What part of "child" have we seemed to have forgotten?
The kind of shenanigans/behavior now accepted as kids-will-be-kids would never have been dreamed of/much tolerated during my own (and many others on this forum) HS days. Given the kids have apparently demonstrated no self-control, it must necessarily be imposed externally.
Respect is earned, not given away in Cracker Jack boxes to make someone "feel good"
Xin Loi.
Hmmm. HS kids. Being children. I think there's a useful distinction between a 16 year old and a 6 year. Both children, technically, but a 16 year old has a more defined sense of right and wrong for example
In HS, some of 'em are 18. And almost any of 'em would be tried as an adult. A fair number of them drive. A few states in the US will let a 17 year old vote under the right circumstances. If there was a draft on an 18 year old would be in the Army, so an 18 year old as a child- depends on things like when their birthdays fall and if they got held back once, but some kids in HS are 18....but let me reply to some of your questions:
The kind of shenanigans/behavior now accepted as kids-will-be-kids would never have been dreamed of/much tolerated during my own (and many others on this forum) HS days
Really? Accepted shenanigans/behavior? Accepted by whom? Well, "back in the day" in the US, kids were smoking in student designated smoking areas. Now a kid can't play a prank like letting off a stink bomb without a school going into lockdown. Picking on a classmate a little? Watch out for 'bully laws'. Are you
sure your reception is static-free on the shenanigans/behavior now vs. then picture? Because I think you're forgetting some things about what was done as 'normal activity'. In 1972, if you were 18 in MA, you could buy alcohol legally. Try
drawing a gun as a child in a school today. Hoo-WHEEEE
Given the kids have apparently demonstrated no self-control, it must necessarily be imposed externally.
If children 'back in the day'
did have self control, and now they 'apparently don't', what changed? Children? Or parenting? In my opinion, now that the former inmates run the asylum, parents do a poor job- in general, on average, not in each case- of controlling their kids. Bluntly, parents are supposed to treat their kids like little adults and reason with them to cease bad behavior, because it was 'bad' to punish traditionally. that's the fashion now- no repercussions for bad behavior. How's that working?
Now, I don't think kids should be beaten with a hairbrush until the lacquer is gone, but kids are selfish. That's the way they are. They may be good kids but they are essentially selfish. My my my, want want want, me me me. And if the parent goes around saying "NObody is going to punish MY child in THAT way" the kids learns he/she can get away with things. And if the parent doesn't discipline the child, all bets are off. I don't feel it's kids' fault that they act like kids. I feel it's parents' faults that their children act like little jerks.
Respect is earned, not given away in Cracker Jack boxes to make someone "feel good"
Not an issue of respect. It is not 'disrespectful' to have a blanket policy that requires a breath-test- it is applied to everyone. However, there is an element of assuming kids are in the wrong that in my opinion is probably a bad idea. Eventually, resentment is the only outcome, and what happens on all those other nights there isn't a school dance? But I do feel your comment about "Cracker Jack boxes to make someone "feel good" " is appropriate- it makes the school feel good, and probably makes some parents feel good. I also don't see where a mutual respect comes into play except the standard respect that a 'child' can expect from a school
But logically, these kids are not distilling their own whisky in the backyard or brewing beer in the tub- it comes from somewhere.
Sounds like a band-aid on a sucking chest wound to me.
