Post by nolasim on Feb 15, 2008 21:26:54 GMT -6
Kat I totally understand. Our life experiences affect our perceptions. For instance, to this day, I tell people I wouldn't take my dog to be treated at Ochsner because of one bad experience I had with a doctor from Ochsner and later an ER doctor at the place. I'm sure it's a fine facility, but I still have negative perceptions of it to this day.
You peeving the cops? Sweet Kat? Never! :-) I had no idea you were a reporter! How kewl is that! There are definitely some cops out there that should not be wearing the uniform, and the one you detailed was probably one of them.
I think the big mistake the cop made was taking the skateboard away in the first place. There was no need to do so; the kid was not doing anything dangerous with it. I think the motivation was more like "you mess with me and I'll make your life miserable." Probably the cop was insecure and was wanting to establish a reputation throughout that neighborhood as one not to be messed with. That's the wrong approach, though. As a high school teacher of 26 years, I am always playing "policeman" (emphasize "playing") and my number one goal is to diffuse a situation before it becomes problematic. On duty at lunch, I sometimes see a student throwing an object at another student. This is dangerous, but I calmly tell the kid to follow me, and if he does, I have him sit in the office until the bell to end lunch rings and I tell him that since he stayed there while I was back out on duty, he can go to class, no further repercussions. Now if the student does NOT come with me or leaves the office, I will write him up. Usually, I find that if a student knows he can save face and further repercussions, he/she will work with me.
If I got in a student's face, especially in front of his friends, the end result would be making myself look like a total ass.
Sorry for the rambling......LOL.
You peeving the cops? Sweet Kat? Never! :-) I had no idea you were a reporter! How kewl is that! There are definitely some cops out there that should not be wearing the uniform, and the one you detailed was probably one of them.
I think the big mistake the cop made was taking the skateboard away in the first place. There was no need to do so; the kid was not doing anything dangerous with it. I think the motivation was more like "you mess with me and I'll make your life miserable." Probably the cop was insecure and was wanting to establish a reputation throughout that neighborhood as one not to be messed with. That's the wrong approach, though. As a high school teacher of 26 years, I am always playing "policeman" (emphasize "playing") and my number one goal is to diffuse a situation before it becomes problematic. On duty at lunch, I sometimes see a student throwing an object at another student. This is dangerous, but I calmly tell the kid to follow me, and if he does, I have him sit in the office until the bell to end lunch rings and I tell him that since he stayed there while I was back out on duty, he can go to class, no further repercussions. Now if the student does NOT come with me or leaves the office, I will write him up. Usually, I find that if a student knows he can save face and further repercussions, he/she will work with me.
If I got in a student's face, especially in front of his friends, the end result would be making myself look like a total ass.
Sorry for the rambling......LOL.
