What do you think the appropriate punishment should be for making out on the school bus? A couple days of bus suspension? Maybe a detention or a day of home suspension?
How about expulsion?
One of two things seems to be going on here. Either there was more than just making out going on, or the school district severely overreacted. I'm hard pressed to come up with an alternative besides those two.
I vote for: No punishment at all.
ReplyDeletemaybe it was a catholic school...and the two were of the same sex
ReplyDeletewell, since homosexual relations in catholic (or whatever religion it is) is a sin, then they would be expelled for breaking a big rule (in the bible at least)
Watching the video, Scott, we know that's not the case.
ReplyDeleteLook, there has to be some place to draw the line. Expulsion is over the top, but if we don't have some sort of penalty, then we are tacitly approving public behavior that is not condoned by the code of conduct. More likely than not, the kids knew that there were rules about this. In my experience, the kids who are in major clinches at school generally have been glared at and warned numerous times before someone gets tired of it and issues a write up. Could it also possibly be that other students were embarrassed by their behavior? While older kids think it's no big deal, if it's a bus where elementary, middle and high school kids are all in attendance, then it's really out of place. There's also the issue of intensity. There's a difference between a peck on the check and something far less innocent. My take is that parents should be made aware of the rules and the kids should be given in school suspension for a couple of days. Also, when I was chaperoning a high school band trip, a boy tried to feel up a girl he had been nuzzling all night. She lodged a complaint and it was largely a he said-she said scenario with the boy on the losing end of the argument. He is now considered a registered sex offender because he was 18 and she was 15. So never mind that we had to chase her off of his lap and tell her to behave. Like it or not, we may be protecting these kids from themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhen did kissing in public become against a code of conduct? And when did that code of conduct become a decent code to live by?
ReplyDeleteApparently it happened *after* England went past the tipping point.
ReplyDeleteI say that only half in jest.
If you watch the video, it becomes clear that this wasn't "a kiss". It was full-on, get-a-room making out, which is inappropriate conduct in public. I've written about this topic before:
http://rightontheleftcoast.blogspot.com/2007/10/public-displays-of-affection-at-school.html