NO WAY

[Margaret Davis <margd@FLASH.NET>]

A friend just sent me this...........

http://nospank.org/penny.htm

After I read this I realized I must not be alone having experienced very similar but less extreme measures that they are taking to control not only our children but also parents in our district (then accusing us of being negative if we say anything that's even remotely derogatory). This is scary.  Especially experiencing first hand the things they are putting the children thru in physical education...ie: may daughter having to spend lunch detention doing sit ups until she did them correctly.  Having to run laps and do sit up because she didn't participate in Hoops for Hearts while the others who did stood and watched. (and they told us they see nothing wrong with rewarding children for good behavior...there's your positive)

Please read this.  The response to Penny is wonderful.  I wish I could meet this woman.  Email her.  I promise you what is happening to us here is REAL...I canNOT doubt what is happening there.

I want to support public education.  But how?  Until our educators and the system become healthy why would I want to subject my children to this kind of abuse?

When our high school kids walked out in protest of the dress code at that time the 165+/- that were cited received 60 hours of community service and six months probation...for exercising their civil rights...my son requested a jury trial the case was dismissed....amazing...the file after the fist page was blank...empty... hummmmmm.....   it has snowballed from there.

Help me to understand why our country is stripping parents of their rights and institutionalizing our children.  Our children were not born sinners.  It's as if the school districts are little governments all their own that do not fall in line with State or Federal laws. no-one but the *team* players can tap into it.  I don't trust mental health professionals either.  When I took acoa classes i saw sicker people in there studying to help others than i have anywhere.  

why doesn't everyone just study a little John Bradshaw or Leo 
Buscaglia (sp?) and just relax.  

                           <sigh>

Friends, 
Yesterday, March 14, I sent to each of the 144 members of both houses of the Michigan state legislature an e-mail urging them to read "An Ugly Episode in a Michigan School--An exchange of letters between Penny W______ and Jordan Riak, March 2001."  Whether they read it, what they'll think when they read it, and what they'll do remains to be seen. Except for a few pro forma acknowledgments, I haven't heard from any of them yet. Today, I'll begin circulating the article to media. Please read "An Ugly Episode..."  at http://nospank.org/penny.htm and forward it to friends, colleagues and especially to people in Michigan who should be made aware of what is happening there. Thank you. 
Jordan 

-- 
Jordan Riak, Exec. Dir. 
Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE) 
P.O. Box 1033, Alamo, CA 94507-7033 
Tel: (925) 831-1661; Fax: (925) 838-8914 
Web site: "Project NoSpank" at http://www.nospank.org