You know you did it in college... would you let your child be absent to complete an assignment?

[Anonymous]

OP, I am the teacher posted earlier and love when kids take mental health days. But that is not what your son was going to do. He was going to "sick" out to finish homework with YOUR permission. I know you love your son, no one wants to watch their children suffer or even stay up all night.

BUT, you asked and we answered. I do not think you are going to go to hell or should have the kids hauled away. I do think you have a nebulous moral system and your defensiveness shows this. YOU are doubting letting him stay home. And you should be. It is wrong.

[Anonymous]

If your child has been responsible, and the grading policy is arbitrary, I'd let him. (Sometimes teachers really don't consider legit circumstances - like tests on Yom Kippur)

If your child didn't take the project seriously, then he should take his lumps.

[Anonymous]

Next time do whatever you like. Maybe he will get his or not. Time will tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any words of caution or why I shouldn't let him do this? Means vs. ends.... ugh.

It's hilarious when someone puts a question like this in their OP, and then gets nasty when people give honest advice! If you are comfortable with letting your kid lie about being sick to get out of turning in an assignment, as you later claim to be, by all means just do it. No need to post on DCUM asking for opinions about it, since you clearly only wanted to hear that you're right. But do you see how your wording of the question led others to think you wanted to hear some words of caution, though? It gets confusing trying to sort out the posts where the person really wants to hear what others think, and those that just want confirmation that they are correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your child has been responsible, and the grading policy is arbitrary, I'd let him. (Sometimes teachers really don't consider legit circumstances - like tests on Yom Kippur)

If your child didn't take the project seriously, then he should take his lumps.

I don't know about other counties, but grading in MCPS is definitely not arbitrary. The new policy mandated by the county requires teachers to assign weights to categories, and the late policy - due date versus drop dead due date - has caused some rumbling among many educators. Furthermore, MCPS teachers do value the significance of certain religious holidays, like Yom Kippur, and MOST follow the rules by not assigning homework or by extending the due date.

[Anonymous]

Yup, MOST of the time, and MOST of the teachers.

I didn't suggest teachers were malicious, but it is definitely the case that with responsibility for maybe more than 100 kids a day, a high school or middle school teacher will occasionally overlook an important detail.

PS -
If I'd seen the OP's second post, I'd never support missing school in this case. Also, couldn't care less that the kid was gifted -