Yep, this is definitely unfair, and I think you could get that dean in a whole lot of trouble over this. But perhaps you should give the idiot a chance first, by getting your parents involved, as dewt suggests. I haven’t read many of your other threads, but even if you aren’t on the best of terms with your parents (is this why dewt fled ?), they would not be happy about Shabat not being observed.
And if that avenue doesn’t work, then I also think the ACLU would be a good idea. (And People magazine sounds cool too!) But seriously, standing up for yourself and having a positive outcome to this (and I don’t see how you could lose) may someday look good on a resume or college application (under civic involvement?).
WHAT??? He told you that you should find another school because of your religion??? I cannot believe that!! What a bigot! What an asshole!
Screw giving this jerk another chance. Go to the ACLU, stat. This kind of behavior should not be tolerated. If your parents call him and make a stink, he might wiggle out of it, but what about the next kid? He’s not going to be more tolerant in the future, I’m sure. He should be disciplined by the board.
He didn’t have to suspend you, either. He could have insisted that you stay after school for x amount of days instead of on Saturday. You don’t need something like this on your permanent record, and I think you should inist it be expunged.
All these suggestions would be gteat, but for one thing. There was no one there when he told me that, therefore I have no proof that he did. Anything that I tried to push against this would be my word against his, and in that scenario, no one in their right mind would actually believe me.
I’m confused. What’s so terrible about putting your head down on your desk? It has just recently become a rule in my school that you can’t sleep in study halls but that doesn’t mean you can’t rest your head. (somebody died of a drug overdose and they thought he was just asleep.)
But you won’t know that until you try, hypergirl. It’s entirely possible that he’s said this type of thing to other students, and that other students have been afraid to speak out.
His telling you that you need to find another school because your parents observe the Sabbath is, IMHO, a blatantly discriminatory statement, and I don’t think you should let it ride.
So, then, “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.”” is patently against the rules you’ve just listed.
Jess, IMNSHO, “he told me that I should find another school because of that” was probably more to scare you than anything else.
Holy crap, that is one strict school you go to! You got in trouble for putting your head down in class, and then suspended for refusing to go to a saturday detention because of religious beliefs?? Thats crazy.
hypergirl What the hell kind of Nazi backed, jack ass powered, chicken headed school are you going to anyway?! Shouldn’t this guy be an a WW2 movie getting blown up by his own granade?
Ya know, i know some pretty big guys, and if this fella was to meet with, you know, a little bit of an “accident” on his way out to his car… well think about it anyway.
Even if there were no witnesses, if you have an articulate transcript of the entire event from your own point of view, it can be of immense benefit. If the dean is called upon to detail his conduct in the situation and there are enormous discrepancies between what you have listed and what he has, it will increase your credibility. What you need to do is to create this document immediately and then get it filed in some official protest. That way, you have volunteered your version first and the dean will be forced to either unfairly refute you or admit to what you say.
If you allow the dean to file his report first, then you will lose some validity to your arguments. You need to fire the first shot here. One of the biggest problems is that you may be able to amelliorate some of the difficulty by talking with the dean first. You will probably want to come armed with your version of things and be ready to file it on the spot if your meeting with the dean does not pan out well.
I went to a (primarily Jewish) private school where we were not allowed to put our heads on our desks. We were not allowed to even put our elbows on the desk and rest our heads on our hands. It was considered a sign of disrespect to the teacher and an unacceptable lack of self discipline.
When we addressed our teachers, it was with Monsieur, or Madame. Detentions were handed out liberally for infractions involving a lack of respect for authority. Tone of voice was an important consideration. You could get a detention for being disrespectful even if the words you used were not.
I don’t even know the name of your school, so I certainly don’t know how strict they are. I would ask you, however, if your tone of voice betrayed your obvious disrespect for this man. That might be the root of your problem - as opposed to your religious practices (or, more appropriately those of your parents).
That being said, it is profoundly discouraging to hear of cases involving discrimination of any kind. That sort of thing is unacceptable and I think we all bear a responsibility to meet it head on and fight it to our last breath.
The only problem with this is that anything more then a one day In-school suspension goes on your permanent record, or at least that is the way it is in Michigan. Therefore, this would go on her permanent record, and colleges will look at that, and look down on that. Most colleges ask you if you have ever been suspended, and that’s a major loss of points to them.