the more things change, the more they stay the same

my father is a retired school principal.students in his junior high feared him.

one technique he loved to use...when a student was sent to his office because of some misbehavior, he'd sit the child down, give him the "look" (I once met a former student of my father,as an adult he still remembered that "look"), hand the child the telephone and say "call your mother." the student would become upset. he'd repeat, "call your mother and tell her what you did." by that point the tears would begin to flow. that's when he'd walk the kid back to class, and everyone else would wonder "what did he DO to you?"

well, myy sister's best friend -- actually she's almost a member of this nutso family -- is a high school teacher. she has looked to my father as a mentor. she uses 21st century technology to achieve the same result....

she has studnets who will sleep in her class. she whips out her cell phone, snaps a picture of the offender, then threatens to send it via e-mail to the offender's mother.