Defiant and Rowdy High School Student Suspended Received Call from Mom in Iraq

[las47032]

Kevin Francois gave up his lunch break to talk to his mother, but it ended up costing him the rest of the school year.

Francois, a junior at Spencer High School in Columbus, was suspended for disorderly conduct Wednesday after he was told to give up his cell phone at lunch while talking to his mother who is deployed in Iraq, he said.

His mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, left in January for a one-year tour and serves with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

"This is our first time separated like this," said Francois, 17, on Thursday.

Bates came to Fort Benning with her son from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga. She enrolled him at Spencer in August. Since her deployment overseas, Francois, whose father was killed when he was 5 years old, lives with a guardian who has five children in Columbus.

The incident happened when Francois received a call from his mother at 12:30 p.m., which he said was his lunch break. Francois said he went outside the school building to get a better reception when his mother called. A teacher who saw Francois on his phone told him to get off the phone. But he didn't.

According to the Muscogee County School District Board of Education's policy, students are allowed to have cell phones in school, but cannot use them during school hours.

"They are really allowed to have those cell phones so that after band or after chorus or after the debate and practices are over they have to coordinate with the parents," said Alfred Parham, assistant principal at Spencer. "They're not supposed to use them for conversating back and forth during school because if they were allowed to do that, they could be text messaging each other for test questions."

Francois said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom."

Francois said the teacher tried to take the phone, causing it to hang up.

The student said he then went with the teacher to the school's office where he surrendered his phone. His mother called again at 12:37 p.m. and left a message scolding her son about hanging up and telling him to answer the phone when she calls.

Control issue

Parham said the teen's suspension was based on his reaction when he was asked to give up the cell phone and told about the school's cell phone policy.

"Kevin got defiant and disorderly with Mr. Turner and another assistant principal," Parham said Thursday. "He got defiant with me. He refused to leave Mr. Turner's office. When a kid becomes out of control like that they can either be arrested or suspended for 10 days. Now being that his mother is in Iraq, we're not trying to cause her any undue hardship; he was suspended for 10 days."

Wendall Turner is another assistant principal at Spencer.

Parham said the student used profanity when he was taken into the office. He said he tried to work out something with the student. But Francois said he was too frustrated he couldn't answer the phone when his mother called him the second time.

"I even asked Kevin, 'You know we can try to work something out to where if your mother wants to call you she can call you at the school,'" Parham said. "So we've tried to work with Kevin and we're going to continue to try to work with Kevin and his mother and his relatives. In the course of good order and discipline, we have to abide by our policy."

Francois admitted he was partially at fault for his behavior but said he should have been allowed to talk to his mother.

"I was mad at the time, but I feel now maybe I should've went about it differently," he said. "Maybe I should've just waited outside to pick up the phone. But I don't I feel I should've changed any of my actions. I feel I was right by not hanging up the phone."

For Francois, he said he gets to hear from his mother once a month, and phone calls vary depending on when she can use the phone in Iraq. Francois said his mother calls as late as 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. and tries to catch him during hours he's awake. He said the phone call Wednesday was the first time she called him while he was at school.

Francois, who said he's been struggling with his grades in school, wants to go back to school and finish the rest of his year. He fears he may have pay for summer school because of his punishment.

"My grades had been low, but I was bringing them up. My grades were coming back up. On one of my report cards I had like a 'F' in one of my classes, but I brought it back up to a low 'C.' This just brought me all the way down."


According to the Muscogee County School District Board of Education's policy, students are allowed to have cell phones in school, but cannot use them during school hours.

Not good horse sense. Why let students have cell phones at school in the first place?!

Parham commented, "They're not supposed to use them for conversating back and forth during school because if they were allowed to do that, they could be text messaging each other for test questions."

Weak argument. Students have other ways of getting answers for tests. We did it when we were in high school.

Teacher grabbed the boy’s phone, the teacher should be reprimanded. After all educators are not allowed to spank students or use any other form of corporal punishment.

On account of his mother is in Iraq calls for extenuation circumstances, after all he only gets to talk to his mother once a month! Most important, there is a possibility it could be the last time Francois get to talk to his mother. Never know, she could be the next one to fill a body bag. Did these morons ever think of that?!

Apparently Parkham and the rest of the school administration has no clue how the Army and the rest of the military operates. Military personnel have to abide by the rules too. And in some cases regulations can be bent.

School officials need to get a grip thinking about a resolution can be worked out having SFC Bates call her son at school. The Army works on their schedule, not anybody else’s. Furthermore, the assistant principal had better learn time zones.

Is SFC Bates supposed to stop what she’s doing just to appease and accommodate the school?! Not!

Taking time out to call her son puts the burden on the rest of her unit because somebody has to pick up the slack.

Mother's call gets son in hot water
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/11575912.htm

[Caldric]

Alfred Parham, assistant principal "They're not supposed to use them for conversating back and forth during school because if they were allowed to do that, they could be text messaging each other for test questions."

Great english for a Principle ... hehe

The problem with schools these days is they worry about everything but what is important.

[conlor]

Sometimes kids get out of control because the adults back them into a corner and they feel frustrated. These adults should have gone about this differently and there wouldn't have been a problem.

[Woodmonkey]

This is another case of a school administration and teacher handling something wrong. In this case, I hope that it goes further and there is a big stink raised.

Anyone have an email so we can all deluge the high school and the District Superintendent with our outrage? They don't like that kind of feedback, but need it desperately.

[las47032]

Woodmonkey

You wanted email address, here it is.

You can contact the superintendent here
jphillips@mcsdga.net

You can contact the assistant Principle here
aparham@mcsdga.net

This is the email address to the Principle
orutledge@mcsdga.net

Copied.

I got this from Boy gets suspended for talking to mother in Iraq http://forum.protestwarrior.com/view...=77253&start=0

[Caldric]

IF I were the student I would have just walked off school grounds when they told me I could not talk to my mom in Iraq.

[cb88]

Originally Posted by conlor

Sometimes kids get out of control because the adults back them into a corner and they feel frustrated. These adults should have gone about this differently and there wouldn't have been a problem.

I would agree with you. The teacher could have handled that TOTALLY differently....thus avoiding the whole problem.