Schools' actions aren't as crazy as they might seem

My school was so tough the school newspaper had an obituary section.

- Norm Crosby

Reading the news last week, I began to wonder if Georgia school administrators were losing their minds.

Case No. 1: In Columbus, a high school junior was suspended for the rest of the year because he refused to hang up his cell phone when his mother called during a lunch break. His mother, it was pointed out, was serving our country in Iraq, and the teenager had not heard from her in a month.

Case No. 2: In Tifton, a young woman was suspended because she wore "disruptive" T-shirts to class. The school defines "disruptive" as any shirt with a message or slogan. Hanna Smith's mother said her daughter was taught about the First Amendment and freedom of speech by the school, and she didn't see why they would ban it. And the disruptive message? "Don't drink and drive."

Case No. 3: A popular Gwinnett County physics teacher was fired by the school board because he gave a bad grade to a football player accused of sleeping in class.

All of these cases seem to clearly demonstrate the silly priorities of those directing public education. Our first reaction is one of shocked disbelief that we have become a society that has so many petty rules that we fail to see the big picture. But then, as that great philosopher Paul Harvey says, there is the "rest of the story."

The boy taking a cell phone call from his military mom provoked his punishment not by what he did, but how he reacted when school officials discovered he had walked outside to take the call. He became angry and used profanity, and officials said they had no idea who he was talking to. They also allowed him to come back to school Monday.

The girl with the T-shirt brings up another headache for schools in our modern society. If you allow "message" T-shirts, what do you do when that message provokes a response? Most school officials avoid the issue by avoiding messages altogether.

Finally, we have the teacher who gave a bad grade for someone accused of bad behavior.

Although he said it was his long-standing practice, you can see where it can get you in trouble. What if a high school student who gets all As clashes with a teacher who decides to negate those academic measures by linking them to what the teacher perceives are behavioral shortcomings?

That's not fair, most of us would say. Behavior should be judged on its own standard, not linked to an academic mark.

In the end, we are left with three examples of school situations that initially seemed messed up, but upon reflection seem to sort of make sense.

And if you're like me, you're glad you don't have to go to school anymore. There's too much to think about.

l

POR FAVOR: Several kindly readers pointed out that I misspelled the Spanish word for six in Friday's column. It is seis. I knew that. I even looked it up to make sure they hadn't changed the spelling since my last Spanish class in 1970. But I typed it wrong.

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TODAY'S JOKE: Three doctors were on their way to a convention when their car had a flat. They got out and examined the tire. The first doctor said, "I think it's flat."

The second doctor examined it and said, "It sure looks flat."

The third doctor felt the tire and said, "It feels like it's flat."

All three nodded their heads in agreement and said, "We'd better run some tests."