CT Teen is banned from going to the Prom.

[gremcint]

Once again I don't really know enough to offer a full opinion, for all we know he's been harassing this girl for a while and this is the straw that broke the camel's back. Or this person has caused other unrelated problems in the past and was on some sort of unofficial probation but unfortunately there is no information.

If however he is a good student or at least not a troublemaker then this was a harsh punishment.

[Android Kaeli]

Whatever happened to "Hey, wanna go to the prom?"

I'm siding with the school on this one. What the kid did was unnecessary, potentially dangerous, and depending on the area laws, trespassing and possibly vandalism. There was no reason to pull such a silly stunt.

This.

Yes there should be some creativity with asking out someone to prom, but not when it calls for trespassing on school grounds well after the school was closed/end of school-sponsered events? That's way too risky for a date to the prom.

He, or anyone else that helped him, could've gotten hurt and the school would've been responsible for him because, you know, he WAS on school property. All those involved were lucky that nothing did happen this time around, but what if something had happened?

[DGoddess]

Once again, it's scary that we have idiots like that educating our kids. Makes me really glad that my own kid only has one year of school left.

And this is one of those moments where I'm glad I'm not a parent. If I had children, I'd be pulling time in prison right now b/c I'd have went off royally on either a idiot teacher with a control issue or a principal with a Master of the Universe problem.

[Panacea]

The punishment was excessive.

Yes, putting the sign up was a dumb shit thing to do. It did create a hazard for anyone walking under it or the person who had to take it down, not to mention the boy himself could have been hurt.

The in school suspension was fine. Read the kid the riot act and make him understand what he did. Make him police the campus for trash for a few days.

Barring him from the prom was counter productive. Now he's just going to be resentful of authority . . . meaning he won't learn a darned thing.

[Greenday]

meaning he won't learn a darned thing.

I highly doubt that. Even though he's nearly done with high school anyway, I don't see him ever trying anything like this again for any reason.

[woodensunshine]

Just to clear up something, if it helps...

He wasn't banned from prom because of his silly stunt. He was banned from prom because the school has a rule stating if you get, I believe, detention or suspension after April 1st, you can't go to prom.

[Racket_Man]

Major Update

apparently the Headmaster Beth Smith relented and let the guy and his date go to prom. the Headmaster cited international attention given to this "incident".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._lnk1%7C215170

[Boozy]

And another great lesson learned by the youth of America.

Bitch and moan to the media for long enough, and you'll get what you want.

[Shangri-laschild]

This whole mess probably could have been avoided if he'd just talked to the school first to see if it was ok. Either they say no and you know better than to do it or they say yes and make sure that there is no liability involved. The kids had a cute idea but they posted a sign up on a building that wasn't theirs that they didn't have permission to post a sign on. This is one of those things where probably no one would get hurt but there are enough various risks involved that I can understand the kids getting some form of punishment though I agree that it doesn't really need to be anything more severe than detention or someone sitting them down and explaining why it was a problem.

[Andara Bledin]

Yes, the kids were dumb and deserved some form of punishment for their stupidity.

But the punishment given was way out of line with the infraction, and deserved the attention it got.

I have always thought that prom was a huge waste of time and money, but I know a lot of kids put a lot of energy into attending. It's not right to take away a one-time event that they have already put out a lot of money (that the school won't refund) for.

^-.-^

[AdminAssistant]

The punishment may seem extreme, but that was the punishment listed in the student handbook. You get detention after a certain date, you don't go to prom. As Boozy said, the only lesson learned now is that if you whine to the media, then you'll get your way. (Also, regardless of what the school had said, if I had done something like this, my *parents* wouldn't have let me go to prom.)

[Eisa]

Hmm. While I thought that the punishment was overly harsh, I think going back on it is just stupid. Because yeah, that's all they learned. "Oh look if I kick up enough fuss about it, no more consequences!" Except that life doesn't [or shouldn't] work that way.

[Rageaholic]

Just to clear up something, if it helps...

He wasn't banned from prom because of his silly stunt. He was banned from prom because the school has a rule stating if you get, I believe, detention or suspension after April 1st, you can't go to prom.

That sounds like a pretty stupid rule. What was he in detention for in the first place? Because if the detention was a result of his stunt, than by default, he wasn't allowed to go to prom because of his stunt.

And another great lesson learned by the youth of America.

Bitch and moan to the media for long enough, and you'll get what you want.

But in cases like this, there may not be an alternative. I can't say how unflexable the superattendant was or how much they tried to negotiate through other means. But since this didn't sound like too unreasonable of a request (just going to the prom), I fail to see how going to the media is a bad thing.

[Boozy]

But in cases like this, there may not be an alternative.

The alternative would have been manning up, accepting the consequences of his actions, and not going to prom.

Is not getting what you want whenever you want it really such an unthinkable scenario?

[Rageaholic]

Is not getting what you want whenever you want it really such an unthinkable scenario?

In this instance, no. Though the importance of the prom varies depending on the student (I think it's bullshit myself).

However, I also see no harm in how this was resolved. Going to the prom wasn't asking for much in the first place (as he would have been allowed to go anyway). It may not have been a huge issue and the media may have been overkill, but I understand the sentiment of wanting to raise hell against the headmaster for being so petty.