A parent being called to the school because their child had misbehaved was as serious as a parent being called to the police station because their child had robbed a bank.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Responsibility for the proper conduct of children was not confined to their parents only. When they misbehaved, they misbehaved against the community. And a senior member of the community was expected to do something about it.
As a newspaper reporter, I covered and was around a fair number of crime scenes involving juvenile delinquents, and few things bothered me more than listening to their parents. Crying, ranting, proclaiming how great their children were despite being kicked out of school or previous run-ins with the law.
You can become very serious as a parent. That's got to be fought against.
I knew what could happen to my son if he was sent to the wrong school and got in with the wrong crowd.
Since the child knew his parents would give in, he tried the same trick again and again.
I remember my father checking on a mountain kid who hadn't been coming to school. My father had this beautiful Harris tweed overcoat. He came back with a knife cut all down one side. The parents had told him it was none of his business why their son wasn't going to school.
The reasons kids get into trouble in one way or another is because - Who ever told them they were special?
The fate of a child is in the hands of his parents.
When a parent comes into school waving a book and saying, 'Take this book away. I don't like this book.' I won't say in all cases, but in many cases, that will not happen anymore. It has to go through a proper review board. The complaining parent will have to fill out a complaint, you know, put it in writing.
In second grade, I told a bunch of kids there was a homeless person living between the portable classrooms outside our school. It caused panic, and the principal had to announce on the P.A. system that no one was living there. I pretended I didn't know who started the rumor.
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