reasons for being suspended

[TrottersIndependantTrading]

Hi can anyone tell me what reasons may lead to a child being suspended?

my son is being suspended for drawing a willy in a textbook. he has never even had a detention before so I am surprised they are coming down so hard on him. he says he was encouraged to do it by another lad but knows it was wrong and he should not have done it, and has offered to pay for a new book out of his pocket money.

I understand he should be punished but I am shocked that he is being suspended, I went to the same high school and when I was a pupil there suspensions were given when a child had assaulted a teacher or for physical attacks, not for defacing a book. maybe i am over reacting but my son is in bits, he is physically shaking and crying, of course all the other kids know about it and have been teasing him all day.

I know school have different ways of dealing with punishments but i am really wondering what other reasons lead to a suspension especially when a child has not been in trouble before

[tabulahrasa]

it's not just that he's defaced a book - it's what he's defaced it with that's the problem

[Sposh]

13yr old dd was suspended for telling the headteacher to fuck off in front of the entire school who were doing a fire drill at the time.

[pictish]

My mum got called into school on one occasion bcause Netty McEwan drew a cock on my jotter.
She just made an appointment to see her....and wouldn't tell her what it was about till she got there (I didn't know either).

The vice rector pointed at the cock and said "this!"
My mum peered at it and said "what about it?"
"Pornography" she was told "sheer pornography!"

My mum did this ----> and gathered her things to leave, as she had better thing to do...like go to her job.

I was suspended for two days.

I didn't even draw it!!!

What can I say - some schools are stupid.

[notnowImreading]

The usual reasons would be: fighting or physical aggression/intimidation; defiance or rudeness to a member of staff; swearing at a teacher; temper tantrums in the classroom; bullying; vandalism; refusing to reason with members of staff and persisting in behaving badly or arguing the toss beyond the point of no return; sexual misconduct including sexual comments; a pattern of poor behaviour that hasn't changed despite normal sanctions.

It does sound as if your son is being robustly dealt with over this incident. It may be because it combines a sexual element with vandalism. However, the reason may include his response when challenged - my school would increase a sanction for rudeness, argumentativeness or lying when caught. You should get a full account from the teacher authorising the exclusion either in a letter or at the readmittance meeting.

Having said all that, I don't think I ever had a textbook when I was at school without a willy on it somewhere.

[pictish]

This made me think of:

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=to+the+person+obsessed+with+drawing+penises&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1525&bih=697&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnsfd&tbnid=0CWbehpVvpLumM:&imgrefurl=fatkidatcamp.com/2011/09/12/monday-funny-121/obsessed-with-drawing-penises/&docid=sG9f8QNFZLGJaM&imgurl=fatkidatcamp.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/obsessed-with-drawing-penises.jpg&w=500&h=375&ei=6cZHT7b-A4LP0QWxg_imDg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=417&sig=101741277932186910580&page=1&tbnh=152&tbnw=203&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=91&ty=62" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=to+the+person+obsessed+with+drawing+penises&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1525&bih=697&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnsfd&tbnid=0CWbehpVvpLumM:&imgrefurl=fatkidatcamp.com/2011/09/12/monday-funny-121/obsessed-with-drawing-penises/&docid=sG9f8QNFZLGJaM&imgurl=fatkidatcamp.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/obsessed-with-drawing-penises.jpg&w=500&h=375&ei=6cZHT7b-A4LP0QWxg_imDg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=417&sig=101741277932186910580&page=1&tbnh=152&tbnw=203&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=91&ty=62

[admission]

What you should have had is a letter confirming the exclusion and the reasons why. Have you not had that?

The powers to exclude are quite wide ranging and it is probably easier to say that they should not be excluded for minor incidents such as failure to do homework, poor academic performance, lateness or truancy, pregnancy, breaches of school uniform unless persistent etc. Unless they have come up with a draconian level of exclusion then I think you have no alternative but to accept it. The school is obviously trying to send a message to all pupils and it is unfortunate that your son is the one that is suffering but maybe he should have known better - he clearly understands he was in the wrong.

[TrottersIndependantTrading]

not had a letter yet. will wait and see what the letter says, the other lad has admitted he was pressuring my son to draw it, and its not something my son would have done off his own steam, he says he didnt answer back, he burst into tears and said he would buy a new book
i guess we will have to wait until monday and see what the school says, he has to go and see the headmaster and the deputy head i am guessing they will send a letter home regarding the suspension. It seems a shame he has to miss a day or however long of his education for his 'first offence' as it were. I do think, if he does get suspended/excluded then maybe he will be unlikely to step out of line in the future so maybe its a good thing, i just really feel for him as he has been in such a state and is so embarrased and finding the other kids comments hard to cope with.

[2blessed2bstressed]

Dsd was suspended for drinking vodka in pe changing room.

[MollyBroom]

Have you spoken to someone from school . I do not think I would Push for an exclusion for this.

[Sposh]

It seems like a bit of an over reaction to suspend him for drawing a knob even if it was a text book. I reckon most schools have furtive knobs drawn all over the place, I know mine did! Teenaged boys cannot help themselves for some reason

[blueemerald]

Where I used to work (girls' secondary) a student pulled a knife on another at the gate and didn't get suspended. I would ask for a copy of the behaviour policy and document that outline actions and sanctions. (e.g. late for lessons means an L on the board, no book/pen means E on the board, 3 letters mean lunch time detention etc....). This kind of overreaction actually does more to undermine good behaviour as the students will see it as ridiculous.

Suspension will go on his permanent record so is worth appealing against.

[Jellykat]

Are you sure its suspension. and not an internal exclusion?

[PutThatCatOutNow]

A friends DS has just been suspended for dekegging one of his friends (they were playing a game over who could dekeg the other first). It seems hard as he too isn't a trouble maker but sometimes schools go down hard on one child to make sure others don't do it in the future. It sounds harsh for that but it's in the schools interests to stop others doing it. I would still speak to the school and try to negotiate though.

[accidentprawn]

my dd`s friend was suspended for carrying a knife . that is something that they need to act on.

[cardibach]

Carrying a knife should, in my opiono, result in permanent exclusion, not a temporary suspension. If the OPs son has never been in trouble before, this does seem an over-reaction on the part of the school. Often poupils will say things like 'I got excluded for getting my phone out' when in fact it was for a file an inch thick of previous offences and the phone is a final straw.

[EvilTwins]

I am Head of 6th Form at my school. This year, I have suspended 4 students for varying periods, for...

1. 2 girls suspended for smoking joints on their way to school and therefore coming to school stoned.
   
2. 1 boys suspended for putting superglue all over the door handle, taps and toilet seats in the boys toilets (I am head of 6th form. This was a Year 12 student. Buffoon)
   
3. 1 boy suspended for telling the 6th form Pastoral assistant to her face that she is a "fucking cunt" (which she isn't - she's lovely)
   

IMO a suspension for defacing a book is quite harsh. In my school, it would be a day of internal isolation.

[jo164]

When I was at school, my friend - who went on to be Head Boy, so a very good kid, was suspended for saying, 'it must be the time of the month', within earshot of a bad tempered deputy head.
Some schools just come down hard on children. What is the discipline generally like at school? Ours was pretty tough and noone really stepped too far out of line.
Sounds like an over reaction to me, but if it is line with school behaviour policy then not too much you can argue against.

[post]

Ds was caught in year 9 having drawn a picture of a teacher made of cocks and was told that he'd be told what his punishment would be the next day.

I talked it through with him, and instead of waiting he went and found the teacher first thing next morning with a sincere, off his own bat, apology, including an appreciation that it was a shitty, hurtful, immature thing to do.

The apology was accepted, that was then the end of it. I wonder if it's worth seeing if your ds could face doing the same?

[dandelionss]

was it his own text book or someone else's?

[MollyBroom]

Evil if she was a fucking cunt would it be OK?

I can remember a girl calling me something along the lines of you fucking fat bitch. I was outraged at the fat bit and can remember stomping around the staff room saying I am a bit h who loves a fuck, but I am not fat. The girl clearly touched a nerve. She was excluded for 2 days , sadly I think it was for for fucking bitch rather than the fat bit.

[MollyBroom]

I am so going to try and draw someone out of cocks. I may even do it in one of my dusty textbook I never use.

[takeonboard]

What are the implications of being suspended? Someone said it goes on the childs permanent record...what is a permanent record and would it affect a university application? or similar?
Just wondering it could be a harsh thing to do but will blow over quickly, unless there is some kind of record which will affect his chances after he leaves school in which case it would be worth appealing against - if thats possible.

[tethersend]

When I worked as a supply teacher, I would occasionally hand out sheets of blank paper and tell them that they could draw whatever they wanted, no names on drawings, and I would be collecting them in.

The level of filth depicted was stupendous. And immensely creative. With labels.

[TrottersIndependantTrading]

hi thanks for all your replies, my son is going to bring in a letter of apology. I will appeal if he gets suspended. I wonder if they are just letting him stew over the weekend regarding the suspension, guess I will find out on monday. He has been stressing about it so if their idea is to let him stew then well done to them, its working. He has anxiety problems anyway so of course he is really stressed about this.

[Cartoonjane]

I'm sorry for your son trotters. It sounds as if he is being punished through his reaction to this whatever the school do.

If the school is generally very strict and the behaviour is good as a result, I would accept the suspension and be glad your son is in a school with high standards. If not and this punishment is inconsistent, meaning that what your son did does not stand out as especially bad, I'd question it, as it is harsh compared to what would happen in any school I've worked in.