Daily Kitten Chat Forum » The Newsroom

1. 

   VALEDICTERRORIST: Students at Southern Lehigh High School in Allentown,
   Penn., say the school's reaction to a harmless prank has gotten out of
   hand. Students said their plan was to be "as harmless as possible":
   they and camped overnight in the school's courtyard. But administrators
   reacted by suspending 17 students for five days; three of the students
   lost their memberships in the National Honor Society. When two other
   students alerted the local media, the school suspended them for five
   days, too. When more than 70 students marched in protest, the students
   who alerted the media got their suspensions lifted, but the penalties
   against the original 17 students remained. It's a sign of the times
   after the Columbine High School shooting, says Mel Riddile, a director
   with the National Association of Secondary Schools. "Breaking into
   schools and letting animals loose was a prank in the 70s and 80s,"
   Riddile said. "Today, that could be considered a terrorist act."
   (Allentown Morning Call) ...That's not a justification, that's a
   statement of the problem.

   I remember letting a greased piglet loose in the school our senior year. The teachers even laughed as they caught it. The piglet was transfered to a farmer and that was the end. Took about 30 minutes of the day--before school had even begun. Now it would be a terrorist act...sad. They camped in the courtyard. They didn't break in and vandalize the school or corrupt computer files. It is all a bit sad...

   Posted 2 years ago by SoxsMom #

2. 

   That is nuts. How is camping in a courtyard doing any harm? That's not fair at all. We let chickens loose in our school senior year and this was only 3 years ago and only 1 hour from where this news story took place. We didn't have any punishment at all, people just laughed about it and rounded up the chickens and gave them to a farm.

   Posted 2 years ago by gini #

3. 

   a terrorist act for camping...wow...While I know things have changed and things have to be watched and precautions taken, this is just sad. wow.

   Posted 2 years ago by cricketsmama #

4. 

   We had a kid that was almost put up for a weapons hearing because of a plastic knife put in his lunch sack to cut his food. I was in shock. I understand that we must be careful, but I really don't think all situations are the same.

   Posted 2 years ago by SoxsMom #

5. 

   I feel so much for thos NHS students. To have that taken was a slap in the face.

   Posted 2 years ago by SoxsMom #

6. 

   Ok I thought I had missed something in the article. They were in trouble for camping in the courtyard???

   It's like when I flew to Dallas. They took my conditioner, but my exacto knife made it through security TWICE and flew with me on the plane.

   Same thing happened when I went to NE last winter.

   *shakes head*

   I know these are troubled times, but are they so troubled that common sense is no longer required?

   Posted 2 years ago by HuddysMama #

7. 

   I'm always surprised when, with my mouth, I go through Security and no bells go off!

   Posted 2 years ago by Emma #

8. 

   Something is just wrong here. Had they lit a campfire while they were camping? Those students in NHS should appeal directly to the organization. Ths shcool is being absurd!

   Posted 2 years ago by KYKAT 12 23 #

9. 

   It all relates to some bright bulb shedding 0 foot candles of light from the Shiffert Center of a Galaxy (that is a black hole to those of you who might miss the reference) deciding one size fits all should be applied without regard to reality.

   These are the same people who bring you Zero Tolerance for Drugs in the school and require students with EPI pens to check them in with the nurse. Someday these bright souls will have dead students to explain why they died of anaphalaxis because of a bee sting or other allergy they would have been prepared for if they had not had to ask for a red pass and travel across campus to wait for the nurse to come back from lunch.

   Point this out to them and they will get huffy.

   You see, Common Sense is also dangerous and must be interdicted from society.

   Posted 2 years ago by ailuromaniac #

10. 

    It really makes you wonder when the administration can't make decisions on the case at hand, but instead use the guidelines and rules in ways that ANYONE can see they were not intended for....Sad..poor kids, they do not deserve this on their record!!

    Posted 2 years ago by 2bpurring #

11. 

    Ailuromaniac that happened here about 5 years ago. The sub wouldn't allow the student to leave the room. She was having and asthma attack. She ended up dead by the end of the day. The law suit has been horrid. Now we are taliking a middle school age kid--capable of carrying an inhaler. Although I can not imagine not letting a child with a breathing problem! Common sense--I swear colleges need to make sure all take Common Sense 101 before graduation! Don't know why this surprised me though--daughter was having an asthma attack and was yelled at by her coach that she would not even think of dropping her last event--the mile because of a little breathing problem. She was in a hospital 2 days over that one. I was furious!

    Posted 2 years ago by SoxsMom #

12. 

    Somewhere along the way all common sense was thrown out the window. We deny children life saving needed medicine like inhalers and epipens, we strip search children for carrying one little aspirin in a purse, we handcuff and arrest a first grader for burping too much in class, but we allow children to get abortions without notifiying the parents. (I'm NOT opening a debate about abortion here. Merely pointing out a child can have this major surgery without parental permission or notification but a kid can't have an aspirin?)

    We arrest small children for being obnoxious class clowns with burps and passing gas but when students who are a true threat physically threaten or attack teachers the schools aren't allowed to enforce any corporal punishment or expell the troublemakers without a lawsuit?

    We've tossed all common sense to the winds and are far the worse off for doing so!

    Posted 2 years ago by Marnet #

13. 

    Amen Marnet!!

    Posted 2 years ago by SoxsMom #

14. 

    My brother graduated from high school in the mid 80's. Alex is smart, very smart. Well, in his junior year he decided to build a smoke bomb. The smoke bomb was placed in a locker, not his locker, and ignited during the homecoming pep rally. The smoke bomb was a little more powerful than he had planned and he blew the door off of the locker completely. The school officials knew that Alex was the only one in school that was smart enough to do such a thing but they had no proof what so ever that he did it. Nothing happened to him at all. I shudder to think where he would be for his not so harmless prank today.

    I am personally sick to death of one size fits all in our society. Why have we lost our common sense when dealing with children and teenagers? I always gave the schools persmission to spank my children if they were misbehaving. Consequently, my children never were spanked. I think they knew that if they received a spanking at school they would never live it down with me at home.

    Posted 2 years ago by tinafishfrombirthplaceofElvis #

15. 

    If I'd ever been caught doing any of my pranks (ok, it was the same prank numerous times) I would have gone to jail.

    I was the school firebug. I can admit that now that the statute of limitations has run out. :)

    Posted 2 years ago by HuddysMama #

16. 

    Wow, knee jerk reaction. They camped in the courtyard and suffered penalties far harsher and longer lasting than they deserved. The administrators need to step back and take a long hard look at themselves, preferably in the cold hard light of day.

    Posted 2 years ago by Moonshadow_NZ #

17. 

    My daughters graduation ceremony was unceremoniously interrupted during the recessional by the Superintendent of the Schools. He stopped the band and announced to the class they were dismissed.

    Their infraction.... Tossing the hats. The don't toss rule is one of the silliest I can think of. Put up a deposit, if you toss your hat and turn in a damaged one no return on deposit...end of problem. But noooooo! We have to have a no toss hat in the face of every movie and tv graduation hat tossing celebration since the yr 1 rule!

    The class continued the recessional as if the music were playing making the school officials look even more idiotic.

    The class were denied their diplomas that night, they either had to collect at the school or wait for the mail.

    I let my daughter collect hers alone under one condition. She was to tell the principal to tell the School Board that she was "18 yrs old and a REGISTERED VOTER. Think about it."

    Almost 1000 grads, if you just figure 1/2 eligible to vote and multiply by 4 (one for the student, 2 parents and a possible grandparent) you have almost 2000 POed voters.

    Posted 2 years ago by ailuromaniac #

18. 

    Why is it called "common sense" when it is apparently so rare?

    Posted 2 years ago by gatakitty #

19. 

    GK is it really you!!!

    Posted 2 years ago by SoxsMom #

20. 

    Oops...busted!

    Posted 2 years ago by gatakitty #

21. 

    I'm still trying to work out what message it sends the kids. I don't think it's the message that the administrators think they are getting over.

    Posted 2 years ago by Moonshadow_NZ #

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