Musings from Brian J. Noggle

Who Will Teach Them Right From Wrong?

Here's a sordid story. In New Mexico, a twelve year old (misnomered in the story as a teen) puts some change in the school soda machine and gets two sodas. Woo! He's a hero to his fellow students. When a teacher sees him, teacher says stop that. Student continues. Teacher disciplines student with two days of in-school, whatever that means. And suddenly Rio Rancho, which has nothing to do in the long autumn evenings until cable television reaches their hamlet, talks and talks about this.

Here's the school district's story:

Rio Rancho Public Schools issued a written statement: "On Monday a teacher observed Mason manipulating the soft drink machine at the school. The teacher advised Mason that getting two sodas for the price of one is the equivalent to stealing. When the teacher observed Mason doing the same thing again on Tuesday, she wrote him up."

That sounds about right to me. Young Mason is taking something for which he did not pay, and worse, he's doing it repeatedly and showing his friends how to do it. When the teacher said stop, young Mason did not stop. So discipline follows.

But witness poor Mason's trauma:

The boy said the teacher called him a thief and accused him of trying to teach other students how to steal. He was written up, given a two-day in-school suspension and the incident will appear on his permanent school record.

"It makes me feel very sad that I'm going to be thought as a thief later on in my life," Mason Kisner said. "Heck, I might not get in a good college or get a good job because on my permanent record it will say that when I was a kid, I stole."

Someone should explain to young Mason that he's being taught a lesson here, and that he should not game the system or steal or commit fraud, because it's wrong and because it will eventually carry a longer sentence than two days of in-school suspension (do you suppose that means hanging him by his wrists in the main hallway?).

That someone probably won't be Mason's father, who's too eager to jump into the tantrum:

"I'm flabbergasted, bewildered, dumbfounded. I can't think of another word to describe how I feel about this incident," said Edward Kisner, the boy's father. "What kind of character is this showing Mason?"
. . . . "I'm very disappointed I haven't gotten a phone call from the school rescinding Mason's suspension at this point," said Edward Kisner. "You know, when you say you're wrong, it's not a sign of weakness."

Obviously, he has no idea of character, but probably a good grasp of weakness.

(Link seen on Fark.)

- posted by Brian J. @ 6:44 PM