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#Post#: 3579--------------------------------------------------
School Trouble
By: Jack Date: February 8, 2018, 12:39 pm
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Because the 'teaching' thread really should be more about my
class and student, I decided to start this one to deal with my
various office interactions.
When I came in this morning, Mr. P was talking to the councilor
(Mr. C), and looked relieved to see me.
"Jack, I'm trying to deal with a minor emergency. You used to
cover for your vice-principal, didn't you?"
"Yes," I answered, "He was having chemo, and I'd cover when he
was recovering from a treatment. It wasn't full time, and that
was my last semester teaching - I went full time at the store
after that.'"
"Well, I have a favor to ask. Mr. C prefers not to paddle or
deal with discipline. I have a few young men waiting to be
dealt with. It's nothing major, but I'd prefer to get it over
with. I've already marked their sheets. Talk to them, and if
you change anything, please make a note as to why. Can you do
that?"
I shrugged. "Sure."
There were three boys sitting there. I looked at the forms for
each of them, and picked one with whom to start.
The first boy was one I had seen before, but didn't know. His
name was Rick, a fairly cute black kid, who's a classmate of
Kline's. He was paired up with Brandon Malone, but I wanted to
talk to each of them separately. The report said that they had
been fighting after school, but that no punches had been thrown.
They claimed they were just wrestling. Both of them gave
pretty much the same version, so I had them both in the room.
We looked up the definition of scuffling, and talked about why
it's not allowed. Neither of them wanted to involve their
parents (and, to be fair, they had been seen wrestling, and no
one was trying to treat it as fighting). Scuffling is
considered moderately serious, since it's both a cause of actual
fights, and an excuse boys often use to try to cover actual
fights. Both of them received three swats with their pants
lowered. Rick called out, but managed not to actually cry.
Brandon took it a bit more quietly than that.
The third boy who'd been awaiting me was Sandy Schuman, whom you
might remember from a bit of tobacco trouble with Joe last fall.
He had exceeded hit tardy limit, and needed a couple of swats
on the trousers to reset his limit. He was very polite and
matter of fact about it. He actually thinks I'm Joe's uncle,
and knows about me teaching their. His family had bought their
tree from the North Pole (the business Joe's dad and I co-own),
and they really like it.
When I went out, I had another senior awaiting me, but this one
turned out to be a real problem, and I'll have to detail it
later.
#Post#: 3585--------------------------------------------------
Re: School Trouble
By: Zyngaru Date: February 8, 2018, 2:53 pm
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It looks like Mr. P. just made a nice maneuver and made Jack the
back-up disciplinarian. Possibly even the primary
disciplinarian when Jack is at the school.
Mr. P. had three boys waiting and even before Jack was done with
them, he added another boy into the queue.
Yep, Jack is going to be known at school as The Paddler. :o ;D
:o
Joking!!!!!!!!!!! Sort of. ::) ::) ::)
#Post#: 3587--------------------------------------------------
Re: School Trouble
By: David M. Katz Date: February 8, 2018, 3:27 pm
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Waiting [s]patiently[/s] for the info on the senior. ;D
#Post#: 3596--------------------------------------------------
Re: School Trouble
By: Zyngaru Date: February 8, 2018, 4:24 pm
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[quote author=David M. Katz link=topic=388.msg3587#msg3587
date=1518125268]
Waiting [s]patiently[/s] for the info on the senior. ;D
[/quote]
ME TOO!
#Post#: 3603--------------------------------------------------
Re: School Trouble
By: Jack Date: February 9, 2018, 4:34 am
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As I said, when I finished dealing with my line of waiting boys,
another had appeared. He was obviously in the upper grades, he
looked miserable, and I was pretty sure his pushed up right
sleeve explained why. I took his discipline slip and asked him
to come back with me. His name was Taylor Moore.
Sure enough, he was there for a major dress code violation
because of his tattoo. He explained that he had to keep the tat
moisturized, and that fresh tats can leak plasma while they're
healing, and he was afraid of his sleeve getting stuck to the
tat and drying, and you're not supposed to cover them all the
time. I finally broke in and explained that some of my adult
sons have tats, and that I've had to deal with them before. I
did chew him out about the timing - we're only about a month
away from Spring Break. He explained he hadn't known. It's on
his upper shoulder so he thought it wouldn't be exposed. I
countered by pointing out that it's his duty to know - doing
something then violating the rules out of ignorance isn't much
excuse. The kid admitted his dad had already chewed him out and
told him a lot of the same things.
I had to pause to read a couple of things - which is the main
reason this didn't become a BOTD: I wasn't going to try to write
the BCA Code of Conduct. The relevant part is that, if a
student is in dress code violation, and they refuse/are unable
to correct it, they will be placed in ISS (in-school suspension
- being placed in a detention room and not attending regular
classes) until it's fixed. Part of the reason Tayor was so
upset is that his Dad grounds him strictly if he gets ISS.
I did look at Taylor's record while this was going on. The
reason is sealed, but Taylor transferred to BCA when he was in
sixth grade when he was assigned to DAEP (Disciplinary Alternate
Education Program, which is incredibly restrictive at best). I
asked Taylor about his father's reaction and CP in the home (out
of my own curiosity mostly),. but he said he thinks his dad
doesn't really agree with whuppping teenagers - his dad hasn't
done it since he was in 7th grade. On the other hand, it looks
like h'is dad's not against it either, since he had two bare
sessions when he was in 8th and 9th grade - one for fighting and
one for basically bullying - playing a 'joke' where a kid got
hurt a little.
I can kind of understand that. While I don't really agree with
dress codes, there are reasons for them. Allowing someone to
just flagrantly violate them kind of defeats the purpose. On
the other hand, it's been proven that ISS is harmful to a
students grades (probably because they're not being taught when
they're there, and get behind, as well as simply isolating them
from the community).
Let me pause to say two things. First, there was nothing wrong
with the tattoo. It was two roses with the vines intertwined and
it had a ribbon with two names and sets of dates on it - his
mother's parents and heir birth and death dates. Taylor had the
new tat yesterday because he'd turned 18 on Wednesday. When
9/11 happened, when he was 17 months old, his dad went into the
military, and he and his mom lived with her parents for about
the next three years. He grew up with them being the major
people in his life - a lot of his earliest memories are about
them. The thing is, they were nearly as old as my grandparents,
and they're both deceased now, so he wanted to get this tat.
I managed to find a statement in the BCA code of conduct that I
remembered seeing before It basically says that there are
reasons for policies, and it's important that they're followed,
but that the primary goal of BCA is the education and training
of the students, and their welfare has to be considered
foremost.
"Taylor, if there was an alternative to ISS, what would you be
willing to do?"
"Anything!"
"Even if it meant a harsh paddling?"
"Yes," he said, a bit less enthusiastically.
Since Mr. P was dealing with an emergency, I went to the
secondary women's principal. I laid out my reasoning that this
was a stupid mistake, and something that he could NOT correct
right away, not something he was refusing to. She made the
arguments I expected, but she didn't seem to be strongly opposed
(turns out she has 7 tats). We had to negotiate a bit, but she
signed off on my solution.
"I went back and took the Lexan paddle out of the cabinet and
showed it to him. He'd only heard whispers of it, but he knew
it was scary. I explained that, for him to avoid ISS, his
punishment for the violation was going to have to be memorable
enough that he didn't laugh it off, and that no one else wanted
to repeat it. As well as that, he was also going to have to
report to the office before 8am every morning and do 'detention'
until the first bell, until he could cover the tat again, which
should be after about a week.
Taylor looked relieved, until I asked Mr. C to join us as the
witness, then he looked sick again.
I cleared part of the desk and, instead of leaning against it, I
let him lay so his upper body was supported, and he was griping
the sides. When he stepped up to the side of the desk, he undid
his pants. They were loose enough that they fell to his knees.
He was wearing black boxers briefs with skulls all over them -
Old Navy I think (the waistband was black with black writing, so
a bit hard to make out). It took a minute to adjust him - I
wanted him to have plenty of support, but I wanted space between
his hips and the desk, so he didn't push forward and hurt
himself.
You might notice that I haven't mentioned how many swats I was
going to give. He hadn't noticed that either. If he screwed
this up by laughing about it or acting like he got away with
something - well, his punishment was already signed off on, and
there's not really much they can do to me, but it could have
caused some bad feelings. While there were loopholes in his
situation, he could still make things harder for other kids in
bad situations in the future, so I intended to make sure he
remembered this. I was planning to give him a minimum of six
swats, but I was willing to go to eight if I thought he was too
blase about things.
Taylor isn't a great looking kid, but he's not ugly either. He
is carrying a few extra pounds - the worst thing is he has one
of those rears where it looks more like just one solid surface
instead of two cheeks. I lined up and decided to just do a set
of swats down each cheek, alternating, and if I had to go 8, I'd
go back and put the lengthwise middle of the paddle centered on
the crack.
He took the first two pretty well, and stayed fairly quiet for
the next pair. By the sixth, he was yelping, but I went ahead.
He yelled at the seventh, as it was layering over already
tenderized territory, and when the eighth one landed down
towards his sit spots, he howled.
I had Taylor stand up, and asked him a couple of questions. As
Mr. C and I discussed if Taylor had learned his lesson or needed
a couple of more, Taylor was starting to cry a little. I told
him to pull up his pants, but, while Mr. C signed the paperwork,
I made sure Taylor understood exactly how important his attitude
and compliance with the 'detention' was and why. I also
explained to him that this was not just a school thing, but
adults are held accountable all the time, and just because you
claim not to have known might not save your job. I didn't want
him grounded or in ISS, but I didn't want him feeling like he
got away with something either. He swore to me he understood,
and seemed almost pathetically grateful, considering he had to
peel his shorts off his butt before he dressed (and he did take
time for a good rub, after Mr. C had left the room).
#Post#: 3605--------------------------------------------------
Re: School Trouble
By: Adric Date: February 9, 2018, 6:51 am
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So now he will go to classes for the next week or so with one
sleeve rolled up above his upper shoulder to fully expose the
tat? I'm surprised at the necessity of that considering that
many people have them in places that they clearly could not
leave exposed for a week. It seems that having a sleeve draped
down over it would not be as bad as covering it with a bandage.
I think Taylor is overreacting to the situation.
#Post#: 3606--------------------------------------------------
Re: School Trouble
By: Journey Date: February 9, 2018, 7:36 am
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I don't know anything about tattoos, but I remember seeing some
celebrities with their tattoos wrapped up in cling wrap. Could
Taylor have wrapped it up and let his sleeve down?
Out of curiosity, which of your adult sons have tattoos? Were
they still living with you/in college when they got them?
#Post#: 3607--------------------------------------------------
Re: School Trouble
By: db105 Date: February 9, 2018, 7:59 am
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I'm glad it could be solved in an acceptable manner. I don't
like using the dress code for this, because the dress code is
designed thinking about clothes, and problems with clothes you
can always correct, either immediately or once you get home.
Taylor could not take his tattoo off.
Besides, the tattoo is rather sweet.
At the same time, I appreciate the school is not happy about a
student openly displaying tattoos. Fortunately it's only for a
few days. What about PE, though? He'll be displaying his tattoos
in the changing room. Won't that cause an unwanted pull effect
when other students see it?
#Post#: 3608--------------------------------------------------
Re: School Trouble
By: Zyngaru Date: February 9, 2018, 9:58 am
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Not knowing anything about tattoos and their maintenance, I
won't comment on covering and not covering them for maintenance.
The way I understand what you wrote. Tattoos are allowed at
school. Taylor's trouble was because of how he had to dress for
it's maintenance, not that he got a tattoo. So in P.E. or
elsewhere when his tattoo is exposed fully, there won't be a
problem with it?
My question is this. Are tattoos allowed to show at school in
general? Like tattoos on the forearm and neck?
I ask because many companies do not allow tattoos to show. The
company I just retired from, doesn't. If you had tattoos, you
had to keep them covered while at work, if not you were let go.
(It was a retail company that had uniforms and dress code.)
#Post#: 3609--------------------------------------------------
Re: School Trouble
By: Jack Date: February 9, 2018, 1:52 pm
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[quote author=Adric link=topic=388.msg3605#msg3605
date=1518180681]
I'm surprised at the necessity of that considering that many
people have them in places that they clearly could not leave
exposed for a week. It seems that having a sleeve draped down
over it would not be as bad as covering it with a bandage. I
think Taylor is overreacting to the situation.
[/quote]
I'm not sure how people handle it on say, a butt cheek, but in
most places, you could wear loose fitting clothes. In the case
of a shoulder/upper arm, the sleeve will be loosening and
tightening as you move your arm. I don't really know if he was
overreacting or not, but I do remember my boys keeping it
uncovered as much as possible during the day for the first week
or so.
[quote author=Journey link=topic=388.msg3606#msg3606
date=1518183371]
I don't know anything about tattoos, but I remember seeing some
celebrities with their tattoos wrapped up in cling wrap. Could
Taylor have wrapped it up and let his sleeve down?
Out of curiosity, which of your adult sons have tattoos? Were
they still living with you/in college when they got them?
[/quote]
My understanding is that it's not supposed to be wrapped too
much of the day.
As I remember, Mikell, JD, PJ, Tommy, Marcus, and Caleb all have
tats. That's as simple as Charlie having a navy anchor, to PJ,
whom I believe has 7 now.
[quote author=db105 link=topic=388.msg3607#msg3607
date=1518184756]
I'm glad it could be solved in an acceptable manner. I don't
like using the dress code for this, because the dress code is
designed thinking about clothes, and problems with clothes you
can always correct, either immediately or once you get home.
Taylor could not take his tattoo off.
Besides, the tattoo is rather sweet.
At the same time, I appreciate the school is not happy about a
student openly displaying tattoos. Fortunately it's only for a
few days. What about PE, though? He'll be displaying his tattoos
in the changing room. Won't that cause an unwanted pull effect
when other students see it?
[/quote]
Daniel, I checked around and a lot of companies have policies
against tats and/or piercings. I can especially appreciate it
at a Christian school.
I agree the tattoo is sweet, but it would still be sweet in
another month or in 4 more.
As for the changing room - a lot of things are seen in the
changing room that we normally discourage displaying in most
parts of the school. For that matter, he is a senior, and I'm
not sure he even has gym class.
[quote author=Zyngaru link=topic=388.msg3608#msg3608
date=1518191895]
The way I understand what you wrote. Tattoos are allowed at
school. Taylor's trouble was because of how he had to dress for
it's maintenance, not that he got a tattoo. So in P.E. or
elsewhere when his tattoo is exposed fully, there won't be a
problem with it?
My question is this. Are tattoos allowed to show at school in
general? Like tattoos on the forearm and neck?
I ask because many companies do not allow tattoos to show. The
company I just retired from, doesn't. If you had tattoos, you
had to keep them covered while at work, if not you were let go.
(It was a retail company that had uniforms and dress code.)
[/quote]
I'm not sure where I said that tattoos are allowed. I think
it's more fair to say they're not specifically forbidden.
However, under Texas law, it's basically illegal to tattoo a
minor, which removes a lot of the question. But no - the
display of a tattoo is specifically forbidden and is considered
a major dress code violation.
[hr]
I arrived at the office a few minutes before 8am this morning.
It was actually quiet, with no one waiting in the 'abandon all
hope' seats. The receptionist was slightly busy with what
seemed to be a couple of kids who'd been out sick being checked
back into school. Everyone else was sitting around drinking
coffee or tea and discussing the upcoming day (or gossiping -
whatever).
The principal's waiting area didn't have anyone awaiting
judgement, but it wasn't empty. Taylor was already there. When
I walked in, he started to rise, then glanced at Mr. P and sat
back down, so I walked over to him. He held out his hand, so we
shook.
"Thanks again Mr. Wells. My dad was still kind of ticked with
me, but he said what you did was enough. I told him what you
said when you chewed me out, and he said you were right. And he
got me this!"
'This' was a very light weight windbreaker that looked about two
sizes to big for him. It covered the tat, but it definitely
wouldn't rub on it. It looked light weight enough that it
probably wouldn't get too heavy.
"Too bad no one thought of that a day earlier - could have saved
you some pain."
He shrugged.
"At least this way, if I need to take if off, I can. Man, you
were right about that paddle though. When I sat down in first
period, I thought I was going to cry. And it... it didn't
exactly hurt all day, but I didn't have any trouble remembering
what happened. It kind of felt like it should hurt every time I
sat down. And red! My butt was still red when I got home last
night, and I think it was kind of pink when I woke up this
morning."
"Guess it was pretty effective then?"
"Yes, sir. I'm just glad my dad didn't know you a long time
ago. He said if he'd known it'd make this big an impression on
me, he woulda never quit whupping me."
You could tell by the way he said it that he was sure his dad
had been kidding, but you could tell by his eyes that he wasn't
100% sure.
Anyway, I said hello to everyone, got a couple of memos out of
my box, and headed to class.
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