Student suspended over call from mom in
and was dumbfounded by the reaction of the administration at the school. Let me fill in some of the details for you.
The 10-day suspension was issued because Kevin Francois was "defiant and disorderly" and was imposed in lieu of an arrest, Spencer High School assistant principal Alfred Parham said.
When I saw defiant and disorderly I thought I need to see what their definition of this is, especially when they said that he could be arrested for this behavior.
The confrontation Wednesday began after the 17-year-old junior got a call at lunchtime from his mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, who left in January for a one-year tour with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion.
Cell phones are allowed on campus but may not be used during school hours. When a teacher told him to hang up, he refused. He said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom."
Parham said the teen's suspension was based on his reaction to the teacher's request. He said the teen used profanity when taken to the office.
"Kevin got defiant and disorderly," Parham said. "When a kid becomes out of control like that they can either be arrested or suspended for 10 days. Now being that his mother is in Iraq, we're not trying to cause her any undue hardship; he was suspended for 10 days."
In a situation like this you have to take into account that his mother is not just away, she is in a warzone. It is not inconceivable to see why her child would be concerned about her. It is not hard to understand why he would want to speak with her as long as possible. It is not far-fetched to say that he may be worried about her safety.
And I understand that they may have been upset with his reaction, but come on, show some common sense here. What lesson are you teaching? What is he going to learn during an enforced 10 day vacation.
I wonder what Brian would have done. Sorry to put you on the spot, but I don't know of any other school administrators that read my blog.
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