My Son, the Activist

My sixteen year-old son loves music. Really, really loves it. He plays guitar and bass, and has thousands of songs on his MP3 player. He listens to it on the way to school, on the way home from school, and most of his time at home when he isn't eating or sleeping. He actually prefers to walk rather than ride his bike because it gives him more time to listen to music.

So when the Halton Board of Education came down with a rule stating that MP3 players were to be included in a ban on all personal electronic devices on school property, my son took extreme umbrage.

He expressed his views on the subject in a 'persuasive essay' he wrote as an English assignment. It's very persuasive. His central argument is that when students are working on assignments in class, many of them tend to talk and goof around and raise the noise and distraction level for those who are trying to concentrate on their work. In that context, MP3 players with earphones actually aid in concentration and class discipline.

His argument was so persuasive that his English teacher actually started allowing MP3 players in her class.

More recently, he got into a discussion of the issue with that same teacher who, from the sounds of it, was told by her superiors to enforce the board policy. She told him that she agreed with him, but she had to do what the principal said, and the principal (who apparently also agrees) has to do what the board superintendent says.

Right after class, my son marched down to the school office, spoke to the principal, and now has a meeting scheduled with the Halton School Board superintendent on Friday.

That's my boy.