[KarenH]

Your punishment was more than you bargained for--you are hardly the first to have this sad experience:

My high school Psych. & Lit. teacher was a bit of a nut case. When teaching our class about "responsibility," she defined responsibility as being willing to accept the consequences for her actions. Then she told us her story: she bought a new sports car, and thought it would be fun to see what it could do on the freeway. She "responsibly" agreed with herself to accept the consequences: she might get a ticket. Sure enough, an officer pulled her over, and, while writing a ticket, lectured her about the dangers of speeding.

She expressed her anger to our class about how this chauvinistic cop dared to lecture her, the "responsible adult," as if she were a little girl! My thought was that, by her own definition, she was NOT "responsible," because she failed to take into account that consequences could include something unexpected-- such as being regarded as irresponsible and immature by a male! To say nothing of the possibility of an accident.

To be sure, it's more important to adhere to principles of good conduct than to be concerned about consequences, but if you're going to break rules, you need to be prepared for unexpected consequences.

We all need to be aware that our society is morally out of focus, so when officials try to clamp down, they often appear more like enforcers of a police state than administrators of a just society. I just learned this fact about the Selective Service System: men who fail to register could wind up in jail for five years, and have to pay a fine of up to $250,000 (yes, that's six digits). How many eighteen-year-olds can afford five years out of their lives, and a quarter of a million dollars, just for failing to fill out an 8x5-inch piece of paper? Oh, and this little omission is classified as a felony--literally a federal crime! Violators would lose their right to vote, their right to carry arms, and a bunch of other rights, privileges, and benefits. How can anyone justify such a huge penalty? It's only a little piece of paper! Missing a prom and a few days of school pales in comparison.