Lesson Learned

Morality, integrity, honesty and character have been on my mind since my son got suspended from school last Monday. The story goes that Samuel went with another boy to the microwave during lunch to try and cook a Cheeto. The hard part for me was when asked, "Why did you do that?" They replied, "We don't know." So on the way to the Dean's office they were told that didn't they know the "school could catch on fire". Of course they didn't, do you really think a 6 year old can rationalize that a Cheeto could do so much damage? Furthermore, I'm not sure that could really happen; I mean I know I've burned myself up some pretty "blackened" popcorn and the microwave, let alone the house, did not catch fire (thanks for that insight, sis). Anyway, so when the Dean of Students asked the two boys what they thought would happen, their response was, "The school could have caught on fire," and because of their "understanding" of the possible consequences, they were suspended for a day. I did not believe at all that my son knew what could have happened, but that the school catching on fire was only a thought after an adult put it there. It's amazing how much influence we have; anyway, so I expressed my concern to the school and I told them that I thought the suspension was a little hard. Here is the part I am particularly proud about: the next day the Dean of Students met with Cody and I and completely apologized! She said that "After you had voiced your concern, I went and talked to the teacher who caught them and she did in fact tell them the school could have caught on fire on the way to the office and so, therefore, I do believe that's why the boys answered the way they did. The suspension will be wiped off his record and I am deeply sorry I did not consult the teacher before handing out my harsh consequence. He will only have a red card in his record." Samuel was completely vindicated! Not that I don't think he should have got into some sort of trouble, after all, a Cheeto doesn't need cooked and it was wrong, but not a suspension. The fact that my son told me that, "I thought it might be wrong," THAT'S THE POINT I WANTED HIM TO LEARN. If you think it's wrong, that's probably that small voice called the holy spirit telling you not to follow and that's the important lesson here. I want my son to know he needed to stop if he thought it was wrong, that it's okay to say no and you DO NOT HAVE TO BE A FOLLOWER! That's the lesson I want my son to walk away with; an easier lesson to learn at 6 than at 15 and that's what we should all want our kids to learn. Furthermore, I am proud to be part of The Academy of Charter Schools in Westminster, Colorado! They teach integrity, character and honesty just to name a few and the fact is I know a lot of administrators and teachers that would have said, "To bad. That's the punishment I dealt and I can't take it back. What would that say? So deal with it." But instead we have administrators and teachers in this school who took the high road and admitted that they were wrong and not only apologized to me, but also my son by vindicating him. That took a lot of guts, but guts that will only enhance and bless that school; thank you for not only teaching integrity, but also showing integrity. Good job and may God bless you! ~