Waaaaay back then, in the age of soft pine desks, the only time you got in trouble carving on the desks was when you engraved something really nasty or obscene on one. Then you got detention with the shop teacher with one-on-one instruction in proper sanding and varnishing techniques, followed up by seat-tanning sessions with the parent who had to come get you since there was only one outgoing bus per route and you had missed it.
‘Course that was fourty years ago, when teachers were allowed to mete out punishments using their own initiative and judgement. And when you complained to your folks they backed up the school staff, since they also had enough common sense to recognize a reasonable consequence to misbehavior when they saw one.
A good part of the blind adherance to “Zero Tolerance” is passing that can of worms up the line for someone else to deal with, because some parents have and will cause the schools a lot of grief, beleiving as they do that Their Child should be allowed to “express him/her self” without restraint, not have their self-esteem damaged by negativeity (low grades), nor suffer the immense stress of meeting unreasonable expectations(doing homework and assignments, and maintaining standards of conduct).
It’s so much easier to pass the problem on up the line.
Hear, hear! My step-brother teaches shop in Arkansas, and his school has banned smoking….for the staff. He would have to bum his last cigarette from one of the students, who still have a smoking area.
Kids have been arrested for writing on desks. Quite a journey from my childhood, there was barely room for my doodling on the soft, pine desks we had. You didn’t even need a pocketknife, which all the boys had and many of the girls. A pencil or pen would produce a fine engraving.
!Hola, ? Donde esta el Toilette? No Chilis, por favor.
And a litle card with the name and address of the hotel for the taxi drivers.
PS always take along some TP, some places don’t see it as a neccessity