School Rules Gone Awry

I love rules! Just yesterday, my son came home and said, “We have to respect school property — that’s a rule, you know. What’s property mean?” So funny. I went on to give examples of how to be respectful, like not writing on your desk, and making sure trash goes in a garbage can. He got the point.

I think kids need to have rules, even from an early age,  and there should be appropriate consequences when the rules are violated. But sometimes, we’ve got to get real.

I’m of course referring to the recent over-the-top school rule enforcement that made the news — the first-grader who brought a glorified spork to class and nearly faced 45 days in reform school for the oversight. After lots of media coverage, the school district reversed their decision. Thank goodness common sense prevailed, even though it took a few days of grief for that poor family.

Hopefully, educators took notice and will use some discretion and common sense the next time something like this happens. The idea of zero tolerance at the first grade level is plain silly. In this case, confiscating the item and consulting with the parents to let them know an item like that could be dangerous, and therefore should be left at home, would have been effective, don’tcha think?

So far, nothing outrageous has happened in my limited school parenting experience, but I’ve heard other parents talk about some seemingly unfair punishments. There’s the teacher who made one boy pick up a dirty tissue of the floor and throw it out even though the tissue wasn’t his (ewww!). Apparently she didn’t believe it wasn’t his. I heard about another kid getting detention for drinking from the water fountain after gym class without asking permission. Poor kid was thirsty! Or how about when the whole class gets punished for something only a handful did? As annoying as all of these minor incidents are, you can see why a teacher would resort to these methods. Teaching children to respect property, ask permission, and behave as a group are all good lessons to impart.

And, of course, keeping weapons out of school and ensuring that our children safe is perhaps the most important concern educators have.  But somehow I don’t thin a first-grader with a camping tool isn’t the one we need to be afraid off.

Parents, sound off: What school rules do you thing are over the top? Answer in the comments section below!

-Dawn Papandrea