Great, Grandson Got Suspended Pranking His Teacher

My grandson was suspended from third grade Wednesday because he placed a sharp object (paper clip unfolded) on the teacher's chair and she sat on it.

Now, after you stop laughing and remember that this is one of the most comm0n of pranks throughout most of our lives (except it was usually a thumbtack), in today's zero tolerance world, the kid got suspended. That's a permanent blot on his record that says at age eight, he had to be taken out of school because he was a threat of some sort.

That sad part about this is, I was the one responsible for this act. He was with me this weekend, and we watched a Disney ICarly episode that was about "pranking." After the show, my grandson asked me if I ever pulled pranks in school, and I responded "of course," and then recited a litany of shit I had done since seventh grade.

I actually called his principal this morning, not that it would make any difference in his suspension or on his record, but to at least let the principal know that the thought to "prank" his teacher just didn't emanate from his own mind ... there is a direct correlation to what he did and what we watched on TV and talked about later, much of which I have to be blamed for.

It made me think a lot about our different and restrictive generations. I mean, back when I was a kid and watching Tom and Jerry cartoons, it never occurred to me to strap a rocket on my sister's back and fire it so she'd be blown out of the window. But yet, for whatever reason, kids who are very young are emulating habits they see precisely on the television. It's like they are more plugged in and view the media as part of their bloodstream, and have a more carnal reaction to what they view, then we grandparents did, or even do now, for sure.

Fortunately, I was able to get a reprieve from my daughter that banished Zaire to outer planets for life. I bought him a two week restriction at home, including when he's with me, that encompasses no TV, DVD's or movies, and no Halloween trick-or-treating for him this month. I think that's better. He already wrote an apology to the teacher and he read it to me. I could tell he was really, really scared this time that he had done something really, really wrong.

I can't wait to see him tomorrow evening. I know he'll start crying as soon as he sees me because it was based on trying to be cool at school that he did this to make me (and of course, the rest of the kids in his class that watched him do it) laugh. I definitely have to work on that (and oh yeah, cuz I know my daughter will never read my blog - I'm taking him to this Halloween thing that's going to be where we generally go every time I have him anyway, and they'll have hay, pumpkins, and a petting zoo. So, I'll get to be "grandma" a little and give him a small treat he's not supposed to have.

(Smiling).