Ready to React

Ready to React

We all know that everyday as a principal, we are one minute away from the wheels falling off the bus. Those unseen or unpredictable events lurk around every corner. Of course, many of those hidden beasts come at the hands of poor student choices. We as principals must carefully choose our response in these delicate situations, because we don’t want our choices to make the situation worse. More and more, we are facing tough issues in our schools on race relations, religious freedom, sexual orientation, etc. And, with social media and a constant hunt by local news networks to find hot stories in local schools, our choices and responses to these issues quickly become headline news.

In our latest AWSP News You Can Use episode, we mentioned the Facebook posting of students posing in a prom photo with guns and the Confederate flag. In the days of old, that photo would never have circulated beyond the group of students involved in the picture, but now, that photo travels the world with the click of the mouse. Put yourself in the shoes of the principal of that school. How would you respond? How would you explain the implications of that photo to your school community? How would you make this a teachable moment without wading into the waters of a political nightmare? Does your community even see harm in this photo? Let us know your thoughts.

Teens’ Prom Picture With Guns And A Confederate Flag Causes Controversy