The boy was expelled, he was very sorry and his dad was very angry ......

The high school principal's decision to expel the 15 year old grade 9 boy was approved by the District Director, it had ticked all the boxes. Having sex at the back of the classroom was inexcusable, Josh was embarrassed for being caught, all he wanted to do was to have some fun during a boring lesson. It all seemed so easy and he knew it was done by other boys. The teacher is too busy at the blackboard. His partner in crime agreed to the act, but after the classroom she went to the office telling the deputy principal the story stating that she was not consensual.

Only Josh was recommended for exclusion, his partner in crime was exonerated.

Josh and his dad sat in front of the Senior Guidance Officer, who informed them that her job was to work through pent up emotions assisting Josh and his dad move forward with a placement at a new high school. It was not the department's intention to keep Josh away from school any longer than his compulsory suspension period. This was when the decision making and official formalities were being finalised. All the right boxes need to be ticked off!

The Senior Guidance made it clear that she did not have the power to rescind the exclusion, it was done and dusted. The dad was furious. "How could it be possible that the girl did not get punished and my boy did, it is not fair and to me it shows favouritism. They picked on my son, it was because he was the boy. There were two in this situation. She did not call out or tell the teacher, so she was not forced. Josh is a good boy and he has been raised in a good home."

Josh sat quietly hanging his head. He just wanted this over. It is unfortunate that teenagers tend to make choices not thinking of rules let along the consequences of their actions. The biological re-wiring of their brains take time and as was written in a previous post, the thinking/problem solving part of their brains called the frontal cortex is the last to be finished.

Teenagers could do with this part of the brain!

Meetings take a couple of hours giving the parents to work through their emotions, they are enraged at the behaviour of their teenager and the punishment handed out by the school. The problem is that the parents cannot fix it. Eventually, they are ready for the next stage and leave the anger, regrets and shame behind.

It was an extra harsh lesson for the teenager to learn, not forgotten but done and dusted in the eyes of the department. It does not take long before the teenagers are enrolled in another high school determined not to muck up their chances again. They definitely do not want the embarrassment or upset parents again.



Cheers