A few days ago some high school seniors pulled a harmless prank before grad. They are students at Southern Lehigh High School in Center Valley, PA. The students scaled a wall and entered an internal courtyard, setup tents and stayed the night. A quote from a story called Senior Prank Lands Students in Trouble in Philadelphia News, “There was no damage, no illegal substances involved, no horsing around. They simply set up tents, ate food that they picked up, went to sleep and the next morning the police were there,”. The students were suspended for five days.
The school district superintendent had this to say in defending the actions of the school admin. Interesting wording in his statement. Clear, polite, non-accusational and non-inflammatory would be my take. Whether I agree or not with the penalties coming from the school admin, I do appreciate a balanced statement like this one.
This superintendent seems a remarkable man. He seems to attain a balanced viewpoint. Here is a statement he was recorded as saying in a Morning Call article called, Those darned kids these days...
"Friday, before about 75 students gathered to protest the punishment resulting from Monday's camping prank, Liberati sat down with a few students and shared the school's perspective.
"We talked about the escalation of pranks, how classes try to top the prior year and how that becomes problematic,'' he said. ''What happened this week is out of the ordinary for Southern Lehigh. This is not usually how we're viewed. My hope is that there will be greater communication with everyone."

As always, there are 2 (or more) sides to every story. There were 17 kids involved. Did the school admin over-react, or not? Did the kids do something stupid or not?

There has been a lot of local press about over-reaction by school authorities and this article called, Point made, it's time to free the campers by Bill White in the Morning Call paper is just one of many. Whether the charges against the students was a knee-jerk reaction or not, I don't know. However many feel it was not well thought out and too harsh.

Normally one doesn't hear much about other schools unless the school makes the headlines. Then a search turns up all kinds of information, including the more unflattering kind. Here is a link to comments which the school probably wishes would just go away. Whether the comments are just grouching by disgruntled students, or not, they are there, forever. And, they don't do the rest of the dedicated students and school any good. There is usually a reason for comments. What was the reason?

Remember, these days everyone, especially our connected youth, has access to the incredible resources on the internet. As another example, there is this Rate my Teachers website. The link is pointed to the high school.

Most students are proud of their school and demonstrate it in many positive ways. Future blogs will look at positive student contributions for their school and each other, and positive teacher contributions to their students.

Students: have a fun and safe grad!

Cheers - Mike