So let’s have you play headmaster. So where do you draw a line? When do you go all hard ass? Certainly you can’t be advocating being squishy 100% the time. You know what always exercising “discretion” gets you? Favoritism.
" Well, Rhys we can let it go because it’s a good cause, even though you did openly defy us. But Dafyd, he’s getting suspended because he’s a “troublemaker” and he shaved his head for shits and giggles." And you get to decide what excuse is good enough and which ones are not. You see, I don’t trust your judgement. I want fair , even, consistent application of the rules. Not making it up as you go along, like you seem to think is appropriate. Bet you come down harder on the boys of color, like it always seems to happen, wouldn’t you? Nah, you wouldn’t do that! You read Boing Boing! Yer one of the good ones.
This is exactly why you shouldn’t be in a position of authority. Line drawing is for children. Hard and inflexible is not the way to deal with children or adults. Use reason and good judgement instead of drawing lines in the sand.
What a second, I was wrong. I know where you would do well. The US military is always drawing lines in the sand. Heck, Obama wanted to bomb people over a line he drew in the sand. Even after a diplomatic solution was found he still didn’t want to back down. He wanted to kill people anyway just to be sure that he was taken seriously when he drew his line.
So fucking childish.
[quote=“mistersmith0121, post:43, topic:11315, full:true”]
So let’s have you play headmaster. So where do you draw a line?[/quote]
Firstly, I’d draw the line at rules which pretend that hair style has anything to do with learning, or that kids can’t be individuals while learning together.
But then I don’t think respect comes from enforcing rules, no matter how ridiculous they are. And I don’t endorse the arbitrary authoritarianism of the dominant school paradigm, which drives so many students towards a hatred of school and education, in general.
Surely questioning rules and laws for you isn’t like arguing with a cop because he is giving you a ticket for something you only a warning for last time?. Because it’s what my daughter essentially does.
“No, you can’t go over to Connie’s house tonight.”
“BUT WHY?!! You let me last week.”
“Yes but it was different”
“No it wasn’t”
“Look, it’s a school night.”
“You let me go over to her house on school nights before”
“Yes, but did you have a big project due at the end of the week? One you haven’t even started?”
“But it really important!! She needs my help with…”
Ad Infinitum
Apparently you’ve never heard the plaintinve cries of “NO FAIR” when one is made to hew to a rule that another has been given leave to ignore. I want you to use your high powered leadership skills (which I lack) with actual children in ann actual school. Let’s see how long your ideals of discretion and flexibility last under the withering assault of 14 year olds. You’ll lose.
Well, discretion is never easy. I never said it was… but in this particular case it’s an obvious choice to me.
That and… I’m not being paid to be the Headmaster, either.
But it’s fair for you to ask of course
So, I would ask myself, “Self, does this rule really address fully the problems it’s designed for?”
And then… we have to ask… “Is this a necessary rule at all?”
Which translates in this particular instance to… does prohibiting kids from coming to school with their heads shaven truly solve the under lying problem of promoting the “skin head” movement? Or, do we need a more direct method, like addressing the behaviors when they happen?
Because in your scenario, the one you outlined… Dafyd might be a troublemaker, and need discipline for sure, but that will result from behaviors he exhibits FAR beyond shaving his head.
“Fair, even, consistent application of the rules” isn’t always black and white… which is why the Headmaster is paid to do the job of discretion, and examining context of the situation.
It’s not an easy job for sure, but it’s tough to see where that discretion or context was examined at all from a news article.
I don’t think analogies are your strong suit. Here’s a better one:
“No, you can’t go over to Connie’s house tonight.”
“BUT WHY?!! You let me last week.”
“We made an exception last week so you could attend the fundraiser she was hosting for a cancer charity.”
Well, we know how well your ideal of rigorous rule enforcement worked in this case: it did such a good job maintaining order in the face of those horrible hellions that 250 students walked out. That kind of puts your supposed breakdown of a few extra kids flaunting haircut rules to shame.
In fact, it’s hard to think of a more clear demonstration of that then what happened here.
“So fucking childish.” Self diagnosis? or inability to argue without potty mouth? How many kids have you raised? I know you aren’t a teacher because, hey you’re here commenting. Answer me this:What rules would you enforce? And how would you make sure you weren’t treating another child unfairly when you make an exception? Discretion is a short road from favoritism. Give me a fair hardass every day over a boneheaded squishy teacher who subjectively metes out discipline by his or her emotional reaction. Bet you ride the ADHD kids because they are annoying. Bet you keep the black boys after school. Bet you let your favorites hand in their homework late, but the sullen kid in the back row gets a fat “F”. That’s your discretion.
I teach both youth classes and college courses. I have no problem making exceptions to rules when circumstances warrant doing so.
In this case, the kid discussed his plans with the school before shaving his head and clearly explained his reasons for doing so. That would have been the perfect opportunity for the headmaster to grant an exception to this silly rule without losing face.
You don’t have the information to truly decide whether the rule is necessarily or not, reasonable or not. All you have is a gut instinct to be upset at this kind of story. Is ther any info about the rule’s origins in the original post or linked article? NO. So all you have is a personal reaction that “hair cut rulez are stoopid”.
Everything else is you emotional reaction. You cannot imagine why anyone would care. I can. I have seen it in person. And even if you want to make a principled stand that kids need the maximum amount of freedom, fine, but tell me how you deal with the resulting chaos. Because I’ve seen enough schools where there is poor discipline and teachers are not in effective control. Kids don’t learn much because of the distractions, and half the time is spent just getting the kids to be on a single task whether that is lessons or lining up to go to the cafeteria.
Simply exasperation experienced from reading the barely coherent ramblings of a frustrated petty tinpot dictator.
One. However, raising a child is not a qualification for anything. I’ve noticed that allot of people whose entire contribution to the world is successful copulation seem to think it qualifies them for something. I can’t imagine what.
I know you aren’t one from reading that sentence.
All of them; with discretion, compassion, and reason.
By not blindly following rules but treating each case on its own merits.
I am looking at the chaos and disruption that actually happened: a rule was enforced, in this case by punishing someone trying to show solidarity with cancer victims, and the result was a complete breakdown of order. Which is what you claim to be concerned about, but apparently only when it comes from being lax not strict.
Well said chenille… well said. Context, and all that really happened was a rule was enforced. No result obtained, no examination to determine if the rule was even necessary.
Exactly. Rules aren’t about defining what’s right or wrong from an absolute moral perspective. They are there to establish a claim to power. Stupid rules, rigorously enforced, serve as a signal to those who would dispute this claim. Obey me, and I will let you survive. Obey your conscience, and suffer the consequences.
I’m sorry, are you claiming to be the voice of reason in this discussion?
Could you please address the argument that’s been brought against your position over and over again: if slavishly enforcing nonsensical rules is supposed to inspire respect for the rules why did 250 students walk out over it? In what sense is that inspiring respect for the rules? Or for the administration?
And why, exactly, do you think having raised a child (with what results? we can’t conclude from a fact that you raised a child that you were any good at it) supplies you with the know-how to assess this sort of situation in a school environment (since the authority of a school administrator is a teensy bit different from that of a parent)?
Also, how would you feel about telling the Dalai Lama that by shaving his head he is supporting neonazis?
Finally, calm the fuck down. People don’t agree with you about this. That speaks to a difference of values – something that can’t be rationally proved using mathematics or empirical science. Your opinion isn’t the last word on this. Can you accept that other human beings might reasonably disagree with your opinions on lawnorder?
When I was in high school, we had just the same sort of walk out when they banned students from sitting in their cars and smoking, a previously tolerated activity. By parallel logic, banning smoking was the wrong decision because of the chaos it engendered. You are making, in essence, an argument to enforce no rule, lest the students get riled up and walk out. There must be some enforceable rules, even just “no shirt, no shoes, no diploma.”
