Teacher throws away prep football player's Powerade? Do I have a story?

wow dude, you need to watch "the wall" once again.

that was pretty unbuck-like.

 

Um, everybody -- yes, listen up, sportschick:

Three-quarters of every kid in every high school in this county breaks the no food or drink in the classroom rule every day.

How: Because they carry their lunch in their backpacks.

Yes, in fact, that's it. My kids did, every day. They didn't eat them in class. They had them in class, put away for lunchtime.

If the bottle was capped and in his backpack, the Powerade should have been OK. And yes, the heat/hydration aspect of this makes it an issue. No reason he should not be able to drink some Powerade between classes.

And in all seriousness, as unlikely as it is, waiting until somebody dies isn't the way.

If further research turns it into a story, it's a story. I think it actually could be pretty interesting if done right, not a Pulitzer, but a reader.

 

Ever heard of a locker?

 

Not to mention that the vast majority of kids buy their lunches these days.

 

If the kid isn't eating or drinking it in class, that shouldn't be a problem. If somebody brings their lunch in the backpack, I don't think the teacher would have any right to throw it out.


And if it happened to my kid, the teacher would hear from me in no uncertain terms. I'm not so sure it isn't a story. I think parents and the community have a right to know what is going on.

 

I still think it's no story. However, if it happened to my kid, I'd get all up in the teacher's grill about it. He would definitely feel my wrath.

 

when i covered preps 24/7, it pretty much confirmed what i thought in high school ...about 50 percent of teachers are dicks.

 

I can't argue there.

I still something that happened when I was a senior in high school. I used my second period time (which was study hall, IIRC) to do something at the guidance office and I'd gotten a pass from the guidance office in the event I would be late to first period. When I ultimately was, I handed the pass to my teacher.

He told me that if I was late again, I'd get detention. Never mind the fact that I had a signed pass from the guidance counselor, which normally meant no disciplinary warnings of any kind. Even though my mother and I ultimately had one hell of a confrontation that night, she immediately agreed with me that the teacher was a douchebag.

If he'd tried to give me a detention (which was moot anyway because I moved to another state that weekend), I'd have raised hell. If it happened when I was living with my father, HE would have socked it to the school in a way that would have made them feel like they were the Harper Valley PTA.

Don't trust authority. At least not the authority in high school.

 

Being both a teacher and a journalist, the journalist in me says no story here. Nothing to see. Move on.

The teacher in me says that none of you have ever tried to control a class. To be fair, I think this teacher is a little over the top to be sure with the pencil sharpening shit. And I'd never go into a kid's bag in search of food/drink (though the Supreme Court interpreted the 4th amendment in TLO v. New Jerseyto allow teachers/administrators to search students if they have reasonable suspicion that the student is breaking a law or school rule. No need for probable cause. And again, the activity in question doesn't have to be illegal -- just against the school rules.).

But in the teacher's defense, the food and drink rule is pretty universal -- I know my school has a rodent problem. Plus the kids don't pick up after themselves. Who has to clean up after them if they bring in food and drinks? Who has to handle their food-encrusted trash and half-drunk VitaminWater? You guessed it, the teacher (the janitors sweep between the rows. I have a three-row auditorium style classroom and they're not getting to the trash there). Pretty degrading for alleged professionals who are required to have advanced degrees. No fucking way am I going to tolerate a situation where I have to be their maid. That said, I allow them to drink water in class out of capped water bottles. But food and other drinks is a non-starter unless they have special dispensation from the office because of a medical condition or because the idiot schedulers didn't schedule them a lunch mod. And I totally agree on his bathroom policy. Usually I just let the kids go instead of getting into it with them over how bad they've gotta go, etc. But there's nothing more disruptive than a chain of kids all saying "can I go to the bathroom? Can I go after she gets back? Can I go after that?" You're almost adults. Hold it in. I have to. You can too.

The other thing is rules are rules. If it's a school rule, it's a school rule. The minute you become inconsistent with your enforcement, you lose control

That said, I agree this teacher's conduct was a little over-the-top. But I'd bet anything that there's also a history between the teacher and the student that is probably the student's doing. Parents nowadays automatically believe their kid's version. My parents always believed the teacher's version. And they were right to do so. Because I was no different than any of the kids I teach and I'm sure none of you were either.

And the fucktard who called "50 percent of all teachers dicks" or something to that effect? I'd like to see you try to do my job for a day (and on top of that, I do at least two freelance articles a week. All my colleagues work second jobs too. And most of us, like me, voluntarily left good-paying careers in the private sector to do it and could go back whenever we want, but we think our work is important.). The real challenge is finding that line between being firm enough to maintain respect and control while still remaining accessible and approachable enough to make them feel comfortable taking risks in the classroom, coming to see you for extra help and wanting to work for you.

Sorry to get a little heated, but just because you went to school doesn't mean you know how to teach anymore than the fact that you have gone to the doctor means you know how do surgery. Or because you've watched a football game, you know how to adjust on the fly to blitz package. Before I went into teaching, I thought it was a lot simpler than it is.

Of course, I'm more pissed at the teacher for being such a tool and giving more ammunition to the "blame teachers for our kids' shortcomings" crowd.

 

I agree with much of your post, X-Hack. You still need to get me a beer, though.

The assumption in this situation is that the kid is angelic and the teacher is a dick. What if the kid was violating policy by drinking the Powerade in class and had two more in his bag? What if the kid was selling his Powerade to his classmate? Point is, we don't know the whole story. We know a secondhand version from some juveniles.

Those of you who are saying "fuck the rule, do what you want" clearly don't remember being in high school. If a kid fucks the rule, he could get written up or sent to detention. If he gets sent to detention, he'll face the wrath of his coach. If he's getting enough writeups or detention, he could risk sitting out of games. And if he gets let off because he's a football player, that's when you really have a story about the inequality of school rule enforcement.

High school has to be run as a tight ship in most places. One year at my school there were a lot of gang fights, so the principal responded by cutting off all bathroom passes during classes. You had to hold it, no matter what. Any kid allowed out of class would get their teacher in trouble as well. End of story.

 

Thanks, Cadet. I also edited my post a bit to explain things a little more.

In terms of the beer, I've got some Grimbergen Belgian Blonde in my fridge right now. Good stuff. If you happen to be in New England, feel free to stop by.

 

Not to be a pain in the ass, but did the kid die? Did the kid not replace the drinks and got sick on the field? Did he have the opportunity to get other drinks? Did he go to the hospital for dehydration?

You get my drift? There is ZERO story here.

This is a stupid story. Sorry to say. Why would your readers care that a teacher is a dick?

Seriously, maybe you can write a humor column off it. But this doesn't meet any test of newsworthiness.