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March 11, 2008
GPS: The Double Standard Strikes Again
Those of you who have kept up with my blog for a while know I've blogged once before about my beef with Girls Preparatory School. This morning's paper gave me a new item to be disgruntled about.
Apparently over the weekend, some students from GPS, Baylor, and Mccallie decided to have a party and drunk-dialed 911. Despite quickly hanging up, 911 got the address and sent the cops on over. Kids get busted, schools and parents are notified, and there's a bunch of teenagers having one bad week.
Whatever, it happens all the time. What really bugged me though was the difference between the statements given by McCallie's Bill Faires, director of communications, according to the Times/Free Press, and GPS's Rickie Pierce, who is assistant principal/associate head. Faires stated:
“We do think boys, teenagers, make poor decisions...And we believe it’s our responsibility as an educational institution to give them the chance, the opportunity, to learn from their mistakes rather than have their lives pretty seriously affected due to one seriously possible error.”
Mrs. Pierce however simply noted that “GPS will not tolerate the use or possession of, we term it, illegal mood-altering substances."
McCallie made a public statement about nurturing and educating its students. GPS made a public statement about punishing its students. This sums up so simply the vast difference and double standard in how the two schools manage their student bodies. McCallie tends towards a “boys will be boys” attitude, whereas GPS tends towards far less leeway. It seems so damn antiquated how different the two attitudes towards adolescent mischief, attitudes and character are. So close to the idea that men should follow their impulses and women should either be above or be prevented from doing the same (as in the sexual promiscuity double standard in which men are heroes and women are sluts).
I don’t in anyway think that any of the students involved in the incident should go unpunished—it was a stupid situation to get involved in. However, I do wish there were more equality in the policies of two institutions which, at least historically, have a measure of partnership and have functioned, at least socially, as counterparts.
| By Spike | 03:02 PM
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