Smokin’ In the Boys’ Room

I picked my son up from school this afternoon. He had to stay late and serve detention for a heinous crime: he loaded Firefox onto a school computer. At first he was afraid to tell me, because he was worried that I’d be angry. I was more amused, but I extended a caution that his school seems to have limits on how many times you can break various kinds of rules before they expel you.

The detention had already multiplied from one to two sessions because he had initially forgotten to attend it. Both times that he went, there were only 2 or 3 other inmates. One was in for eating a cookie; another had been busted for talking --not exactly a rough crowd. Staying later than the school bus made for discussion about rides: which other kids drive to school, of those, which live near us, and oh yeah, some of the possible drivers are girls. Testing limits leads to social opportunity. Hasn’t it always been that way?