My son sent home

I dont think he would have accidentally said that if the kid was his own size and gender either.

Maybe she has an older brother.

 

The case in point is not about an adult on their job saying something like this. After all, if they are in a corporate environment, what sane adult could say such a thing after taking all of those diversity classes? This is a child who made an error, which should have got a visit to the principal, a discussion with the parents for the parents to met out punishment and an apology to the girl he called stupid. What was unecessary was to suspend this child for two days on a first offense and what would be unecessarily over the top would be for someone to disrupt his education advocating for expulsion.

 

First, we do not know this was or was not a 'first offense'.

Second, squashing racial problems is always done quickly and strongly.

Thirdly, I kinda think some of these problems still happen on the job.

Oh well. The kid will be back in school soon. If he goes after the girl to get even, we know there was a problem and it was not fixed. If he does not get even - it might have been an over reaction.

God bless

 

The goal of school and parenting it to train the child for the adult world. If conduct that would get an adult fired is not punished as a child then you are failing to train the child for the adult world.

Also maybe an apology would have been enough if the parent(s) would have steped up and the school administration could be confident that the offending child would be dealt with and it would not happen again. But in this case the OP parent trivializes it and defends the action. The school was obligated to step up and punish.

 

The penalty has to fit the offense. This is where common sense comes in. With all the larger problems mentioned above, the most severe penalties must be kept for the most severe problems. Name calling has been going on for years. It has been dealt with for years, sometimes by the person you called the name to. Obviously, this particular problem goes back to home in teaching respect for others, anger, or some other unknown reason. The point is that expulsion for this is totally unjustified. Behavior can be altered with other means.

People have called names and been called names for eons. Nothing makes that correct, however, it is a part of growing up to learn to deal with that in a responsible way without going and whinning all the time. Life does not work like that. You talk about firing. I would be much more likely to fire a tattle tale. You know, sometimes a smack up side the head from the person you called the name to tells you not to do it again.

As said before, common sense and thick skin go a long way.

 

But there is a huge difference between calling names and useing racial slurs.

If he would have called her "stupid" a knock it off would have done the trick.

But for calling her "stupid mexican" he got luck he only got 2 days.

 

Pretty much so. Anytime you tack an ethic label on an insult, you're in for trouble. As El Guero suggests, the lesson might save the kid a lot of expensive dental reconstruction someday.

Two day suspension seems cheap in terms of what being a racist might get you in the real world.

 

Why is nobody addressing what the girl did?

Maybe if he would have kicked her in the shins he would have only gotten a verbal reprimand.

Priorities, people. Please.

My point about the Christian school seems to have been overlooked as most people on this thread have jumped on the racial slur bandwagon. My point was that whatever the GIRL was doing to aggrevate the boy might have been addressed before the situation got out of hand and then the racial slur never would have happened. Helloooo........ Don't forget, if this is a Christian school, the BOY'S parents have paid out big bucks, too, and deserve fair treatment. Let us be honest here---little girls DO know how to pick, pick, pick, & pick at little boys. Fairness to the parents ought to go both ways, not just one way because one happens to be a minority. Seems to me the discipline was NOT even handed.

 

It is not a fishing expedition. I get that impression from some people and I was wondering if my impression was accurate or not. In LE's case, it was not accurate (many thanks, LE, for answering succinctly).

Btw, Wayne, I agree with your position on this thread.

 

Because we don't know what she did.

Naw, violence would probably have been punished much more severely (although these are just little kids who are still learning).

Yes, it might have been addressed, but it wasn't, whatever it was. She might be a horrid little girl or she might be a saint, we don't know and as no one here can speak on her behalf with any authority, we can't really address her part in this.

We only know the boy's side through his mother and she has only made the single, initial post.

 

When I was a young boy my dad told me that if I got in trouble at school I was going to get it worse at home. There were a few times when he wore out my rear with a belt.

You did not say how old your son was.

When I taught high school I had a similar thing happen. When it did I let that student know rather loudly in front of the class that I would not tolerate such language. He apologized and we moved on. It never happened again by anyone. Students knew I would not tolerate any kind of poor language in or out of the classroom.

 

We dont know what she did. But she did not use a racial slur.

You know better.

Teaching my children not to be bigots is one of my highest priorities.

What bandwagon, the racial slur is what this thread is about.

Oh, thats a nice defense. "I never would have stabbed that man if you would have addressed what he was doing to me before I murdered him, its really your fault"

One of the bigest mistakes we are making as a socity is finding excuses for thing our children do. It can not be their fault they are getting Fs in school they must have ADHD, it is not their fault they are getting in trouble it is their friends fault and it is not their fault they are racists it is the little girls fault for teasing him. He had to call her a racial slur, not his fault.

The OP never said it was a Christian school. If it was I suspect the punishment would not have been so light.

Again it can not be the little boy who is yelling racial slurs fault it has to be the girl.

 

You are creating a straw man to justify your standard of political correctness. No one on this thread said it was the girl's fault. No one said they tolerate racial slurs. Your problem is you place the offense at the top of the list, and believe me, it is not. It is a 4th grader. Have you raised kids? Just asking.

 

I am not a fan of political correctness. You should ask my opinion on more then this one question before forming an opinion of my being politicaly correct at all costs.

LE eleuded several times that the girl was at least partly to blame.

The offence is serious and certanly deserving of 2 days suspension. There are more serious offences but this is the one we are talking about. And like I said before just because there are other offences and problems at school does not excuse this one.

I have two kids a boy and a girl. If either one use a racial slur the punishment on my end would be going to the other childs home to appoligize to the girl and her family. If the school wanted 2 days my kids would spend them working at home so they remember and understand I do not condone the offence. I defentantly would not defend or trivialize the action like the OP did for her son.

 

I dont understand how insisting that our children not use racial slurs makes one politicaly correct. I thought that it was just good parenting.


Lets make this clear with a hypothetical situation. Say the girl was jewish.
And the boy called her a "Stupid Jew"

Is that still ok with everyone?

LE you are a moderator, Can I call people that on this board or will your political correctness kick in here?

 

Thank you, saturneptune, it is political correctness run awry. These are kids. All kids call names and all kids say all kinds of stuff when they are angry. Back a couple of decades ago, it was considered the largest offense to tell someone their mother wore combat boots. Now, unfortunately, some mothers do wear combat boots.

 

I got threw off the school bus almost every day when I was a young boy. I never could figure out why the driver got so mad at me but I lived around 3 miles from school and had to walk it ever evening. I made it in the morning, I guess I was still sleepy but in the evening I would hear the brakes squeech and I knew why. The doors flew open and the driver said "ok Bobby" offfffff!!!!! He always was saying something about me starting trouble. I dunno!!

Today that driver is one of my deacons.

 

Don't try it. What you are proposing is called a "strawman" in debate tactics, and you probably already know that.:smilewinkgrin:

 

What would happen if I started calling people here that?

Just wondering.

 

Do you think two days suspension was appropriate?

If Southern Belle works outside the home, it could be a bit of a hardship on her.