In first period today, our teacher was going over something we had been doing for the past week. I had all the notes down, so I put my head down on one side of the notebook. The dean of students happens to walk by the classroom, and pulls me out of class to yell at me. He tried to give me a Saturday detention. I try to tell him that I can’t serve it for religious reasons. My parents keep shabat and do not drive at all on Saturday. When I told him that, he told me that I should find another school because of that. Now I am a good kid. 3.9 GPA, I am on scholarship, and I do not get in trouble. When the dean told me to go to his office, I went to the wrong one because I didn’t know where it was. I get to go back to class after first period, and I go most of the day figuring that he was just upset and that he would find some way to work around it. But then I get called in last period and he tells me that I am suspended for two days for “gross disrespect” and "refusal to serve Saturday detention. Does that sound fair to you? Oh yeah, and not only am I suspended, but I have been informed that “No one has ever deserved it more.” Of all the kids who have beat people up, cheated and taken drugs, I am the most deserving of suspension because I put my fucking head down! Grrr.
sic your mom on him!
:: flees ::
It wouldnt matter if you werent a great student.
That is just way out of line. You have to know that this person has got some major issues.
Appeal it to the schoolboard. The whole shabat thing makes a good case for religious persecution.
Oops, got distracted. Didn’t mean to quote the whole darned post. Sorry.
See if your school has an ombudsman or arbitrator. If necessary talk to the principal about your situation.
If you went to the wrong office, is there someone who was in that office that will remember you showing up?
Do yourself one big favor and write down a complete transcript of what transpired right now while it is still fresh in your memory. This stinks. You would think that your GPA would speak for itself.
Not only is this unfair, it’s illegal. As far as I know, a school cannot force you to serve a Saturday detention if it is against your religious beliefs and are observing the shabat on Saturday. If this is the situation, then they need to make a concession and give you after-school detentions during the weekday, not to be suspended for two days.
First of all, get your parents involved in this (this is very important). Second, contact your local NAACP chapter, and check the laws of your area in regards to this. This needs to be fought because this dean was WAY out of line.
That is not right.
The things he said were rude and wrong.
Was he reason for being upset over you not comming in personal, or did it seem that he was upholding the no religion/school thing.
As far as personality goes and what I could infer from the op, he just sounds like a jerk.
Is there anyone over him that you could take this to?
Also, Zenster is right–write down a complete transcript of what happened, NOW, while your memory is fresh. You will probably need it later on.
My two cents - don’t sweat the small stuff. I mean, when you’re lying on your death bed looking back over your life do you really think that you will even remember this? Hell, enjoy your two days off, you probably deserve them.
People in authority in schools take it very seriously. When they issue a directive like “you will attend Saturday suspension” the only proper response (to them) is “yes I will”. Is this fair/right etc? Doesn’t matter, it’s how the situation is - kinda like challenging a ref at a basketball game - if the fan or player does it, they can get tossed outta the game.
What to do now - your parents need to intervene. They need to call the principal up right away and indicate your compliance with the ‘consequences’ ** but not against your religious principals**. In a nice way, they should indicate that if necessary, they can/will do a written statement (which of course would also go to the superintendant of schools, and the president of the school board). If the principal refuses to discuss this or puts them off, then your parents should then approach the superintendant personally (with letter to the president of the school board), assuring that person that they’d attempted to go through the correct channels, but the person refused to meet.
make statements like "I know that Mr. Smith does not really want to discriminate on the basis of religion, and that perhaps Mr. Smith is unfamiliar with the tenents of other faiths, but that the student was not attempting disrespect of the person or their position but attempting, rather to indicate a religious discrimination problem with the proposed sanction. "
That kind of language should reasonate with the powers that be.
The results probably will be that you’ll still need to serve some detention, but they should back off of the Saturday thing. Make sure the comments about you not fitting in or whatever they were, get included, with something like “I’m sure Mr. Smith didn’t mean this how it sounded,…”
Schools take their administrator’s side in things like this, and expect that the student will immediately comply with whatever is being said to them. Let your folks do the fighting for you (this is the same lesson I try and try and try to give my son, who was suspended for five days for bouncing a basketball in the hallway during lunch time)
Hypergirl should sweat it, though: You’re a senior, aren’t you, Hyper? She doesn’t need a suspension on her transcript, especially if it’s for no good reason.
Well, um, this may have nothing to do with it, but the dean used to teach at these superstrict British private schools and I think that he is just used to the way they handle things over there. I mean, he does do heinous things and well, let’s just say our group of friends [well, minus me] aren’t exactly the people that are going to get off easily on anything. Mr. Lane must’ve had a gigantic stick up his ass lately about things or else he wouldn’t have been that bad about it. Well, considering that most of our group has been called in for things like cutting and other self-destructive behaviour/poor grades in some with super-high GPAs in others, I think basically any infraction is looking to get us kicked out at this point. I mean, I made the assistant dean look like a fool because he’s an asshole, so they’re staying off my case for the time being, but they’re becoming known for just trying to kick people out for all the wrong reasons. [Side note: whenever one of the others gets called into the office for a “talk” with the guidance counselor, they ask about me like I’m cutting or something, which is just really funny because I’m the last person who’d do it.]
With the shabat thing, he shouldn’t have said anything. You do know that if you tell your father that, he might get really pissed and do something to get reparation for a blatant disrespect of your right to practice a religion of your choice. I’d try that route, and also maybe a little talk with the president from your father about a possible lawsuit for infringing on your rights may shake things up in a good way for once.
Just a reminder, the school that hypergirl, I and a few others on the board attend is a private school, so I don’t know if some of your suggestions will work or not.
I think that it’s a bunch of crap myself, especially with what some kids in our school get away with. Also with the fact that a majority of our school is jewish, I don’t know how they can yell at her for not serving due to shabbat reasons.
IANAL.
AFAIK, it does not matter where you go . . laws are such that one cannot be forced to do something like detention if religious things are in the way.
Did you or anyone else sign a statement effectively giving your rights up in this regard? IOW, did you sign something to the effect of “I, Jess Hypergirl, hereby revoke and give up my rights to xxxxx thing even if it may interfere with my religious beliefs”?
The thing that digitalmuse said is true, our school is not public and we have our own set of rule and regulations. The school may have gone over board on what they are doing to her. I think that if you screw up one time then you do not need that much trouble and it does not need to go on her record. What’s done is done and i hope that she can do something about it but as of this afternoon there is nothing that she could have done. It is only internal for one day so it might not be that bad for her but things happen
Well, paddy, since you asked, we do have this honor code thing that is signed by both students and faculty. There is a special section of it that says you are violating the honor code if you do something against someone or judge them publicly because of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. I could possibly pull it up if they have it on the website and C&P it when the server is back up.
I dealt with this when I was in school. Although my family wasn’t shomer shabbas, we went to synagogue regularly. By the time I was in fifth grade and my older brother was in ninth, not only had my mother eradicated the practice of Saturday detention, she also got rid of Saturday Snow-Makeup and Test Makeup days.
Plus, you’ve got a great legal standpoint (though IANAL). If he won’t back down, go over his head and threaten to call…(are you ready for this?)…the media.
NAACP?
blessedwolf: That’s exactly what I was going to say.
The NAACP wouldn’t be the ones to handle this. I would recommend the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, or if all the other suggestions that everyone else has made (wring’s suggestions are particularly good, about the principal “not intending” to be discriminatory), try the ACLU.
Yeah, that really blows.
But if you are so inclined, you can make a great big stink bout it like everybody is suggesting and be perfectly justified for doing so.
If they continue to be a bunch of old wholes, you can make an even bigger stink and get on the news and on People Magazine and TV and this could be a lot of fun, instead of you getting angry.
Just a thoght…