Quote:
Originally posted by AGDee
Here's my interpretation of what I'm reading, based on what I learned working with adolescents and reading between the lines because the school is not allowed to share stuff about the students because of privacy rules.
1. This is an "Alternative High School". The only alternative high schools I have ever heard of in Michigan were always for the kids who were suspended/expelled or dropped out of regular school. The kids there generally aren't angels.
2. Often, kids on the psych units where I've worked would make threats to others or swear in other languages so that staff wouldn't know what they were saying. They were quite surprised that I knew all the cuss words in Spanish.
3. I think that given the above information, they had similar things happening at this school and therefore said "No speaking foreign languages", so that the teachers could know and understand what was being said.
4. I also think that the school's limited ability to share more information with the media makes them look like idiots because they can't defend themselves, but it's the way it is. Hospitals often face the same dilemma with public relations.
So, I think there's more to this than one kid speaking Spanish one time and getting suspended for it.
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I'm inclined to agree with AGDee on this, for several reasons:
1) Rules are rules. If "no speaking a foreign language" is a rule, then he should not have been doing so.
2) Alternative Schools means the same thing here - I doubt that this is the first time this kid has been in trouble.
3) Saying that you're going to fiscally handicap yourself in 20 years by not learning Spanish is just an out. They've said that about Russian, they've said that about Japanese. That famous "they" seem to have been wrong both times.
The official language of the United States is English!
I am all for learning other languages - I have taken four other languages, am semi-fluent in two, and have picked up enough of three other languages to at least communicate. Actually, I would like to see
everyone know at least two languages, from kindergarten on up. But! There is a time and place for everything, and if this school says no to other languages outside of class, then so be it.