Strollerderby

I actually do think it is that simple. This kid might not have a dad by the time he gets out of school. And there's a 7-10 hour time difference between Baghdad and the continental U.S. Sometimes, compassion has to take precedence over the rules.

Any school official who handled this situation by suspending the boy is either an asshole or an idiot.  I am surprised that a school in which half the kids have a parent serving in the military hasn't come up with a good solution.  Is there indeed more to the story?  With Iraq so many hours ahead in time (as pointed out by Jennifer) it would make sense to actually carve out some time in the school day for calls to or from deployed parents.

As the wife of a deployed soldier and a former teacher, I can speak with some background knowledge on this- its never that simple- it should be, but you make a rule for students with deployed parents and you get sued by parents of students who dont have parents deployed because they are being discriminated against. School districts are not willing to risk taking money needed to educate away from students to deal with the lawsuits of a 'sue happy' society. Unfortunately, compassion and logical emotion (yes, they can go together) get thrown by the way side... and we've done it to ourselves- I took calls when my husband first deployed knowing that I could be reprimanded severly had I been 'caught' - but it was a risk I was willing to take- sometimes you stand up for what is right, even when it goes against the rules...