BackInTex wrote: How do you know what or who lied and why they may have said anything? How do you know Emma is not the one lying? How do you know the officer was intentionally trying to get Emma in trouble? And how would she have gotten trouble?
PSM has not let us in on the original lie or the lie of lies to get Emma in trouble. At least I haven't seen it.'.
I would have answered sooner, but I had to drive Maddie to HB for Quiz Bowl.
The first day that the S.A.F.E. officer came to the school, she told the kids that they needed to do 10 hours of community service or they would not graduate from the program.
Emma, who knew what her sister had done for a similar program, asked her to clarify this comment Emma asked, "what will happen if you do not do the community service?" (When Maddie did a similar program service was option, people completing the service got a medal.)
Emma thought that she would say, you will get a certificate, but no medal, which was the case when Maddie was a 6th grader. Emma has 3 or 4 hours of homework a night and she wasn't sure how she was going to fit in this community service
Instead the officer said "if you don't do the community service, your parents will show up to the graduation and they will be embarassed because your name will not be called."
Emma told me what the officer said. I talked to Emma's teacher the next day and asked, did this officer make this comment, saying that parents will be embarassed at graduation, because coming from an authority figure it was reprehensible.
He confirmed that it was said. He told me that the teachers of 6th graders had a meeting about this comment and went to the principal. They thought that the comment was inappropriate. They wanted to teach the unit themselves but where told that they needed to have the police officer come.
We had to sign a note indicating that we gave permission for our children to do community service. Instead of signing the note, I sent in a letter.
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is to inform you of the fact that I am not signing the permission slip allowing my daughter Emma to complete 10 hours of community service for the S.A.F.E. Program.
I value community service and spend a lot of my time volunteering, but my daughter Emma is overwhelmed with schoolwork. As a sixth grade GATE student, she has on average three hours of homework, reading and studying a night. She simply does not have the time to add any additional commitments to her life, particularly when these commitments are not part of the Content Standards for Sixth Grade Education, as established by the California State Board of Education.
Emma told me that her class was told by the S.A.F.E. officer that students needed to complete the community service, because if they didn’t and their classmates did, it might be embarrassing for their parents.
My understanding is that most drug prevention programs attempt to instill the belief in children that they shouldn’t succumb to peer pressure. Therefore, it seems incongruous for the program to teach the message of non-conformity, while urging them to be like everyone else in their peer group, or risk embarrassment.
I applaud my daughter for choosing to prioritize the activities in her life and being a non-conformist. I would never be embarrassed by her decision or her lack of a medal.
Emma gave the note to the S.A.F.E. officer who called me up. She told me flat out that she never made the parents being embarassed comment. She said that my daughter wasn't telling the truth and that I needed to correct her.
I thanked her for her time we ended the conversation.
The next day was my volunteering day and I told the teacher what the officer said. He once again reiterated the fact that Emma heard correctly. He was upset that she would call me and lie, and he talked to his principal about the issue.
I told Emma that I believed her. I told her that she needed to participate in S.A.F.E. because sometimes in life, there are things that you don't want to do, but in this case, she had to go with the program. She said that the officer lied and tried to get her in trouble, so how can she trust any information that the officer related. I told her that she needed to think for herself and if the officer relayed any information that Emma questioned, that Emma needed to research it for herself and ask questions.
