Sometimes You Just Have To Break The Rules

Packemin in cracking down on electronic device use. The kids have been told that if they are caught using one of these, it will be confiscated and returned only on Fridays afternoons to a parent.

I'm not big on confrontations so I have been reading them the riot act in hopes of not seeing these things and not having to make an issue out of them. So far, most of the kids have been pretty cooperative. If I happen to see one, I just tell them to put it away "before I see it."

I keep my own cell phone in my pocket at all times. I worry about my 84 year old dad who lives alone and would never call unless it was an emergency. I am all he has. While school rules should be obeyed, my dad comes before any of those rules and on the rare occasion my phone rings, I answer it.

Just as I got the last words out about the new cell phone regulations, my phone rang. I stopped mid sentence to answer it. The kids were silent. When I realized it was a wrong number and hung up, they got on my case for answering it. I explained my reasons to them. I also said I would be more than reasonable if any of them were in a similar situation. They forgave my indiscretion. One girl said "I hate my father. If he was lying on the ground, I would walk over him. Miss, you are so lucky." I then told them that I had the best dad in the world and I would do anything for him.

We ended the conversation and got to work. I won't worry about my phone ringing in that class again.

Rules Made To Be Broken

The Chancellor has declared that candy should not be sold in schools. Schools must watch the sweet intake of our children and make sure they eat a healthy diet. Schools make lots of money from candy sales. Every organization in my school is selling candy now. Principal Suit must have signed off on the candy sales. The people that are running the sales are not like me, they are people that actually follow the rules and would never, in a zillion years break any of them.

Someone must have made an issue about the illegality of this candy sale. Suit is now coming down on the kids and telling them they cannot sell their candy in school. He is telling them to sell their candy to their relatives. How any kid can be expected to sell so many candy bars to their relatives is beyond me (and them), but that is what he is telling them. The kids have taken their candy out of the carry box it came in and are now carrying the candy around the school in shopping bags. He pretends not to see it, but it is there, out in the open, for anyone with a sweet tooth to purchase.

The important thing is that the kids have learned lots from this issue. They learned that by breaking regulations they can make money. They learned that there are certain rules are okay to break, that even a high ranking administrator, like a Principal, will break the rules when breaking them serves his interests. I guess it is good to be the boss and follow only the rules you like.