Pubdate: Nov 4, 1998 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Contact: http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Copyright: 1998 Chicago Tribune Company Author: Kathleen Parker BLAME PARENTS WHEN `DARLINGS' RUN AMOK `Never underestimate the power of a kid." That chilling statement, putting us in mind of those precocious munchkins in William Golding's "Lord of the Flies," came recently from the mouth of a South Carolina high school student whose protests--together with the legal arm-twisting of the American Civil Liberties Union--reversed a school dress-code policy. At the same time, two Florida high school football players and their parents are challenging a school disciplinary policy that punishes students for breaking laws during their free time. The parents and their two adorable sons, suspended from the team for 30 days for drinking, complain that the policy is unconstitutional and violates their right to privacy. To which I'm compelled to say: I'd no more underestimate the power of kids than I'd dare overestimate the intelligence of American parents. Anyone still wondering why teachers can't teach and why students are running amok should surrender their parenting licenses immediately. While both the Florida and South Carolina cases may be arguable on legal grounds, they're symptomatic of the disease plaguing American education these days. Teachers can't teach because children are out of control and children are out of control because parents are dazzlingly inept. The South Carolina case involves hemp necklaces, which administrators viewed as symbolic of the drug culture and, thus, counter to the dress code. Hemp is a variety of cannabis, but is grown differently than marijuana and has virtually none of the THC that used to make today's parents dumb and dumber. So argued two students, who weave the necklaces and wear them as jewelry. Naturally, the students' parents came to their defense, claiming their creative spirits were being thwarted. The students won, even though school administrators are justified in trying to enforce a dress code, which by definition is supposed to eliminate distracting emblems and minimize individual expression during "work" hours. "I just feel so overwhelmed with joy that I can fully express myself now," gushed one of the 15-year-old students. Two Sanford, Fla., football players are doubtless overwhelmed with joy, too, as their parents and lawyers argue their right to get drunk on their own time. Never mind that the school has a strongly worded policy forbidding drinking by students involved in extracurricular activities. Also forbidden under the 1993 policy are smoking, gambling, drug use and fake IDs. Such oppression! Owing to the parents' uproar, the boys' suspension has been tabled pending legal clarification of the disciplinary policy. And the boys haven't missed a game. Predictions are that a court will have to determine whether the school's policy is constitutional or whether it violates the kids' "rights." As a parent, I'd worship a school policy that reinforced my own at home. If my kid got drunk at the beach, as these two did, and the school suspended him from the team, I'd join the cheerleading squad. Instead, parents side with their children, demoralizing teachers and administrators who are surrounded by arrogant, rude animals half the time and further diminishing morale among rule-abiding kids. So say dozens of teachers whose letters fill a thick file in my cabinet. Typical is this letter from a veteran middle-school principal in Oregon who is quitting: "When I call parents to inform them their child has just called his/her teacher a "f---ing ---hole," I get one of the following responses: `My child doesn't say things like that. The teacher is lying.' Or, `What did the teacher do to provoke him/her?' " It's always someone else's fault--the teacher's, the school's, the rules'. Not the little darlings', who, because they're being taught that they're above the rules and beyond responsibility, may be a frightening lot when they really are in charge of the asylum. Never underestimate the tyranny of an adult who never learned to play by the rules. - --- Checked-by: Rolf Ernst