Friday, October 21, 2005

The Death of Common Sense

Yesterday, I posted on the lack of spines found in some school officials. The events in that post revolved around the music choice of a band teacher and the revocation of a reading assignemtn because they offended someone. The school officials caved when someone got a burr under their saddle.

Here is another, more egregious, example of spinelessness. It seems the Manassas, Virginia school board gave what amounts to a slap on the wrist for eight students, six boys and two girls, who engaged in sexual activity in the school auditorium. The school suspended the students for three days!! Additionally, some of the suspended students are on sports teams and will remain on those sports teams.

Leaving aside the issue of the fact that the kids were having sex to begin with, the fact that they were having sex in the school auditorium is a violation enough to warrant more than a three day suspension. Why did they only get three days? Apparently the reasoning behind the decision is that there is no rule against having sex on school property. Thus, without a rule, the school board figured they can not mete out a more stringent punishment. The school board then sent out a letter to parents.

It was not the typical school board letter. Manassas City School Board members wrote to parents this week that they were "shocked and offended" to learn that there had been sexual activity among a group of students inside the Osbourn High School auditorium.

The students, board members wrote, "gathered freely and voluntarily" in the closed and darkened auditorium after school at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 28. Board members said they "had not considered the possibility that students would engage in sexual acts while at school."

This incident was the subject of local radio host Chris Core yesterday. The audio of his show can be downloaded here until 10/27/05. His question was the same as mine, what has happened to common sense?

The depth of common sense, particularly as it relates to education can be traced to the rise of the "self-esteem" model of education. In order to avoid damaging the self-esteem of children, we can't fail them or expose them to any sort of discipline or rigid moral code. If we do so, we can damage the children for life--at least so the theory goes. As a result we end up with a relativistic moral code, one couched in terms of what will do the least harm to the child's psyche. Those who stress this education model will tell you that the behavior these kids engaged in is normal and therefore they should not be punished. Further, if we punish these kids, they may look at sex in a negative manner for the rest of their lives.

But common sense will tell you--you shouldn't have sex on campus!! These kids shouldn't be having sex at all--but at the very least not on campus. In this world of moral relativism, there are somethings you just shouldn't do. The fact that there exists no rule in the student handbook forbidding sex on campus does not make it permissive. I am sure there is no rule in the student handbook that prohibits murder, that doesn't make it permissible to commit murder on school grounds.

Some parents felt that the school system or police should have released more information so they could assess whether their children were safe, said Tim Demeria, whose 14-year-old daughter is a freshman.

"I wished we got information. Was it criminal? Was it consensual? I know police had to do their investigation, but I would have liked to know what happened quicker," Demeria said.

The school's principal, Perry B. Pope, said he understands parents' concerns that more information was not released. "Since this was a student discipline issue, we could not discuss details, and parents were frustrated. And we were frustrated because we could not give it to them," he said.

To me what is also telling about this news story is the fact that the parents and this writer seemed more worried about whether the sex was consensual or coerced. In this case IT DOESN'T MATTER, for two reasons. First, it should not have happened period. These kids have no business engaged in sexual activity. Second, if the sex was coerced-that is obviously bad, but at least a police investigation has indicated it was voluntary. But even if consensual--it should not have happened at school!!!!

The school board response is troubling on many levels. First, the lack of disciplinary action of any significance implies a lack of conviction on the matter. Second, the legalistic reliance on the lack of a rule. True, if the school had summarily expelled the kids, someone no doubt would have sued, but let them. See this is not just an issue about kids and sex, but rather an issue of respect. It is disrespectful, both of your school and your community act in such a manner. Such behavior should not be tolerated. The fact that the school board is treating this so cavalierly is the biggest worry of all. Sure, they are expressing astonishment and outrage:

School Board members said they viewed the incident harshly, noting the contrast between their generation and the current one.

"I don't think it crossed anyone's mind that you would have high school students sneaking off into the auditorium for sexual activity. That's where we have assemblies and bring parents in," said School Board member Patrick D. Linehan.

"We wouldn't have seen this 30 years ago when I was in high school. Then again, maybe I am naive and I wasn't one of those guys."


Yet, their outrage in words is not matched with their actions. These kids, by getting only a slap on the wrist will be exalted to hero status among their peers (itself a problem). Had a harsher punishement been meted out, the other kids in this school and neighboring systems would think about the consequences of their actions. For these eight kids, there are no consequences but a mild rebuke.

Finally, on the common sense level, a three day suspension is what many schools give out if you bring aspirin to school in your backpack!!

How can we find common sense again?

Linked to: The Political Teen, Jo's Cafe, Cao's Blog, THM Bacon Bits, and Oblogatory Anecdotes

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