Tonight was homecoming for the highschool here in town. My boys go to every single football game. Even the out of town games. Tonight, we all went to support a cousin of ours who was nominated as homecoming queen. My husband and I left at half time. The boys stayed behind with the rest of the teens from church. They were sitting in a section of the stands that is very well monitored by teachers. For some reason they started sending kids out of the stands and my boys got sent out "because they were homeschooled". That's exactly what the chaperone at the stands told them. Hello?? I pay taxes on those stands and I pay taxes on that field.. So if my kids want to sit in the stands then they are going to sit there. They sent another kid from the church out because he moved out of town recently. He comes to town often and goes to the games. The chaperones knew that he had moved recently so they sent him out of that section. I'm really irritated over the fact that this is OUR football team and my kids were sent out of the stands. After all, we DO pay taxes just like the rest of the parents whos students attend public school here. I'm calling Monday morning to find out what the rules are to sit in those stands. If there are no "rules" then I'm throwing a HUGE fit. We did have reserved seating because it was a sold out game but that section is open to anyone. It seems like such a little thing to gripe over, but to me this feels like my kids were discriminated against because they were homeschooled. One of the teacher/chaperones knew that and asked them. They weren't doing anything to draw attention to themselves, just sitting with friends watching the game. I'm really irritated.. Any insight on this issue?? Am I over reacting? Angela
sounds totally bizarre to me. they can't sit & watch a football game because they're homeschoolers? wtf that's nuts. granted, i haven't had much experience with public high schools yet, but isn't the whole point of a game like that (aside from, y'know, the game!) that people come to watch & cheer the players? parents, kids, friends, relatives, strangers, etc etc... ?
They could set in the stands just not in the section they were in.. Basically, you have to go to SISD to sit in that section. My husband told me that I should calm down and not make a butt of myself. He said that maybe the guy that told them to move didn't realize he wasn't allowed to do that. The did send out another kid that was from another school district so it wasn't just my kids. BUT they live in this town so I still don't think this was right. That's where all their friends were so basically they were alienated from their friends. Just don't seem right.. Like I said, I'm calling Monday morning to find out what the rules are. Maybe they have to be in a certain grade or something?? I don't know. We asked someone else and they said that the kids that sit there have to be enrolled in public school to sit in those seats.. Not official yet, but if that is the case, I just don't feel that's right and I'm not going to let that slide.
I am thinking, that if the section is monitored by teachers the district would have the right to exclude non-students. A liability issue one might assume. However, doesn't really pass the common sense rule. If the kids are not being a problem, why invite one. I would also wonder if students are allowed to sit elsewhere or are required to be in the student section...that could be a problem. is there an "edge" to the section...where the kids could be sitting by and be included in the atmosphere and all without technically being in the school section? I would certainly check it out...but don't start off in a "mother bear" attitude. ( I know, how do you not?!) Just find out if they have written rules, understood rules...what have you. Let them see you are trying to find a solution.
I would think that the school does have the right to have a "students only" section at school events. The school does bear some liability for it's students who attend school-sponsored events. This is why they don't allow non-students to attend things like school dances (the public school here does allow it at the prom, but only with prior written permission). Knowing that at least one other boy was also asked to leave the section, I don't feel they were discriminating against your boys. Sounds to me like they were enforcing a school safety policy.
Now that I slept on it, I don't feel so irritated and I'm probably going to leave this issue alone. I do want to know what the rules are for that section though. If the boys aren't supposed to be there than they need to stay out.. They are very good kids and said that the chaperones in that section thanked them for not talking back and being respectful. It's just hard to see them excluded from something. Especially if they weren't doing anything wrong. Oh well, they'll live.
I would calmly and politely speak to the school super first and then the Activities Director. I would ask for their written rules regarding activities and attendance of homeschoolers and seating arrangements. Be sure to be polite because the quickest way to lose your audience is to throw a fit and be disrespectful. I would go in person, don't do it over the phone. Sounds like to me the people watching the stands may have an ax to grind with hs-ers and decided to use their power to make a point. I really doubt there are any written rules indicating where people can sit. Most schools do not want to seem unfriendly to hs-ers and I think the super would like to know your experience on that particular day.
Is it because they are homeschooled…or because they do not attend the school? (It sounds to me like the latter.) It may boil down to the teachers/chaperones wanting the ability to flex some muscle if the kids get a little rowdy. A teacher has no leverage over children who do not attend the school. You might visit the school to introduce yourself and your children and see if a better solution to the seating issue might be reached.
I think us, as homeschoolers will get even more treatment like this in the future if we don't speak up. In our SD, as of now, atleast, you can participate in sports as a homeschooler, so I am assuming you could go to the games and sit with the rest of the kids too.....but I wouldn't dare, our SD isn't safe Anyway, I would just find out what the rules are about it. You are right in one sense, we DO pay taxes for our kids to attend school and we keep them home. The SD benefits from us homeschooling! I am glad to hear your boys were polite. That was a good testimony!
The best comparison is probably how they react when children from a different school sit in that section. Do they ask them to leave as well? If so, they're not discriminating against your boys; they are keeping some seats for students who attend the school - and hence have schoolmates playing on the home team.
I'm also agreeing that it could be they don't attend the school, NOT that they are homeschooled. I know where we live, there are certain games that ONLY kids attending the two schools are admitted to, because of gang activity. If your girlfriend attends a different school, tough. You can't go to the game together. They actually check school ID's to get in.
The ps that I work at welcome any and all. They dont have assigned seating and really LIKE when the community members, whether kids or adults get involved in their afterschool games.
hmm, when I was in school anyone could attend a game/homecoming whether you attend the school or not. As long as you weren’t making trouble and you paid for a seat. It's still the same way here in my area. Why do you have to attend the school to support the school. What about friends and family members who attend the school who wish to have others support them? The whole thing sounds crazy to me. I would definitely ask questions, but in a polite way. None of this makes sense to me.
It really depends on the area. The district I student taught in was fine allowing anyone going; they LOVED having the whole community there! But where my husband teaches, there's too much gang activity. Basically, the gang would get together and decide as a group which games they were going to go to, and 40+ gang members from various schools would descend on that game. Two rival gangs would also intentionally attend the same game just to cause trouble. It can get really out of hand really fast. Plus, if it's a game with two rival schools, where they are especially concerned, they will hold the game sometime OTHER THAN Friday night; possibly right after school on Friday or on Saturday afternoon. No, it wasn't that way when I was a teen; my boyfriend lived across town and we were always going to each other's games. But things have changed here. The district is doing what needs to be done to keep the peace.
I was just getting ready to say this! lol. Small cities differ from the bigger cities in terms of population at the very least. In a bigger city, yo may not know as many people, hence you may need to keep the children of the school safer by creating their own bleacher seats to keep them from sitting next to an "undesirable" or "stranger". You never know who is in a crowd of people, KWIM? That may be one reason.
We live in a small town where football is HUGE. I mean it is everything around here to everyone. The entire town shows up to games. Heck this last Friday we played an away game in another town and we had more people there than the home team! The only restricted areas are where the dance team sits and the band sits as well as the reserved section for season ticket holders. Anyone from anywhere can sit anywhere else. We do have a "student section" but only because that is where students get together and sit not because teachers told them to sit there and nothing at the game is monitored by teacher. From what you described it sounds like it isn't a homeschool issue but that they aren't students at that school.
