A teenager in that high school, after getting angry with certain teachers & administrators, lashed out by posting some pretty vulgar & insulting things about them on a personal web site. He wrote the site from home & posted it online. It wasn't posted on the school's server, but was available to everyone with Internet access once they had the URL. URLs of classmates' sites get passed around quickly, & many of the kids in the school accessed the site from the school's computers. When the word got back to the teachers & administrators, they were understandably furious. They sought help from the police, who threatened to charge the teenager with harassment (but they wouldn't have been able to make that charge stick). Everyone involved seemed to lose their head, but the superintendent managed to keep his. He recognized that this wasn't a school matter, & that the parents needed to be involved. He called in the parents, who were appalled & took this situation as seriously as they should have. Together they worked out a suitable apology & a way to handle the case without blowing it out of proportion.

The press had a field day. This superintendent stood firm against the anger of the teachers & the pressures of the community. He was right.

Months later he shared something with me. He told me that he had met the young teenager at a school event, & the student apologized once again. He also thanked the superintendent for handling the situation with grace. The boy had acted out in anger, & hadn't thought about the consequences of his anger. Eventually, even the teachers came around. I was sorry my children were already out of high school- they would have benefited from attending a school system run by such a patient & wise administrator. We could use many more like him.

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