fandomhigh | Study Hall -- Wednesday, September 28th

Study Hall -- Wednesday, September 28th

Welcome to Wednesday's study hall. I'm in a considerably better mood than yesterday, which mostly means none of you will be getting set on fire today. I reserve the right to threaten you with it, though. You have no fucking idea how entertaining the looks on your faces are when I do that.

*grins wickedly and takes a drag off her cigarette*

The announcements for today --

-- Biff is missing once again from the front of the teachers lounge. If somebody could find that stupid goddamn bear and drag it back, I'd appreciate it. (I won't be rettaching any limbs you might lose, though. That's your fucking problem, not mine.)

-- After the events of last weekend, I'm thinking of lifting the weapons ban. I'll be opening up a discussion section in the comments for those opposed and those for the weapons ban to hash out any differences they might have, any requests they might have for licensing or policing those who wish to carry their weapons, and any other problems they might wish to discuss.

-- Parents Weekend will take place on October 28th, 29th, and 30th. For the record, you may make one new RPG journal for whichever parent, guardian, relation, or mortal enemy you might wish to bring in for your character. These characters cannot already be enrolled in the school or exist in town, and if you can find someone not already involved in the game to play them just for that weekend, all the better. However, these characters will not be allowed posting access on FH or any related communities, they will only be allowed to comment in designated threads -- open houses for classes, the Halloween dance, etc. They're only here to visit for one weekend, folks -- they won't be hanging in the dorms or taking classes or anything. Also, teachers will be allowed to call parent/teacher conferences with any of their students they might wish to meet with (or any "parent" they might wish to interview ... *snerk*).

(OOC: Also, for the record, I'm not playing John Connor anymore -- I've passed him off to someone else. Now he can get a little more play, the poor antisocial bastard. :))

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As I have apparently been appointed faculty advisor of "Get Weapons Back To Students" club *blinks*

I think that the responsible students with high enough grades should be allowed to carry weapons. The same goes for teachers. If they show respect to their fellow students and teachers, keep up good grades, go to classes, they probably will show the same respect when they carry a weapon. In this day and age, to take someone's weapon away seems like taking away a part of them. This is not to say that I don't agree with the weapons ban, it was a good idea in theory. But I believe that there are the small percentage of students who could responsibly carry a weapon on their person.

Angelus can't help but speak up at that one.

"So you only want the smart students to be safe?" he asked. He gave a shrug. "Hey, Darwinism is a noble field, more power to you."

I doubt it's Darwinian at all. I think Dr. Jackson is merely stating that he feels there's a correlation between being responsible regarding schoolwork and class attendance and being responsible as regards the use of a firearm or bladed weapon.

"And I'm saying that any way you slice that one of the teachers just said only the smart students deserve the right to protect themselves," Angelus replied. "Which really makes me wonder why I'm the one with the bad guy reputation around this school."

Did he say 'smart' or did he say 'responsible students with high grades?'" asked Janet. "There are plenty of students in this school who are smart, but who have poor grades because they do not put forth the effort required to attend classes and do their homework. I, personally, believe the difference is clear. I also believe that you're deliberately misinterpreting Dr. Jackson's words."

She tilts her head and looks at Angelus curiously. "I don't know you except by reputation." To be honest, she really hadn't wanted to get to know the man by anything more than reputation, but far be it from Janet to back down from a challenge. "But I do have to wonder why you're so determined to put others' actions in the worst possible light."

OOC: Oh, hell... ;)

"I believe Dr. Jackson doesn't need anybody to misinterpret his words for him," Angelus replied. "Piss-poor arguments are what they are. Don't blame the guy who merely pointed out the obvious."

Well, how about this. Instead of higher grades, ability to keep grades at a level plateau or pull them up? Because usually a student whose grades slip means that they fail to be responsible towards reading, homework, etc.

All I'm saying is that slackers tend to be reckless with weapons.

"Yeah, which is why my college-uneducated self would have no hand/eye co-ordination with a weapon at all," Angelus replied with a sardonic grin. "Good thing weapons skills so closely correllate to SAT scores. Oh, wait, that doesn't actually happen anywhere ever."

But you're missing the point in my argument. If you put forth a lot of effort in your classes, the student would probably be smart enough to know how to use the weapon properly. I'm not saying that it's always the case, some people actually have a better understanding of weapons than others despite grades. But it's clear we cannot give weapons to everyone, so we have to draw the line somewhere. If a student does not put forth enough effort in school then why should this student be allowed to carry a weapon around in school?

You should be lucky Principal Connor is even considering this. Most schools would not allow weapons at all.

"Yes," Angelus replied, "and students who take really good care of their tropical fish will probably have the skills required to take really good care of their guns. Let's limit weapons to the tropical fish owners."

[ooc: *snorts*]

Well, you see, the thing is, that tropical fish are kind of irrelevant. But school, school isn't irrelevant. You have to remember, you are at a school, so you have to abide by school rules. And I think failure to abide by rules should mean you're not allowed to carry a weapon. And one of the rules of school is show up to class and do the work or face the consequences.

You don't have to come to this school, there are other schools out there. If you think the weapons ban is unfair, feel free to go face the outside world.

"There we go," Angelus said, using the same tone of encouragement a parent would for a young child that's just managed to successfully use the potty. "See? Rational arguments are not that hard to come up with. Good for you. Gold star."

*smirks* Very funny. ~~Can I really get a gold star? To put on my fridge?~~

[OOC: oops, sorry. we talked about that subtext the other day. Hope that's all right? You can disavow Beka if need be.]

~~*owes Daniel, majorly, and hopes he likes his rewards as hot as his coffee*~~

I think that's fair, Professor Jackson. Although, I'm not sure keying it to grade point average is the best measure. After all, smart enough to do good work and responsible are not the same. Perhaps attendance and class participation should count as well?

~~*does. not. swoon.*~~

And what about those of us who, honestly, don't do well in school and yet are physically capable of being a weapon? Are we supposed to be expelled, or what?

[ooc: *snickers* Playing Daniel as majorly naive is fun]

Okay, maybe grades wasn't such a good idea. I just think if you make the effort to do well in school and can handle a weapon properly, then sure, carry a weapon. But if you're slacking off, not going to classes, and whatnot, then why should you be allowed to carry a weapon on school grounds? If you don't show respect for the school itself, you could just as easily use that weapon in a very irresponsible way.

But I think proficiency of handling a weapon isn't good enough, there has to be some responsibility to carry that weapon.

Believe me, I don't like the idea of discriminating against part of the student body. But either only certain people will be able to carry weapons or none at all, because it's obvious that there are some people who cannot control their weapons ~~and I'm not talking about the metaphoric kind, thankyouverymuch~~

(OOC- I really don't know how much Faith cares, but damnit, I'm missing debate club this week)

Hey, I honestly don't care all too much about what happens with actual weapons- I could probably make a stake out of a chair or something in a pinch. But what I'm curious about is, with everyone saying that magic users, vampires, mutants and other assorted different people have to register their powers, what happens if we don't go to class. The punishment for not going to class is detention- and if you want to say 'detention, and no guns till you get your grades up', I don't care. What I do care about is me. I'm a vampire slayer, I'm probably stronger than 3/4 of the students and faculty on campus. If I cut class, what're you gonna do to me? Or to the witches? Or the mutants?
Your plan is flawed, that's all there is to it.

[ooc: fair enough XD]

Hey, if you want to go up against

prisoner_rover or detention in which your strength might not really help you that much, be my guest.

And yes, I know my plan is flawed. I'm not saying it's not. But I think it's worth playing around with and taking away all the flaws.

(OOC- I could have sworn I already replied. Hm)

I don't need to go up against Rover, I'm not going to cause trouble. As for detention, yes, that is a punishment, and if I do something wrong, I'll complain, but I'll take the punishment.

My question is that, if everyone is required to register weapons, and every person using a weapon can only do so if they prove themselves 'responsible enough', what is going to be done about students who have 'weapons' naturally? This could apply to me and Buffy, to Angelus, to the witches and wizards, to the mutants, and to Duce. Do we follow every single rule and then get expelled once we break one rule, while a normal student would only get a detention and their weapon taken away? That hardly seems fair.

And I understand that life, and high school, isn't fair, but at the very least we should try a little bit to have some semblance of fairness.

[ooc: You did, but it was replied to the entire post and not my comment - usually happens when you backspace before posting the comment or something annoyingly similar.]

Okay, at least that part's clear.

Well, as for witches and wizards, I know many of them can have their powers bound. Of course, this isn't always the case, and a lot of times it doesn't work.

But, the fact of the matter is that by having weapons naturally does make you different from the rest of the student body. That is against our control. We shouldn't discriminate against those students, but I see no way to do so otherwise. Considering the situation though, it depends on what happens to account for expulsion. For instance, beating another kid up, that's not that bad. But killing another? Whether the weapon happens to be part of the person or not, that's still wrong.

I'm sorry I don't have a better answer. But I admit, I do not know everything. I am only suggesting one idea out of many possibilities.

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Study Hall -- Wednesday, September 28th

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