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Originally Posted by intellec7
In my opinion, this issue shouldn't have escalated into a lawsuit, but I can concede into understanding the frustration and worry that both the student and the parent feels.
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I think we all feel the same way.
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Originally Posted by intellec7
It's uneasy to know that you're not trusted when you believe that you should be. Honestly, if a student can't be trusted, it's the trip coordinator's responsibility to not not grant that student the privilege of traveling. What is not the coordinator's responsibility is to create a 24-hour alarm system that makes it obvious when there has been an infraction. That's silly.
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The question is, how does the trip coordinator know before the trip that a student can't be trusted? Especially if it's a big group? Yes, there are ways, but the coordinator might not notice the signs or might ignore them.
Also, what happens in a classroom when someone breaks a rule and is not punished? Wouldn't other students copy that? So an indicator that a rule has been broken enables the administrator to deal with it before it gets out of control.
On my old team, we had a system: at curfew, the phones in the students' rooms would ring and we'd hear, "Is everyone there?" to which we'd say who was and wasn't. The one or two times someone wasn't in their room and wasn't under permission to be out past curfew, there were consequences--once for the individual student and the other time in a earlier curfew for the whole team.
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Originally Posted by intellec7
Those who may be accused of "thinking too much" might argue that a student may feel so uncomfortable, that if he or she awakes in the middle of the night and feels the need to obtain something to drink, that student might spend an uncomfortable night because of fear of the sever punishment that results from breaking curfew. Is that the type of system you want to employ: Instilling fear so that students abide by the rules? Of course it tends to work in society, but I'd like to think that any members of a robotics team would be a more mature than that.
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This wasn't a robotics team, but I see your point. That said, it's a rare thing for water not to be available in the room and the students have plenty of time (presumably) before curfew to get other drinks and have those in the room. I can't think of a reason to be out post-curfew, unless there's a group activity that goes long, in which case curfew would of course be extended. Instilling fear? Maybe. I see it as a lesson. The students have an obligation to respect the rules, and in the real world, when rules are broken, somebody suffers.
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Originally Posted by intellec7
It's about respect I think. We have a "watchdog" that monitors our halls when we go on trips. I honestly think she should be getting a good night's sleep instead of terrorizing kids by patrolling the traffic in our hallways.
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Do you respect the adults? Then you would stay in your rooms and the "watchdog" wouldn't be needed. It is all about respect, but respect goes both ways. The teachers should have your respect because they are your teachers; you have to earn it. The best way to earn it is to demonstrate that you are worthy of it. No broken seals, no encounters with the "watchdog", no violations of trust--those will earn the respect of the teachers and they will probably be willing to give you a little more leeway. (Assuming that district/school regulations allow it, of course.)