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Creed's in trouble again: Should we buy the principal a paddle?
Got a call last week from the school. Some man in the principal's office was calling about my sixth-grader, Creed.
"Yes, I'm calling about Norman Fulton -- er, Fulton Norman."
"Uh, Creed Norman is my son, yes."
(Note to school officials: Some people go by their middle name. Stop calling my son Fulton!'')
"Let me read from his referral,'' the guy said. "Creed is constantly calling out. Today he called a classmate stupid and said, 'You're uneduMAcated.' He also acted like he was retarded by putting his hands inside his sleeves.''
OK, I'm thinking. Go on. Let's get to the part where he stabbed someone.
"Yes, OK. I'll talk to him.''
So they put him in internal suspension for a day.
Creed, of course, had an entirely different version of the story.
Being the "strictest parent I know," according to my son, I punished him. Respect for authority has to be the main consideration here, not necessarily the content or intent of the comment in question.
But I notice that teachers in Broward County seem to struggle to keep control of their classrooms, and they have a thin arsenal of punishment.
I would be in favor of paddling.
Much like when you are house training a dog, the farther you separate the the punishment from 'the crime,' the less effect it has. Paddling would be immediate, and a great deterrent. It doesn't hurt THAT bad, but it sure is scary!
(And yes, I KNOW some principals have abused the privilege of paddling. Please don't feel that I must be reminded that SOME errant school officials should never be armed with paddles. I think there should be a witness or two witnesses, and a process of some kind.)
In these days where kids spend their lives, into the evening, at school in after-care and have only a few hours of wake-time left at home, which is packed with eating, homework, sports, etc., I don't think it makes good sense to pass on to the parents the delivering of punishment for something we were not even witness to, that occurred hours and hours ago.
I'm pretty sure they used to paddle kids in this county. And I think they should think about bringing it back.
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work...
Joy Oglesby has an infant daughter and a sister 13 years her junior, whom she babies to the now-adult...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s...
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters...
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters...
Anne Vasquez is the Online Editor in charge of overseeing SunSentinel.com. She is the mother of a 5-year-old boy and a newborn daughter.
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces...
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 13, and Lily, 6, and is married...
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator, and father of two boys and a girl all under the age of seven.
Comments
VEry good point about having to discipline for something not witness too. Never thought about it that way.
Just a point of reference, I do know of first hand knowledge through another parent in north/central florida that the school did send home a waiver allowing the principle to use a "paddle" or spanking I forget the exatc terminology. There was a specific procedure/protocol to be used in such incidents. The parent supported the idea.
Upon hearing this information, we were shocked, and amazed. As little as it may be, there are some parents that know what "parenting" entails.
Posted by: SFN | March 14, 2007 3:16 PM
Im having the same problem with my son "Christian" he is contantly calling me, "Ma, mrs.Burns wants to talke to you, becasue she said I threw a piece of paper at Nikky", I mean to get these types of calls every other days is really frustrating, when the teacher gets on the phone,she talks to me as though my son has been sentenced to die in the electric chair, I mean seriously.... I also beleive the the teachers have no control in the classroom and they try no to.... one of the teachers of Christians schools everyday is telling them something personal about her life, oh,,, oh this is good I had a call from her one day and she was crying, she scared me I had to go to the school because she couldnt tell me what happend, I though something terrbily happend to Christian,he did do something, but apparently her day was really bad, that she had a breakdown, what it turns out Christian called out to another student "you big moomoo" I mean really.
Posted by: ANGIE | April 3, 2007 9:12 AM