Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Creative Discipline
There have been a number of local S.F. Bay Area news stories recently about parents getting all twigged-out about teens "freaking" at dances. For the uninitiated, "freaking" is simply the latest version of "dirty dancing". Some school officials are responding with board meetings, new policies, suspensions and generally Hitlerian tactics consistent with our times.

This morning, I ran across this local Santa Rosa story that not only cracked me up, but made me think about how wonderful some school administrators can be.
SPEAKING OF FREAKING, student leaders and administrators at Sebastopol's Analy High have found a light-handed but effective way to cool X-rated behavior at school dances.

At the start of Analy's last dance, Vice Principal Peyton Fatheree announced that he and activities director Andy Del Monte would "save" kids from such behavior by asking offenders to temporarily wear life vests, the kind boaters wear.

Peyton and Andy actually did present vests to a few kids. The point was made, in a humorous way, and the inappropriate dancing disrupted.

Peyton said all the students "were gracious and seemed to understand the need to make some changes."

At Analy's next dance, any students touching too torridly may be asked to don an additional accessory.

Oven mitts.
These educators deserve an award for creativity. What a wonderfully light and deft way to make the point, enforce discipline and gain the respect of the kids. Who knows? Maybe a new dance craze will start with kids wearing life vests?

My hats off to these ingenious educators.
Written at 8:54 AM by Greyhair.
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