Accountability

“School daze, school daze, good old golden rule daze.
Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic, taught to the tune of a hickory stick.”

Ah, nostalgia for the good old days ~ I think not. Corporal punishment only teaches fear of authority.


Our district has a cellular phone policy for students that states: “…the phones MUST be off during the school day.” The policy at my campus says that if a teacher sees a phone for ANY reason, it is to be confiscated immediately. The parent can come to retrieve the aforementioned item only on Friday afternoon between 3:25 and 3:35.

A student had his phone seized during 5th period yesterday (Friday). He begged and pleaded for its return but to no avail. The teacher that confiscated it does not have a locked closet so he asked me to hold it for him until the parent came. Fast forward to 4:30 that same afternoon.

“Ms B. A., if you are still on campus, would please come to the main office?”

“Hmmm, who wants me on a Friday and so late?”

I arrive at the office and there was the parent and the child in question. They wanted the cell phone. Nothing like being put on the spot by the office. The problem: they were to wait until the following Friday! The parent begins to grill me about why the phone was picked up. I tried to explain the policy but ‘parent’ kept interrupting me.

“I’ll just come and talk to fearless leader on Monday. I know him.” Yeah, you both share the same last name.

To avoid spending an hour with this woman, I caved and retrieved the phone from my room ~ another hike across campus. When I returned the phone guess what she told her child?

“Son, Go ahead and keep the phone on ’vibrate mode’ and be sure to check your phone when you go to the restroom.” She clearly sent a message to her child ~ disregard the rules! It didn’t matter that I was present.

When is this child going to take responsibility for his actions? (He is in the 8th grade) Is mommy going to fight his battles in high school?

Trust me, had I gotten into the slightest bit of trouble at school, I knew what the consequences were going to be when I got home. I can still remember a homework incident that occurred in third grade. Needless to say, it never, ever happened again. Students knew that their parents would back up the teacher at least 99% of the time.

My fellow readers and bloggers, what happened? When did students stop taking responsibility for their actions? We can point fingers but remember that when we point out, three point back at us. If it takes a village to raise a child, are some of the villagers falling down on the job?

~butterfly angel~