about (more than) a boy

Today a high school teacher posted that she was worried that one of her students and his family may have been detained by the US government because of who they are and where they are from. She had no real proof that this had happened. It was just a gut feeling. A teacher's intuition -- which, I am inclined to trust.

While I am not saying that this is not alarming, or that I don't believe that it is possible, or that I don't hope they find him soon, a few things did cross my mind. For starters, why was she so shocked by how much attention her post got? And that some of it was negative. She is aware of the state of the world. In the end she took her mom's advice and finally decided to remove it.

Apparently the rules in her district say that after three days of absence a teacher must call home to find out where the child is. When she did, she got a disconnected number. Now, it has been a while, I admit, since I was in high school. And not to brag, but I did maintain perfect attendance during those four years. But as I recall, if your parent didn't call in by 9am to let them know you were not coming, the school called you on the first day -- not the third.

Also a disconnected number could mean a lot of things. Not paying the bill, for one (she does mention that this student has been working to support his family). It could also mean that there is a wrong number on file (that's really how I know about the rules -- you see some kid apparently gave our number as his number, and well, he didn't like to go to school, or so the messages left on my answering machine would seem to suggest.) Of course, it could mean that they moved. And yes, it could mean that they were detained (but if they were, it is not likely that the government would have their phone turned off -- wouldn't it be more likely they tap it,or have I been watching too much Alias?).

She said that in her district teacher's are forbidden to make home visits. She must turn her concerns over to a counselor, who will in turn follow up. Of course, if she has 150 students, I can only imagine how many a counselor is technically responsible for. I share her concern for this child. And I suspect, like her, sorry that someone did not intervene sooner.

But really what alarmed me more about her post was that she mentioned that in her state it looked like they were going to drop the World History requirement. It is to be replaced by foreign language study. Again, it has been many years since high school, and I know things have changed, but what exactly do they require these days? Art is pretty much out. PE, well, that was even gone in my day. You can't tell me it is science, because I have seen no proof of that. And computers, pretty much replaces typing (again, I am showing my age).

Are there classes specifically for the required standardized tests? That plus math, English, and foreign language. Do home room and lunch count? This is what should be outraging people. This is what leads to a world in which someone could be taken by a government and disappear.