stupid principal tricks

May. 15, 2006 - 12:09 pm

On Friday, OldestBoy brought home a bit of news, with great disappointment: apparently, there are problems at school where congregations of the older kids are causing more fights to break out. I have heard about the increase in these fights from him, but this is the first time I have heard from the Principal a *reason* for them.

Principal's solution? Groups of no more than three kids together at recess/lunch. Huh? He was all despondent that he couldn't hang out with all his friends, if he so desired. He wondered what he was supposed to do... tell his other friends to go away if they got to school a little late or took a little longer eating their lunches? It seemed to me that was worse for his social development than anything else that might happen *due* to the kids hanging out together.

I agreed with him, told him that the solution as implemented was unacceptable, and that I would talk to his teacher to find out the skinny. Sixth graders sometimes can blow up the whole world around them into something tragic; just note how the illegal alien rally was relayed by him. I told him that pending talking to the teacher he was to go ahead and hang out with whomever he wanted to, and in whatever numbers he wished. He really is a good kid, and I have no worries about him getting into any of that trouble.

Besides... I took this as a learning experience and so showed him a little thing called the "Bill of Rights," where it says that he is allowed "...the right of the people peaceably to assemble..."

I spoke to his teacher this morning, and apparently it's pretty much as OldestBoy stated... except that the "large groups" are tending to intimidate some of the other kids... it's more of a peer pressure and putting down kind of thing that was getting out of hand rather than fighting. Fine; but it's *still* 10% of the kids that are ruining it for the rest, and a ham-handed response by the Principal besides. I informed his teacher that OldestBoy would continue to hang out with whomever he wanted, and in whatever numbers he deemed fit. The teacher wholeheartedly agreed with me (at least to my face, but he's the type to let me know if he thought I was being out of line) and that it was more to "scare" the kids who were screwing up and likely wouldn't be enforced anyway.

That's wrong in a whole different way. His teacher and I came to the conclusion that there's no need at this point to take it any farther up the ladder (meaning the Principal or the district), but I'll tell the Boy that he needs to let me know if anyone makes an issue of it.

Then *I* will.