student suspended over call to mom in iraq

guppyart · 05-06-2005, 06:19 PM

COLUMBUS, Ga. - A high school student was suspended for 10 days for refusing to end a mobile phone call with his mother, a soldier serving in Iraq, school officials said.
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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.

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.

Mobile 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."
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On the Net:
http://www.mcsdga.net/schools/high/spencer.html

I personally think that what the school is doing is wrong they should have let the boy talk in the hall way so that he wouldn't disrupt the class and then later asked him nicely to refrain from using his phone during school hours.

lain sorcer · 05-06-2005, 06:31 PM

I would be upset if I hadn't talked to my mom in a long time and then I only got a few minutes to talk. I've never been in a school since I was home schooled.

fish_doc · 05-06-2005, 07:49 PM

A simple solution would be to take the phone and ask who was on the other end. Then they could go to the office and figure out if his story is true or not later. The call was at lunchtime. At work lunch is not considered work hours since I dont get paid for it. The rule was that phones are not to be used during school hours. I think they could have bent the rule a bit using these guidelines and then got a little stricter by redefining the rules later in the week to make it clear of the situation of him and his family and the loophole in the rules. Im sure most students would have understood and not raised their phones to make calls during their lunch.

fishfreaks · 05-06-2005, 08:04 PM

i would have done the same thing as this kid

ron v · 05-06-2005, 08:46 PM

I also believe the rules should have been bent. However we don't know the full story. The teacher probably didn't know it was his mom from Iraq at first and was following policy. Sounds like the kid may have had a little additude and if he had acted differently, the result may have been different. Who knows?

Ownager2004 · 05-06-2005, 09:19 PM

Since im not long out of high school i recognize this kind of situation. Its the teachers that take anything but strict obedience as a slap in the face. No matter the situation if you dont do as they say the take it as a personal insult and go on a power trip. Teachers like this need to be fired, there is no reason a kid should not be allowed to talk to his mom in iraq during lunch. The teacher probably wasn't even trying to allow him time to say his goodbyes which is probably what made the kid so rebellious.

I made a few assumptions but ive dealt with the kind of teachers i talked about and they dont do kids any good.

fish_doc · 05-06-2005, 09:53 PM

The teacher probably didn't know it was his mom from Iraq at first and was following policy

I also saw this story online. Apperantly this is a military town. Almost 1/2 the school has family in the military. Which makes it hard to understand how the teacher would not understand the situation. With all the deaths due to different circumstances over there you think a teacher would welcome the fact a teen actually wanted to talk with his parents. Many teens try to ignore their parents until later in life.

mrmoby · 05-06-2005, 11:15 PM

Sounds like it could have been handled better on both sides. If the kid comes across with a piss poor attitude, the teachers are going to react negatively. If you come across like a punk, you are going to be treated like one. That being said, sometimes teachers get a little over zealous about the rules. If it was lunch, who is being disrupted? It's funny, I was in college, about 5 years removed from high school, and I had to take some shop classes at a vocational high school, which meant we ate lunch with the high schoolers. It was just funny to watch these teachers come down on these kids over stupid issues, like wearing hats. No wonder I hated school so much............

Lexus · 05-07-2005, 09:59 AM

omg is all I have to say

Vivid-Dawn · 05-09-2005, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by Ownager2004 @ Fri May 06, 2005 8:19 pm

The teacher probably wasn't even trying to allow him time to say his goodbyes which is probably what made the kid so rebellious.

On my radio station, they have a morning show and a feature called "Boner of the day", where they tell about news stories that are rediculous, and the listeners get to call (or E-mail) and vote which one is the most stupid. This story won today.

According to the report I got on the radio, the kid said it was his mom in Iraq, and wasn't going to hang up. So then the teacher tried to take the phone, and the connection got lost. His mom called a few minutes later, and left a message scolding him for hanging up on her. I would'a thought they'd let him call back and explain, at the very least!

I think the time zone in Iraq is about 12 hours after USA time... so it could'a been very late at night for her, and probably wanting to get in some time with her son before having to sleep, or something like that. And if it was Sunday over there, it would'a been Mother's day, too!

I think he had every right to talk to her, especially at lunch hour. If it was during class, maybe they'd be justified in disciplining him. But they still could'a let him go out in the hall, or something...a few minutes making sure your only parent (which is what the radio said) is alright and alive, is more important than a few minutes of taking notes!

Mr Aquarium · 05-10-2005, 12:11 AM

Sure, they don;t want hm talking to her and can;t be a little flexable with this because they are afraid he is going to tell the school such things as the War in Irac is nothing but an towl head Open season on Americans.......
I'm sorry but the the war over there is nothing but a bunch of BS and Bush won't admit he was wrong and pull them out.....

(RC) · 05-10-2005, 03:23 AM

Originally Posted by Mr Aquarium @ Tue May 10, 2005 1:11 am

Sure, they don;t want hm talking to her and can;t be a little flexable with this because they are afraid he is going to tell the school such things as the War in Irac is nothing but an towl head Open season on Americans.......
I'm sorry but the the war over there is nothing but a bunch of BS and Bush won't admit he was wrong and pull them out.....

O yes I'm sure THAT was the reason alright.

RC