Kid suspended for cellphone call with dad in Iraqu

[Pokelover33]

A Texas sergeant and his son recently found themselves separated not only by an eight-hour time difference, several bodies of water, hundreds of miles and a war, but by a high school official who suspended the boy for answering his dad's call during class.

Cove High School in Texas, where half the students have at least one parent deployed, justified the punishment against Brandon Hill by saying he had violated the no-cell-phone policy when he took the call from his father, who is serving in Iraq.

"I have been going through a lot of stress lately and my dad’s like my best friend, so I go to him for everything," the sophomore told FOX News on Saturday.

"I needed to talk to him, so my mom got a hold of him on Yahoo and told him to call me, so I answered the phone call in class."


When he learned of his son’s punishment, Master Sgt. Morris Hill said he was unsettled.

"When my wife told me, I was pretty disturbed by it," he said in a phone call from Iraq.

"I was pretty shocked, considering that several months before we left I had talked to the … assistant principal and thought everything was fine," Morris Hill said.

"Since my kid’s been going to the school we’ve had a pretty good working relationship."

And when his mother, Patricia Hill, tried to contact school officials, she received no response until her son’s story garnered media attention.

The matter has since been resolved, Patricia Hill said, but she added that more must be done to protect children around the country from being punished under similer sercamstansissce.

Wow, this is horribal, what do you think?

 

[Transfinite]

I'm sure the father was aware of the time difference, so why didn't he wait until school was over to call?

 

[MondoTR]

You mutilated the word 'circumstances'. ;-;

Ket - Maybe he had more important things on his mind.

Surely in a school full of brats they'd allow exceptions to the rule for cases like this. I say as long as the kid leaves the classroom and takes the call in the hall or something then there wouldn't be a problem. Unless people took advantage and lied by actually taking regular calls from friends and such.

 

[Nekusagi]

This kinda thing pisses me off. I went to a high school with a VERY strict cell phone policy and know how overprotective they can be.

The kid's dad is in IRAQ. He could get killed any time by an IED. Does the school really want to screw the kid out of a last chance to talk to him if the worst happens?

 

[Calvin]

His dad is in freakin' Iraq. Cut the kid some slack, retarded school.

My school (which I'm not as, as I'm sick) has a not-so-lenient cellphone policy, but the worst that happens is they take away your phone.

But, if your dad was in a war, about to be killed, possibly, the freaking school should allow it for the kids.

But, as Dani said, some people will take advantage of it, so it should only work if some assistant will watch the kid take the call.

 

[bell02+]

I'm sure the father does not have the liberties to call when ever they want if they are in action.

Surely in a school full of brats they'd allow exceptions to the rule for cases like this. I say as long as the kid leaves the classroom and takes the call in the hall or something then there wouldn't be a problem. Unless people took advantage and lied by actually taking regular calls from friends and such.

Unfortunately that's high school, most high schools don't give you the liberties to abruptly leave whenever necessary like college or something. That said, I don't know if it is a secret or not, but I'm not quite sure if Suspensions or Detentions actually effect your ability to get into college or get a job. (Thus, it's about as bad as the shiny star stickers are good in first grade)

I think some people have to just put their faith in rules being black and white even though life clearly exists in shades gray (or better yet, color).

Though, if the Assistant principal give the father the right to call, then it is clearly should be resolved. Lets not forget the true reason for teens to have cell phones is for emergencies. In the case that it was the grandparents or other relative calling about the father having an accident, or worse (in the case of the family situation) mother being in a bad accident, the school implies they would take the same action, which clearly shows flaws in their rules.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Is the location of the dad supposed to excuse anything? The dad could have reached him after school. And why did the mom tell him to make the call right then?

Not to mention that if she's able to talk with him on Yahoo, so's the son. They could have both waited until he came home to reach his dad.

This wasn't an emergency. The kid, the father, and the mother were in no immediate danger where they needed to contact each other at that very moment. They could have waited a few hours for the bell to ring.

 

[Yotsuba]

Not to mention that if she's able to talk with him on Yahoo, so's the son. They could have both waited until he came home to reach his dad.

Don't just assume. The kid was in class when his father contacted him, correct? Perhaps his mom was home that day or is a homemaker? Because her job allows it she can talk with husband online, but by the time her son gets home, he can't. You have to take all possibilities into account.

This wasn't an emergency. The kid, the father, and the mother were in no immediate danger where they needed to contact each other at that very moment. They could have waited a few hours for the bell to ring.

And you know it wasn't an emergency how? Sure someone wasn't physically hurt, but the kid has been stressed out. We don't exactly know what that means, a lot of people aren't going to ramble on about personal issues on TV, I know I sure wouldn't.

Also how is the dad suppose to know? Sure he spoke with his wife earlier in the day, but we don't know how much earlier. Hours could've passed for all we know, and I doubt the guy has his kid's school schedule (or the time to calculate the time difference when he's busy with military junk).

Seriously, the family isn't in a good place right now and the father had spoken to the school before. They had no reason to assume their child would get in trouble.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Stressed out isn't the same as in grave danger. Not to mention if the kid's so stressed that he has to rely on calls from his dad from halfway around the world (and apparently can't talk to his mom who he sees every day), he really has greater issues than this which needs to be dealt with.

 

[Yotsuba]

Stressed out isn't the same as in grave danger. Not to mention if the kid's so stressed that he has to rely on calls from his dad from halfway around the world (and apparently can't talk to his mom who he sees every day), he really has greater issues than this which needs to be dealt with.

That's really a matter of opinion. People deal with things in different ways, plus some of his stress may be because of his father. Talking to him might also help.

It's really not our place to judge what's "insane" or not. We're not that kid. Plus my mother works with a woman who's husband is over there as well. I know she gets calls from him at like...2 AM because of the limited ability to talk. Basically it's a case of "if you can talk to them, do it" because you don't know when you'll have the next chance...or if you might be dead the next day.

Again, it was a totally unfair case and the school knew it. If not, then they wouldn't have ignored the family until the media addressed it.