High School Answering Machine

[welshTerrier2]

I received the following in an email today ... i have no idea whether it's true or not and I neither support nor oppose the theme it expresses ... it did seem to raise some interesting discussion points about problems in the education field ...


This is the message that the Pacific Palisades High School (California) staff voted unanimously to record on their school telephone answering machine. This came about because they implemented a policy requiring students and parents to be responsible for their children's absences and missing homework. The school and teachers are being sued by parents who want their children's failing grades changed to passing grades even though those children were absent 15-30 times during the semester and did not complete enough school work to pass their classes.

This is the actual answering machine message for the school:

"Hello! You have reached the automated answering service of your school. In order to assist you in connecting the right staff member, please listen to all your options before making a selection:

"To lie about why your child is absent - Press 1

"To make excuses for why your child did not do his work- Press 2

"To complain about what we do - Press 3

"To swear at staff members - Press 4

"To ask why you didn't get information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several flyers mailed to you - Press 5

"If you want us to raise your child - Press 6

"If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone - Press 7

"To request another teacher for the third time this year- Press 8

"To complain about bus transportation - Press 9

"To complain about school lunches - Press 0

"If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, class work, homework, and that it's not the teachers' fault for your child's lack of effort... hang up and have a nice day!

[freetobegay]

1. Thats great!

When parents start taking responsibility for their kids again, it just might make this world a little better place to live in.

[HEFFA]

2. Chain letter hoax

http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/pphsmess.html

[sadiesworld]

3. I simply cannot imagine that this is true.

[GiovanniC]

4. Not True, But Semi-Funny

http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/palisades.htm

[Ronnie]

5. Snopes says No.

http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/palisades.htm

But don't you love it?

[truthspeaker]

6. Obviously not true, but funny as hell

[realisticphish]

7. lol

while not true, it certainly raises a bunch of good points. My mother is a music teacher at a small elementry school, and since she has been there the longest, she frequently takes over for the principle when he has to be absent. She gets this stuff a LOT, from parents who believe that their child would NEVER do this, it must be someone other than their little angel. Granted, some teachers are bad teachers, and there are sometimes real complaints. So, the administration checks over every complaint, and more often than not realizes that the kid just lied to their parents, and the morons beileved him.


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat