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Originally posted by Fewdfreak
Still, some think the incident has been blown out of proportion. Parents of those who face punishment plan to try and legally block the suspension since none of the incidents took place on school grounds. A mother of two boys who received suspensions did not want to go on camera, but she says parents will fight the punishment. She feels the school doesn't have the right to suspend students for something that happened off school grounds and after the school year was over.
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Larry Kaplan, the uncle and attorney of Marnie Holz, the first GBN student to go to court and the last to drop her legal actions, had some interesting perspectives on the courts and school punishments. Marnie was unsuccessful in both state and federal court. Mr. Kaplan indicated that, in his research, the courts almost never get involved in these types of disputes between parents and school districts. These parents in Bettendorf should save their money and let their kids accept the consequences for their actions. I've found that sending a clear message that you don't approve of particular behaviors can be effective in stopping them...
When my son was in 5th grade, he got into a fight (he retaliated) and received a one day suspension. The prinicipal was very kind when he told me the story and I actually appreciated that they cared enough about my son to send him the message that his behavior was unacceptable. I took the day he was suspended off of work and had him do some pretty hefty yard work (digging up a dead bush, planting a new one). And since I used a vacation day to supervise him, I told him I wasn't willing to take another day off to go on a trip he'd been asking for. Nothing about his consequences had any long lasting negative affect on him, but, you know, it was the last time he got in trouble at school. (He's 15 now.)
I really think that if parents would focus on the reason their kids were punished, and not on fighting the consequences, there would be far more civility in our society. For me, its pretty simple, treat others as you would like to be treated. (Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now!)