Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Fresh from painting the kitchen...

A conundrum for us all to ponder from the "is it me?" category...

Let's take a trip to Theoretical Island, and let's say you're a teacher in a quasi-Catholic school system. Your kid goes to junior prom, then has a bunch of friends over afterwards to hang out in your house/back yard to build a fire and "make s'mores."

Do you:

A. Say no, because it's late, it's prom night, and you never know with kids these days....

B. Say yes, and discreetly monitor the activities to ensure nothing untoward is going on

C. Join in the festivities and provide the alcohol to the 16-18 year olds as well as the graham crackers, marshmallows, and Hershey bars; or

D. Go to bed and tell the kids to have fun while a few dozen teenagers are at your house on prom night, and then feign shock when the cops are beating on your door and arresting drunken teenagers who are rampaging through the neighborhood on 4-wheelers you own and holding beer they got from your fridge?

Okay. Stick with me.

Let's presume, for the sake of argument, that you chose C and/or D.

Should you still be employed by the local (marginally) Catholic Diocesan school system, or perhaps at least be on leave until the investigation is complete and the charges are either proven or dropped?

IS IT JUST ME WHO THINKS SOMETHING'S ROTTEN IN DENMARK?!?

5 comments:

Kasia said...

Alas, being the crotchety old fuddy-duddy that I am, I chose (a) or (b), depending on how tired I am and how much I trust my child and the "friends" who are, presumably, filtering into my backyard.

But for the sake of argument, if I chose C, I should definitely be censured (up to and including termination, depending on whether charges are filed and proven, as well as my overall employment history).

If I chose D, it really sucks to be me; because as I understand the law, at least here in Michigan, since I'm the adult and the owner of the property and I gave permission for this party, even though I presumably didn't intentionally provide alcohol to the minors present, I am still liable.

(I don't know what my liability would be if I chose A and they did it anyway after I'd gone to bed...)

Pray tell us, Kit: is this hypothetical person also an alumna (or otherwise a legacy)?

Sigh...

Kit said...

Kasia -

Of COURSE wet blankets like you and I would choose A, and MAYBE B, depending on the size of the crowd.

Anyone who has been drawing breath for the past 25 years, watches the news and/or legal drama shows, and has half a brain would have to be a complete idiot to go with C or D. Under no circumstances is it EVER wise - much less legal - to furnish alcohol to minors in this litigious day and age.

In the interests of full disclosure, I do occasionally allow my kids sips of wine at the dinner table, a shotglass of champagne on very special occasions, etc., and as long as we are first in line, they will receive the Precious Blood on a Sunday here and there. But I have not and will never, EVER offer anyone else's underage kid alcohol or allow them to consume it in my presence and certainly not at my home. I'm the one who WOULD get sued and fired.

But this teacher - who is supposed to be some sort of moral authority and works with kids - clearly lacks proper judgment. Whether an active provider or just ridiculously careless and negligent in supervising the kids and the premises - this is NOT someone who should be working with kids, im[ns]ho. But apparently I'm in the minority. as the teacher is still teaching despite making the police blotter.

What pure, unbridled idiocy.

And to top it all off - one of the loudest, drunkest, stupidest kids there was the "alleged offender" from a few posts back. If you have any inkling of what allegedly went on with him a mere weekend ago, do you SLEEP while that kid is at your home - in mixed company - late at night? Personally, I wouldn't allow the kid within 100 yards of my daughter or ever to darken my doorstep, but again....it's just me. Right?

I hate it here!!!

Joe of St. Thérèse said...

It could be worse you could be in Ca ;)

But that teacher should be canned!

I would of chosen A, Though when I went to prom I brought my date home early (made really good impression on the parents)...

Heck, if I was one of the teachers on that campus, I'd see to that teacher being canned. (Is it any wonder I make so many enemies in an hour, lol)

a thorn in the pew said...

I say on leave and then canned. Shuld have known there would be a higher expectation for someone employed by the catholic school.

Packrat said...

CANNED.
Sorry for the shouting, but I can't get italics to work.

It isn't just where you live. It is everywhere. About 3 years ago the PRINCIPAL of our local Catholic elementary school was FURIOUS because her son got kicked out of ONE game because he took a "pee" test for another kid who KNEW he'd fail the drug test. She thought it was a silly prank! She (the principal) was furious at me and made my life miserable because I dared to tell her that her son should have been kicked off the team if not thrown in jail.

Time to homeschool. (Pretty soon I'll start sounding like a broken record.) Homeschoolers usually do really, really well in college.