So, in Hickman County, Tennessee, which is just southwest of Nashville and adjacent to Williamson County, where I grew up, county school administrators decided to "remand" a student to the county's "alternative school" for the remainder of the school year and suspend another 100 students for three days each for filming and participating in a video which had been posted on YouTube in which students are shown saying "bitch ass," apparently in reference to their high school principal. Here is the offending video:
Seriously?
Does this video merit anything stronger than a stern talking to punctuated with a, "Would you want your mom or your grandmother seeing you act this way?" These are children using some, frankly, pretty mild profanity (allegedly) to express frustration with their high school principal. (It's not clear to me that most of the students did anything more than say, "bitch ass," into the camera without any information about how the footage would be used.) Did the high school administrators who decided to suspend these kids not go to high school? Do they not remember suffering under the asinine and petty tyranny of a public high school? Do they not have more important things to do? Might the students who made and participated in this video have a point after all?
Sigh.
Absolutely, it does. A stern talking to about blatant disrespect? Seriously? As a parent, I would be MORTIFIED to find out that my child has enough stupidity to be a part of a video that did such a thing. I think if you are ballsy enough to take part, you should receive the consequence. I admit, there was at least one who I think may have been manipulated into making the statement, and I hope he was one of the ones that didn't receive the punishment...but as for the others, it's time to learn a lesson in accountability...something society no longer has in their vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteWhat the media failed to mention in their coverage of this story is that the punishment was not only the 100+ students receiving ISS. The entire school has now lost their hallway privileges before class and after class before buses, the hour long lunch has now been split over 3 20min. periods, girls are not allowed to have purses & jackets on their person in class ... those must be kept in a central location, and for 2 days last week every bathroom was locked & students denied access.
ReplyDeleteNot one parent with a child in the video that I know, and I know LOTS of them, has said there should be no punishment whatsoever, but this is excessive and unnecessary.