ARG Drawing- ZF
In A Nation’s Argument, we created an amendment to our own school’s code of conduct, as an example of inductive argument. Through the Case-Result-Rule system of reasoning, I created two amendments to our rules. I really liked this project because it gave me the feeling I have a voice in my education and my administration. Below are my two rules.
Case: Students feel stressed because they don’t have flexibility to be late if they miss a train or sleep in by accident. They also feel unfocused in class because they are hungry and cannot snack.
Result: Students feel more freedom and have more flexibility if there is an extenuating circumstance. They also feel more focused because they can snack in class and are not worrying about their hunger.
Rule:
Food & Drink: Snacks are welcome and allowed in classes as long at the food and snacking is not disruptive to the classroom environment (as defined by the teacher).Students are allowed to buy food or drinks during school hours, only on the school premises (vending machines at Menomonee). Drinks: water and/or drinks are welcome, but only using
student’s reusable bottle. Lunch will happen in the Lunch/Kitchen area only. A student Captain will be assigned for the day (See Lunch schedule and duties on page 8). It is the responsibility of each student, not the Captain, to clean up after him/herself.
* Unexcused tardies (20 minutes or more late to class) will automatically became a 0 on
participation on that class, that day.
* 3 tardies (20% or more of the day’s class has been missed) in a class becomes 1 absence in that class in a term.
Democracy is a system of government in which every individual, should they choose, has a voice in the governmental proceedings, both legislative and judicial. If a student is accused of tardiness, the punishment should match the crime, and some “crimes” should not be defined as crimes, like being 2 minutes late to class versus being 20 minutes late to class. Harsher punishment creates fear and unrest, like in the Arab spring, resulting in the revolt of a nation’s people. For instance, during the Tunisian revolution, one of the many reasons for the people to revolt was a lack of political freedoms, including freedom of speech. This makes people angry and frustrated at their lack of mobility.This is also applicable to how the U.S. constitution gives those accused of crimes the rights to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and have the right to a fair and speedy trial (6th amendment). Therefore, if a students is 5 minutes late to class 3 times, they have missed a total of 15 minutes of class (that probably hasn’t really gotten started anyway) of 4 and a half hours of class time, that should not count against them as an absence unless they are obscenely late. Another frustration with the Tunisian revolution were the rocketing food prices, which made it hard to eat. At GCE, snacks are not allowed in class, presumably because it would be “distracting” to students. Studies actually show that students who chew gum or snack in class actually have a higher rate of focus. I believe that if students are responsible for their snacks and do not distract from class or cause the occurence of little critters, they should be allowed.