...because he was talking to his mother on his cell phone during lunch.
His mother just happens to be serving in Iraq.
I really don't know what else to say. It's horrifying.
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Article comments
1 - Aaman
The kid broke a school rule on cellphones - you live by the rules, and take the consequences.
The mother could have called the school and asked for her son.
2 - Nicolette Rivers
He didn't get suspended for talking to his mother: he got suspended for choosing not to get off the phone when he was asked, and for being defiant and rude.
It does not fall anywhere within my definition of horrifying, and as the article points out, suspension was in lieu of them calling the cops. The kid even admits he was partly to blame.
A kid is in school to learn and -- unless there is an emergency -- that's exactly what should happen. Since the kid is a "C" student, perhaps studying would have been a better way to spend his lunchbreak.
The good news is, with recent reports that recruiters are desperate, he can join the military if he so wishes. Only they probably have silly little rules about cell phones too...
3 - anonymous
They need to stop treating kids like prisoners while in school. Calling the cops for talking on a cell phone? He told the teacher the nature of the call, and the teacher behaved unreasonably, and deserved to be cussed out.
4 - SFC SKI
Nioclette, how do you put up with being so superior? Getting to a phone in Iraq is not that easy, and if the mother had called the office, she would have wasted even more time getting hold of her son, and the minutes cost a lot. Sometimes, a soldier has limited time in which to make a call, as well.
5 - Cassy
I am studying to become a teacher and would be one of the first people to say that there are to many issues going on in schools. One big problem I have is suspention. Why do we want to deny our children of an education? According to Nicolette Rivers the kid is a C student. If this is true then kicking the kid out of school is worthless. Eventhough talking on cellphones is against school policiy and as a teacher I would confenscate a cellphone if a saw one in my classroom, this is not a case that should resolt in suspention. For one, he was talking to his mother in Iraz. As someone who does not have a living mother, all I can say is I wish my mother were alive so I could talk to her on my cellphone and be suspeneded. Also, this happened at lunch time. The kid is not being disruptive or anything like that. He is just eating lunch and talking to his mom who God only knows when he is going to see again. Yes, maybe the kid should have handled the situation a little better, but it is rediculous that he would not be allowed to talk to his mother in Iraz during lunch. If that is the type of teachers who is going to be my coworker than I'm going to have a problem because I don't want to be a fellow teacher to someone who has no compassion. That is pretty hartless to suspend the kid for that. For the record schools are not just a place to learn. They are a place to help children grow in all ways to help them become wellrounded, thoughtful, careing, intelligent, wise, and understanding people. And the purpose of a teacher goes much deeper than just teaching children knowledge.