Do a cartwheel.. get suspended

[SouthernWx]

I'm just thankful my school days are over two decades behind me. I'd have been considered a juvenile delinquent by today's standards...why?


In addition to breaking a bully's nose in the 7th grade also once beat a guy bloody after he pushed down a handicapped girl wearing leg braces then laughed at her

I carried my asthma "whiffer" in my bookbag from 1st grade until high school...

I kept Bayer aspirins in my bookbag (when I was sick)...and sometimes kept my cough & cold medicine in my locker (and a teaspoon to take it with).

I carried a small pocketknife in my back pocket from 7th to 10th grade...also carried it while working as a high school custodian (age 16-18)...

I also kept a small New Testament bible in my bookbag (or locker) from 6th grade until high school...


Heck, I was a walking "no tolerance" school violation in those days and didn't even know it

[Lindaloo]

Linda I agree, but how does "Zero Tolerance" and "No Child Left Behind" work hand in hand?

Sorta hard to do both if you kick em out for stupid stuff how can they NOT be left behind? They haven't been in school and they received 0's for all the days they missed...can't pass with grades like that.

Which is why MS has such a double standard when it comes to education. The laws work to harm parents too. If a child gets expelled from school that child's name is then registered with the state as an expelled student. By them doing that it makes it hard for you to get your child even in to a private school. BUT, there is also a law in MS that mandates all children up to the age of 17 must be in school. So, when that child is registered, the state then comes after the parent for not having your child in school.

Parents would come in to the law offices all upset. After reviewing the expulsions it is found that the school system does not follow their own rules of conduct. Pascagoula has an Opportunity Center for kids that are expelled and the school is never offered to the parent without an attorney/school board attorney conversation. Sometimes the school will not budge on allowing the child to go to the Opportunity Center and it ends up in Chancery Court. While all this is happening, guess who is suffering? Yep, the child.

[Lindaloo]

I'm just thankful my school days are over two decades behind me. I'd have been considered a juvenile delinquent by today's standards...why?


In addition to breaking a bully's nose in the 7th grade also once beat a guy bloody after he pushed down a handicapped girl wearing leg braces then laughed at her

I carried my asthma "whiffer" in my bookbag from 1st grade until high school...

I kept Bayer aspirins in my bookbag (when I was sick)...and sometimes kept my cough & cold medicine in my locker (and a teaspoon to take it with).

I carried a small pocketknife in my back pocket from 7th to 10th grade...also carried it while working as a high school custodian (age 16-18)...

I also kept a small New Testament bible in my bookbag (or locker) from 6th grade until high school...


Heck, I was a walking "no tolerance" school violation in those days and didn't even know it

If kids get caught with any of what you stated above the kids are looking at harsh punishment, from in school suspension to expulsion and sometimes being arrested and sent to the Youth Court. Oh and if your comb resembles a knife, out the kid goes.

I always tell my kids how much fun I had growing up. I tell them stories about the teachers and they look at me like I am crazy. They say, "Mom if we did that we would be kicked out of school"

I also believe in corporal punishment (paddlings at school). In MS, if you try to discipline your child the welfare dept. is knocking on your door. I know as a kid if I would act up at school I knew what to expect when I got home. lol. Times have changed and so have laws. Parents have no say so in the discipline of their children today. Now if a child gets in trouble the laws in place blame the parents. Sometimes parents go to jail. It is ridiculous.

[SouthernWx]

Hey folks, I just saw the suspended student and her parents on NBC's Today Saturday...along with the school principal, and I've changed my opinion 180° degrees since last night..

The girl was attempting to do cartwheels INSIDE the school...both in the lunchroom and adjacent hallways. She had been warned on several occasions NOT to do so inside; there had already been a parent/ teacher conference on this matter...and the girl had already been in detention hall because of it.

These folks (girl's parents) sound like troublemakers...."do gooders" who don't see anything their "precious" child does as wrong; they are doing that child a disservice by defending her no matter what she does....including encouraging her to disrespect authority.

I was wrong folks...this kid did deserve to be suspended, and my apologies to the board for defending her. My niece is 9, is also a gymnast...but there's no way Madison would ever do cartwheels inside her school....because her parents don't allow her to do cartwheels inside the house at home (Maddie also knows better than to disobey her teachers).

[GalvestonDuck]

You beat me to it, Perry. I just saw the same story and caught the bit about it being in the hallway.

[SouthernWx]

Yeah Shawn...the parents attitudes really turned me off. I thought this was another example of "p.c. zero tolerance gone too far", but don't feel that way now.

While girls at my middle school did cartwheels and handstands...they didn't do them in the crowded lunchroom or hallways. These parents seemed oblivious to how dangerous that could be....both to their little girl and other students.

It sounded like this principal was at her wits end...had tried everything else, but the girl just refused to listen to reason (and with parents like hers, I understand why

[Guest]

Yeah Shawn...the parents attitudes really turned me off. I thought this was another example of "p.c. zero tolerance gone too far", but don't feel that way now.

While girls at my middle school did cartwheels and handstands...they didn't do them in the crowded lunchroom or hallways. These parents seemed oblivious to how dangerous that could be....both to their little girl and other students.

It sounded like this principal was at her wits end...had tried everything else, but the girl just refused to listen to reason (and with parents like hers, I understand why

I think both the parents and child should be paddled.

[Derek Ortt]

a good, hard paddling like in the good old days at public schools, even with a black and blue mark or two, once a week for the next couple of years would do this girl a lot of good, and for good measure, her parents as well

[Guest]

These parents are can be placed in the same pot as the person who sues Micky "Ds:" ffor spilling hot coffee on their self.

People ask for so much sympathy when they DON"T deserve it...it makes me sick!

Rules are rules. If I saw someone cartwheeling towards me, Katie bar the door! I hope this child's suspension does not get repealed or reduced.

[mikey mike]

No wonder this society is so messed up.No one can be an individual.Everybody has to be a robot in the machine.Can you say "1984"?

[mikey mike]

Well,inside,now that is different.

[vbhoutex]

Now that I know the whole story, I too can agree on the fact she needed a suspension. Shame on her parents for defending her for obviously disobeying the principal. As much as my parents would defend me, if I was wrong they made sure I did my punishment whatever it was.

[Josephine96]

I still think the school went too far.. She could have been detained.. maybe even given some stupid "I will not do cartwheels" writing assignment.. but come on..

This is where the school system irks me.. They spend too much time on things that are usually harmless..