Spin. It's a beautiful thing...

Should I be proud of the fact that I am learning to spin information I deliver to students and parents in such a way that I'm being thanked for a few days in ISS? I work with an 18 year old student whose mother is legendary for bailing him out for every indiscretion. She will scream and yell every time he gets in trouble and insist he didn't do whatever it was he was accused of doing. The funny thing is that this kid will be joining the military! I'm guessing mommy won't be much help at Basic. I would do anything to be a mouse in the corner...

The other day, this kid was off campus with a group of people and got pissed off at a teacher. He ended up giving this teacher a piece of his mind (I hope it wasn't a big one), used many expletives, gestured to the teacher in an.... unfriendly way, and peeled away from the group in his truck, spitting rocks as he left.

I called him in and talked to him about what happened... I let him know "they" (you know, the "they" people?) are talking about pressing charges of disorderly conduct because of his actions (in reality, no one mentioned this). I alluded to the fact that he would naturally enter the adult court system since he is 18... I let him know I really advocated for him and told "them" we could really hammer him with school consequences and give him a chance to clean up his act. He totally agreed with the consequence and thanked me profusely (then I got cocky...) ...AND with a few days in ISS AND a written apology to the teacher involved, we could probably avoid legal action. He left, hat in hand, ready to write the letter and ready to report to ISS the next day.

Now to call his mother... I cracked open a Diet Pepsi and braced myself for the screaming. Naturally, he had called or texted her already. She was singing my praises and thanking me before I could start talking! I was thinking, "what the...?" She was so appreciative that I kept him out of jail and that I called off the dogs before he was hauled away to the big house!

Spin (or is it selective dishonesty... or benevolent dictatorship?) It's a beautiful thing...