Suspension from school

I just got a phone call from my son's Principal this afternoon. One of my
sons is being suspended for 2 days and he's only 9 years old. Apparently
they were playing dodgeball with a nerf football, he got hit in the face, he
lost his temper, hit and choked him, then the kid got away so my son saw
this object (butter knife) on the field, picked it up and started chasing
him. He then realized what he was doing and dropped it. My kid snapped and
he's lucky they didn't suspend him for a week or worse expel him. God I'm
just flabbergasted this happened.

So in talking with the Principal, I made it very clear he's not to go easy
on my son just because he's never had any previous violence and/or
behavioural problems. The last thing I need is for him to think this is
acceptable behaviour and that a few tears and his charming personality is
going to get him out of what he's done. lol When he gets home from school,
him and his brother are going down to the police station where a friend of
mine is going to talk with them and introduce them to the holding cells.
I'm even thinking of calling in a couple favours at the Young Offenders
Centre so they can see where children end up that don't think before act.

Am I being too harsh?

Oh another thing... they have a corn maze on Saturday as well as a birthday
party but I don't think it's fair to punish my other son just because his
brother got into some serious trouble. Since these things have been
scheduled for months, I don't think letting him go would be all that bad if
I delayed his punishment for a day. Is that alright? I'm at a loss of what
to do here. But guess who's going to be organizing all the toys in the
basement, and doing all the household chores for a week. The poor kid is
probably terrified to come home, but I'm not angry... just so disappointed
in him.

Christine

"'Kate" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 30 Sep 2005 21:22:11 GMT, "CME" the
following was posted in blue dry erase marker:

I just got a phone call from my son's Principal this afternoon. One of my
sons is being suspended for 2 days and he's only 9 years old. Apparently
they were playing dodgeball with a nerf football, he got hit in the face,
he
lost his temper, hit and choked him, then the kid got away so my son saw
this object (butter knife) on the field, picked it up and started chasing
him. He then realized what he was doing and dropped it. My kid snapped
and
he's lucky they didn't suspend him for a week or worse expel him. God I'm
just flabbergasted this happened.

So in talking with the Principal, I made it very clear he's not to go easy
on my son just because he's never had any previous violence and/or
behavioural problems. The last thing I need is for him to think this is
acceptable behaviour and that a few tears and his charming personality is
going to get him out of what he's done. lol When he gets home from
school,
him and his brother are going down to the police station where a friend of
mine is going to talk with them and introduce them to the holding cells.
I'm even thinking of calling in a couple favours at the Young Offenders
Centre so they can see where children end up that don't think before act.

Am I being too harsh?

I think you have to do what you feel is right and that it's a done deal
at this point, don't back down. Set a standard for your kids and don't
feel guilty about it. Once the penalty is served, let it be a fresh
start.


Oh another thing... they have a corn maze on Saturday as well as a
birthday
party but I don't think it's fair to punish my other son just because his
brother got into some serious trouble. Since these things have been
scheduled for months, I don't think letting him go would be all that bad
if
I delayed his punishment for a day. Is that alright?

I think that if you're going to take a strong stand, then making
exceptions will be confusing and will lead to trouble down the line.
Try to make arrangements for the non-punished son to go. If you can't,
then drop off the non-punished son at the party and skip the corn maze.

I'm at a loss of what
to do here. But guess who's going to be organizing all the toys in the
basement, and doing all the household chores for a week. The poor kid is
probably terrified to come home, but I'm not angry... just so disappointed
in him.

Kids do stupid things. Get to the bottom of why he felt like he had to
do something as drastic as choke a kid and grab a knife. I'm curious
about why he snapped. One incident usually doesn't provoke that kind of
response.

good luck hon.

'Kate

In talking with him, the child involved has been bullying him for close to a
year so him snapping is really no surprise. Yes he was upset at the person
who hurt him, but him chasing this kid with a knife wasn't the full story.
Apparently another child involved was making fun of him getting hurt and
calling him a cry baby and saying he was mental, so yeah he went mental and
lost it. Geez. But honestly, you can only push a person so far so I'll be
visiting the Principal on Monday (he's new to the school.) I want to make
sure he's aware of the new circumstances that have come to light and that I
don't condone violence but I definitely think this other kid as well as the
school should be held accountable for things getting to this point.

Christine

"CME" wrote in message
news:70i%e.319699$on1.200401@clgrps13...
I just got a phone call from my son's Principal this afternoon. One of my
sons is being suspended for 2 days and he's only 9 years old. Apparently
they were playing dodgeball with a nerf football, he got hit in the face,
he lost his temper, hit and choked him, then the kid got away so my son saw
this object (butter knife) on the field, picked it up and started chasing
him. He then realized what he was doing and dropped it. My kid snapped
and he's lucky they didn't suspend him for a week or worse expel him. God
I'm just flabbergasted this happened.

So in talking with the Principal, I made it very clear he's not to go easy
on my son just because he's never had any previous violence and/or
behavioural problems. The last thing I need is for him to think this is
acceptable behaviour and that a few tears and his charming personality is
going to get him out of what he's done. lol When he gets home from
school, him and his brother are going down to the police station where a
friend of mine is going to talk with them and introduce them to the
holding cells. I'm even thinking of calling in a couple favours at the
Young Offenders Centre so they can see where children end up that don't
think before act.

Am I being too harsh?

Oh another thing... they have a corn maze on Saturday as well as a
birthday party but I don't think it's fair to punish my other son just
because his brother got into some serious trouble. Since these things
have been scheduled for months, I don't think letting him go would be all
that bad if I delayed his punishment for a day. Is that alright? I'm at
a loss of what to do here. But guess who's going to be organizing all the
toys in the basement, and doing all the household chores for a week. The
poor kid is probably terrified to come home, but I'm not angry... just so
disappointed in him.

Christine


I would take him Christine. I have known many it has worked for, especially
if he is not exhibited this behavior but once.
V

--
Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. - Marie Curie

"V" wrote in message
...

"CME" wrote in message
news:70i%e.319699$on1.200401@clgrps13...
I just got a phone call from my son's Principal this afternoon. One of my
sons is being suspended for 2 days and he's only 9 years old. Apparently
they were playing dodgeball with a nerf football, he got hit in the face,
he lost his temper, hit and choked him, then the kid got away so my son
saw this object (butter knife) on the field, picked it up and started
chasing him. He then realized what he was doing and dropped it. My kid
snapped and he's lucky they didn't suspend him for a week or worse expel
him. God I'm just flabbergasted this happened.

So in talking with the Principal, I made it very clear he's not to go
easy on my son just because he's never had any previous violence and/or
behavioural problems. The last thing I need is for him to think this is
acceptable behaviour and that a few tears and his charming personality is
going to get him out of what he's done. lol When he gets home from
school, him and his brother are going down to the police station where a
friend of mine is going to talk with them and introduce them to the
holding cells. I'm even thinking of calling in a couple favours at the
Young Offenders Centre so they can see where children end up that don't
think before act.

Am I being too harsh?

Oh another thing... they have a corn maze on Saturday as well as a
birthday party but I don't think it's fair to punish my other son just
because his brother got into some serious trouble. Since these things
have been scheduled for months, I don't think letting him go would be all
that bad if I delayed his punishment for a day. Is that alright? I'm at
a loss of what to do here. But guess who's going to be organizing all
the toys in the basement, and doing all the household chores for a week.
The poor kid is probably terrified to come home, but I'm not angry...
just so disappointed in him.

Christine


I would take him Christine. I have known many it has worked for,
especially if he is not exhibited this behavior but once.
V

Yeah we ended up skipping the Corn Maze, it was cold and raining but I took
them to the birthday party. What an unorganized mess that was, people
ditched their 5 year old children at West Edmonton Mall when there was
barely any supervision and I felt bad for my gf, so I stuck around longer
than we should have. Imagine 23 children, 5 of which were over the age of
9. I needed a stiff drink after that one. lol

Christine

(PS: I also met with the Principal yesterday and I'll post more on that
later, right now I'm going to be late for a lunch date.)

"CME" wrote in message
news:laA0f.205$ir4.169@edtnps90...

(PS: I also met with the Principal yesterday and I'll post more on that
later, right now I'm going to be late for a lunch date.)

Ok so I went into the school yesterday to make sure the Principal was aware
that one of the children involved has been bullying my son for a couple
years, nothing physcial but still a subtle form of emotional torture and
well, he finally snapped. Anyways, I wanted his record to reflect more of a
well rounded view of what happened... so after he talked with my son for a
bit he asked him to wait outside so he could talk to me.

Well thankfully, this isn't even something that is going to be in his file.
He said between you and me, this is an isolated incident and he's just
taking some time off school, it's not a formal suspension at all. I was
relieved to hear that because I didn't want this to taint his future. So
crappy decision making on his part, but at least he's been given a chance to
move on.

Christine

"'Kate" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 18:50:57 GMT, "CME" the
following was posted in blue dry erase marker:
right now I'm going to be late for a lunch date.)

Oooh Christine had a date!


Yeah I'm still plugging away at dating. Geez, it's so hard to find
compatibility and chemistry and there's no way I'm settling! The one guy I
did find that with, turned out to be married. What a kick in the teeth.
Why I don't just throw in the towel and admit defeat I'll never know.
~sigh~

Christine

"'Kate" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 22:47:50 GMT, "CME" the
following was posted in blue dry erase marker:


"CME" wrote in message
news:laA0f.205$ir4.169@edtnps90...

(PS: I also met with the Principal yesterday and I'll post more on that
later, right now I'm going to be late for a lunch date.)

Ok so I went into the school yesterday to make sure the Principal was
aware
that one of the children involved has been bullying my son for a couple
years, nothing physcial but still a subtle form of emotional torture and
well, he finally snapped. Anyways, I wanted his record to reflect more of
a
well rounded view of what happened... so after he talked with my son for a
bit he asked him to wait outside so he could talk to me.

Well thankfully, this isn't even something that is going to be in his
file.
He said between you and me, this is an isolated incident and he's just
taking some time off school, it's not a formal suspension at all. I was
relieved to hear that because I didn't want this to taint his future. So
crappy decision making on his part, but at least he's been given a chance
to
move on.

Christine

Wow... What the principal did would never be allowed in this area of the
US. A knife is a mandatory expulsion here. Heck, let your kid be absent
more than 5 days a year and you're running the risk of being hauled
into court, fined, and jailed.

shaking her head

What a screwed up country I live in.

Had he had any prior issues, he would have been expelled, no question. I'm
glad he was able to use some discretion.

Christine

"CME" wrote in message
news:XAR0f.2809$Io.1849@clgrps13...

"'Kate" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 18:50:57 GMT, "CME" the
following was posted in blue dry erase marker:
right now I'm going to be late for a lunch date.)

Oooh Christine had a date!


Yeah I'm still plugging away at dating. Geez, it's so hard to find
compatibility and chemistry and there's no way I'm settling! The one guy
I did find that with, turned out to be married. What a kick in the teeth.
Why I don't just throw in the towel and admit defeat I'll never know.
~sigh~

Christine


Was this the suit and tie guy you mentioned a while back?

You don't give up because you are insane! No... jk! Its because you are
strong!

T

"Tiffany" wrote in message
...

"CME" wrote in message
news:XAR0f.2809$Io.1849@clgrps13...

"'Kate" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 18:50:57 GMT, "CME" the
following was posted in blue dry erase marker:
right now I'm going to be late for a lunch date.)

Oooh Christine had a date!


Yeah I'm still plugging away at dating. Geez, it's so hard to find
compatibility and chemistry and there's no way I'm settling! The one guy
I did find that with, turned out to be married. What a kick in the
teeth. Why I don't just throw in the towel and admit defeat I'll never
know. ~sigh~

Christine


Was this the suit and tie guy you mentioned a while back?

You don't give up because you are insane! No... jk! Its because you are
strong!

T

No that was the older lawyer and he's now my lawyer for my children's
accident claim... so I had to choose. This was a firefighter I started
seeing a few weeks ago, only to find out he's still working on his marriage.
lol The irony kills me. So now I'm casually dating atm, going out for
coffee, lunch, in the hopes of finding someone I'm compatible with, along
with some umph and you know... ACTUALLY FREE TO DATE ME... go figure. lmao

I'm such a little trooper.

Christine