Code of Conduct

Homeschooling: Kary L. Moss, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan, called
some discipline policies "draconian," and said they create a
"school-to-prison pipeline," according to The News.

SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "ACLU report shows disparity in school
discipline," June 25, 2009
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090625/SCHOOLS/906250400/1026/LOCAL/ACLU-report-shows-disparity-in-school-discipline

The quote above is referring to public school Code of Conduct policies. In some ways I have to agree that they are "draconian" but the sad reality is that children are arriving at school unprepared to follow those "rules". And why should they be prepared? And why should they care? The school my kids attended had them sign a code of conduct policy every fall. My son would happily sit down with me, read through every rule, sign the form that said he had read everything and understood it, and then proceed to break just about every rule - especially the one about fighting. There was one important rule missing - one about not teasing little boys with short fuses. And interestingly enough, it was most needed by the kids that were pretty good about following the rest of those written rules.

When Motocross Boy was in public school he rotated between avoiding doing anything that involved learning, whomping on kids who teased him, hiding from administrators who couldn't run as fast as him, and sitting in the office waiting for us to arrive from wherever we happened to be working when school called. Lots of productive time spent in that building - that's for sure! And I'm sure he sounds like a holy terror too and probably was for some of those teachers who just didn't "get" him at all - and there were a few that did.

Being forced into a pigeon hole was just not his cup of tea. Being able to learn at his own pace (however crazy it drives me sometimes) and function in real world social situations instead of stuck in a group of same age kids (same age, not same maturity level) has suited him quite well. He hasn't had a single aggressive situation since he left school. His sister is the only one who teases him and knows when to back off. He is learning and keeping pace.

But best of all - we only have a moral code of conduct in our school.

Horses: We gave Stanley the day off yesterday to hang out with his friends and just "be a horse". I miss the bugger. We were hoping to get over there today...and instead gave him another day off. He's going to have an easy week since we have motocross this weekend!

Motocross: Motocross Boy cleaned his room today!! I guess he is serious about racing at MPX Sebewaing this weekend. Or not.