Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed
I remember a speech the head of Xerox Robotics Gene Wicks told our kids one time about taping them into their rooms: "If we have to tape you into your rooms, we're not taking you."
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Bingo in my mind. Our team does't tape doors either. And as Art suggests, I think its far better to teach the students respect and making the right decisions. Do we really care if the kid wants to go get a bucket of Ice at midnight? No. Do we generally find out if someone does something wrong? Yeah. We have a student leadership group that I like to think is very open with me, and we often discuss problems on the team. Not once has breaking curfew been a problem.
In my mind, I go back to that when I was in school, I never had a curfew at home (trips, all except my first year in robotics). My rule was just that I had to tell my dad when I was going to be home and where I was. If I was going to be late, or if I was going to go somewhere else, I would call my dad and let him know. I dont think he ever said no, a few times he probably said I should be home a bit earlier, but in general, he taught me to make good decisions, so he trusted me. To this day, a lot of times when I go home to visit I will call to let him know where Im going
Now as for the potential lawsuit, I think its a bit of an overreaction to sue. No one was actually hurt. But as a few people have said, I can also understand the kid having a panic attack. We have several kids that had never been on group trips before, and several that have been sheltered, and several that I could see overrreacting or getting upset at things. I think Jane is right in that the biggest deal is communication. We dont know from the article if it was or wasnt communicated, presumably not, but who knows. If the chaperones were reasonable and the kid was nervous about it, they could tape the door and ask him to open it so that he would see that it wasnt going to keep him stuck in there. But I also have to wonder if the kid was that worried, why didnt he or the other students in the room call a chaperone as soon as it happened to alleviate it?
I think we need to teach students to act respectfully, but communication is also a two way street. We should all do our best to make sure everyone understand, but being a team leader, I could see that after a while, you might forget a thing or two that might upset a kid. But really now adays, the things that get the news and that get people upset are so minor in comparison to the big picture, and this definitely seems like it could easily be solved without a lawsuit.