Student suspended over call to mom in iraq

[NOTALENT]

WTF??? Damn Cold Hearted B I T C H E S!!! I would have done the same thing!
COLUMBUS, Ga. - A high school student was suspended for 10 days for refusing to end a mobile phone call with his mother, a soldier serving in Iraq, school officials said.
The 10-day suspension was issued because Kevin Francois was "defiant and disorderly" and was imposed in lieu of an arrest, Spencer High School assistant principal Alfred Parham said.
The confrontation Wednesday began after the 17-year-old junior got a call at lunchtime from his mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, who left in January for a one-year tour with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion.
Mobile phones are allowed on campus but may not be used during school hours. When a teacher told him to hang up, he refused. He said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom."
Parham said the teen's suspension was based on his reaction to the teacher's request. He said the teen used profanity when taken to the office.
"Kevin got defiant and disorderly," Parham said. "When a kid becomes out of control like that they can either be arrested or suspended for 10 days. Now being that his mother is in Iraq, we're not trying to cause her any undue hardship; he was suspended for 10 days."

[OGShocker]

He was back in school the following Monday. The School had 1000's of phone calls from around the Country, including one from me.

[NOTALENT]

He was back in school the following Monday. The School had 1000's of phone calls from around the Country, including one from me.
Really.. Prop's to u bro..I cant believe they even attempted to do that..Im glad to hear that it worked out for him.

[Silver]

Did they say sorry to him?
The power of love!

[Sleek-Jet]

... He said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom."
Yes, the school overreacted. But, I would be willing to bet the kid wasn't nearly as polite as he makes it sound when the teacher asked him to end the call. :argue:
It's all about spin... :)

[AzLakeLizard]

Yes, the school overreacted. But, I would be willing to bet the kid wasn't nearly as polite as he makes it sound when the teacher asked him to end the call. :argue:
It's all about spin... :)
Well, I am sure my reply would have been rather colorful also!.. that is his MOM and what she is doing and where she is, is cause enough for an emotional rebuttal for being told to hang up! :hammer2:
(but then again.. my being a former Marine might color my opinion! :D )

[moneypit]

Knowing the school rules, the student should have excused himself from class and finished the conversation outside of class. I would hope that the teacher would have been fine with that. If not, then the student has a legitimate gripe.
I also have a problem as to why a Mother is in Iraq.

[WYRD]

Knowing the school rules, the student should have excused himself from class and finished the conversation outside of class. I would hope that the teacher would have been fine with that. If not, then the student has a legitimate gripe.
I also have a problem as to why a Mother is in Iraq.
He was at lunch not in class

[NOTALENT]

Yes, the school overreacted. But, I would be willing to bet the kid wasn't nearly as polite as he makes it sound when the teacher asked him to end the call. :argue:
It's all about spin... :)
maybe..but I bet the way he was approached was in a snobby..Im the boss of u manner..as well..but still it was lunchtime..teachers have better things to worry about.

[moneypit]

I dont get why you could be aloud two have a phone on Campus but not aloud to use it...
School f'd up then. They should make special arrangements for any kid in that situation.

[HM]

This thing has the liberal-feel-good crap all over it....
He was just talking to his mommy in Iraq when the evil school teacher tried to impose riduculous school rules.
besides my evil twins moneypit and sleekjet, nobody else is not suspicous of this story? Why is this in the news to begin with?
OGShocker...I am suprised you fell for it. NO soup for you...3 weeks. :rollside:

[Waldo]

As a teacher, I would respect that type of phone call if the student explained the situation to me. I would have that student go to the office where I know my administration would fully understand.
However, if he was defiant, disorderly, and using profanity at teachers, administrators, or other campus employees....he should be suspended.
On the other hand, some teachers tend to act like they are "the" authority and will demand certain things (i.e., "Get off the phone, NOW!!! You are not supposed to be using now.") If this is the case, I could understand a reaction but NOT one with profanity! I am not one of these teachers BTW.

[Kilrtoy]

It is for what he did after the phone call....
he deserved it......

[My Man's Sportin' Wood]

As a teacher, I would respect that type of phone call if the student explained the situation to me. I would have that student go to the office where I know my administration would fully understand.
However, if he was defiant, disorderly, and using profanity at teachers, administrators, or other campus employees....he should be suspended.
On the other hand, some teachers tend to act like they are "the" authority and will demand certain things (i.e., "Get off the phone, NOW!!! You are not supposed to be using now.") If this is the case, I could understand a reaction but NOT one with profanity! I am not one of these teachers BTW.
Ditto. I think HolyMoly is right, also. Since I work at a high school, I'm guessing the scenario went something like this (purely speculation of course):
"Okay, Jimmy, the bell rang, it's time to get off the phone."
No response
"You need to end that conversation, now."
No response
"Give me that phone, lunch is over."
kid-"F-you, I'm talking to my mom."
At this point, I would also march the kid to the office. Perhaps it did not go down like this, but I imagine if the student would have responded in some way like, "I'm talking to my mom in Iraq" from the beginning, it probably wouldn't have been a problem.
Now, maybe this was one of those teachers or security guards who has a complex about being the authority, and didn't care who the kid was talking to, rules are rules. I don't know, I'm just saying, there are two sides to every story.

[JackieV]

Wow, kinda mixed feelings about this one.

[Backtanner]

I'm just curious as to why he needs a phone at school in the first place. As a new parent myself I see myself memorizing or at the minimum have their number in my wallet if I need to get in touch with my kid.

[Silver]

I'm just curious as to why he needs a phone at school in the first place. As a new parent myself I see myself memorizing or at the minimum have their number in my wallet if I need to get in touch with my kid.
New parent? Welcome to parenting these days! I think a call phone with rules is completely necessary!

[Ultrafied]

OK .... so now the word is out! Don't hang up, just say:
"Hey, I'm talking to my -Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Grandfather, Grandmother, Uncle, Aunt- in Iraq. Get out of my face."
Oh well, rules and respect or made to be broken. :D

[mickeyfinn]

This is all over the news in Ga. People were upset about the way this went down. Here is another thing that recently happened in one of our Georgia Schools. They fired a teacher because he reduced the grade of a student for sleeping in class.
Teacher fired after lowering grade of sleeping athlete
Associated Press
ATLANTA - A Gwinnett County teacher was fired early Friday after refusing to raise a student athlete's grade he lowered because the student appeared to be sleeping in class.
The Gwinnett County School Board voted 4-1 early Friday - after a marathon Thursday night meeting - to fire Dacula High School science teacher Larry Neace, said school system spokeswoman Sloan Roach.
Neace left the building after the ruling and would not comment.
His lawyers said they planned to appeal the dismissal to the State Board of Education within 30 days.
"These students lost a teacher who cared not only about their academic growth, but their growth as individuals," said Deidre M. Stephens-Johnson, who represented Neace.
More than 200 students, parents and teachers packed Thursday night's hearing. Many of them carried signs or wore T-shirts and buttons supporting Neace.
Gwinnett school officials said Neace was barred from campus for insubordination after he repeatedly refused to comply with a district policy that prohibits using grades as discipline.
Neace, who has taught at Dacula High for 23 years, was removed from class after he refused to raise the grade he had given a football player on an overnight assignment. Neace said he cut the student's perfect grade in half because he thought the student had fallen asleep at his desk the day the assignment was made.
School officials said they gave Neace a chance to restore the football player's grade. When he refused, they sent him home. He has not been allowed back at school since April 14, when he was told he could resign or face being fired.
Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks recommended to the board that Neace be fired.
"He cannot have a policy that supersedes board policy," Wilbanks said. "He had no right to do that."
Neace said he had a practice of reducing the grades of students who waste time or sleep in class. His course syllabus warns that wasting class time can "earn a zero for a student on assignments or labs."
No administrators had previously complained about the practice, which he adopted more than a decade ago, Neace said.
"What we have in this case is a case of a pampered football athlete sleeping in class and being given favored treatment on an academic grade," said Michael Kramer, another of Neace's lawyers. "What we have here is the principal essentially attempting to coerce and intimidate a teacher."
School system spokeswoman Sloan Roach said she did not know when the termination would take effect. "He was already suspended with pay until the outcome of this hearing," she said.