. That dad didn't mind -- no one ever got punished for it.
One year, though, a kid went too far. He his behind a door and threw a cream pie in my dad's face. Yeah... that my dad did not like. For one thing, he had no change of clothes at the school. The kid got a detention from the principal...and a pie in the face from my dad. I can't recall there being any negative repercussions to either the kid or my dad, other than that. (How I loved that story as a kid.)
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Post by robeiae on Jun 22, 2017 15:38:09 GMT -5
I drugged one of my teachers, then took photos of her with two Thai hookers and a kilo of coke.
All in good fun...
Anyway, some principals are anal-retentive jackwagons. That would seem to be the case here. But you know, once the school board gets involved, things are always going to escalate.
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Post by Don on Jun 23, 2017 8:04:38 GMT -5
Another fine endorsement for home schooling. The hits just keep on coming.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2017 8:38:52 GMT -5
Another fine endorsement for home schooling. The hits just keep on coming. Perhaps for kids who have fantastic parents with the brains, time, resources and teaching gifts to do so effectively. You know, one stay-at-home parent willing to devote themselves to teaching the kids, the other bringing in a good income, both well-educated... that's got to be, what, 5% of the population? It interests me that people complain that a lot of teachers aren't good -- yet think random parents will be better. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2017 9:02:26 GMT -5
anecdotal: out of my acquaintance, I believe I have known only one person who had both the resources and the willingness to home school. She was someone I knew long ago but lost touch with -- I ran into her a couple of years ago.
She confided that she did not enjoy homeschooling, and felt stifled and bored. However, she'd become fundamentalist Christian, and she and her husband didn't want the kids exposed to horrible false ideas like evolution.
I wept and gnashed my teeth.
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Post by robeiae on Jun 23, 2017 9:17:19 GMT -5
Home-schooling can be a great thing. I know plenty of people who do it. Most do it--around here--at the elementary and sometimes secondary level. With a skilled parent, this can produce some really good kids with really strong skills and a solid work ethic. A number of the best students in my daughter's IB class were home-schooled in such a manner, then entered public school in junior high or high school.
And resource-wise, there's a ton of stuff out there, most of it free.
But it takes someone with more than just a clue to wade through it all, to set up an effective program, and to keep at it to get positive results. Imo, that's not most of the population, unfortunately.
And for every solid home-schooling parent out there, I'm sure there's at least one other home-schooling parent who is either awful or is taking that route for highly suspect reasons.
I'm okay with home-schooling, provided it's done well.
I'm also okay with public schooling, provided it's done well.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2017 10:22:02 GMT -5
oh, I'm totally ok with home schooling, or any other form of schooling, provided it is done well. No doubt, some parents are capable and willing.
But like Rob, I do not believe that's most of the population. Which is why I think we need to work on having the best schools we can, to which every kid can have access.
I join with economic conservatives in believing that we must consider how we're going to pay for things, not just whether they sound pretty. However, despite the fact I have no kids and don't plan to have them, I am quite happy to have my tax dollars go towards the best schools possible for every kid. Even if his parents are poor, ignorant, or whatever, a kid should have the best possible shot at a future. This is something we need as a civilized society (at least if we want to remain one).
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Post by Vince524 on Jun 23, 2017 11:23:05 GMT -5
I have cousins on my wifes side that home schooled their 3 boys. Kids are ultra polite, each play at least 2 instruments well, do great on the state exams or whatever they need to do, are as far as I can tell great kids and very well spoken and smart. As far as I know, the parents aren't extreme right. They seem fairly moderate.
Oldest is in public high school now, doing very, very well. Very community service oriented.
Having said that, the mom enjoys it, is smart and dedicated, and it works for them. It won't for most, so then schools are the only option. Putting your kid in school shouldn't mean letting the school be run by dictators. I added the tators to be nice.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2017 11:44:32 GMT -5
I have cousins on my wifes side that home schooled their 3 boys. Kids are ultra polite, each play at least 2 instruments well, do great on the state exams or whatever they need to do, are as far as I can tell great kids and very well spoken and smart. As far as I know, the parents aren't extreme right. They seem fairly moderate. Oldest is in public high school now, doing very, very well. Very community service oriented. Having said that, the mom enjoys it, is smart and dedicated, and it works for them. It won't for most, so then schools are the only option. Putting your kid in school shouldn't mean letting the school be run by dictators. I added the tators to be nice. Agree. I think the answer is not "some schools are run badly, therefore let's screw them and let them become worse," but rather "let's make schools better." |
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Post by Don on Jun 24, 2017 9:12:51 GMT -5
Another fine endorsement for home schooling. The hits just keep on coming. Perhaps for kids who have fantastic parents with the brains, time, resources and teaching gifts to do so effectively. You know, one stay-at-home parent willing to devote themselves to teaching the kids, the other bringing in a good income, both well-educated... that's got to be, what, 5% of the population? It interests me that people complain that a lot of teachers aren't good -- yet think random parents will be better. Most teachers are wonderful. It's the institutions they work for that have destroyed their ability to achieve their purpose. |
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Post by michaelw on Jun 25, 2017 5:00:34 GMT -5
I'm okay with home-schooling, provided it's done well. Same here, with one minor caveat. When I think about my own education, one thing that I really appreciate is having had a real melting pot of teachers. I had some great ones, some not so great ones, but I also see how some of the great ones were great in different ways. It's much easier for me to appreciate what made them great teachers, seeing them in a larger context among many other teachers I had. You don't get that w/ home-schooling, unless a home-schooled student goes to a larger school at some point (which, granted, is often the case). |
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Post by haggis on Jun 25, 2017 21:52:31 GMT -5
You too? What are the odds. I drugged one of my teachers, then took photos of her with two Thai hookers and a kilo of coke. All in good fun. |
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Post by robeiae on Jun 26, 2017 11:34:22 GMT -5
I'm guessing about 4 to 5.
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