I am grateful when my teenagers listen to my political soapbox ideologies, then do their own research or thinking on matters, and recognize when their personal freedoms are being threatened. Thankfully, my 15-year-old son has a knack for placing reliable application against precarious observation when red flags appear in his surroundings.
Sitting around the dinner table the other night, he shared with me how his history teacher reviewed some interesting points of the Holocaust. In class that day, the students watched some footage of German children being herded to "school" like cattle. It is here that my son would normally drift into daydream mode, but something struck his attention. Each child in the video clip was either stamped with a number across his belly or was tagged with a jewish star, and ALL the children suffered harsh consequences for non-compliance of rules. As he sat in class, his eyes browsing through rows of peers, the light bulb flicked on. One word came to his mind: LANYARDS!
Each student in the district is required to wear a lanyard, attached to a picture ID, around his neck all day, every day, during school hours and at affiliated functions. Non-compliant children are punished with any combination of detention, suspension, or (ultimately) expulsion.
I smiled at his brilliant connection, then responded with three simple words, "Common Core, baby!"
Coincidentally, the ID lanyard requirement for students in this area was enacted simultaneously with the institution of Common Core...Hmmm.
