This week, a note came home from Day-Hay�s sixth-grade chorus teacher. The note indicated that because the class was large he was instituting a policy that when a child talked out of turn, they must go to the dean of students who would have them call their parent. He was asking for parental support. This struck me as an exceedingly bad idea and I called the school. What amazed me is that I seem to have been the only parent who called.

I�ve spent a lot of time around kids. I was a special education teacher approximately twenty years ago. Since then, I�ve taught religious school and I�ve run a girl scout troop. I�ve also been what I refer to as �backstage witch� for the school musicals. I also know that this current sixth grade is considered one of the easiest groups of kids to ever come through the school. The note suggested to me that the problem was the teacher or the situation, not the kids. I don�t expect the teacher to do my job and I won�t do his.

I started out by speaking to the teacher. He felt that the group was too large although he admitted that the band teacher seemed able to handle a larger group. When I asked him if he had removed any kids from class, he indicated that he had removed three from the last class although they had not had to call their parents. I then asked him to tell me, without naming names, whether these three were children who normally were problems in class. He admitted that he suspected that two of the three had never created serious or even moderate discipline problems for any teacher. I told him that I believed that his policy was a mistake and indicated a structural problem of some kind rather than a real problem with the kids. He agreed. What he would like to see is the group split into two but he does not have enough time to teach two sections.

I then spoke to the principal who indicated not only that I was the only parent who called but that he agreed with me that there were serious problems. Our discussion briefly became a philosophical one. I told him that I viewed my role as one in which I should be involved in school discipline for serious infractions or for patterns of more mild infractions. I did not expect the school to deal with my minor home discipline issues and I did not expect to deal with the schools minor discipline issues.

I then pointed out to him that the teacher was risking losing all control. Control of a classroom depends heavily on the cooperation of the �good� kids. This policy would �catch� more good kids than serious troublemakers. The heavy-handed discipline would alienate them and then the class would really veer out-of-control. I also noted that I was the type of kid who, once the call-your-parent was imposed on me for talking would have gotten sassy on my way out of class. In for a penny, in for a pound. I pointed out that Day-Hay would feel betrayed and might explode (which tends to happen when she is highly anxious and goodness knows she is highly anxious right now given world events.) He said that he was the kind of kid who might have seen if he could cause some other kid to talk and get that kid into trouble. The upshot was that we agreed that the �cure� would cause a worse disease.

The principal (whom I respect very much) indicated that he was working with the teacher on how to handle a class of middle school kids. He believed a lot of the problem was that the teacher was accustomed to primary grades. He also believed that the lesson planning needed improvement. He said he would look at the policy and that, if necessary, he or the dean of students would commit to being in the class for part of the time.

So, I am confident that the school will work to solve the problem a better way. What I want to know is: where were all the other parents? Are willing to accept any draconian measure that comes along in the apparent interest of order?

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