Student asking for a snow day snowballs into something bigger

[RACooper]

First off calling to question/complain at the official's home number crosses the line and I completely agree with the spouse's reply "Get over it, kid, and go to school!" - whiny little brat complaining because he didn't get to stay home because of 3 inches of snow?!?

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by RACooper

First off calling to question/complain at the official's home number crosses the line and I completely agree with the spouse's reply "Get over it, kid, and go to school!" - whiny little brat complaining because he didn't get to stay home because of 3 inches of snow?!?

Apparently the student had tried to contact the administrator for weeks at official numbers, to no avail.

The guy's a public official with a listed phone number - he doesn't stop being a public official at the threshold to his home, nor does a daytime phone call affect his privacy.

The kid was taking a role in his own education and questioning a decision that affects him - there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, regardless of the amount of snow. While this issue isn't exactly Tinker v. Board of Education, we should still applaud the kid rather than deriding him as a "whiner," especially given the fact that he has shown no iconoclastic or anti-authority tendencies at all that we know of - kid's not a troublemaker, by all descriptions. By turn, don't you think the woman would have said things a little differently had she known it would be on the news?

There's no need to call the kid a "whiner" - it just makes you sound like Old Man Cooper, who rode uphill both ways through high water, sub-zero temperatures, broken glass, the monster from Cloverfield and attempted pirate rape.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Apparently the student had tried to contact the administrator for weeks at official numbers, to no avail.

The guy's a public official with a listed phone number - he doesn't stop being a public official at the threshold to his home, nor does a daytime phone call affect his privacy.

The kid was taking a role in his own education and questioning a decision that affects him - there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, regardless of the amount of snow. While this issue isn't exactly Tinker v. Board of Education, we should still applaud the kid rather than deriding him as a "whiner," especially given the fact that he has shown no iconoclastic or anti-authority tendencies at all that we know of - kid's not a troublemaker, by all descriptions. By turn, don't you think the woman would have said things a little differently had she known it would be on the news?

There's no need to call the kid a "whiner" - it just makes you sound like Old Man Cooper, who rode uphill both ways through high water, sub-zero temperatures, broken glass, the monster from Cloverfield and attempted pirate rape.

again....f that was an issue, he should have had his parents handling this.

and I think she would have handled it differently dependent on the initial call.

Again...ad nauseum, we heard HER message...what did he say that would have initiated the meltdown?

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

again....f that was an issue, he should have had his parents handling this.

and I think she would have handled it differently dependent on the initial call.

Again...ad nauseum, we heard HER message...what did he say that would have initiated the meltdown?

Why do we expect kids to act mature on one hand and then go run to mommy and daddy on the other? If he'd been lewd or threatening in his message you know that he would have gotten in trouble for it. It sounds like this kid was persistent, not abusive although we may not know.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Why do we expect kids to act mature on one hand and then go run to mommy and daddy on the other? If he'd been lewd or threatening in his message you know that he would have gotten in trouble for it. It sounds like this kid was persistent, not abusive although we may not know.

I feel you Drole...but what I was saying is he should have started with mom and dad first...have THEM make the call and let THEM handle a potentially irate person. I don't care if he is a 3.9 student or not, adults should be handling the situation...not the child.

[Drolefille]

I disagree. There's nothing inappropriate about making the initial call itself. It isn't the parents' job to handhold their teenager, and he didn't do anything wrong by calling and leaving a message with name and number.

Show me where his call was obscene, abusive, etc. and I'd agree with you. But I'm not going to assume that it was.

[SWTXBelle]

If I as a parent feel that it is unsafe to take/send my child to school - he is not going, no matter what the school decides. The kid should have been talking to his parents about not going to school if the concern was his safety.

[skylark]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I disagree. There's nothing inappropriate about making the initial call itself. It isn't the parents' job to handhold their teenager, and he didn't do anything wrong by calling and leaving a message with name and number.

Show me where his call was obscene, abusive, etc. and I'd agree with you. But I'm not going to assume that it was.

Totally agree. Think of the "helicopter mom" threads that we all read this past fall. If we want kids to handle things themselves, it isn't a "turn 18 and everything changes" scenario. Kids have to learn gradually how to address a situation, and we can't demand that we make them wait on their parents to fight their battles one year and expect them to handle them without going back to mom and dad the next.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Show me where his call was obscene, abusive, etc. and I'd agree with you. But I'm not going to assume that it was.

Thats my point of contention Drole...the initial call.

regardless tho...his follow up by posting the message and phone number shows that he couldn't be responsible enough to handle adult biz on his own.

An ADULT would have saved the message and contacted the school board and LET THEM handle it...not pimping youtube...that part was childish.