We've had some recent cases in the area where schools have a "zero-tolerance" policy on drugs of any sort, including kids' own prescription or OTC drugs, and the kids being thrown out of school for it. One girl took a prescription pill (her own) rather than having the school nurse hold it and going to the office in order to take it and was thrown out of school. Another boy was caught with illegal drugs and thrown out a few months before he was scheduled to graduate.
And a lot of parents are all for zero-tolerance ... until their own kid gets caught in it.
Why didn't someone tell me that the guys I slept with in high school would be the same men I'd have to eventually face at my 20th high school reunion?
My school had a similar sort of policy with medicines -- the only things that kids were allowed to carry around with them were inhalers and epipens. Everything else had to be kept at the nurse's office. Luckily, this was a small school with a very good nurse, so the system generally worked pretty well. I sometimes needed to take Advil during the school day. When I needed that, I'd go to the nurse, who would take two Advils from a locked cabinet and give them to me. That bottle of Advil was one that I had brought in, with notes from my mother and doctor saying how many I could have.
The place where this systems could sometimes break down was if a teacher didn't let the kid go to the nurse. It was always the same two or three gym teachers who would insist that kids were "just fine" and wouldn't give a hall pass to go to the nurse. With one of them once, I just ignored her and went without a hall pass anyway, knowing that the nurse would be on my side, and that I was really in too much pain to argue any more, anyway. My sister, and several other kids with asthma, who followed the rules and didn't go to the nurse when the teacher said no, ended up in the ER, several times.
I swear that Dahlia's humor is the only thing that gets me through some of the opinions coming out of the Court. I know that I am not alone.
And this is so odd in light of the car search ruling that they handed down yesterday.
And, a Buffista (if he's not, he should be) explains Easter.
On the subject of nekkidness at school, my kids had swimming today. Afterwards, the swimming teacher took me aside to recount the following.
Boys in changing rooms: GIGGLE GIGGLE GIGGLE GIGGLE GIGGLE!
PE Teacher suspects all may not be well. Goes in.
Teacher: What's all this about?
A: They're laughing at my penis!
Teacher:
prepares to crush other boys for wrecking A's self confidence.
A:
(clearly insulted)
...because it's so big!
Teacher: ....Er...I think you're going to have the last laugh on that one, mate.
A: (clearly insulted) ...because it's so big!
Teacher: ....Er...I think you're going to have the last laugh on that one, mate.
BWHAHAHA!!! I love children.
A wins! Bwah! Priceless.
On the subject of the zero-tolerance thing, I've found it all a little scary. You hear stories of kindergartens suspended for "sexual harrassment" because they kissed a classmate or hugged a teacher, and it's like, we do remember they are *children*, right? Who are still learning appropriate behaviors?
I feel like I need to send my kids to school with a list of things they cannot say, even in jest.
My sister, and several other kids with asthma, who followed the rules and didn't go to the nurse when the teacher said no, ended up in the ER, several times.
Did the nay-saying teachers pay the ER costs? Because that would have been pretty good behavior change reinforcement.
I feel like I need to send my kids to school with a list of things they cannot say, even in jest.
Tell me about it. A lot of the time, I suspect that Nate's "attitude" in school comes from the combination of a) snarky parents b) a well-developed sense of the absurd and c) the fact that we encourage questioning and debate in our house, even though ultimately, he knows it's a (mostly) benevolent dictatorship.
