Dear Dawg: When my secretary told me I had a visitor from Strippers-R-Us I thought she was kidding. But no. It turns out that I recognized the young lady who stood sheepishly in our office. Lisa had graduated with honors from our high school two years ago. Apparently, she was having a tough time with college expenses, and so she took a part time job with the aforementioned business, operating under the stage name “Destiny.” I am told that the pay is good, and not subject to withholding for taxes or TRS.
Lisa/Destiny explained that she had gotten a call from her dispatcher instructing her to report to a certain address at 10:00 a.m. and ask for me by name. She did not recognize the address or the name, but when she arrived at our middle school, she realized that this was a prank. Lisa could have simply gone on home, but she was a member of the National Honor Society when she was here, and I think that was probably what motivated her to do the right thing. So she informed me of the name and phone number of the person who paid for this unexpected visit. I thanked her and wished her well.
The phone call came from a number belonging to the father of a 7th grader. We called the kid in for questioning and got the scoop. Yes, he made the call. Yes, he put the charge on his dad’s credit card.
Here’s the question, Dawg. We know that this violates our Code of Conduct—but we don’t know exactly why. We have nothing in the Code that says “Thou Shalt Not Bring a Stripper to the School.” How do we classify this? THINKING WE MAY BRING “DESTINY” BACK ON CAREER DAY.
DEAR THINKING: We are sure that you have some general prohibition of any activity that disrupts school activities. This prank interrupted and disrupted your day. If “Destiny” had performed, the situation would have been a lot worse. So you can rely on those general statements in the Code.
But that’s the thing about the Code of Conduct—nobody reads it until some kid does something so creative that we don’t know how it fits into the Code. The Code is entirely reactive—you use it to react and respond to student misconduct.
A behavior plan, on the other hand, is proactive. When you develop a BIP for a student, you are 1) identifying problematic behaviors; and 2) calling for positive interventions, supports and strategies to address those behaviors.
In the Toolbox Training, we emphasize how the Code of Conduct and a student’s BIP work together. If interested in Toolbox Training, let me hear from you.
DAWG BONE: NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY KIDS KNOW TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
Tomorrow: a doozy of a cheerleader case….